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The Modern Language Association (MLA) provides a method for source documentation that is used in most humanities courses. The humanities place emphasis on authorship, so most MLA citations involve recording the author’s name in the physical text. The author’s name is also the first to appear on the “Works Cited” page at the end of an essay.
Quick reference and examples can be found below in these guides created by several other universities:
An annotated bibliography is a list of citations to books, articles, and documents. Each citation is followed by a brief (usually about 150 words) descriptive or evaluative paragraph called the annotation. The purpose of the annotation is to inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited.
Researching, arguing a position, laying the foundation for scientific experiments, and all other academic pursuits begin with studying the work of others and using this work to inform our own. It is absolutely crucial to give credit to those whose work you use, and this is done using direct quotations and paraphrasing and by always citing your sources. Not to do so would be considered plagiarism. Plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty are treated as extremely serious violations of ethical conduct and may result in suspension or expulsion from the University.
A quote is the exact wording used by the original author.
Example:
Paraphrasing is rewriting another's words or ideas in your own words, often summarizing or synthesizing a larger text.
Example:
For more information view these guides on quoting and avoiding plagiarism:
COE LIBRARY
Chalon Campus
Charles Willard Coe Library
12001 Chalon Road
Los Angeles, CA 90049
310.954.4370
McCARTHY LIBRARY
Doheny Campus
J. Thomas McCarthy Library
10 Chester Place
Los Angeles, CA 90007
213.477.2750
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