In all types of research and scholarly writing, it is important to cite your sources in order to:
1. Help readers identify and locate the source you used.
Readers may want to locate the source you have cited, to verify the information or to learn more about the topic. A proper citation includes all of the information for readers to locate the source.
2. Provide evidence that your position is well-researched.
Scholarly writing is grounded in research. Citations strengthen your argument by demonstrating that your position is thoroughly researched.
3. Give credit to the author of ideas which are not your own, and thereby avoid plagiarism.
Giving proper credit to those whose ideas, words, and thoughts you use is not only respectful to those authors, but also helps you avoid plagiarism.
Nearly all of the UCC Library databases will provide you with instant citations in MLA and APA format for articles, books, and videos. This can be quite helpful, but oftentimes they are incorrect. Always be sure to review them for accuracy instead of assuming they are correct.
A technique for properly attributing information to the appropriate author or source.
A prescribed set of stylistic and formatting conventions for citing sources in a consistent manner within a given discipline.
Refers to property created through the use of the mind (i.e. intellect), encompassing a wide variety of original creations, including manuscripts, recordings, artwork, inventions, an designs.
Deliberate stealing of another's ideas or representing such as your own.
A means of incorporating text into your paper using roughly the same amount of words as the original but restating the information without quoting it.
Inadvertent or purposeful stealing of intellectual property by failing to properly acknowledge the owner.
A means of incorporating text into your paper using the exact wording and formatting of the original.
A means of incorporating text into your paper by condensing original source materials to present main ideas in a narrower, more focused way.
A type of plagiarism committed accidentally and resulting from such factors as a lack of knowledge of proper source use, a misunderstanding of the rules of citation, or careless note taking.
References
McAdoo M. L. (2015). The student's survival guide to research. Neal-Schuman.
The Student's Survival Guide to Research by A hanging indent is the indentation of all lines other than the first within a paragraph. These are typically only used in bibliographies, as they allow for easy differentiation between sources. APA and MLA require the use of hanging indents in reference lists.
APA: For information on hanging indents in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association see section 2.12, "Reference List."
MLA: For information on hanging indents in The MLA Handbook see section 1.6, "Placement of the List of Works Cited."
Footnotes are short numbered notes that are placed at the bottom of the page in an essay or article. They are used for a variety of reasons including, citing materials, providing notes on a source or topic, and to acknowledge copyright status.
Although you will find footnotes in many journal articles, they are not typically required in APA or MLA formatted essays.
APA: For information on hanging indents in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association see section 2.12, "Reference List."
MLA: For information on hanging indents in The MLA Handbook see section 1.6, "Placement of the List of Works Cited."
Use this format for citing periodicals, magazines, newspapers, blog posts, and other similar sources.
Lastname, Firstname. "Title of Article: Subtitle of Article." Title of Periodical, vol. #, issue no. #, Publication Date, pages. Database Name*, DOI/URL. Date of Access**.
*Only put the name of the database that an article was found in if it was found in a database. If it was found in print or on the web omit this section.
**You only need to put a date of access if there is not a publication date.
Overton, Tiffany L., et al. “Distracted Driving: Prevalence, Problems, and Prevention.” International Journal of Injury Control & Safety Promotion, vol. 22, no. 3, Sept. 2015, pp. 187–192. Academic Search Complete, doi:10.1080/17457300.2013.879482.
Smith, Gary, and Margaret Hwang Smith. "Like Mother, Like Daughter? An Economic Comparison of Immigrant Mothers and Their Daughters." International Migration, vol. 51, no. 2, 2013, pp. 181-190.
Healy, Melissa. "Opioid Addiction can be Overcome with Mindfulness, Study Suggests." Los Angeles Times, 17 Oct. 2019, www.latimes.com/science/story/2019-10-17/addiction-to-opioids-can-be-overcome-with-mindfulness.
Martin, Naomi. "New Hampshire's Opioid Crisis Looms Over Marijuana Legalization Debate." Boston Globe, 5 Feb. 2019. ProQuest, login.ezproxyness.helmlib.org/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.ezproxyness.helmlib.org/docview/2176030699?accountid=37958.
Max, Arthur. “Blair Begins Mission as Mideast Envoy.” The Boston Globe, 24 July 2007, p. A3.
