MLA Citation and Plagiarism

We all know what the “P” word means, but do we know how to protect ourselves from doing it? Plagiarism is a form of robbery; it is the stealing of someone else’s words, ideas, or data without proper documentation.* Althought there are many different styles for documentation described in the Bedford Handbook, English students will use the MLA format. Correct use of the MLA format requires knowledge of two parts:

• In-text citations: Documenting the pages from which the writer takes information.
• Works Cited page: Documenting the publishing information of the sources from which the writer takes information (known in other fields as a bibliography).

In-text Citations
You must cite a text if you

• directly quote a portion of the source (this includes words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs, data, graphs, and images).

• summarize part of the source (this includes concepts, arguments, data, graphs, and images).

MLA direct in-text citations appear in two forms, both of which require you to provide the page numbers where the information is located:

• In-text quotes—-Quotes that are three or less typewritten lines long are placed within quotation marks. You are required to place the source’s page number in parenthesis within the punctuation of the sentence in which the quotation appears.
• Block quotes—-Quotes that are four or more typewritten lines long must be indented one inch from the left-hand margin and reproduced as close to the way they appear in the original text as possible. Page numbers are placed within parenthesis that are outside of the block quote’s punctuation
The most important technique to remember when integrating a quote into your essay is the idea of making “quote sandwiches.” A quote must always have a few things on either side of it in order for it to work in your paper. It should always start with a “lead-in”—an introduction to the author and title of the source (so that the reader may know where these words are coming from). The lead-in may also give a brief introduction as to why this text is important to the topic at hand or why this source should be viewed as authoritative on the subject. On the other side of the quote must always be the page number and a “reading” of the quote. Do not expect the reader to get out of the quote what you are getting out of it. You need to explain how this quote is directly related to your argument and moves your argument along. What comes after the quote is the most important thing you have to say about that quote for that particular paper.

Directly quoting from a text is easy compared to summarizing. To avoid plagiarism when summarizing a source or introducing a source (where some summary may occur), a good guide to follow is the three word rule. DO NOT USE THREE OR MORE WORDS OF SUBSTANCE IN YOUR SUMMARY THAT ARE ALSO IN YOUR SOURCE (subjects, predicates, and adjectives are the easiest to avoid). Summarize the source without the page in front of you, putting the idea or ideas that the author is attempting to communicate in your own words. Summaries require you to place the page number(s) of the text being summarized in parenthesis within the summary sentence’s punctuation. No matter how many sentences make up your summary, clearly define its beginning and end: a lead-in at the beginning and a page number at the end.

Here is a sample of text from Madeline Levine’s essay “Media and the Adolescent”:

Evil has its attractions—from fire-breathing dragons and evil step-mothers to serial killers; people at all ages are interested in the darker aspects of humanity. This is because we all carry within ourselves thoughts and fantasies that are cruel and violent. It is naïve and dangerous to deny the duality of human nature. But it is the socializing agents of society—family, school, religious institutions, and mass media—that are charged with the responsibility of helping children and adolescents understand and control their aggressive impulses. (359)

Which of the following examples of student summaries are plagiarizing from Levine’s essay? Why or why not?:

Student 1:

Levine argues that evil is attractive to people of all ages because it is a basic part of human nature; people who believe otherwise are just being naïve. Levine also feels, however, that it is the socializing institutions of society, including the mass media, that need to encourage adolescents to control their aggressive impulses (359).

Student 2:

In her essay Levine argues that, even though humanity has a tendency towards evil, it is the duty of the entertainment industry not to encourage anti-social behavior in adolescents (359).

Although both examples are clearly defined by a brief lead-in on one side and a page number on the other, Student 1, uses more than three words of substance (“evil,” “attractive,” “nature,” “naïve,” “socializing,” “institutions,” and “aggressive impulses”). Student 2 chooses his or her words very carefully, using only key terms that would be unavoidable in for his or her essay (such as “adolescents” and “evil”).

Remember: summaries are a good technique to use when you want to quickly share large amounts of complex information without taking up too much space in your paper for a lengthy quotation. Summaries can also be used to communicate information that needs to be translated into prose: data from graphs, statistical listings, or images. It is, however, a very difficult technique to use well, due to the double danger of either committing plagiarism (not putting the source into your own words) or choosing unclear or incorrect words to summarize the text (words that might share denotative but not connotative meanings with the original phrase). While summarizing is very useful, direct quotes are the best way to go in most situations. They show a mastery of the given text and an ability to choose the best quote for your particular argument.

