4.13: Additional Situations and Rules

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Frost & Samra et al.
Kellogg Community College

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Basic Layout: One-inch margins, double-spaced, and Times New Roman 12 pt. In the header, insert your last name and a page number on the upper right.

Author’s Name Appears in the Signal Phrase: Just cite the page number.

Author Michael Pollan contends that “plotting our way out of the Western diet is not going to be simple” (438).

Multiple Authors: MLA lists two author last names in a parenthetical citation; if there are three or more authors use et al. (Latin for “and others”) in your in-text citation.

(Smith and Kelly 322) and for three or more: (Stevenson et al. 55)

Block Quote: Any direct quotation that will take up more than four lines in your paper should be indented 1/2 an inch. Stay double spaced, and don’t use quotation marks (merely blocking this text off tells your readers that it’s a direct quotation). Include a parenthetical citation. ( For an example, see page 46 .) Use this option sparingly; shorter essays usually don’t use block quotations.

Indirect Sources: Give credit to the original writer/source in your signal phrase, but identify the actual source you consulted in your in-text citation.

Dennis Burkitt, an English physician who gave many Western diseases their names, claimed that “the only way we’re going to reduce disease is to go backwards to the diet and lifestyle of our ancestors” (qtd. in Pollan 437).

Note: as a general rule, your in-text documentation should easily lead your readers back to the left-hand side of the Works Cited page. It’s all about providing a trail back to the specific source you’re using.

For additional help with MLA, visit The Bridge in Ohm 207 or the Citation Guide http://guides.kellogg.edu/citations .