Writing Papers for Me

 DOCUMENTING SOURCES

Choosing a format: You need to use

1. either Parenthetical Citation, or Footnotes, or Endnotes

2. PLUS Works Cited and/or Bibliography (also sometimes called References)

It's not an either/or game. You need something within the text (parenthetical citation, endnotes, footnotes). In addition, you need to pair that to something after the text (Work Cited, Bibliography, References). Your choice of which pair to use is dependent on the discipline for which you are writing.

Unless your professor, publisher, or editor specifies a format, the choice of whether to use parenthetical citation, footnotes or endnotes is entirely arbitrary. Increasingly, people are using parenthetical citation and a Works Cited page, and MLA is currently using that as the default.

Want to make footnotes or endnotes. Here's a good site to check form with: MLA Footnoting: http://dept.dawsoncollege.qc.ca/style sheet/mla-foot.htm

Unless a professor, publisher, or editor specifies, the choice of whether to use parenthetical citation within the text, footnotes, or endnotes is entirely up to you.

Dangers:

1. If you do not make each utilized source clear within each paragraph, you leave yourself open to plagiarism or cheating charges.
2. In Microsoft Word, the Endnotes really try to go at the end of the document, which would put them after the Works Cited page. Sometimes, it's easier to use footnotes so as not to have to fuss with this nonsense at the very last minute.

In general, use BOTH a Works Cited page and a Bibliography if you have some materials you want your reader to know about that you did not actively use in the paper itself. In MLA format, both are listed in alphabetical order, not the order in which the materials were cited in the paper.

Choosing Documentation Style

When incorporating sources in a paper, you must use a standard citation format to identify the sources and credit their author. There are a number of documentation styles (APA, MLA, Chicago, to name a few).  This page illustrates basics of MLA style, a system used for documentation in humanities related fields.  It includes information on documenting traditional and internet sources as well as offers a sample works cited page for a variety of source types.  This is not a comprehensive source for the MLA documentation system.  Consult the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th. ed. (2003) for more detailed information about citing your sources. 

Many linguistics papers use APA style, and that's fine with me so long as you are consistent. MLA underlines titles where I italicize to avoid confusion on the web. Note that earlier formats used < > around web addresses, and the -03 version eliminates that because it caused web problems. See The Writing Center for a good quick site when you have questions.

Here are some resources I think well of:

APA Style.org: Electronic References. Shows how to cite email communications, Web sites, specific documents on a Web site, articles and abstracts from electronic databases

Electronic Media and URLs

Citations in Text of Electronic Material

Electronic Media Spelling Guide O.K., maybe this is a no-brainer,but if you've ever tried to decide whether or not to capitalize (is it email, E-Mail, or Email; web or Web), this seems helpful.

Basic Columbia Guide to Online Style. Columbia Online Style: MLA-Style Citations of Electronic Sources (Endorsed by the Alliance for Computers & Writing). Very clear and easy to read. Unfortunately it is not itself available as an online resource.

Citing Cyberspace - James D. Lester, Addison-Wesley, 2000.
The English Pages Online Citation Guides. One of the few online citation guides that covers the Chicago Style and the CBE (Council of Biology Editors) Numbering Style. Useful guide which shows how to use Author-Date Styles (APA ) and Humanities Styles (MLA). Includes examples of parenthetic (In-Text) citations, and preparing the list of works cited.

Citing Sources. (from Duke University Library) offers comparison citation tables with examples from APA, Chicago, MLA and Turabian for both print and electronic works (Journal & Newspaper Articles from Databases, and Web sites).

Government Document Citation Guides. A list of guides to citing government documents. Gathered by Lauinger Library's Government Documents & Microform department.

How to Cite Electronic Resources. The Library of Congress. This is actually a wonderful site, though I couldn't find a date published on it. It compares MLA style with Chicago Citation Format for various resources, including such things as cartoons, and illustrations, maps, sound recordings, presentations, and photographs that we often don't find exampled in print resources.

MLA Bibliographic Form: Georgetown University Library's Guide to Citing Sources

Sources: Their Use and Acknowledgement. In addition to examples of how to cite web pages, articles, books, etc., this Dartmouth College page also provides background on the purpose of citations and how to avoid plagiarism.

Turabian Bibliographic Form: Footnote/Endnote Style: Georgetown University Library's Guide to Citing Sources.

Turabian Bibliographic Form: Parenthetical Reference: Georgetown University Library's Guide to Citing Sources.

2002; Last revised July 14, 2008
Dr. Bonnie Duncan
bduncan@millersville.edu
1-717-871-2080
English Department
Millersville University
Millersville, PA 17551

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