What is documentation?  Why do I care?

Documentation means giving credit to the sources of your information.  When you present information IN ANY FORM -- paper, speech, PowerPoint -- ANYTHING -- you must document your sources.  Failure to do so is PLAGIARISM -- passing off someone else's work as your own.  In school, plagiarism leads to -- at the least -- a grade of zero on the assignment.  In college, plagiarism can lead to expulsion.  In the "real world," plagiarism can end a career.

How do I credit my sources?  

The method of giving credit to sources of information for a paper or other form of presentation in an academic setting is called CITATION.  There are several different formats for citing sources.  At Queensbury High School, unless a teacher specifically tells you otherwise, always use the MLA (Modern Language Association) documentation style.**  Below are directions and examples for citing various types of sources in accordance with the MLA style.

Citing sources in MLA Style:

There are two parts to proper citation under the MLA style: 

• PARENTHETICAL REFERENCES are short notes in parentheses within the body of your paper, identifying the author and page where you found a particular piece of information.  EVERY FACT OR IDEA (including images) in your paper that comes from a source other than you and is not common knowledge, must be credited the source in a parenthetical note.  (If you don't know whether a fact is "common knowledge," assume it is not.)  You must cite both DIRECT QUOTATIONS and all FACTS OR IDEAS YOU HAVE RESTATED IN YOUR OWN WORDS.

• A WORKS CITED PAGE  is a list IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER BY AUTHOR'S LAST NAME of all the sources you have cited in the body of your paper.  It is NOT a list of every book or web site you have read or consulted while doing research.  

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How to cite some common sources in a Works Cited Page:

Print Sources:

Books:     

Author (last name, first name).  Title. Edition. Volume number. City: Publisher, Year. Print.

Examples

One author

Hogg, Ima. Porkchops for Oscar.  New York:  Penguin, 1928. Print.

   Two authors

May, George and Paul Warner.  Civil War Generals.  Chicago:  World Book, 2002. Print

Three or more authors

Pickle, Peregrine, May Olive, and Peter Piccolili.  Condiments of the World.  Boston: Oxford University Press, 2002. Print.

More than three authors

Hoover, Paul, et. al.  The Vacuum Problem.  London:  Martin's Press, 1966. Print.

Corporate (a group) author

Society of Effective Teachers.  Making Students Miserable.  Queensbury, N.Y.:  Pepper Press, 2001. Print.

Multivolume work

Bell, George P., ed. Instructional Strategies for Neophytes.  7 vols.  Paris:  Yahoo Publishing. 1844. Print.

Spurius, Septimius. Five Volumes on Nothing. Vol. 2. Rome, N.Y.: Nonesuch Press, 1722. Print.

 Article in a reference book

Turtle, Tom T. "Tortoise-Shell Cats."  Encyclopedia of Spurious Zoology.  25th Ed. 2007. Print.

"Artificial Water."  Dictionary of Silly Ideas.  1985 ed. Print.

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Print Periodicals (magazines, newspapers, journals):  

Author. "Article title."  Periodical title.  Issue or Date of Publication:  Page(s). Print.

Examples

Magazine

Snowman, Frosty.  "Global Warming:  A Personal View."  Arctic Life. 24 Jan. 1995: 20-26. Print.

"Reindeer Gone Wild: Spring Break."  North Pole Weekly.  Dec. 2005: 40-50. Print.

Newspaper

Toad, Bob.  "Warts in Wisconsin."  Bartell Gazette.  23 Dec. 1998: B3. Print.

"Librarian Loses Mind."  Bibliographic Times.  4 April 2005: A1. Print.

Academic journal

Author. "Article title."  Journal title.  Volume. Issue (Year):  Page(s). Print.

Tiddlywink, Dudley. "Cross-Section of Diaphanous Conglomerate:  Gibberish?" Journal of Preposterous Sociological

Experiments.  499.2 (1997): 222-225. Print.

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Electronic Sources:  

Subscription Research Databases:       

 Author. "Article Title."  Publication Title.  Issue. Page(s) (if available).  Database Title. Web. Date accessed.

Examples

Periodical Database

Worm, Betty. "The Extraordinarily Poor Taste of Fish." Segments Monthly. 42.2 (Oct. 1999): 30-39. MasterFile Select. Web.

12 Nov. 2005.

Online Encyclopedia

Vorhaus, Louis J., M.D. "Wart." Encyclopedia Americana Online. 2005. Web. 12 Nov. 2005.

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 Web Sites:        

Author. "Article, page, or posting title." Web Site Title. Sponsoring organization. Date posted. Web. Date accessed.

(Note:  Citing information from a web site can be tricky.  Some of these things take some digging around to find.  If some are not available or don't apply, skip them.  However, be suspicious when you can't find out where information is coming from.  When in doubt about how to cite a web site, ask your teacher or a wise librarian.)

A few (a very few) examples

Grant, Dr. William and Ken Dvorak. "1888." The American 1890s:  A Chronology. Spring 2000. Bowling Green University.

Web. 14 April 2005.

"Brazil." The World Factbook. 10 February 2005. Central Intelligence Agency. Web. 2 April 2005.

"Beetle Boost for Bush and Friends." BBC News. 14 April 2005. BBC. Web. 15 April 2005.

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Images:

Author (photographer, painter, etc.). Title of work. Date. Medium. Housing institution (museum, collection, etc.).

Complete publication information of source (book, database, web site, etc.) from which you have taken the image.

(Note: Often it is impossible to get all the information for an image . A photograph from a database or a web site may not have a title or photographer listed. If there is not title, just make up a descriptive title. e.g.: "Winston Churchill holding a duck." Most of the time you will be getting your image from a book, a database, or a web site. Make sure you cite these just as you would for a print article.)

Examples

Van Gogh, Vincent. Cockroach Eating a Ham Sandwich. 1974. Oil on canvas. Museum of Nonexistent Art, New York.

Paintings Never Painted. Ed. Sandra Jabaut. New York: Bill's Press, 1975. 163. Print.

Burns, George. English Teacher Juggling Calico Cats. 2009. Photograph. Queensbury High School Web Site. 2010. Web.

15 April 2010.

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How to cite some common sources in parenthetical references:

Remember:  Parenthetical references refer the reader to the complete reference on the Works Cited Page.  You always need a complete Works Cited Page!

In parenthetical references, you give the LAST NAME of the author and the PAGE NUMBER on which you got the information.  If you mention the author's name in the sentence, give only the page number.  If there is no page number (for instance, for a web page) just list the name.  If no author listed, use the TITLE that begins the entry on the Works Cited Page.  The parenthetical reference is placed at the end of the sentence.

One author

In quantitative terms, the first two Soviet Five-Year Plans were quite successful (Adams 95).

Adams comments on the quantitative success of the first two Soviet Five-Year Plans (95).

Two authors

Tichophobia and chetophobia are terms for the fear of hair (Doctor and Kahn 259).

Doctor and Kahn define tichophobia and chetophobia as the fear of hair (259).

Three or more authors

Henry Hudson's crew mutinied in 1610 in Hudson Bay (Berkin et al. 109).

No author listed

Attila the Hun held few televised press conferences (Statesman's Yearbook).

The king is a fink (World Almanac).

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*MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. Seventh Edition. New York: The Modern Language Association of America. 2009.

**Despite the fact that footnotes are far superior. There is, however, no halting the decay and ultimate collapse of civilization.