1. Bibliothèque Saint-Jean March 2012
MLA citation style
Bibliothèque Saint-Jean
March 2012

2. New, 7th edition

3. Course plan What is MLA documentation style
Academic integrity (chapter 2)
Format of the research paper (chapter 4)
Documentation: Citing sources in the text (chapter 6)
Documentation: Preparing the list of
Works Cited (chapter 5)

4. MLA citation style
A set of agreed-on rules or conventions for formatting written work in the humanities
Developed by the Modern Language Association (MLA), appearing first in 1951
One of many scholarly documentation styles
(a.k.a. citation style)
The documentation style you have been asked to use
by your professor
Preferences regarding documentation style will be
determined by each course instructor; be sure to check!
Other styles: APA, Chicago, Harvard, Turabian, AMA, ACS.

5. Academic integrity Intentional and unintentional plagiarism
Avoiding plagiarism and cyber-plagiarism (U of A)
How to avoid plagiarism:
Don’t wait until the last minute!
Take careful notes while you are reading
When in doubt, cite !
Please visit the library website for more information on plagiarism!

6. When is documentation needed?
Paraphrasing
Directs quotations
Use of phrases or words coined by someone else
Expressions / proverbs
Well known quotations
Common knowledge
Content of a novel/play/story

7. Paraphrasing

9. Format of the research paper (chapter 4)
Basic guidelines :
Standard, easily readable typeface and type size
(e.g. Times Roman, 12 points)
Leave a one-inch margin around the text
Double space throughout the paper—including the heading, title and works cited
Do not underline, italicize, or bold the title of your paper
Print on one side of the paper only

10. Format of the research paper (chapter 4)
Basic Guidelines (cont’d):
MLA: Do not justify the lines of your paper at the right hand margin
ANGL instructors: This is okay to do
MLA: Do not include a title page
ANGL instructors: A title page is usually required
When in doubt, ask your instructor!

11. Format of the research paper (chapter 4)
Begin the Works Cited on a new,
numbered page
Double space throughout
Indent the second and subsequent lines of
each individual citation.

12. Format of the research paper

13. Format of the research paper
Your list of Works Cited has to be in alphabetical order !

14. Documentation : in text citations (chapter 6)
(a.k.a. parenthetical references)
Omit the publication dates in the parenthetical references
Do not use commas or “p.”
While quotations are common and often effective in research papers, use them selectively.
Quote only words, phrases, lines, and passages that are particularly interesting, vivid,
unusual, or apt, and keep all quotations as brief as possible.

15. Example – in text citation
(Family name of the cited author and page number)
(Gonthier 200)
Romanticism «took solid roots in Québec during the second half of 19th century» (Gonthier 200).

16. Example – in text citation
(cited page)
(200)
According to Gonthier, romanticism «took solid roots in Québec during the second half of 19th century» (200).

17. Documentation : in text citations (chapter 6)

18. Documentation : in text citations (chapter 6)
More than four lines (or 40 words) of text
in the quotation:
Elizabeth Bishop’s “In the Waiting Room” is
rich in evocative detail:
It was winter. It got dark
early. The waiting room
was full of grown-up people,
arctics and overcoats,
lamps and magazines. (6-10)
No quotation marks around the text

19. In text citations - exercise
Multiple works by the same author. Indicate which volume you are referring to by listing the number
Lewis suggests that the textbook teaches “precisely nothing” about what it purports to teach (Abolition of Man 5).

20. In text citations - exercise
Two different works
In Thomas Hardy’s novels there is a strong sense of the inevitability of character and environment in the working out of human destiny (Grimsditch 28; Abercrombie 40).

21. In text citations - exercise
Multiple authors of one
or collective work
Historically, literary criticism has been a much more retrograde activity than the imaginative writing it studies (Stephens et al. 224).

22. In text citations - exercise
Work listed by title
The Oxford Companion to English Literature notes that W. H. Mallock is best known as the author of The New Republic (489).

23. In text citations - exercise
Corporate author. When the author is a corporation or an organization, name the corporate author
The Canadian Women’s Indexing Group provides a retrospective index to 15 selected English and French-Canadian feminist periodicals (130).

24. Documentation: preparing the list of Works Cited (chapter 5)
Include all books, articles, websites, that you have cited in the body of your paper
Take the information from the title page (recto and verso) of the book
Alphabetize by author’s last name, letter by letter
MacDonald, George
McCullers, Carson
Identify type of the source (Print, Web, DVD).

25. Example – Works Cited Works Cited
Arbaoui, Hakim, et al. « Measuring ground deformability with static
charge». Canadian Geotechnical Journal 43.4 (2006) :
Academic Search Complete. Web. July
Berkes, Istvan. Everyday physics. 6e ed. Paris : Vuibert,
2006. Print.
Kamdem, Jean-Claude. « Personne, culture et droits en Afrique noire ».
Droit fondamentaux et spécifités culturelles. Éd. Henri
Pallard. Montréal : L’Harmattan, – 117. Print.

26. List of Works Cited – Exercise
1. Book with one author : The Big Book of Cats. Susan Feuer. Kansas City Andrew McMeel Publishing.
Feuer, Susan. The Big Book of Cats. Kansas
City: Andrew McMeel Publishing, 1998.
Print.

