Check out Useful Information to Know How to Cite an Essay
How to cite in an essay
Citing is an important element of an effective essay writing, you should follow the standard requirements. There are different styles, still, there are three of them, which are used the most: the MLA, APA, and Chicago styles. You should use the appropriate formatting to cite the sources you have used for writing your assignment. A citation is necessary to ensure the writer hasn`t plagiarized and to provide readers with additional information concerning the topic of an essay. We are going to tell you more about the citation in MLA style.
Check the style you should use
First of all, you have to make sure which style you exactly need to complete your essay. MLA is used for humanities, like English studies, comparative literature, foreign languages and literature. It`s a formatting of the Modern Language Association. Before writing you should check the preferences of your professor, read the requirements and instructions. If you can`t get the style on your own, then get in touch with your instructor or professor.
Components of citation
When you cite an information, you include it in two places: in the body of your essay and in the Works Cited, which is after the essay. Works Cited is a simple bibliography, listing the sources you have used in your work. The citation included in the assignment is called the “in-text citation”.
How to cite a book in an essay? It`s kind of easy. While citing you should insert the name of an author, who you refer to. Moreover, you are to insert the page number to help your readers find this information in the source. The basic structure of this kind of citation looks like Smith (228). In MLA this citation is always at the end of a sentence.
When to use the in-text citations
You should include all sources you have used in your Works Cited and in-text citation. You should mark the source every time you take some information from it, especially when you use some quotations or name a book or an author. But even if you don`t mention the names, you should mention the source, if the information you use is not a “common knowledge”.
- Sometimes it`s not easy to get whether the information is a common knowledge or belongs to a certain author. In such a case, it`s better to cite it to feel safe.
- If you don`t mention the author, whose information you use, you can be blamed for plagiarism. The consequences can be more than serious.
How to cite an article in an essay
If you have used different works of the same authors in your essay, then you should format the citation in an appropriate way not to confuse the readers. It`s necessary to insert the title of a work you have used.
If there are authors with the same last names, then you should write the first initials.
You should make the same citations in Works Cited as you do in in-text citation. This will help readers get more information on the topic you have discussed and find it very quickly. The title case is used for giving the title in MLA style. All words are capitalized, and this allows to differentiate the sentence style, where only the first word is capitalized.
If you find your essay along with others in the anthology, curated by an editor, then include the following information in the certain sequence:
Lastname, First name. “Title of Essay in Title Case.” Anthology in Title Case. Ed. Editor’s Name(s). City of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Page range. Print.
How to cite information from academic journals
If the academic journals are your sources, then you should use a different way of formatting. You need the same information – the name of an author, the title of an article, the page number, but the forma should be the following:
Author(s). “Title of Article.” Title of Journal Volume.Issue (Year): pages. Medium of publication.
Electronic information
There are academic journals, which are printed and they are also available online, in electronic version. If you have taken information from the Internet recourses, then you should mention it while citing to let your readers get the same information if they need. The format is the following:
Last, First. “Title of Article.” Title of Journal Volume.Issue (Year): pages. Database. Web. Date of Access.
It`s also important to know how to cite a website in an essay, as you should pay credits to the author of an article you have used. Once you know exactly the style, you just need to use a stable format:
Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. “Website Name.” Version number (if applicable). Publisher or organization, date of publication (year). Publication medium (Web). Date you accessed the material (day month year)
How to cite a quote in an essay
Very often you need to use a quote in your essay, so you should cite it in an appropriate way. You should follow simple steps:
- Use quotation marks;
- Give the author`s last name;
- Insert the page number.
If you want you can present the author`s name before the quote usage.
According to some critics, literary fiction, “is all but dead in the 21st century”(Smith 200).
You should practice yourself in an appropriate citing styles, if you need any help with this kind of work, you can get it right here 1ws.com/citation-generator/.