The following paragraphs show how all three of these methods can interrelate within the idea of the quote sandwich. Please note that this is not an example of how many quotes you are expected to use per paragraph—this is an example of the correct punctuation and format of quotations that may appear on a page (NB that the indention of the block quote appears odd because of the html. MLA block quotes are ALWAYS one inch from the left hand margin. Do not also indent block quotes from the right hand margin):

Madeline Levine’s “Media and the Adolescent” is missing a word in its title. Although Levine’s title and thesis clearly state that this is a discussion about the “role of media and their effects on adolescents,” her true focus is really on male teenagers (357). Providing very little information on female adolescents, this essay would be better entitled “Media and the Male Adolescent.”
Levine’s attempt at including teenage girls in her study is rather poor. She does discuss My So-Called Life on two separate occasions while suggesting that the show’s portrayal of its central character as a virgin is the sort of encouragement adolescents need (360). However, the remainder of the essay focuses primarily on adolescent males. As Levine notices, the male viewers do not receive the sort of educational experience they need from most forms of media entertainment:

Boys desperately need a wider range of male models, some of whom incorporate the more traditional female values of cooperation and sensitivity. It would be of great benefit for adolescent boys to see male characters who are attractive without being violent. Unfortunately male characters who are presented as gentle are frequently also portrayed as defective or crazy as in Edward Scissorhands or Don Juan Demarco. (363)

Although Levine does admit that not all of the “social ills” of American youths are caused by the media, she views the representation of male role models as a link in the chain of adolescent male violence (357). Levine charges her parental readers to do something about this phenomenon: “At the very least, we must work to ensure that our teenage boys understand that such attitudes and behavior are reprehensible” (364). Whether or not Levine is truly concerned about female adolescents remains a mystery.

Works Cited Page
A works cited page provides an alphabetized list of all the texts an essay uses in its argument. It should be the last page of your paper and have a centered title of “Work Cited” or “Works Cited” depending on how many texts you are citing (if only one text, the former; if two or more, the latter). See the Bedford Handbook Online for a specific example of the “Works Cited” page format. Below I have included the most basic formats for citing sources. Note that all of the main titles are either italicized or underlined and that the first line of each entry is lined up with the left-hand margin. Every following line of the entry must be indented half an inch (I emphasize that here because I can't necessarily show that in the webpage below....see the online handbook above for people who can actually generate a webpage that looks correct.) The format for Levine’s essay appears below under the heading “Work in an Anthology”:

Basic Book Format
Author’s name. Title. Location of publication: Publisher, Year published.
Woods, Jim. The Women’s Workplace: American Employment and Gender in the Next Millennium. New York: Penguin, 2000.
Work in an Anthology
Author’s name. “Title of Essay.” Title of Anthology. Editor(s). Edition. Location of publication: Publisher, Year published.
Levine, Madeline. “Media and the Adolescent.” The Blair Reader. Ed. Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 1999. 357-365.

Journals—include as much information they give you
Author’s name. “Article’s title.” Journal title Volume.issue (Month Year): Page numbers.
Little, Sarah. “The Benefits of Single Sex Schooling on Women’s Psychological Development.” Psychology Quarterly 34.2 (Spring 1999): 113-125.

Online Periodicals (includes LexisNexis and Expanded Academic)
Author’s name. “Article’s title.” Journal title Vol.issue (Month Year): Page numbers. Date of access. <shortened web address>
Fort, Jennifer. “The Politics of Dance: Gender in the Performance Arts.” Performative Discourse 13.1 (Jan 1998): 36+. 14 April 2000. <http://web.lexis-nexis.com>
Impalli, Carla. “Giving Women a Sporting Chance: Title IX and Women’s Collegiate Athletics.” Gender and Athletics 4 (1999): 29-38. 13 April 2000 <http://web7.infotrac.galegroup.com>•
Web sites (includes personal or professional sites)
Author's name (if known). Title of Site. Name of Editors. Date of publication or most recent update. Name of Sponsers. Date of access. <shortened web address>

Harbottle, Kainoa. Magical Arts: Magic and the Unknown in Postmodern Culture. September 13, 2003. University of Delaware. September 15, 2003 <http://www.english.udel.edu/kharbot/engl110f03.html>

For all other formats and questions, please consult The Bedford Handbook Online, and its listing of MLA formats.

Also check out the Bedford's Sample Paper to get an idea of what the overall paper should look like.

*Be aware that you do not need to cite common knowledge: material that you find again and again as you do your research or your readings. Diana Hacker in her Rules for Writers (New York: St. Martin’s P, 1988) spells out the policy:
As a rule, when you have seen certain facts repeatedly in your reading, you don’t need to cite them. On the other hand, when they have appeared in only one or two sources or when they are controversial, you should cite them. If a topic is new to you and you are not sure what is considered common knowledge or what facts are a matter of controversy, ask someone with expertise. When in doubt, cite the source. (388-89)
Always protect yourself. If you are not certain about whether or not the information you’re using is common knowledge, cite it!