Rhetoric and Composition/Citation

< Rhetoric and Composition

Overview

Citations
  • Purpose
    • Avoid plagiarism
    • Enable verification
  • Location
    • In-text or parenthetical
    • Bibliography
  • Style
    • MLA
      • Title for bibliography: Works Cited
      • In-text – example: (Goodview 98)
    • APA
      • Title for bibliography: References
      • In-text – example: (Goodview, 1998, p. 98)

Any time you use in your paper information that you paraphrase, summarize, or quote from another source, you must give the author or the publication proper credit. Failure to do so is considered plagiarism.

Plagiarism can be avoided by using parenthetical citations alias in-text citations within the text of your paper or essay and by using a bibliography (a list of your sources) at the end of your paper or essay.

The specific details of how to cite sources are prescribed in various citation styles. One of the most common writing systems in the educational systems is The Modern Language Association (MLA) style of writing. Most students learn first how to write using the MLA format in elementary school. Another very common writing system frequently used by the social sciences is the American Psychological Association (APA) format.

In MLA the bibliography is titled "Works Cited," and in APA the list is titled "References."

Citing Outside Sources In-Text

Your in-text citations should correspond to the first item listed in your bibliographic citations, which is usually the author's last name. For example, if the in-text citation looks like this:

Then by going to the bibliography page and looking down the list of sources, the name "Booth" should start the citation. For example,

Parenthetical Citations

Parenthetical Citations serve to inform your reader of where you found the data or quotation you are providing to them. Generally, in MLA, if you are citing more than one source, you should include the author's or editor's name and the page number in your parenthetical citation. For example: (Jones 127). If you are only using a single source which is already identified elsewhere in the text, simply use the page number.

MLA Examples

MLA Parenthetical (or In-Text) Citation Examples:

You may also mention the author's name within the text rather than in a parenthetical citation.

If a source has two to three authors, mention all the names within the text, or in a parenthetical citation, separated by "and."

If your source has four or more authors, you may mention only the first author's last name followed by "et al.," or you may use all the author's last names.

More detailed information regarding MLA in-text citations can be found at The Owl, Purdue's online writing guide, and at Literacy Education Online (LEO), St. Cloud State University's online writing guide.

APA Examples

APA Parenthetical (or In-Text) Citation Examples:

In APA format, you also include the author's name in parenthetical citations; however, whenever you use the author's name in APA, you must also include the date of the publication.

You may also mention the author's name within the text.

If you need to cite two authors of the same work who are mentioned within the text, use both their last names and separate it with "and."

If you do not mention the two author's names within the text, you do so in parenthesis using an ampersand instead of the word "and."

If you have three to five authors, list them all by last name the first time you mention them in the text. Thereafter, only use the first author's last name followed by "et al."

If you mention the authors in parenthetical citations instead of within the text, follow the same guidelines as noted above.

If you have six or more authors, list only the first author's last name followed by "et al."

If you do not know the author's name, use a portion of the article or book title instead. Titles of articles are placed within quotes. Book and report titles are italicized or underlined. (Note that in APA only the first word of an article title is capitalized.)

For more information on APA in-text citations, see The Owl Purdue's online writing guide for APA citations or LEO St. Cloud State University's online writing guide for APA citations

Citing Outside Sources in a Bibliography

While parenthetical in-text citations already indicate the sources of the information, a full identification of the cited sources is required to make it possible for the reader to unambiguously locate the source in a library or on the internet. The list of fully identified sources usually goes at the end of your paper, into a bibliography section. A full identification of a source usually includes the year of publication, the authors, the title of the work, the publishing organization, and more. The information included in the full identification of a source varies with the publication style such as MLA style and APA style.

MLA Works Cited

In MLA, you do this on your Works Cited page. To write your MLA works cited list, follow the steps below.

1. Start a new page for your list, and center the words "Works Cited" at the top of the page. There is no need to format the words any different than the rest of your text, so don't waste your time by underlining, italicizing, or making them bold.
2. Number this page in continuation of the pages in your essay or research work.
3. Start each entry flush with the left margin. Indent any subsequent lines five (5) spaces.
4. Alphabetize your sources by the author's last name or by using the information provided below.

Books - one author
a. Author - List author by last name, (comma) first name.
b. Title - Underline title and subtitle. Capitalize any major words even if not officially capitalized in the book's title.
c. Publication Information - Provide the city of publication and the state code if the city is unfamiliar, followed by a : (colon)- a space and the shortened version of the publisher's name (Penguin for The Penguin Press - a , (comma) and the year of publication.

Johnson, Steven. Everything Bad is Good for You. New York: Penguin, 2005.

Books - two or three authors
a. Authors - List the first author last name first. Then list the name (s) of the subsequent author(s) in normal order, with a , (comma) between the names and a ,and (comma and) before the last author.
b. Follow the remaining steps as you would with one author.

