Understanding the MLA & APA. Citation styles

1.

MLA & APA Citation Styles
urdue Online Writing Lab & the MLA & APA style manuals

2.

What is MLA & APA?
All
college papers require you to document your sources
Watch
Sets
out for plagiarism!
of rules that dictate how your papers should look & h

3.

What is MLA & APA?
MLA = Modern Language Association
- English and other humanities courses
APA = American Psychological Association
- Psychology, sociology, education

4.

nformation: Both Styles
Name,
course information
Header
Properly formatted text
In-text citations
Bibliographic citations at end (works cited or

5.

Basic MLA Formatting
Double-spaced
1”
margins
Heading
Header

6.

Documenting Sources
n Your Text
Two
ways:
Parenthetical
or in-text citations
Works Cited (MLA) page
reference sources!

7.

Parenthetical Citations
Author-page
Period
One
method
goes after the parentheses
space between the author’s last name a

8.

Parenthetical Citations (cont.)
One
author’s name in a parenthetical citation
Two
or three authors’ names “ ”
(Day
(Day
More
(Day
45).
and Martin 45).
than three authors’ names “ ”
et al. 45).

9.

ed
Appears
at the end of the essay
Every source in your Works Cited must be cited in the t
Separate page
Works cited page title centered
No indent on first line of each citation
Works cited indents on every subsequent line (hanging
Double-spaced
Alphabetized!

10.

Works Cited: Basic Guidelines
One
author: last name, first name.
More than one: last name, first name, first & last name
No known author: alphabetize by title.
Capitalize all main words in titles.
Italicize books, journals, magazines, newspapers, web

11.

Basic Guidelines (cont.)
Quotation
marks around titles within larger works
Saving characters: 201-04, instead of 201-204
No URL necessary with website or online database cita
Include dates of access for online materials.

12.

Standard Formulas for Common Source Ty
Book
(one author)
Book
(two or more authors)
Day,
Day,
Sam. Teaching in the English Classroom. Chicago: Pe
Sam, and Ed Davis. Elementary Rhetoric. Chicago: P
Newspaper
Day,
articles
Sam. “Learning to Love Commas.” New York Times 9

13.

Standard Formulas for Common S
Online
Day,
newspaper or magazine articles:
Sam. “Learning to Love Commas.” New York Times O
Webpages:
Day,
Sam. “Understanding Commas.” English Resources f

14.

Standard Formulas for Common S
Article
from a database:
Expert
interview:
Day,
Day,
Sam. “Sentences in Harry Potter.” Rhetoric Today 20.
Sam. Personal interview. 9 Apr. 2012.

15.

Basic APA Formatting
Double-spaced
12
pt. Times New Roman
1” margins
Page header/running head
Title page
Abstract

16.

Parenthetical Citations
Author-year
method
With signal phrase:
Research by S.L. Day (2012) suggests…
No signal phrase, citation at end:
(Day, 2012).
Notice the comma between author & year.

17.

cal Citations (cont.)
One
author’s name in a parenthetical citation:
(Day, 2012).
Two authors’ names:
(Day & Martin, 2012).
Three — five authors’ names:
(Day, Martin, Rainey, & Davenport, 2012). Then—(Day e
Six or more names:
(Day et al., 2012).

18.

es
Appears
at the end of the essay
Every source in your reference list must be cited in the
Separate page
Works cited page title centered
No indent on first line of each citation
Works cited indents on every subsequent line (hanging
Double-spaced
Alphabetized!

19.

References:
asic Guidelines
One
author: last name, initials.
More than one: last name, initials, & last name, initia
No known author: alphabetize by title.
Capitalize only the first letter of the first word of a titl

20.

References:
uidelines (cont.)
Capitalize
Italicize
Do
all major words in titles of journals.
titles of longer works such as books and journa
not italicize, underline, or put quotes around the tit

21.

ces: Basic Guidelines
One
author: Last, F. M.
Two authors: Last, F. M., & Last, F. M.
Three to six: Last, F. M., Last, F. M., Last, F. M., & Last, F.
More than six: Last, F. M., Last, F. M., Last, F. M., Last, F.
Organization as Author: Organization Name.
No known author: Title of work.

22.

Common Source Types (APA)
Book
(one author)
Book
(two or more authors)
Day,
S. L. (2012). Teaching in the English classroom. Chica
Day,
S. L., & Davis, E. (2012). Elementary rhetoric. Chicago
Day,
S. L. (2012, April 9). Learning to love commas. New Yo
Newspaper
articles

23.

mmon Source Types (APA) (cont.)
Online
Day,
newspaper or magazine articles:
S. L. (2012, April 9). Learning to love commas. Gramma
Non-periodical
Day,
Websites:
S. L. (2012, April 9). English resources for students. Retrie

24.

ommon Source Types (APA) (cont.)
Article
from a database:
Expert
interview:
Day,
Do
S. L. (2012). Sentences in motion. Rhetoric Today, 20(3)
not include this in the reference list. Only cite it in the ma
Sam Day (personal communication, April 18, 2011) informed th

25.

“I’m still stumped on how to do cita
References tab in MS Word
Database Citation Tool
Purdue OWL
You can always ask for help, too!