27. List of Works Cited – Exercise
2. Books with 2 or 3 authors :
Pédagogie théorique et critique. Presses universitaires de France e éd. Jean-Pierre Pourtois et Huguette Desmet. Paris.
Pourtois, Jean-Pierre et Huguette Desmet.
Pédagogie théorique et critique. 2e éd.
Paris : Presses universitaires, 2006.
Print.

28. List of Works Cited – Exercise
Multiple authors:
1 author:
Joubert, Jean-Louis.
2 authors:
Joubert, Jean-Louis, et Irena Turnau.
3 authors:
Joubert, Jean-Louis, Irena Turnau, et Anne Beaubien.
More then 3 authors:
Joubert, Jean-Louis, et al.

29. List of Works Cited – Exercise
Two books by the same author:
(a) Margaret Atwood. New York Doubleday. Alias Grace: A Novel.
(b) Margaret Atwood. The Robber Bride Doubleday. New York.
Atwood, Margaret. Alias Grace: A Novel.
New York: Doubleday, Print.
---. The Robber Bride. New York: Doubleday,
1993. Print.
Give the name in the 1st entry only; in place of the name type 3 hyphens followed by a period and the title

30. List of Works Cited – Example
An edited work :
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Ed. Barbara A.
Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York:
Washington Square-Pocket, Print.

31. List of Works Cited - Exercise
4. Translator. Margaret Sayers Peden. Daughter of Fortune. Isabel Allende. Harper. New York
Allende, Isabel. Daughter of Fortune. Trans.
Margaret Sayers Peden. New York: Harper,
2000. Print.

32. List of Works Cited – Example
A translation
Beowulf. Trans. E. Talbot Donaldson. Ed.
Nicholas Howe. New York: Norton, 2001.
Print.
Hildegard of Bingen. Selected Writings. Trans.
Mark Atherton. New York: Penguin, Print.

33. List of Works Cited – Exercise
5. Without an author:
A Book of boy’s stories. London. Blackie.
A Book of boy’s stories. London: Blackie,
1937. Print.

34. Documentation: preparing the list of Works Cited (chapter 5)
Article (print)
Trumpener, Katie. “Memories Carved in Granite: Great
War Memorials and Everyday Life.” PMLA 115
(2000): Print.

35. Documentation: preparing the list of Works Cited (chapter 5)
Reference book:
«Feudalism». Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate
Dictionary. 11th ed Print.
Dictionnaires, encyclopédies

36. Documentation: preparing the list of Works Cited (chapter 5)
Article (electronic format):
Arbaoui, Hakim, et al. «Measuring ground deformability
with static charge». Canadian Geotechnical Journal
43.4 (2006): ProQuest Science Journals.
Web. July

37. Documentation: preparing the list of Works Cited (chapter 5)
Web site – short article :
Author. Title of the article. Web site title. Date of
publication. Editor of web site (if available).
Type of source. Date of access.
Morin, Judith. « Nomenclature of plantes ». Le carnet
horticole et botanique du Jardin botanique de
Montréal. Jan Jardin botanique de
Montréal. Web. July

38. Documentation: preparing the list of Works Cited (chapter 5)
Entire Web site:
Title of the web site. Editor/author/organization. Date of
publication/update. Type of source. Date of access.
GlobalWarming.org. Cooler Heads Coalition,
Web. May

39. Documentation: preparing the list of Works Cited (chapter 5)
DVD (movie):
Title. Editor/author/writer. Director. Performers.
Distributor. Date of publication. Type of source.
Like Water for Chocolate. Screenplay by Laura Esquivel.
Dir. Alphonso Arau. Perf. Lumi Cavazos, Marco
Lombardi. Miramax, Film.

40. Documentation : Course notes
Course notes - student:
MLA does not impose any official rules
Cite your colleague or co disciple in your text, without using parentheses at the end of the sentence/phrase
Do not list it in your Works Cited list, but give enough information within your text
During his presentation on cognitive process
on October , Irwin Weiser said that « ...

41. Documentation : Course notes
Course notes distributed by your professor
(printed documents or PowerPoint presentations) :
MLA does not impose any official rules
It is recommended to include these notes in your Works Cited list

42. Documentation : Course notes
Professor’s name. "Title of document / presentation." Course notes. Title of course.
Department, University. Type of source. Date of
reception of course notes.
Mandin, Lucille. «Survol de littérature jeunesse de
langue française » Course notes. EDUM
302. Campus Saint- Jean, University of
Alberta. Print. Aug

43. Documentation : Course notes - example
Notes available on line (PDF, PowerPoint, Moodle) :
Professor's name. "Title of document." Course notes.
Date of distribution (or creation). Title of course.
Course Website. Department, University. Type de
source. Date of access.
Mandin, Lucille. «Survol de littérature jeunesse de langue
française. » Course notes. Jan EDUM
302. Course website. Campus Saint-Jean,
University of Alberta. Web. 5 mars 2008.

44. Documentation : Course notes
Today’s presentation source:
Russell, Toni, et al. “MLA Formatting and Style Guide”.
The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab.
November Web. 5 oct
Voici ma source !!!

45. Purdue Online Writing Lab MLA Citation Guide (Simon Fraser University)
Other resources
Purdue Online Writing Lab
MLA Citation Guide (Simon Fraser University)

46. Resources at the library

48. Remember Form is part of the content
The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers is available at the Library. LB 2369 G (Ref.)
This presentation is not a substitute for reading the MLA Handbook
This presentation will be available on the library website under « Cours de bibliothèque »
Help is available—please come and see us in the library

49. Questions? ;
(780)
In person at the service desk