Exploratory Paper

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This guide is a brief introduction to some of the most common types of citations using MLA style. The rules of citing materials using MLA style are developed by the Modern Language Association (MLA). For specific examples not included in this guide, please consult the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 8th edition, available at LB2369 .G53 2016, or consult the MLA Style Center’s Works Cited: A Quick Guide at: style.mla.org/works-cited-a-quick-guide/

The MLA 8th edition introduces a flexible system built upon core elements in a certain order. To create citations for your Works Cited list, use only important information that is available and necessary to find your source again.

Core Elements for Works Cited List

The Works Cited Page - MLA Style 8th Edition

Core Element Description Descriptive Example Author. The author’s name, if available Author’s Last Name, First Name.

Corporation Name, Title of Source. Title is usually displayed

prominently. Can be an article or book title

“Title of Article or Chapter.” Title of Self-Contained Piece Like a Book.

Title of Container, This can be a book title, journal title, newspaper, website, or database

Book Title If Source Is an Article or Chapter, Title of Website or Database Name,

Other Contributors, Others that are not authors but contributed: editors, illustrators, etc.

edited by First Name Last Name, adapted by First Name Last Name, illustrated by First Name Last Name,

Version, Usually the edition 8th ed.,

Number, Volume and number of a set vol. 25, no. 4,

Publisher, The primary producer of the piece Oxford U,

Publication date, Full date 2016, 18 Jan. 2017

Location. Page number , website URL, or digital object identifier (DOI)

pp. 210-215. www.cnn.com.

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Book with 1 Author

Duckworth, Angela. Grit : The Power of Passion and Perseverance. Scribner, 2016.

Book with 2 Authors

Jackle, John, and Keith A. Schulle. The Garage: Automobility and Building Innovation in America’s Early

Auto Age. U of Tennessee P, 2013.

Book with 3 or More Authors

Nicola Acocella, et al. Macroeconomic Paradigms and Economic Policy: From the Great Depression to the

Great Recession. Cambridge UP, 2016.

Chapter, Essay, or Other Work that Appears in an Anthology

Báez, Jillian. “Television for All Women?: Watching Lifetime’s Devious Maids.” Cupcakes, Pinterest and

Ladyporn: Feminized Popular Culture in the Early Twenty-First Century, edited by Elana Levine, U of

Illinois P, 2015, pp. 51-70.

Article in a Specialized Encyclopedia or Dictionary

“Multitouch Displays.” Principles of Computer Science, edited by Donald R. Franceschetti, Salem, 2016, pp.

201-203.

Note: If an author’s name is not given, begin your citation with the name of the article.

Film on DVD or in Theater

The Matrix. Directed by the Wachowski Brothers, Warner Brothers, 1999.

Note: If a writer, director or other contributor is particular to your research, you can include them, or use them as the author.

The proliferation of VCRs in people’s homes meant that “by the mid-1980s features shot directly on video were the standard” (Thomas 52).

In-Text Citation You must indicate to your readers not only what sources you used in writing your paper, but also where in the work you found the material. You give this information by inserting a parenthetical citation in your paper wherever you incorporate someone else’s words, facts, or ideas. Usually, all you need is the author’s last name and a page number.

Common Sources Found in the Cypress College Library

EXAMPLES

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Cypress College Library Database Sources EBSCOHost—Scholarly Journal Article Accessed via Academic Search Premier

Gnanadason, Aruna. “Resisting Injustice.” Cross Currents, vol. 66, no. 2, Jun. 2016, pp. 215-226. Academic

Search Premier, doi:10.1111/cros.12179.

Note: Use a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) if available, or the permanent links provided in the citation tool.

ProQuest—Newspaper Article Accessed via Proquest: National Newspapers Expanded

Swaim, Barton. "Trump, the Press and the Dictatorship of the Trolletariat." Wall Street Journal, Eastern ed., 24

Jan. 2017, p. A15. ProQuest, ezproxy.cyclib.nocccd.edu/docview/1860947911?accountid=41682.

Note: Where an article continues on to non-consecutive pages, just list the first page number with a “+” after it, e.g., “A10+”

Gale Virtual Reference Library—Article in a Specialized Encyclopedia

Jones-Brown, Delores, and Michael Thompson. "Racial Profiling." African Americans and Criminal Justice: An

Encyclopedia, edited by Delores D. Jones-Brown, et al., Greenwood, 2014, pp. 438-444. Gale Virtual

Reference Library, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GVRL&sw=w&u=cypressc&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%

7CCX6104100102&asid=98afeb2729431f016ceb53071569ec86.

Note: Use the permanent links so your instructors can just click on the links. Exclude http:// from beginning of URL.

Opposing Viewpoints

Bergeron, David A., and Carmel Martin. "Strengthening Our Economy through College for All." How Valuable Is

a College Degree?, edited by Noël Merino, Greenhaven Press, 2016. Opposing Viewpoints in Context,

link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ3010971206/OVIC?u=cypressc&xid=f3bd2b95. Accessed 24 Jan.

2017. Originally published in AmericanProgress.org, vol. 1, 19 Feb. 2015.

CQ Researcher

Price, Tom. “Student Debt.” CQ Researcher, vol. 26, no. 41, 18 Nov. 2016, library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/

document.php?id=cqresrre2016111800.

CountryWatch

“Syria: Political Conditions.” Country Watch, Sept. 2016, www.countrywatch.com/Intelligence/CWTopic?

Type=text&CountryID=167&Topic=POPCO.

Film Accessed via Films on Demand

Circulation: What an Autopsy Reveals. Produced by Firefly Film amp Television Productions, Films Media

Group, 2006. Films On Demand, fod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=15985&xtid=36418.

Accessed 30 Nov. 2016.

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Webpage

Occupational Outlook Handbook. United States, Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics,

www.bls.gov/ooh. Accessed 30 Nov. 2016.

Note: Include date accessed when no other dates are available.

Video Accessed via Youtube

Stedman, Kyle. ”Understanding MLA Style (8th edition, 2016 updates).” Youtube, 2016, https://youtu.be/

bjbMfL92b7g.

Television Show on Netflix

“Framing Defense.” Making a Murderer, episode 7, Netflix, 2015, www.netflix.com/watch/80000777?

trackId=14277283&tctx=0%2C6%2Cdefe4d5c-07c6-4ef2-874a-7f8cdc6cd573-32470941.

Tweet

@POTUS. “One thing I've learned from my time abroad as President: Young people will shape our future long

after their leaders leave the world stage.” Twitter, 20 Nov. 2016, 7:17 a.m., twitter.com/POTUS/

status/800357392588406785.

Podcast

Dunn, Gaby. “The New American Dream.” Bad with Money with Gaby Dunn, episode 12, 9 Nov. 2016.

Accessed 30 Nov. 2016.

Note: Include URL if accessed on a Podcast website.

Center the title, Works Cited, an inch from the top of the page

Use double spacing throughout.

Begin each entry at the left margin. If an entry runs more than one line, indent the subsequent lines one-half inch from the margin as hanging.

For titles of works, capitalize the first word and all principal words.

Alphabetize entries by the author’s last name or, if no author, by the first main word in the title.

Overall Look Checklist

Other Common Sources

Additional Help Current Cypress College students have access to NoodleTools, a comprehensive tool for creating bibliographies in a variety of formats, including MLA. Select Cite a Source? from our homepage to access additional citation help.

Updated: 1/31/17