You Write It, You Cite it!

MLA Style

In-Text Citations:

All information taken from an outside source must be accompanied by an in-text citation!!!

Typically, there are 2 parts to an MLA in-text citation: (Author last name, page #).
st
Only use the 1 part of the citation to create the in-text with page # (if there is one). This can only be
the author’s last name OR the title. It will look like this:

With an author’s name = (Payne 97).

No author’s name = (“Libraries are the best”97).

No page number = (Payne).

The in-text citation goes after the information in your paper- could be at the end of the sentence or a
group of sentences. You use a new in-text citation every time you switch sources for information.

Remember…not every sentence will have an in-text citation (that is very poor writing!). Much of your
paper will come from your own analysis, extension, connections, explanation, etc. Only facts taken from
a source need an in-text citation!

When using Son of Citation:

1. Click the citation format you need (MLA)and then the type of resource you wish to cite (from the list on
the left hand side of the page- for example, to cite a website, click on "Web Document"),

2. Complete the Web form that appears with information from your source. You need to look very, very
carefully for the correct information! Here are a few tips:

“Author or Editor Name”- Most websites do not have an “Authors” name. If none, leave it blank- but do
look for it.
“Title of Web Page”- Web page is the specific information you are looking at- the article name.
“Title of the Web Site”- This is the name of the entire website. It is NOT an address!!!!
“Date Last Published or Revised”- You may only find a year. Use the most recent year. This is usually
found at the very bottom of the page. If there isn’t one, leave it blank.
“Publishing Organization”- This if WHO is responsible for the information. Sometimes this is the same
as the website title, but sometimes it is different. Again, look at the bottom near the copyright info to see
which group or organization put the information there.
“Date Retrieved”- Is automatically filled in.
“URL (optional)”- When using a website, we say NOT optional!!! Copy and paste the website address
into the URL box.

3. Click Submit to generate standard citation. YOU MUST CHECK THE CITATION FOR ACCURACY.
SOMETIMES SON OF CITATION IS NOT CORRECT AND YOU MUST FIX THE CITATIONS.

Remember, you must copy and paste special (formatted text) the citation into a Word document.
A Correctly Formatted Works Cited should…
(follow these directions like a checklist BEFORE turning in your Works Cited)

A Correctly Formatted Works Cited should (use this as a checklist)…

_____1. Check your margins!!! Make sure the Ruler is showing on your page so you can see the right/left
and top/bottom margins. 1 inch all around!

_____2. Have the words Works Cited centered at the top of the page (do not center the actual
citations…just the heading Works Cited).

_____3. ALL type (even Works Cited) should be 12 point, Times New Roman. When copying the citation
from Son of Citation, go to the Word document and use the PASTE SPECIAL function.

_____4. Be in alphabetical order by the first word of the entry. To move citations around on the page,
highlight the citation and click and drag it into the correct position. Numbers come first when putting things
in alphabetical order and you should ignore the articles “A,” “An,” and “The.”

_____5. Indent all lines after the first line of each entry.

To tab the second line, put the cursor at the beginning of the line and backspace one time, then
hit enter once, then tab.
Then tab all other lines below it in that same entry.

_____6. Capitalize the first letter of titles, pages and authors.

_____7. Double-space the page (select all text, go the Paragraph settings, and change line spacing to
double) ***Be sure to remove extra spacing between citations!

_____8. Remove all hyperlinks. There shouldn't be any blue, underlined links. Put < >. around the link,
highlight the link and right click- select "Remove hyperlink" to get rid of it.

_____9. There should not be any bullets, pictures, borders, etc. on the page.

_____10. Follow teacher instruction for header and page numbers (double check the font of the header and be
sure it is 12 pt. Times New Roman).

EXAMPLE

Works Cited

Bonne, Jon. “10 Food That Make America Great.” Today. Msnbc.com, 08 Jul 2005. Web.

16 Sep 2010. <http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/8392312>.

“Popular US Sports.” USA Tourist.com. USA Tourist.com, 2010. Web. 16 Sep 2010.

<http://www.usatourist.com/english/culture/sports/sports-main.html>.