MLA Format

​Academic Honesty

​Key Vocabulary

Plagiarism: pretending that someone else’s work is your own.

Quote: use someone else’s exact words to support a point. Quotations are always written in quotation marks (“…“) and the source of the quotation should always be given.

Paraphrase: explain what someone else has said without using their exact words. Again, the source should always be given.

Some text here about the topic of discussion

​As you get older the definition of academic honesty becomes more and more complex:

·       When you are little, you are told that it is wrong to copy someone else’s work on a test.

·        When you get a bit older, you learn that it is wrong to use someone else’s

words and pretend that you wrote them.

·       When you get older, you learn that it is wrong to use someone’s IDEAS without

acknowledging where they came from.

​It is important that you understand exactly what plagiarism is, because it is quite easy to plagiarize by accident.

​As you get older, the consequences of academic dishonesty also get more severe:

• If you get caught copying in elementary school and middle school, you will probably just get a zero on the test and have the teacher tell your parents.

• If you plagiarize on your IGCSE coursework, you will fail the whole course.

• If you plagiarize on your IB Diploma Coursework, you will fail the whole diploma.

• If you plagiarize in university, you will be expelled.

• If you plagiarize as an adult, you could be sued.

​1)   Never copy other people’s tests or homework assignments.

• This is dishonest. It is also counter-productive, because the purpose of tests and assignments is to help you to learn. If you don’t do the assignment yourself, you will not learn anything from it.

​What if you haven’t done the homework?

Sometimes students resort to copying when they haven’t done their homework for some reason and they are afraid the teacher will be angry. In fact, although teachers don’t LIKE late work, it is a lot better than plagiarized work. If you haven’t done the assignment, speak to your teacher about it. Make it clear that you are sorry (teachers usually understand about late work, but they don’t like it when students don’t seem to care about the fact that the work is late) and then complete the assignment and hand it as soon as possible. 

​2)   When you are doing research, never cut and paste from the internet and then go through and change a few words. It is not enough just to change a few words:

​Instead, either take notes in point form and the write up your notes in your own words, or cover up the original and summarize it in your own words. Even if your version is entirely in your own words, it is a good idea to include a reference to the original and you MUST put the original source in your bibliography Look at the example below:

​3)   Include all of the sources that you use, including pictures, in your bibliography. (See below)

​

General Bibliography Tips:

• Hanging Indent

  The first word in each bibliography entry should be level with the margin. If the bibliography entry takes up two or more lines, the second and third lines should be indented slightly so that the first word sticks out to the left. This is because when you refer to the sources in the bibliography, you use the first word, so it needs to be easy to find.

Example:

Purdue University. "MLA Formatting and Style Guide." Purdue Online Writing Lab. Purdue
University, 2017, www. owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/08/.

• ​Use italics for the titles of long works:

  Italicize titles of books, journals, magazines, artworks, web sites (not web pages) newspapers, and films.

 

• Use quotation marks for titles of short works:

  Photographs, articles and short poems should be in quotation marks.

 

• Punctuation

  Pay attention to the punctuation between different elements of each bibliography entry.

• ​Alphabetical Order

  Your sources should be listed in alphabetical order according to the first word in the bibliography entry, (unless that word is “a” or “the”). If the first word is “a” or “the”, alphabetize according to the second word. This means the following source would be alphabetized according to the word “Blessing”, not the word “The”:

​Bernard, Henri. “Dissenting Judgement of the Member from France of the International Military Tribunal for the Far
East.” United Nations War Crimes Commission, 12 November 1948, http://www.legal-tools.org/doc/675a23/.

Jaranilla, Delfin. “Concuring Opinion by the Honorable Mr. Justice Delfin Jaranilla, member from the Republic of
the Philippines.” United Nations War Crimes Commission, 12 November 1948, https://www.legal-tools.org/en/
doc/2393ff/.

MacArthur, Douglas. “International Military Tribunal for the Far East Charter.” Treaties and Other International Acts
Series 1589, 1946, http://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/documents/atrocity-crimes/Doc.
3_1946%20Tokyo%20Charter.pdf.

“The Nuremberg Trial and the Tokyo War Crimes Trials (1945–1948).” Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of
State, history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/nuremberg.

Pal, Radhabinod. “Judgment of the Hon'ble Mr. Justice Pal, Member from India: Judgment Part VII.” United
Nations War Crimes Commission, 1948, https://www.legal-tools.org/en/browse/record/4cbeca/.

