Documentation Skills

Study Skill 9.5 Documentation Skills

Introduction

[Standing in a classroom hallway that shows the doors to several classrooms.] Narrator: We have talked about why academic integrity is important and how to protect it by avoiding plagiarism. That doesn’t mean that you never can use another person’s work in your assignments. You just need to know how to properly cite your sources. [Narrator looking into one classroom. A group of students is working, and one student is thinking/saying:] Student 1: I totally forgot about the Science report that’s due tomorrow. I’d better make some time this afternoon to work on it. I read a good article about this topic that I can quote and cite in my report to support the ideas I have. [Narrator looking into another classroom. A group of students is working, and one student is thinking/saying:] Student 2: I have no idea how to analyze the figurative language in this poem. My instructor said to use the book as a resource if we created a Works Cited page. I’ll ask him to explain the assignment again before I start working. [Narrator looking into another classroom. A group of students is working, and one student is thinking/saying:] Student 3: I have soccer practice after school every day this week and don’t have time to finish this history project. I’ll ask my instructor if I can have some extra time. If she says no, then I’ll do the best I can with this assignment and remember to plan ahead next time. [Narrator looking into another classroom. A group of students is working, and one student is thinking/saying:] Student 4: I am really interested in the topics in my marketing class. On the last assignment, I was tempted to start researching ideas on the internet right away. Instead, I jotted down my own ideas first. Then, I looked for research to support my ideas, took notes, and cited where I found the information to include in my paper. [Narrator back out in the hallway.] Narrator: What you have to say matters. One of the main skills you can learn right now is how to become a critical thinker and communicate your ideas to others. Sometimes, that means using research to support what you want to communicate.  

In this module, we’ll show how to document sources you use to support your own ideas and give others credit for their work, too.

Think about it

Take this short quiz to see how familiar you are with the terms we use when documenting sources.

Learn about it

In Part 3 of our Academic Integrity module, you saw these five tips for avoiding plagiarism.

You also read in part 4 that when you paraphrase or quote material, you must use in-text citations. Let’s focus on Tip #4—Using in-text citations and creating Works Cited pages.

When you communicate your ideas, your goal is to be authentic and thoughtful. You want to share your own ideas in a way that others can understand. Sometimes, you do that by explaining, comparing and contrasting, developing arguments, and describing something based on only your experiences and opinions.

Other times, you research what others have written or said to support your ideas. Using in-text citations and a Works Cited page shows others that you trust your ideas, have done work to support them through research, and have given others credit for their work. These tools help you protect your academic integrity.

MLA and APA Documentation Styles

Let’s start with the two main ways we cite sources. There are two styles of documentation you will see most often.  

  • APA (used by the American Psychological Association)—used in Sciences, Social Sciences, and Education
  • MLA (used by the Modern Language Association)—used in English and other language fields and the Humanities

This section shows some of the similarities and differences between APA and MLA.

This chart provides a side-by-side comparison of both documentation styles for easy reference.

MLA

APA

Modern Language Association (formerly as Modern Literature Association)

American Psychological Association

Used in Humanities and Language fields

Used in Social Sciences, Science, and Education fields

Citations are required

Citations are required

Double-spaced, including citation page

Double-spaced, including citation page

Parenthetical citations in the text

Parenthetical citations in the text

Parenthetical citations include the author’s name and page number where the information was found in the text

Parenthetical citations include the author’s name and date of publication of the text where the information was found

  • Emphasizes the date of the source to promote the most recent information.

Works Cited list at the end of the document

  • On a separate sheet of paper
  • Double spaced
  • First names are spelled out
  • Titles of articles and publications are capitalized - all words begin with capital letters except smaller words such as prepositions in the middle of a title

References list at the end of the document

  • On a separate sheet of paper
  • Double spaced
  • Initials are used for first names
  • Date of publication is second element
  • Capitalization varies depending on the size of the source so always check this before submitting

Ultimate resource on MLA 

MLA Formatting - Purdue OWL Links to an external site.

 (Links to an external site.) Links to an external site.

Ultimate resource on APA 

APA Formatting - Purdue OWL Links to an external site.

 

In-Text Citations

In-text citations are notes that you make in the paragraphs you write. These notes tell readers where you found the information. An in-text citation is located at the end of the paraphrase or quote.  It contains the author's last name and the page number where you found the information you are paraphrasing or quoting.  Remember, it is preferred that you paraphrase rather than quote.  Here are a few things to remember. 

  • If the author’s name is in the sentence, you do not need to include it in the citation.  
  • The period goes AFTER the citation. 
  • The citation is ALWAYS at the end of the sentence. 