Ford, Anne. "It's Not Such a Small World After All: Introducing Older Adults to Virtual Reality." American Libraries, vol. 50, no. 3/4, Mar./Apr. 2019, pp. 22-23.
Gugliotta, Guy. “The Maya: Glory and Ruin.” National Geographic, vol. 212, no. 2, Aug. 2007, pp. 68‐73.
Toensmeier, Eric, and Dennis Garrity. “The Biomass Bottleneck.” Scientific American, vol. 323, no. 2, Aug. 2020, pp. 64-71. Academic Search Complete, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=144469972&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
Use this format for citing physical and digital books including citing individual chapters from books and/or works in anthologies.
Lastname, Firstname**. Title of Book: Subtitle of Book. Publisher, Year Published.
Everly, George S., Jr., and Jeffrey M. Lating. The Johns Hopkins Guide to Psychological First Aid. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2017.
Pollan, Michael. The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. Penguin Press, 2006.
Siebert, Lee, et al. Volcanoes of the World. Smithsonian Institution, 2010.
Author or Editor (if given). Title of Book: Subtitle of Book. e-book ed., Publisher, Publication date. Provider/Database/Container, URL (if available).
Bleeker, Maaike, editor. Anatomy Live: Performance and the Operating Theater. e-book ed., Amsterdam University Press, 2008. Ebook Central, ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/necc-ebooks/detail.action?docID=456860.
Author of chapter. "Title of Chapter: Subtitle of Chapter." Title of Book: Subtitle of Book, edited by Firstname Lastname, Publisher, Publication date, pp. x-xx.
Vicioso, Sherezada. “The Caribbean, or the Feminine Face of Multiculturalism.” Daring to Write: Contemporary Narratives by Dominican Women, edited by Erika M. Martinez, University of Georgia Press, 2016, pp. 159-163.
*If there are 2 authors use this format: Lastname 1, Firstname 1, and Firstname 2 Lastname 2 (such as in the Everly example above).
**If there are three or more authors only put the primary author's name and follow it with "et al." (such as in the Siebert example above).
Use this format for citing webpages, websites, and other online sources. Do not use this for citing scholarly/academic articles accessed via the web.
Many web sources do not always provide all of the above information (such as an individual author, or a publication date), use the information you can find to create your citations.
Author or Editor (if given). "Title of Webpage." Name of Website. Publisher or Sponsor of the website*, Date published or updated, URL/DOI/permalink. Accessed date**.
Central Intelligence Agency. “Central America: Haiti.” The World Factbook, 19 Mar. 2020, www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/ the-world-factbook/geos/aa.html.
“The Most Haunted Places in Boston.” Ghosts & Gravestones, www.ghostsandgravestones.com/boston/haunted-places.php. Accessed 8 Apr. 2020
Teitell, Beth. "Why We Turn into Different People When We Fly." Boston Globe, 9 July 2019, www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/07/09/ why-turn-into-different-people-when-ly/sxf7XYIHGpm0FkfVct L26M/story.html.
* If the Publisher is the same as the name of the website, omit it. See the Teitell example above
** You do not need to put a date of access if there is a date of publication on the webpage. If there is not a date of publication or date last updated, do not use the copyright date of the website. Use the date you accessed the webpage/website and place it at the end of your citation after the URL/DOI/Permalink. See "The Most Haunted" example above.
Use this format for citing social media posts in MLA format.
@Twitter handle. "Insert the entire tweet here." Twitter, DD Mon. YYYY, Time of the post*, URL of tweet.
*to find the time of posting hover over the date of the posting itself.
@BostonGlobe. "Not all potholes are created equal. Some have cost the City of Boston thousands of dollars in payments.
bos.gl/MgY2nvG." Twitter, 2 Apr. 2018, 4:59 a.m., twitter.com/BostonGlobe/status/980776643068399616.
Author Last Name, First Name or Account Name. Description of Post*. Facebook, DD Mon. YYYY, Time of Post, URL.
*as Facebook posts can be lengthy, simply write your own short description of the post.
The Boston Globe. Eversource talks about ways to cut down on power outages. Facebook, 1 Apr. 2018, 10:15 p.m., www.facebook.com/globe/.