 

​Works Cited

Multiple Choice

What is the correct citation for this book?

Title: Cars and Trucks and Things that Go

Author: Richard Scarry

Publisher: Random House

Date published: 1998

(It is not possible to do a hanging indent on this platform, so please disregard that.)

• Scarry, Richard. Cars and Trucks and Things that Go. Random House, 1998.

• Scarry, Richard. Cars and Trucks and Things that Go. Random House, 1998.

• Scarry, Richard. “Cars and Trucks and Things that Go.” Random House, 1998.

• Scarry, Richard. Cars and Trucks and Things that Go. Random House. 1998.

• None of the above.

Fill in the Blanks

Multiple Choice

What is the correct citation for this book:

Title: Ping Pong Diplomacy

Author: Nicholas Griffin

Publisher: Scribner

Date published: 2014

(Please disregard the lack of hanging indents.)

• Griffin, Nicholas. Ping Pong Diplomacy, Scribner, 2014.

• Griffin, Nicholas. Ping Pong Diplomacy. Scribner, 2014.

• Griffin, Nicholas, Ping Pong Diplomacy, Scribner, 2014.

• Griffin, Nicholas. “Ping Pong Diplomacy.” Scribner, 2014.

• None of the above.

Fill in the Blanks

Multiple Choice

If several dates are listed on the back of the title page, what should you do?

• Write all the dates in your bibliography.

• Use the most recent date you can find.

• Use the earliest date.

• Use the most recent copyright date, not the most recent printing

Multiple Choice

This book has two authors. Johnjoe McFadden and Jim Al-Khalili. How should they be listed in the bibliography? (McFadden is listed first on the cover).

• McFadden, Johnjoe. Al-Khalili, Jim.

• McFadden, Johnjoe. Jim Al-Khalili.

• McFadden, Johnjoe and Al-Khalili, Jim.

• McFadden, Johnjoe and Jim Al-Khalili

• Al-Khalili, Jim and Johnjoe McFadden.

Multiple Select

This book has three authors: Ian Dawson, Dale Banham and Dan Lyndon. How should they be listed in the bibliography? (two possible answers)

• Dawson, Ian, Banham, Dale and Lyndon, Dan.

• Dawson, Ian, Dale Banham and Dan Lyndon.

• Dawson, Ian et al.

• Banham, Dale, Dawson, Ian and Lyndon, Dan.

• Banham, Dale, Ian Dawson and Dan Lyndon.

​Replace this with your body text.

​Duplicate this text as many times as you would like.

​All provided templates can be reused multiple times.

​

Replace this with a header

​

Use this link to answer the next few questions.

​

Easybib.com can be found at this link

​

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is the correct citation for this article from a website (discounting the hanging indent):

Author: David Cox

Date: 09 May 2016

Article Title: How a Giant Air Freshener Could Save Our Polluted Cities

Web Site Title: The Guardian

Publisher: Guardian News and Media

URL: www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/09/how-giant-air-freshener-could-save-polluted-cities

• Cox, David. How a Giant Air Freshener Could Save our Polluted Cities. The Guardian, 09 May 2016, www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/09/how-giant-air-freshener-could-save-polluted-cities. Accessed 13 May 2016.

• Cox, David. How a Giant Air Freshener Could Save our Polluted Cities. The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 09 May 2016, www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/09/

  how-giant-air-freshener-could-save-polluted-cities. Accessed 13 May 2016.

• Cox, David. "How a Giant Air Freshener Could Save our Polluted Cities." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 09 May 2016, www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/09/

  how-giant-air-freshener-could-save-polluted-cities. Accessed 13 May 2016.

• Cox, David. How a Giant Air Freshener Could Save our Polluted Cities. The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 09 May 2016, www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/09/

  how-giant-air-freshener-could-save-polluted-cities. Accessed 13 May 2016.

Multiple Select

If you can’t find the publisher for an article on a web site, what should you do? (two possible answers)

• Omit it.

• Write n.p.

• Write the web site name again, this time not in italics.

Multiple Choice

If you can’t find the author for an article on a web site, what should you do?

• Use the publisher as the author - recommended (or omit the author and just start with the title).

• Write: n.a.

Multiple Choice

If the first word in a bibliography entry is “A” or “The”, what should you do?

• Alphabetise the entry under “A” or “T”.

• Alphabetise the entry according to the next word in the bibliography entry.

Multiple Choice

Which is the correct citation for an online video clip?