Caldwell, Ian, and Dustin Thomason. The Rule of Four. New York: The Dial Press, 2004.

Books - four or more authors
a. Authors - Give the first author listed on the title page, followed by a , (comma) and "et al."
b. Follow the remaining steps as you would with one author.

Pilot, John, et al. A Lifetime of Success. Minneapolis: Grey Wolf, 2005.

Books - corporate author a. Give the name of the group listed on the title page as the author even if the same group published the book.
b. Follow the remaining steps as you would with one author.

National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Dealing with MS: a Guide for the Newly Diagnosed. Los Angeles: National Multiple Sclerosis Soc., 2000.

Books - unknown author
a. Start the entry with the title, and list alphabetically by the first major word of the title.
b. Follow the remaining steps as you would with one author.

Time Life Treasury of Letters. New York: Harvard UP, 1976.

Books - two or more by the same author(s)
a. Arrange entries alphabetically by title.
b. List the name(s) of the author in the first entry, but in subsequent entries, us three hyphens followed by a period.
Tims, James. What Went Right for Republicans in 2004. New Orleans: Wave, 2004.
---. What Went Wrong for Democrats in 2004. New Orleans: Wave, 2004.

Books - editor or editors
a. Treat as you would an author, but add a comma "ed." for (or "eds." for more than one) editor.
b. Follow the remaining steps as you would with one author.

Pemberton, Michael A., and Joyce Kinkead. The Center Will Hold: Critical Perspectives on Writing Center Scholarship. Logan, UT: Utah State UP, 2003.

Website
a. Give the authors name (if known) last name followed by first name.
b. List the full title of the work in quotation marks.
c. List the complete works title (if applicable)in italics.
d. Give any version or file number.
e. Give the date of the document's last revision.
f. Finally, list http: and give the full URL address

Schanaansberg, Arthur. "Hurricane Katrina 2005". What is Happening as a Result of the Greenhouse Effect. November 6, 2005. http://en.geowarming.org/recent_disasters

Works Cited Example


APA References Page

To cite your sources in APA format, you do this on your References page. To write your References page, follow the steps below.

1. Start a new page for your list, and center the word "References" at the top of the page. There is no need to format the words any different than the rest of your text, so don't waste your time by underlining, italicizing, or making them bold.
2. Number this page in continuation of the pages in your essay or research work.
3. Start each entry flush with the left margin. Indent any subsequent lines 1/2 inch, and double space the entries like the rest of your paper.
4. Alphabetize your sources by the author's last name and first initial, or by using the information provided below. If there is more than one author, list the first author by the last name first, followed by the first name initial, then for all others list the first initial first, followed by the last name, and separate by commas.
5. In dealing with the titles of all books, articles, or webpages, capitalize only the first letter of the first word of a title and subtitle, the first word after a colon or a dash in the title, and all proper nouns.
6. Capitalize all major words in journal titles.
7. Italicize or underline book and journal titles. (Be consistent, always italicize, or always underline, but never use both.)
8. Do not italicize, underline, or put quotes around the titles of shorter works such as journal articles or essays in edited collections.

Books
a. Author - List author by last name, (comma) first name initial. If there are more than six authors, list the first author and first initial followed by "et al."
b. Year of publication in parenthesis.
c. Title - Underline or italicize the title and subtitle. Capitalize only the first letter of the first word of a title and subtitle, the first word after a colon or a dash in the title, and proper nouns.
d. Publication Information - Provide the city of publication and the state code if the city is unfamiliar, followed by a : (colon)- a space and the shortened version of the publisher's name.

Creakly, P. (2008). Whatever you said is true: Unless you are lying. New York: Penguin.

Journal article - by issue
a. Author - List author by last name, (comma) first name initial. If there are more than six authors, list the first author and first initial followed by "et al."
b. Year of publication in parenthesis. c. Title of the article - No underling, italics, or quotes are used. Capitalize only the first letter of the first word of a title and subtitle, the first word after a colon or a dash in the title, and proper nouns.
d. Title of the journal/periodical- Italicized or underlined. Capitalize the first letter of all words. e. Volume number(issue number), pages- The volume number and issue number are italicized.

Treasure, J. C., S. Kuepers, & J. Edward. (2000). How to determine whether people are lying to you by watching their eyes. Human Behavior, 22(16), 24-64.

Website
a. Authors name (if known) last name followed by first initial.
b. Year of publication in parenthesis.
c. Title of webpage document. Only capitalize the first letter of the first word.
d. Provide the date your retrieved it, listed in order by the month and day followed by a comma, then year followed by a comma.
e. Include the web address you retrieved if from. Do not end with a period.

Wertjes, A. (2007). Facts on finding truth. Retrieved January 21, 2008, from http://freedinformationforall.com


References Page Example




More Examples on Formatting Bibliographies


See The Owl or LEO. n

See also

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