Tips on MLA Documentation Style by PC Librarian Michaela Willi Hooper

If you are a student of the humanities, you will likely be asked to use the MLA documentation style. These guidelines for formatting papers and crediting sources were established by the Modern Language Association, and are widely prescribed for both college papers and scholarly publications. As a student, you should consult the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (7^th edition)when writing in this style.

All documentation styles are somewhat arbitrary.  They are agreed-upon sets of rules that allow us to understand each other, just liked punctuation and spelling rules. Some scholars spend their careers debating what should and should not be included in a citation. Unless you desire to make this your life struggle, resisting citation styles is futile. Below are some tips and principles that might make MLA Style seem less burdensome.

• Start early. Don’t leave your Works Cited page until the last minute. Formatting your sources is a time-consuming, exacting process that adds credibility to your writing.
• Keep track of sources and page numbers as you go. You don’t want to be frantically searching for the name of an author or the page number for a quote at the last minute. Some people do better with visual examples (I know I do!). Take a look at the annotated MLA Example Undergraduate Paper at the Purdue OWL.
• Word processor defaults are generally appropriate. Use 1” margins, 12 pt. font, Times New Roman, double-spaced. You can use another standard serif font such as Cambria, but avoid decorative fonts such as Brush Script or Comic Sans. These can be difficult to read and lead to eye fatigue for your reader.
• Citations consist of two parts, an in-text citation within the body of your paper, and a more complete entry in the Works Cited page. The in-text citation generally consists of the author and the page number of the source (e.g., (Gomez 24)). Of course, there are exceptions to this. To find answers to these exceptions, see chapter 6 of the MLA Handbook, or this page of the Purdue OWL. Similarly, a standard MLA works cited entry contains certain predictable elements such as the author, title, date of publication, page numbers and medium of publication (e.g. web or print) in a prescribed order. A very helpful list of components is found on p. 136 of the MLA Handbook.

Because of the many different sources used in research papers (articles, books, images, podcasts, YouTube videos), citing is undeniably challenging.  But you are not alone.  Here are some people, pages, and programs that can help you.

§  There are copies of the MLA Handbook (7th ed.) available in both the reference and circulating collections at the Prescott College Library. It is also widely available through booksellers and your local library.

§  Guides on MLA Style are available from the Prescott College Library and the Purdue OWL at Purdue.
 
§  Use citation management software like RefWorks. Contact the library for the group code. If you want a less robust tool that simply formats your works cited entries, check out KnightCite from Calvin College. Be wary of online tools that are not affiliated with an educational institution. Many will lead you astray.

§  Contact a PC reference librarian or a writing coach as you begin work on a documented paper so that you can record the information you need from your sources at the outset. 

Announcing the 2013 Suzanne Tito Writing Contest

2013 Suzanne Tito Contest in Fiction, Creative Non-fiction & Poetry 

This contest is open to all undergraduate students currently enrolled (Fall 2012) at Prescott College. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners receive cash prizes in each category. First place winners are also published in Alligator Juniper, the national literary magazine.

Submission Guidelines

• Place your submission for each category in a separate 9x12 envelope and indicate the category clearly on the outside of the envelope (F, NF, or P).

• Your name SHOULD NOT appear on the manuscript. Instead, enclose in each envelope an index card with your full name, address, phone, and email address. Then list the titles of the work(s) being submitted.

• Poets may enter up to five poems; fiction and creative non-fiction writers may enter two manuscripts per category, totaling no more than 30 double-spaced pages per category.

• Drop off submissions at the Juniper Building, 308 Grove Ave or

• Send to: Alligator Juniper, Prescott College, 220 Grove Avenue, Prescott, AZ 86301

Postmark/Hand-Delivered Deadline: Friday, December 14^th, 5 pm.

APA Black & White Blues

Very few people enjoy compiling their list of references according to the conventions set down in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, known simply as the 'APA manual'. Writing a well researched paper is a great way to learn deeply, but following strict documentation rules...? That task, often left to the last minute, gets a lot of students, graduate and undergraduate, singing the blues.

Frustrated students make all kinds of claims about APA documentation style. That the guidelines found in print and web handbooks all say different things, making it impossible to know, let alone adhere to, APA rules. That the APA manual is out of date so there's no need to follow it, really. That the APA manual is too expensive, which means that students who can't afford it are plain out of luck.

More often than not, the biggest gripe students have--and it's the only one that isn't easily refuted--is that APA rules seem arbitrary and are especially hard to follow when it comes to citing electronic sources, today's norm for college students.

Like heartbreak and taxes, APA documentation style is here to stay. The APA manual squeezes all the traditional practices and patterns of documentation style used by researchers in the social sciences into its 275-odd pages of final-say-so to forestall debate, not to encourage it. Sure, the punctuation of reference entries is arbitrary but so is driving on the right side of the road or using the sound sequence [kætʰ] for 'domesticated feline' in English. Shared conventions have their uses even while as individuals we might want to defy them.

Ultimately, it is more efficient to apply the rules in all their byzantine glory and get on to the next writing task. You don't so much have to 'learn APA'--although this will happen if you write a lot of documented essays--as learn to adjust your writing process and schedule to include plenty of time for formatting references and making citations match the references. Here are the very best, up-to-date, free or nearly so resources to keep on hand while writing a paper or thesis with APA-style documentation:

è Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th ed. Available in paperback for $25.00 or less. Buy a used copy or find one in the reference section of your local library. Chapters 6 & 7 focus on crediting sources through in-text citations and the reference list. 

è Use citation software such as RefWorks to guide you to collect, organize, and punctuate your references as you select them. Ask a PC librarian how to get a free RefWorks account for all your research-based writing.

è Bookmark reliable websites and articles so you can find them easily when you start your research. We recommend the Purdue OWL, PC Library Resources, and Bedford/St. Martin's Research and Documentation Online.

Two other bits of advice. As you are finalizing your references list, always check each entry one at a time, getting each one correct before moving onto the next. This means identifying what type of source you have (book, article, website, etc.) and checking your entry against the samples for that type of source in the APA manual or guide. Approximations aren't good enough because the APA rules do speak to every possible circumstance, if you look hard enough.

Also, since most students find their sources electronically, many cling to the belief that providing a url is all that is required in a citation or reference entry. Instead, read Sections 6.31-6.32 (pp. 187-192) of the APA manual on electronic sources before you start saving source information. Take particular note of this statement on electronic sources on p. 187:

"In general, we recommend that you include the same elements, in the same order, as you would for a reference to a fixed-media source..."

There's no escaping it: APA traditions are black and white and 'read' all over. If you are required to use APA documentation style, the tools are available to you to get the job done right.