Use this format for citing physical and digital videos including videos on platforms such as YouTube and Vimeo.
Lastname, Firstname of presenter. Title of Webinar*. Publisher or organization responsible for the webinar, Date of Webinar, URL (only necessary if watching a recorded webinar). Webinar**.
Gibson, Angela. MLA Style 101. Modern Language Association, 22 Aug. 2017. Webinar.
Gibson, Angela. MLA Style 101. Modern Language Association, 30 Aug. 2017, outreach.mla.org/mla-style.
*Note that the title of the webinar is styled without quotation marks or italics.
**It is optional to add the word "Webinar" after the date of a live webinar, or the URL of a pre-recorded webinar.
Lastname, Firstname. Title of Presentation. Name of Learning Management System, uploaded by Firstname Lastname*, Date uploaded, URL of the Learning Management System. PowerPoint presentation*.
Carson, Sandy. Introduction to Digital Humanities. Blackboard, uploaded by Carson, 20 Oct. 2019, blackboard.ucla.edu/. PowerPoint presentation.
*It is optional to add the words "PowerPoint presentation" after the URL of the Learning Management System.
Artist or username. Title. Date the image was created. Medium. Museum, City. Database name or title of site, URL. Date of access.
Chagall, Marc. Village Street. 1930s. Oil on canvas. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Museum of Fine Arts, www.mfa.org/collections/object/village-street-34267. Accessed 1 Oct. 2014.
Chagall, Marc.The Yellow Room. 1911. Oil on canvas. Private collection. Artstor, library.artstor.org/library/secure/ViewImages?id=%2FThWdC8hIywtPygxFTx5RngtU3IqeFo%3D&userId=hzZAfDkg&zoomparams=. Accessed 21 Sept. 2016.
Title of the video. Directed by Name Lastname, Distributor, Year.
Demolition Man. Directed by Marco Brambilla, Warner Bros. Pictures, 1993.
McGonigal, Jane. “Gaming and Productivity.” YouTube, uploaded by Big Think, 3 July 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkdzy9bWW3E.
"Kingston's Warning to the Jericho Appreciation Society is Heard Loud & Clear. AEW Dynamite, 4/27/22." YouTube, uploaded by All Elite Wrestling, 28 April 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1YsiX7j8XU
"Eighteen Years Lost". Making a Murderer, season 1, episode 1, Synthesis Films, 2015. Netflix, https://www.netflix.com/title/80000770
Each entry in your Works Cited should contain the relevant "core elements" for that source. In order for the system to remain flexible, it is less about choosing the right citation based on the format (e.g. book, website) and more about creating a citation based on the information elements available for the source. According to MLA, the core elements are:
MLA also mentions several supplemental elements, including original date of publication and date of access. If you think your citation should include one of these supplemental elements please consult the MLA Handbook, 9th edition, available at the library, or Ask Us!
Once you have identified and filled in each of the relevant core elements for your source, an entry on your Works Cited page for a book will be formatted to look similar to this:
Cite the author’s name with the surname first, followed by the rest of the name as it appears in the source. In some cases, the author will not be a person but an organization of some type instead, such as a government agency.
Jacobs, Alan. The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction. Oxford UP, 2011.
United Nations. Consequences of Rapid Population Growth in Developing Countries. Taylor and Francis, 1991.
If the Works Cited list includes two or more entries by the same author(s), give the author(s) name(s) in the first entry only. In subsequent entries, use three hyphens in place of the names, followed by a period and the title. Arrange the works in alphabetical order by title.
Borroff, Marie. Language and the Poet: Verbal Artistry in Frost, Stevens, and Moore. U of Chicago P, 1979.
---. "Sound Symbolism as Drama in the Poetry of Robert Frost." PMLA, vol. 107, no. 1, Jan. 1992, pp. 131-44. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/462806.
To cite a source with two authors, give their names in the same order as listed in the source. Reverse only the name of the first author, add a comma, and give the other name in normal form. Place a period after the last name. To cite a source with three or more authors, name only the first author followed by et al.
Dorris, Michael, and Louise Erdrich. The Crown of Columbus. HarperCollins Publishers, 1999.
