JL MC 4760/5760: World Communication Systems

It is important to cite the sources used during your research. Documenting your resources helps in a number of ways.

1. By documenting your sources you avoid being accused of plagiarism.
2. Providing source information helps others interested in your topic find out where the information came from and read more about it.
3. Citations show that you have done your research by bringing in a variety of other viewpoints.
4. Acknowledging the work of scholars you rely on is expected in the academic arena.
5. Citing your sources helps add credibility and shows where your work fits into a larger context.

You want to be careful to fully document or cite all the resources you use in your research, especially if you are quoting or otherwise using other people's work, ideas, or phrasing. Despite popular belief, this includes anything and everything you find on the web. (Not citing the sources of your research, even materials from the Web, is plagiarism, a serious form of academic dishonesty that could cause you to be put on probation or be suspended from the university.) Depending on the format of your assignment, you will probably compile a reference list, footnotes, a bibliography, or a combination of these. (This is another reason you will want to carefully document your research in progress -- if you forget to write down or print out the full citation for your source, you will need to retrace your steps in order to complete your bibliography, and this may not always be easy to do!) Style manuals available on the Web and accessible through Quick Search can help you develop a consistent format for your citations. Increasingly, style manuals include instructions on how to cite electronic and WWW resources.

If you have questions about finding or using appropriate style manuals, please talk with a reference librarian.

If you are unfamiliar with the definition of academic dishonesty and plagiarism at ISU, see the Student Information Handbook and the Judicial Affairs Administration All-University Judiciary pages from the ISU Dean of Students Office.

MLA has recently changed their style guidelines (2021 edition). These new guidelines are reflected in the below guides.

MLA stands for the Modern Language Association. This is the style used mostly in the humanities, literature, religion, philosophy, and others. A new edition was published in 2021 and there are some significant changes from the previous handbook. Make sure you're using the 9th edition of the handbook.