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Scholarly
writing is distinguished from other forms of writing by the use
of notes and bibliographic information to document sources. When
you document your research
- You acknowledge
those who influenced your research
- You establish the
accuracy and authority of your sources
- You enable your
reader to locate the same source
MLA style (from
the Modern Language Association) is widely used in literature,
languages, and in other fields in the humanities. You will use
the MLA format to cite the sources you identify for your research
topic in this course.
MLA style uses brief
parenthetical citations in the text which are keyed to
an alphabetical list of words cited that appears
at the end of your paper. The parenthetical references are short,
including just enough information to locate the full citation
in the works cited list; the point is to keep interruptions to
the reading of the text to a minimum. Typically, the parenthetical
citation includes the author's last name and a page reference
(e.g., Schmidt, 197). If the author's name is mentioned in the
text, only the page number appears in the citation (197).
Here is the MLA citation
pattern for a printed book with one author. [Notice
how all but the first line of the citation is indented. Standard
indentation is 5 spaces. The indentation pattern makes the authors'
last names stand out when one looks at a list of citations.]
MLA citation for the
book Feature Filmmaking at Used-Car Prices (cover
of the book) would look like this (notice that you have to
include the full subtitle, How to Write...etc.)
Here is the MLA citation
pattern for an electronic book with one author
MLA citation for the
electronic book by David Cochran titled America Noir: Underground
Writers and Filmmakers of the Postwar Era, would look like
this:
There are citation
patterns for print periodical articles, for online periodical
articles, for Web sites, etc. The Library's MLA
Style Guide (click on MLA Style Guide) linked to the Library's
Internet Links page is good and basic. It shows you how to cite
basic print and electronic resources. Print it out and keep it
with you as you do research.
You do not have to
memorize all the parts of a perfect citation for all possible
types of resources. You do have to recognize what you
need to how, and how to use a style guide to create citations.
For more information,
go to the Library homepage <http://libwww.cabrillo.edu>,
click on Internet Links, click on Citation
Guides or Style
Manuals. Some of your college classes may require that you
use APA Style (from the American Psychological Association) for
papers in social science courses, or CBE (Council of Biology Editors)
for papers in science courses.
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