When you use other people's information in your research paper, there are two things you will need to do in order to give those people credit for their work. You will need to make a works cited page that will list all of the sources you used to create your paper. And, you will need to cite these sources inside your paper. This way it is clear what article you are drawing information from in any given paragraph. The first thing you should do is create a bibliographical citation for each source you use. You will copy this citation onto an index card. You are then ready to insert this citation into your works cited page.
However, you will have to do a little something different for internal citations. When reading a paper, the reader does not want to see a very long citation next to a fact. Rather, the reader would want to see something brief that directs them to the long citation that they can view later. To include an intext citation you must add the author's name and the page number on which you found the information you used for your paper, in parentheses. You will put the citation after all information you borrow from another source. Look at the example paragraph below to see how you can include an intext citation within your writing.
Each year the beautiful tulip flower welcomes
the spring. To allow this wonder to highlight any garden
or plot of land one must begin planting the flower bulbs
in the fall. For example, you will want to plant your bulbs
in late October or early November. Choose a sunny, dry
place and plant the bulb six inches deep ("Planting
Tulips" 2). In addition to planting the bulbs early, you
should prepare the soil. For example, you can add
fertilizer to the soil to provide the flower with extra
nutrients. In addition, to keep the bulbs a little warmer
throughout the winter, apply a thin layer of mulch on top
of the soil. This will help you grow dazzling flowers that
will accent any home or garden (Walling 1).
Click here for more information on how to include an intext citation. This website will help you with tricky citations like when you have a source with no author.
Making a Works Cited Page
You will need to document all of the sources that you use for your paper. This is to ensure that you are giving the authors of the works you have gathered your information from, credit for their work. For each source you use, you will create a citation that will be listed on an index card and on a works cited page that will be included in your final paper. You can use the information below, as well as the web sites listed, to document all of your sources.
Before you get started on your works cited page, you will want to know the rules of works cited pages. It is expected that your works cited page will be formatted in alignment with these rules. So, here goes:
You must have a title for your works cited page, on the top center of your page. The title must be "Works Cited".
You will need to alphabetize every source you list on your "Works Cited" page. (For example, an article written by Samantha Barret will be listed before an article by Amanda Jones. If for some reason the source you are citing does not have an author, then you will alphabetize these entries by the first letter of the title of the web page.
There is a specific format in which your works cited must be listed. All sources must be written with a hanging indent. What's a hanging indent? Well, it looks like this.
Wilcox, Rhonda V. "Shifting Roles and Synthetic Women in Star Trek: The Next Generation." Studies in Popular Culture 13.2 (1991): 53-65.
How do I do that on my computer?
It’s easy. Type out your citation. Then use your mouse to highlight each individual citation. You will have to do this one at a time. Once you have highlighted the text, click on "format". From there, click on "paragraph". Then click on "hanging" in the indentation column where there is a drop down box that says “Special”.
That’s it!
MLA Citation Style: This web site provides you with all of the information you will need to cite your sources. It also has a color coded system that clearly shows you how to cite a variety of different print sources.
Check out these other links for citation help.
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