• Norton, Graham. “The Graham Norton Show John Cleese on his mother.” Youtube. uploaded by janedoe021. 13 March 2016. www.youtube.com/watch?v=UefOyRQF7fw.

• Norton, Graham, “The Graham Norton Show John Cleese on his mother,” Youtube, uploaded by janedoe021, 13 March 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=UefOyRQF7fw.

• Norton, Graham. “The Graham Norton Show John Cleese on his mother,” Youtube, uploaded by janedoe021, 13 March 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=UefOyRQF7fw.

• Norton, Graham. “The Graham Norton Show John Cleese on his mother.” Youtube, uploaded by janedoe021, 13 March 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=UefOyRQF7fw.

Multiple Choice

Which is the correct citation for an article from Jstor?

• Hauner, Milan. “Did Hitler Want a World Dominion?” Journal of Contemporary History, vol. 13, no. 1, 1978, pp. 15–32. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/260090. Accessed 3 May 2024.

• Hauner, Milan. “Did Hitler Want a World Dominion?” Journal of Contemporary History, vol. 13, no. 1, 1978, pp. 15–32. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/260090.

• Hauner, Milan. “Did Hitler Want a World Dominion?” Journal of Contemporary History. vol. 13, no. 1, 1978, pp. 15–32. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/260090.

• Hauner, Milan. “Did Hitler Want a World Dominion?” Journal of Contemporary History, vol. 13, no. 1, 1978, pp. 15–32. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/260090. Accessed 3 May 2024.

​Rule 9: Two Authors

If a work has two authors, include both authors' family names in the citation:

If this were the bibliography entry:

Hite, John and Chris Hinton. Weimar and Nazi Germany. Hodder Murray,
2000.


The parenthetical citation for a fact found on page 325 would be:

(Hite and Hinton 325)

Multiple Choice

When should you add a parenthetical in-text citation?

• Whenever you quote a source.

• Whenever you paraphrase a source.

• Whenever you use a statistic from a source.

• Whenever you use a fact that isn’t in every source.

• All of the above.

Multiple Choice

If I want to add a reference to indicate that a piece of information came from page 12 of Goodnight Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown, published in 1947, what should I write?

• (Brown 12)

• (Brown p. 12)

• (Brown 1947 p. 12)

• (Brown 1947)

• (Brown, page 12)

Multiple Choice

What is the correct format for a parenthetical in-text citation from page 24 of The Move to Global War by Keely Rogers and Jo Thomas?

• “Following China’s defeat by the British in the Opium Wars, European powers gained extraordinary economic and legal privileges on Chinese soil” (Rogers, Keely and Thomas, Jo, page 24).

• “Following China’s defeat by the British in the Opium Wars, European powers gained extraordinary economic and legal privileges on Chinese soil” (Rogers, Keely and Thomas, Jo, p. 24).

• “Following China’s defeat by the British in the Opium Wars, European powers gained extraordinary economic and legal privileges on Chinese soil” (Rogers, Keely and Thomas, Jo, 24).

• “Following China’s defeat by the British in the Opium Wars, European powers gained extraordinary economic and legal privileges on Chinese soil” (Rogers and Thomas 24).

• “Following China’s defeat by the British in the Opium Wars, European powers gained extraordinary economic and legal privileges on Chinese soil” (Rogers and Thomas, 24).

Multiple Choice

If you are writing a parenthetical in-text citation for a source that has no page numbers, what should you do?

• Count the paragraphs and use the paragraph number

• Count the lines and use the line numbers.

• Write “n. pag.” Instead of the page number.

• Just leave the page number out.

Multiple Choice

How would you write an in-text parenthetical citation for this source?

“Dulwich College Beijing.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia, 5 April 2016, www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Dulwich_College_Beijing.

• (Wikipedia)

• (Wikipedia)

• (Wikimedia)

• (Dulwich)

• (“Dulwich”)

Multiple Choice

How should sources be listed in the bibliography?

• All on one list. In alphabetical order according to the first word in the citation.

• All on one list. In alphabetical order according to the first word in the citation (unless the first word is “a” or “the”).

• Separate lists for print and electronic sources. In alphabetical order according to the first word in the citation.

• Separate lists for print and electronic sources. In alphabetical order according to the first word in the citation (unless the first word is “a” or “the”).

Multiple Choice

When should you add a footnote?

• Whenever you quote a source.

• Whenever you paraphrase a source.

• Whenever you use a statistic from a source.

• Whenever you use a fact that isn’t in every source.

• Whenever you want to add more contextual information or explain what a term means.