Sources are cited for two reasons:
to tell readers where your information comes from —so that they can assess its reliability and, if interested, find and read the original source
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to give credit to the writers from whom you have borrowed words and ideas
When you use exact language from a source, you need to show that it is a quotation.
Quotation marks for direct quotations: P5-a
You must cite anything you borrow from a source, including direct quotations; statistics and other specific facts; visuals such as cartoons, graphs, and diagrams; and any ideas you present in a summary or paraphrase.
The only exception is common knowledge —information your readers could easily find in any number of general sources. For example, most encyclopedias will tell readers that Alfred Hitchcock directed Notorious in 1946 and that Emily Dickinson published only a handful of her many poems during her lifetime.
As a rule, when you have seen information repeatedly in your reading, you don’t need to cite it. However, when information has appeared in only one or two sources, when it is highly specific (as with statistics), or when it is controversial, you should cite the source. If a topic is new to you and you are not sure what is considered common knowledge or what is controversial, ask your instructor or someone else with expertise. When in doubt, cite the source.
The Modern Language Association recommends a system of in-text citations. Here, briefly, is how the MLA citation system usually works:
The source is introduced by a signal phrase that names its author.
The material being cited is followed by a page number in parentheses.
At the end of the paper, a list of works cited (arranged alphabetically by authors’ last names) gives complete publication information about the source.
in-text citation
Legal scholar Jay Kesan points out that the law holds employers liable for employees’ actions such as violations of copyright laws, the distribution of offensive or graphic sexual material, and illegal disclosure of confidential information (312).
entry in the list of works cited
Kesan, Jay P. “Cyber-Working or Cyber-Shirking? A First Principles Examination of Electronic Privacy in the Workplace.” Florida Law Review 54.2 (2002): 289-332. Print.
This basic MLA format varies for different types of sources. For a detailed discussion of other models, see MLA-4.
PRACTICE hackerhandbooks.com/writersref
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