Examples

Original Source

“Students frequently overuse direct quotation in taking notes, and as a result they overuse quotations in the final paper. Probably only about 30% of your final paper should appear as directly quoted matter. Therefore, you should strive to limit the amount of exact transcribing of source materials while taking notes.”  Lester, J. Writing Research Papers. 2nd Ed. (1976): 46-47

MLA Example Paraphrase and In-Text Citation 1

In research papers students often quote excessively, failing to keep quoted material down to one-third or less. Since the problem usually originates during note-taking, it is essential to minimize recording exact words (Lester 46-47).

MLA Example Paraphrase and In-Text Citation 2

Students should take just a few notes in direct quotes from sources to help minimize the amount of quoted material in a research paper (Lester 46-47).

Works Cited page

In-text citations help us see what information was found in other sources. You also need a way for people to find those sources. A Works Cited page is a list of all the sources you use in your paper. 

You may use information from a book, magazine, newspaper, encyclopedia, interview, or online source. The possibilities are almost endless, but you need similar information from each one to properly cite your sources:

  • Author and other contributors
  • Title of source
  • Title of container (larger collection) — if applicable
  • Publisher
  • Date of publication
  • Page number(s)

 Rules for Works Cited pages

  • Create your Works Cited page on a separate (the last) page of your document.
  • Write Works Cited centered at the top. Do not italicize the words or put them in quotation marks.
  • Underneath the title, create an entry for each source you used.
  • Put your sources in alphabetical order by author (if available) or title (if author is not available).
  • Double-space each entry and do not skip lines between entries.
  • For each citation, use a 0.5 cm hanging indention for every line after the first one. 
    • Word Docs: Highlight the citation. Right-click on it and choose “paragraph.” Under “indentation” look for “special.” Then, select “hanging.” You can also do a web search for directions on “how to create hanging indention.”
    • Google Docs: Follow the instructions to create hanging indention at Instructional Tech Talk (https://instructionaltechtalk.com/create-hanging-indent-google-docs/). 

The following chart lists three types of citations. You can find these and more on Purdue’s OWL Links to an external site..

Book with One Author

Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Publication Date.

Lowry, Lois. The Giver. New York: Laurel Leaf, 1993.

Periodicals (magazines, newspapers)

Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Periodical, Day Month Year, pages.

Poniewozik, James. "TV Makes a Too-Close Call." Time, 20 Nov. 2000, pp. 70-71.

Page on a Website

For an individual page on a Web site, list the author or alias if known, followed by the information covered above for entire Web sites. If the publisher is the same as the website name, only list it once.

Lundman, Susan. "How to Make Vegetarian Chili." eHow, www.ehow.com/how_10727_make-vegetarian-chili.html. Accessed 6 July 2015.

The sample shows what a complete Works Cited page should look like, including alphabetization, full source citations, and formatting:

Works Cited

Lowry, Lois. The Giver. New York: Laurel Leaf, 1993.

Lundman, Susan. "How to Make Vegetarian Chili." eHow, www.ehow.com/how_10727_make-vegetarian-chili.html. Accessed 6 July 2015.

Poniewozik, James. "TV Makes a Too-Close Call." Time, 20 Nov. 2000, pp. 70-71.

 

 

Which Style To Use

Mizzou Academy assignments require MLA-style citations. In other contexts, always check with your teacher about which style is preferred.

Regardless of which style is used, it is important to remain consistent.  You cannot switch from one style to another in the same paper. Always check the assignment requirements or ask your teacher if you are unsure which documentation style should be used.   

Dig Deeper

Directions: Take this short quiz to see how much you remember about in-text citations.

Apply it

Think about the last time you researched information for an assignment or other writing project. With that in mind, look at the image, below. Should you have cited the information? 

 should I cite this 

Source: Purdue OWL Links to an external site.

Keep this image handy to help you know when to give credit to others for their ideas, speech, and writing. When you need to use in-text citations and Works Cited pages, you can come back to this module for help creating your source citations.

Resources

The following videos will give you more tips and information about source citations.

The Online Writing Lab (OWL) by Purdue University has several strategies to help you properly cite and format your sources. 

You can see examples of citations and Works Cited entries at  MLA Basics of MLA Citation Links to an external site.

Scribbr.com and CitationMachine.com are automatic citation generators. (Be sure to check the final result to be sure the format is correct.)

These videos give detailed instructions for citing and formatting sources. 

Leads you step-by-step to create MLA in-text citations.

Demonstrates how to properly format an MLA Works Cited page, including how to use hanging indention.