1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,033 Welcome to the Cerro Coso Community College Library’s tutorial on citing in MLA. 2 00:00:08,033 --> 00:00:11,799 MLA provides a uniform standard for formatting, punctuation, style, and citation. 3 00:00:11,800 --> 00:00:17,100 It is developed and used by the Modern Language Association and many courses in the arts and humanities. 4 00:00:17,100 --> 00:00:21,366 In this video, we will focus on using and citing sources in MLA format. 5 00:00:21,366 --> 00:00:24,132 So why do we need to cite our sources? 6 00:00:24,133 --> 00:00:26,666 The most important answer is to avoid plagiarism. 7 00:00:26,666 --> 00:00:31,966 According to the Oxford English Dictionary, plagiarism is the act of passing someone else’s work off as your own. 8 00:00:31,966 --> 00:00:37,332 In an academic setting, copying someone else’s words without giving them credit can carry severe consequences, 9 00:00:37,333 --> 00:00:39,599 both in college and in your career. 10 00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:43,666 Citing sources allows us to avoid plagiarism by giving credit to the original authors. 11 00:00:43,666 --> 00:00:47,699 This benefits those authors by recognizing their contributions to the field. 12 00:00:47,700 --> 00:00:51,900 By using outside sources, you also strengthen the credibility of your own argument. 13 00:00:51,900 --> 00:00:58,066 Not only will quoting other sources help prove that you are not making things up, but your essay will be more impressive if you can lean on the 14 00:00:58,066 --> 00:01:01,732 authority of experts in your field by using their words to back up your arguments. 15 00:01:01,733 --> 00:01:06,666 Finally, citing your sources allows your readers to look up your sources and use them to further their own research. 16 00:01:06,666 --> 00:01:12,132 This also allows them to determine for themselves whether the information is credible and whether you might be misrepresenting the 17 00:01:12,133 --> 00:01:14,066 original author’s intentions. 18 00:01:14,066 --> 00:01:17,799 You do not need to cite every statement made in your essay. 19 00:01:17,800 --> 00:01:19,100 So what should you cite? 20 00:01:19,100 --> 00:01:20,133 It depends. 21 00:01:20,133 --> 00:01:24,033 You do not need to cite common knowledge, general information, or data you have collected yourself. 22 00:01:24,033 --> 00:01:28,866 Most people know that George Washington is the first US President and that Google is a popular search engine. 23 00:01:28,866 --> 00:01:35,899 However, very few people just happen to know that George Washington’s father owned 10,000 acres of land or that 65% of web searches are 24 00:01:35,900 --> 00:01:37,033 done using Google. 25 00:01:37,033 --> 00:01:40,199 This data came from a specific source and you will need to cite that source. 26 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:46,733 You will also need to cite your source whenever you quote something word for word or when you use an image, chart, or graph that someone else 27 00:01:46,733 --> 00:01:47,699 has created. 28 00:01:47,700 --> 00:01:52,133 When you are unsure about whether something needs to be cited, it is usually better to err on the side of citing. 29 00:01:52,133 --> 00:01:57,099 You don’t want to overwhelm your paper with quotes. Use quotes sparingly, and integrate them 30 00:01:57,100 --> 00:01:59,266 only where they will strengthen your argument. 31 00:01:59,266 --> 00:02:03,766 You should also use at least twice as much space to explain the quote as the quote itself takes up. 32 00:02:03,766 --> 00:02:09,932 Since your job is to provide analysis in your paper, you should not let a quote stand on its own without devoting some time to explain its 33 00:02:09,933 --> 00:02:10,699 purpose. 34 00:02:10,700 --> 00:02:17,466 Use quotes to support your ideas, rather than rephrasing the information found in quote. After all, this is your paper! 35 00:02:17,466 --> 00:02:22,666 Every citation comes in two parts. The first part, the in-text citation, 36 00:02:22,666 --> 00:02:23,999 is located in 37 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:25,000 the body of your paper. 38 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:29,166 This is where you will quote someone’s words or summarize their ideas and relate it to your own argument. 39 00:02:29,166 --> 00:02:34,366 The second part is the bibliographic citation, often located on a separate Works Cited page. 40 00:02:34,366 --> 00:02:39,432 This is where you write out the full citation of the item where the information you quoted can be found. 41 00:02:39,433 --> 00:02:41,566 We will look at both of these in greater detail. 42 00:02:41,566 --> 00:02:47,166 Direct quotes are words and sentences that are lifted directly from the source material. 