Burdick, Anne, et al. Digital_Humanities. MIT P, 2012.
If there is no author, begin the entry with the title.
In a reference to an edited book, insert the editor's name in place of the author's name, followed by a comma and the word "editor" (without the quotation marks).
Titles should appear exactly as they appear in the source, other than capitalization. Capitalize the first, the last, and all principal words in a title and subtitle. Italicize the title of larger, self-contained works such as books and periodicals.
Jacobs, Alan. The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction. Oxford UP, 2011.
For the titles of works contained within larger works, such as articles within a periodical, chapters within a book, etc., use quotation marks.
Goldman, Anne. "Questions of Transport: Reading Primo Levi Reading Dante." The Georgia Review, vol. 64, no. 1, 2010, pp. 69-88.
When a source is part of a larger work, MLA refers to the larger work as the source's "container." A container could be a book that is a collection of shorter works, a journal or magazine, a TV series, or a website. Italicize the title of the container and follow it with a comma.
Bazin, Patrick. "Toward Metareading." The Future of the Book, edited by Geoffrey Nunberg, U of California P, 1996, pp. 153-68.
Sources can have more than one container. For instance, a journal article may be found within a database, or a TV series may be viewed on a platform like Hulu or Netflix. MLA recommends documenting all of the containers relevant to your source (pp. 31-36).
Goldman, Anne. "Questions of Transport: Reading Primo Levi Reading Dante." The Georgia Review, vol. 64, no. 1, 2010, pp. 69-88. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41403188.
"Under the Gun." Pretty Little Liars, season 4, episode 6, ABC Family, 16 July 2013. Hulu, www.hulu.com/watch/511318.
People other than the author may have contributed to the creation of a source. Include the names of any such people after a description of their role (such as edited by or adapted by).
Chartier, Roger. The Order of Books: Readers, Authors, and Libraries in Europe between the Fourteenth and Eighteenth Centuries. Translated by Lydia G. Cochrane, Stanford UP, 1994.
For an edition other than the first, identify the edition of your source by number (e.g. 2nd ed.), by name (e.g. Revised ed.), or by year (e.g. 2008 ed.) - whichever the source indicates.
Newcomb, Horace, editor. Television: The Critical View. 7th ed., Oxford UP, 2007.
For books that are part of a multi-volume set, include the volume number. For journals, include both the volume and issue number, if available.
Baron, Naomi S. "Redefining Reading: The Impact of Digital Communication Media." PMLA, vol. 128, no. 1, Jan. 2013, pp. 193-200.
Rampersad, Arnold. The Life of Langston Hughes. 2nd ed., vol. 2, Oxford UP, 2002.
For books, list the publisher’s name as it appears on the title page or copyright page. For websites, check the copyright notice at the bottom of the home page or an "About" page.
Clancy, Kate. "Defensive Scholarly Writing and Science Communication." Context and Variation, Scientific American Blogs, 24 Apr. 2013, blogs.scientificamerican.com/context-and-variation/2013/04/24/defensive-scholarly-writing-and-science-communication/.
Jacobs, Alan. The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction. Oxford UP, 2011.
List the publication date as fully as you find it in the source. If there is more than one publication date, list the date of the version you are looking at or the edition you have used.
Belton, John. "Painting by the Numbers: The Digital Intermediate." Film Quarterly, vol. 61, no. 3, Spring 2008, pp. 58-65.
Ellison, Ralph. Invisible Man. Vintage Books, 1995.
Hollmichael, Stefanie. "The Reading Brain: Differences between Digital and Print." So Many Books, 25 Apr. 2013, somanybooksblog.com/2013/04/25/the-reading-brain-differences-between-digital-and-print/.
For print sources, use a page number or page number range to identify the location of a source within its container. For online works use the DOI (preferred) or URL -- be sure to remove the https:// from your citation.
Baron, Naomi S. "Redefining Reading: The Impact of Digital Communication Media." PMLA, vol. 128, no 1., Jan. 2013, pp. 193-200.
Chan, Evans. "Postmodernism and Hong Kong Cinema," Postmodern Culture, vol. 10, no. 3, May 2000. Project Muse, doi:10.1353/pmc.2000.0021
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