First look at documentation

1. Documentation
How to include MLA or APA in text and in
the references.
Prepared by Bonnie Startt 3/22/06
Tidewater Community College

2. There are several common forms of documentation:
MLA, APA, CBE and Chicago(Turabian) are the
most common
MLA is what is used APA is used by the the
by the humanities– it form used by the
is from the Modern psychology divisions-
Language Association it is from the
American
Psychological
Association.

3. There are several common forms of documentation:
MLA, APA, CBE and Chicago(Turabian) are the
most common.
The science oriented The history studies use
fields use CBE– the the Chicago Style
Council of Biological Manual for
Editors, now the documentation. Kate
Council of Science Turabian created a
Editors. more simple book for
academic research
which is used often.

4. When do we have to document
information?
The most obvious time we document is when we use an
exact quote from someone else’s text.
If we use part of someone’s text, we must give credit.
If we paraphrase (put in our own words) someone else’s
work, we must give credit to the author.
If we summarize someone else’s work, we must credit the
author.

5. What do we have to document?
If we quote from any text written by
someone else (even if it was not
published).
We must give credit to another person’s
ideas, or theories.
We give credit to art work, radio, t.v. and
any other creative work.
We give credit to maps, charts, etc created
by another person.

6. What---continued
We must be aware that people make their
living from their ideas, and we must be fair.
In the academic setting not following the
fair use and documentation rules will result
in an F. In the workplace, that same action
can cost you your job.

7. What this is going to do.
Please, be aware that I will be demonstrating internal
documentation. The use of footnotes and endnotes are
cumbersome and not used in standard writing. The next pages
will offer several examples of items which must documented.
Because MLA and APA are the most common, I will
demonstrate how to do each of these. Make sure you have a
good handbook. We are using the Diana Hacker handbook, and
she has an excellent web site to help.
http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/home.html

8. Here is a quote.
Do you see where the end punctuation went?
MLA APA
“ Ask the average man what “ Ask the average man what
is more important to him, is more important to him,
making money or being making money or being
devoted to his family, and devoted to his family, and
virtually everyone will virtually everyone will
answer family without answer family without
hesitation” (Kushner 15). hesitation” (Kushner,
1986, p. 15).

9. You do not have to use the whole quote. You can use an
ellipsis (…)to show information has been left out. Don’t
forget to use a comma to introduce or show the end of a
quote.
Kushner has found, “… virtually everyone will answer family
without hesitation” (15).
Kushner has found, “ Ask the average man …virtually
everyone will answer family without hesitation” (15).
“ Ask the average man what is more important to him, making
money or being devoted to his family… ,” commented
Kushner (15).
Just an aside– did you ever see this <sic>? It means that there
was an error in your quote, like a misspelled word, but you did
not make the error.You may use [ ] to clarify a point. He
[John] was the one.

10. If the author’s name or the title of the work is
included in your text, the format changes slightly.
Kushner found that if Kushner (1986) found
you, “Ask the that if you, “Ask the
average man what is average man what is
more important to more important to
him, making money or him, making money or
being devoted to his being devoted to his
family, and virtually family, and virtually
everyone will answer everyone will answer
family without family without
hesitation” (15). hesitation” (p.15).

11. Long quotes get special care.
In the MLA if you have more than 4 lines of text, it must be set off. In APA the
requirement is 40 words. The format is the same in both cases. Provide an
introduction followed by a colon(:) move to the next line and indent. If this is a
new paragraph you will indent twice. Please note that if there was more room it
would be double spaced. Also note that you do not need quotations –the author
information follows the end punctuation.
This is an important fact about a new development in the conversation about the
minimum wage:
Baltimore is at the forefront, however, and the reasons why shed a lot
of light on this movement. The city has been going downhill since the 1950s,
losing private-sector jobs and population at a steady clip. Since 1990 the fall
in private sector employment has become an avalanche--down 17.2%. (84)

12. What is the difference between
online and paper?
Today you may be hard-pressed to find a magazine on the
bookshelves of your local library. Tidewater Community
College is ordering many of our magazines online. You must be
aware that there are different methods of treating these
differences. For example magazines have page numbers
whereas web pages do not. There are online magazines, but
these differ in treatment from data bases like InfoTrac. Check
your handbook for details.

13. Here is a line from an article as it would be
noted if it was paper and then web based.
Baltimore, Milwaukee Baltimore, Milwaukee
and Santa Clara and Santa Clara
County in California County in California
have enacted laws have enacted laws
mandating a minimum mandating a minimum
wage above the federal wage above the federal
level (Hanke 87). Or level (Hanke, 1996,
(Hanke). p.87). Or (Hanke,
1996).

14. The page where you list your sources that you
actually used is called a Works Cited in MLA
and References in APA.
These pages only list the information you actually used in
your paper. If you are required to list everything you looked
at, you would create a Bibliography. These pages are all listed
in alphabetical order by author’s name if the entry does not
have an author, use the title in its place. The heading is
centered and the entry begins at the one inch margin. The
second and subsequent lines are indented.

15. Here is your end page:
Works Cited References
Hanke, Stephen. “Looks Like Charity, Hanker, S. (1996). “Looks like charity,
Smells Like Pork.” Forbes. May 6, smells like pork.” Forbes, 87.
1996: 87. OR--online
OR--online Hanke, S. (1996). “Looks like charity,
Hanke, Stephen. “Looks Like Charity, smells like pork.” Forbe, 87.Retrieved
Smells Like Pork.” Forbes. May 6, March 22, 2006 from InfoTrac.
1996: 87. InfoTrac. Tidewater Kushner, H. (1996). When All You’ve Ever
Community Coll. Lib., VA Beach. 22 Wanted Isn’t Enough. New York:
Mar. 2006 http://infotrac. Simon &Schuster.
Kushner, Harold. When All You’ve Ever
Wanted Isn’t Enough. Simon
&Schuster, New York, 1996.

16. Work hard and always double
check your handbook!
Keep in mind the rules
may change,
so always look it up.
Good luck and allow
plenty of time. The
Writing Center in the B
Building will be happy to
proofread or help you at
any stage of writing.