What should be documented?
Your essay or paper needs to have evidence, or support, or proof of the points you are making. The main evidence you use in a literature essay comes in the form of ideas or words from the text you are analyzing. Below is a list of the situations where you should acknowledge the sources of information you use.
A) WHEN QUOTING: if you quote an author's exact words
Walker states that "womanist is to feminist as purple is to lavender," but does not stop at defining herself as a feminist (173).
B) WHEN PARAPHRASING: if you use your own words, but you use another author's ideas.
The aristocratic heroic and kinship values of Germanic society continued to inspire both clergy and laity during Christian times (Smith 323).
C) WHEN SUMMARIZING: if you summarize one or more points in another author's writing.
The Renaissance was seen as a time of upheaval of traditional art forms and societal values, paving the way for a more enlightened and broad view of the foreign world (Rahemtulla 988).
D) STATISTICS OR FACTS: if you use a fact or a statistic that is not common knowledge.
The Dutch Crown’s overseas territories were vastly increased in 1667 (Charland 301).
Klassen, C., J. Robinson and M. Stainsby. "In Text Citation Using MLA Style." Douglas College. Douglas College. 2020.
A citation is reliable way to lead your reader back to the materials you used in your research.
A citation gives credit to an author for their research, writings and ideas.
Most citations include information such as
When you use citations you are
A URL or web address is not enough information for a citation in any paper or project.
Two essential ways to use citations in your paper are shown below.
Below are two types of MLA citations for an essay about protest songs on the Rolling Stone website.
An in-text citation in your paper with a quote or a paraphrase
"When Chuck D of Public Enemy famously called hip-hop “the Black CNN,” he was touching on a universal truth that goes beyond genre: Music and protest have always been inextricably linked." (Browne)
A complete citation for the same article will be included on the Works Cited page at the end of your paper.
Browne, David, et al. “100 Best Protest Songs of All Time.” Rolling Stone, Penske Media, 27 Jan. 2025, https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-protest-songs-1235154848/sam-cooke-a-change-is-gonna-come-4-1235230160/
Here's a link to the article if you want to see the original source.
When you are finishing your research paper, it's important to gather up all of your sources and make a list of complete citations for each source.
The list of citations has a specific title in MLA style.
Citation lists use the following rules: