MLA Resources for Your Research Paper

Post date: Dec 15, 2018 5:31:33 PM

As we have discussed in class, borrowed information--the core of a research paper--must be properly cited to avoided plagiarism. While we have gone over this in class several times this semester, here are some resources to help you cite your sources properly.

Citing Web Sources in MLA Style: http://www.easybib.com/guides/citation-guides/mla-format/how-to-cite-a-website-mla/ There is a lot of text here, but what you really need to remember is that citing involves two steps: 1) A citation in the actual text of the paper and 2) a full citation of the source on a Works Cited page. These are what you were creating with EasyBib. There should be a clear match between the first element of the citation on the Works Cited page AND the in-text citation.

The alternative to citing sources in parentheses is to include it in your lead-in to the quoted, paraphrased, or summarized information.

Formatting a paper in MLA Style:

Here is what the first page of a paper in MLA style should look like:

Notice these things:

• The page has one-inch margins (probably the default setting for your software) all around.

• The paper uses a 12-point font, usually Times New Roman. It's not very exciting, but it's easily read.

• The heading starts at the top, 1" down.

• The heading is ONLY on the first page.

• The heading has four elements: student's name, instructor's name, class name, and date.

• The date is formatted like this: 15 December 2018. There are NO commas.

• The title is centered with no extra spaces above or below it.

• A page number and last name have been inserted at the top using the header/page number feature.