Welcome!

Welcome to the GHS Documentation Guide! Using the links on the left, you will find all you need for documenting a paper in the MLA format.

*Because teacher preferences vary, check to make sure your teacher follows the formal MLA guidelines that you'll find on this site.

*We'd like to give a VERY BIG THANK-YOU to Mrs. Jill Ball, Director of Media Services at Center Grove High School, for providing the information on this documentation site.

Happy Documenting!

Works Cited--Additional Sources

REMEMBER TO INDENT ALL WORKS CITED LINES AFTER THE FIRST LINE. DUE TO THE FORMAT OF THIS WEBSITE, THE EXAMPLES BELOW ARE NOT INDENTED.

Additional Sources

Structure--TV/Radio Program

• "Title of Episode." Title of Program. Network. Inverted Date of Broadcast. Medium.

Example--TV Program

• "Yes...but Is It Art?" Sixty Minutes. CBS. 19 Sept. 2007. Television.

Structure--Sound Recording--Compact Disc

• Last name of artist, First name of artist. "Song." Title of CD. Band. Name of Record Label/Production Company, Year Produced. Medium.

Example--Sound Recording--Compact Disc

• Simon, Paul. "Saintly March." The Rhythm of the Saints. NA. Warner Bros., 1990. CD.

Structure--Film

• Title. Dir. Name of Director. Production company, Year of release. Medium viewed.

Example--Video Recording

• Rebel Without a Cause. Dir. Nicholas Ray. Warner. 1955. VCR.

Structure--Interview

• Last name of interviewee, First name of interviewee. Type of interview. Inverted date interview took place. (Types are: Personal, Telephone, or SKYPE)

Example--Interview

• Simon, Herb. Telephone interview. 23 Aug. 2008.

Example--Class Lecture

• Reynolds, Julia. Greenwood Community High School, Greenwood, IN 12 Oct. 2008. Class Lecture.

Works Cited--Newspapers and Magazines

REMEMBER TO INDENT ALL WORKS CITED LINES AFTER THE FIRST LINE. DUE TO THE FORMAT OF THIS WEBSITE, THE EXAMPLES BELOW ARE NOT INDENTED.

Newspaper or Magazine

Structure

• Last name of author, First name of author. "Title of Article." Title of Newspaper or Magazine Inverted Date of Publication: Page number (s) of article. Print.

Example--Newspaper or Magazine--One Author

• Musall, Laura. "Prosecutor Defends County's Actions." Columbus Daily Journal 18 July 2002: A1. Print.

Example--Newspaper or Magazine--No Author

• "Indianapolis Rapist Gets 6-Year Sentence." Indianapolis Star 12 May 2008: D4. Print.

Works Cited--Book Sources

REMEMBER TO INDENT ALL WORKS CITED LINES AFTER THE FIRST LINE. DUE TO THIS WEBSITE'S FORMAT, THE EXAMPLES BELOW ARE NOT INDENTED.

Books

Structure

• Last name of author, First name of author. Title of book. Place published: Publisher, Year published. Print.

Example--One Author

• Forman, James D. Becca's Story. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.

Example--Two Authors

• Bartlett, Donald L., and James B. Steele. Forevermore: Nuclear Waste in America. New York: Norton, 2004. Print.

Example--Three Authors

• Aiken, Michael, Lewis A. Ferman, and Harold L. Sheppard. Economic Failure, Alienation, and Extremism. Ann Arbor, MI: U of Michigan, 2005. Print.

Example--More than Three Authors

• Marine, April, et al. Internet: Getting Started. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2008. Print.

Example--No Author

• A Year of Reading. New York: Avon-Flare, 2001. Print.

Example--Editor instead of Author

• Fadiman, Clifton, Ed. The World of the Short Story: A Twentieth Century Collection. Boston: Houghton, 2007. Print.

Example--Bible

• The New Jerusalem Bible. Ed. Henry Wansbrough. New York: Doubleday, 2008. Print.