43 00:02:47,166 --> 00:02:51,266 All direct quotes should generally be enclosed between two quotation marks, 44 00:02:51,266 --> 00:02:55,732 followed by parentheses that include the author’s last name and the page number where the quote is found. 45 00:02:55,733 --> 00:03:00,066 Make sure the period that ends the sentence is outside both the quotation mark and the parentheses. 46 00:03:00,066 --> 00:03:07,099 As long as the citation information is present and it is clear whose words are whose, you can vary this formula by breaking up the quote with text of 47 00:03:07,100 --> 00:03:14,033 your own, or integrating the author’s name into the sentence and including only the page number in the parentheses. 48 00:03:14,033 --> 00:03:17,333 You can also add to or delete from quotes as necessary. 49 00:03:17,333 --> 00:03:23,199 Sometimes you will need to add additional words or change verb tenses and pronouns in order for a quote to flow with the rest of your paper. 50 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:26,833 You can do this by bracketing the information that you are changing or adding. 51 00:03:26,833 --> 00:03:34,066 If you want to omit words from a quote, either because it is too long or because you want to make it more readable, add an ellipses (three dots) 52 00:03:34,066 --> 00:03:38,632 to signify the part of the quote that has been deleted. This is generally only done in the middle of a sentence, rather than at the 53 00:03:38,633 --> 00:03:40,133 beginning or end of one. 54 00:03:40,133 --> 00:03:44,866 One thing you may run into is a source with more than three authors. You have two options with this. 55 00:03:44,866 --> 00:03:50,999 Either you can include all the names of the authors or you can simply include the last name of the first author and the words “et al.” 56 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:56,233 Whichever you choose, you will have to do the same with both the in-text citations and the Works Cited page. 57 00:03:56,233 --> 00:04:01,699 Indirect quotes are used to cite sources that are cited in other sources. 58 00:04:01,700 --> 00:04:06,933 This is usually only done if you cannot access the original source and all you have is a secondary source that mentions it. 59 00:04:06,933 --> 00:04:12,533 To give credit to both sources, add “qtd. in” to the parentheses in your in-text citation. 60 00:04:12,533 --> 00:04:17,299 The citation in the Works Cited page remains the same as it would with a direct quote. 61 00:04:17,300 --> 00:04:21,366 Here is a citation from a book. Note that the print and eBook versions are similar. 62 00:04:21,366 --> 00:04:25,166 Much of the publication information comes from the title page, near the front of the book. 63 00:04:25,166 --> 00:04:31,599 In this example, the publisher (Oxford University Press) and the place of publication (New York) are listed in the middle, 64 00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:33,066 along with the copyright date. 65 00:04:33,066 --> 00:04:38,966 The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data also has a wealth of citation information, 66 00:04:38,966 --> 00:04:41,666 including the title and the author – or, in this case, the editor. 67 00:04:41,666 --> 00:04:46,032 If you are citing from a print book, you only need to include the word “print” after the publisher. 68 00:04:46,033 --> 00:04:53,899 If you are citing an eBook, however, include the database where the eBook is located as well as the medium you used (web) and the date you 69 00:04:53,900 --> 00:04:57,533 accessed the material. All of Cerro Coso’s eBooks are located at ebscohost.com 70 00:04:57,533 --> 00:05:04,899 When citing an article, you will need the following information: the author names, the title of the article, the title of the journal, 71 00:05:04,900 --> 00:05:12,033 the volume and issue number, the year issued, the page range, and the medium, such as print for printed articles and web for databases or 72 00:05:12,033 --> 00:05:12,966 online sources. 73 00:05:12,966 --> 00:05:19,332 Most articles are from databases, so also include the name of the database where you found the article and the date you accessed it. 74 00:05:19,333 --> 00:05:23,333 This example is from the item record of an article found on Academic Search Complete. 75 00:05:23,333 --> 00:05:29,766 The item record often includes citation information, but if you have a PDF version of the article, much of that information is also included 76 00:05:29,766 --> 00:05:32,766 at the top and bottom of each scanned page. 77 00:05:32,766 --> 00:05:36,599 When citing a website, you will need the following information: 78 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:43,733 the author names, the title of the article, the title of the website, the publication or last modification date of the web page, the medium (web) and the 79 00:05:43,733 --> 00:05:45,333 date of access. 