Example--Work in an Anthology (Collection of Works)

• Whiteman, Roberta Hill. The White Land. Harper's Anthology of 20th Centry Native American Poetry. Ed. Duane Niatum. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 2007. Print.

Example--Almanac--Yearbook

• "Farm Real Estate Debt." World Almanac and Book of Facts 2005. New York: Scripps Howard, 2006. Print.

Example--Encyclopedia--No Author

• "Liberty Bell." Compton's Encyclopedia. 2008. Print.

Example--Encyclopedia--One Author

• Hopkinson, Ralph G. "Electric Lighting." World Book Encyclopedia. 2002. Print.

Example--Pamphlet/Brochure--One Author

• Grayson, George W. The North American Free Trade Agreement. New York: Foreign Policy Association, 2009. Print.

Example--Dictionary

• "Noon." Def. 4b. Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. 1989. Print.

Works Cited--Internet Sources

REMEMBER TO INDENT ALL WORKS CITED LINES AFTER THE FIRST LINE. DUE TO THIS WEBSITE'S FORMAT, THE EXAMPLES BELOW ARE NOT INDENTED.

WWW Sites

Structure

• Last name of author, First name of author. "Full title of article or page." Website. Publisher, inverted date of publication. Web. Inverted date of access.

Example--With Author

• Brusma, David L. "School Uniforms: A Critical Review of the Literature." Educational Research.com. New York Times, 20 Jan. 1999. Web. 10 June 2002.

Example--Two Authors

• Smith, Jim, and Margaret Dolen. "Illiteracy in America." Learning.org. Scholastic, 13 Aug. 2009. Web. 12 June 2010.

Example--No Author

• "Volunteer Opportunities." NPS.gov. National Parks, 21 Mar. 2001. Web. 19 June 2002.

Example--Picture/Image

• *Cite as you would any other Web page, but make sure to credit the original creator of the image.

E-Mail

Structure

• Last name of sender, First name of sender. "Title of E-Mail." Inverted date of access. E-mail.

Example

• Jones, Tom. "Nile River Research Results." 15 Aug. 2009. E-mail.

INSPIRE or Online Database

Structure

• Author last name, First name, Middle initial. "Title of article." Title of Magazine Volume. Issue (Year): Pages. Database. Web. Inverted Date of Access.

Example

• Burrell, Diana, L. "Making the Most of Brevity." Newsweek 23.8 (2009): 3-6. Inspire. Web. 25 Feb. 2009

Formatting Your Paper

Use the following guidelines in formatting your paper:

• Use black ink
• Use one-inch margins on all sides
• Double space (NO extra spaces between paragraphs)
• Use the Times New Roman font
• Use a font size of 12
• Indent the paragraphs

FAQs

What should I do if no author is available?
Start with a key word from the first piece of information you have. Punctuate the key word the way it appears on the Works Cited page (either quotation marks or italics).

Do I have to double-space?
Yes! The entire page should be double-spaced--this includes the outline and the Works Cited page.

How do I write a date when documenting?
MLA Style documentation uses inverted dates. To write in this format, write the day, month, and year in this order without punctuation. An example would be 22 June 2010. All months are abbreviated except for May, June, and July.

In what order do I write my Works Cited page?
The order is alphabetical by the first word in the entry, which is usually the author's last name. If the author is not provided use the first word of the title of the article. The ONLY exception: If the first word is "a," "an," or "the," you use the second word to alphabetize; however, include these three articles at the beginning of the citation.

Should I underline or use italics?
Underlining and using italics are interchangeable, but choose one and be consistent. Italics are becoming more common.

How do I indent correctly for the entries?
Begin the first line of the entry at the left margin. Type all the way to the right margin. If the entry is longer than one line, the additional lines should be indented five spaces. To do this, place the cursor at the end of the first line, press enter, then use the space bar to indent five spaces.

Should I have a page number on the Works Cited page?
Yes, page numbers continue through the Works Cited page.

What if I still have questions?
See Mrs. Reynolds in the library or ask your English teacher.