80 00:05:45,333 --> 00:05:50,933 Unlike this example, many webpages do not have all of the required information, especially those owned by corporations. 81 00:05:50,933 --> 00:05:53,699 We will discuss how to handle this on the next few slides. 82 00:05:53,700 --> 00:05:57,600 Sometimes sources are missing key points of citation information. 83 00:05:57,600 --> 00:06:03,466 This is especially the case with websites, which are usually not reviewed by editors, publishers, or other scholars. 84 00:06:03,466 --> 00:06:10,499 Instead of guessing information or making it up, include the information that you do know. For instance, if your source does not have page 85 00:06:10,500 --> 00:06:16,900 numbers, leave them out and use only the author’s last name in your in-text citation. If the item is an article, include “n. pag.” in the Works 86 00:06:16,900 --> 00:06:18,000 Cited page. 87 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:22,800 If the item is a webpage, leave it out entirely. Sometimes no authors will be listed. 88 00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:26,033 In this case, use the institution instead of a individual creator. 89 00:06:26,033 --> 00:06:29,999 If you cannot find a date, simply use “n.d.” in the Works Cited page. 90 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:34,900 When working with web pages, please note that there is a difference between the page creation date and the copyright date. 91 00:06:34,900 --> 00:06:41,166 The creation date is the date the page was uploaded to the internet, while the copyright date may include the full range of years that the 92 00:06:41,166 --> 00:06:42,932 website has been online and running. 93 00:06:42,933 --> 00:06:49,833 Sometimes, copyright dates are automatically updated, so always use the page creation date or “n.d.” instead of the copyright date for websites. 94 00:06:49,833 --> 00:06:54,866 Here is an example of a webpage that is missing some key information. 95 00:06:54,866 --> 00:07:01,199 There is no author, no date, and no page number. In this case, we begin our works cited with the title, rather than the author. 96 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:05,600 We also include the title (or a shortened version of it) in the in-text citation. 97 00:07:05,600 --> 00:07:09,600 No date is included on the page, so we put “n.d.” in the Works Cited citation. 98 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:14,400 Since there are no page numbers on this website, we do not include any on the in-text citation. 99 00:07:14,400 --> 00:07:18,200 Note that in MLA format, the website URL is not needed. 100 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:23,266 However, the title of the page, the title of the overall website and the publisher are all required. 101 00:07:23,266 --> 00:07:29,299 Sometimes, the title of the overall site and the publisher are the same thing, but here, Masterpiece Theatre is the name of this website 102 00:07:29,300 --> 00:07:31,266 while PBS is its publisher. 103 00:07:31,266 --> 00:07:39,932 The Works Cited page should be formatted according to MLA style, with the title “Works Cited” centered at the top, and each entry set apart with 104 00:07:39,933 --> 00:07:41,199 a hanging indent. 105 00:07:41,200 --> 00:07:45,400 For information on how to format your paper, see the video on “Formatting Your Paper in MLA.” 106 00:07:45,400 --> 00:07:51,400 Every source you cite in your paper should have an entry in the Works Cited page, alphabetized by the first author’s last name. 107 00:07:51,400 --> 00:07:55,166 If there is no author, alphabetize by the first word of the title instead. 108 00:07:55,166 --> 00:07:57,699 Note that you should abbreviate the names of publishers. 109 00:07:57,700 --> 00:08:04,600 For instance, words like “university” and “press” are often simplified to their initials and full names like “McGraw-Hill, Inc.” can be shortened to 110 00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:05,600 “McGraw.” 111 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:13,300 Thank you for viewing the Cerro Coso Community College Library’s tutorial on citing your paper in MLA. If you need more help on 112 00:08:13,300 --> 00:08:18,966 formatting and citation, visit our Citing Sources page, which has a brief Works Cited PDF as well as links to websites with detailed information 113 00:08:18,966 --> 00:08:24,732 and examples on these topics, such as Purdue Owl and Hacker Handbooks. Or come into the library and a librarian can help you.