General Question

global_nomad's avatar

How do I correctly cite this reference in my research paper?

Asked by global_nomad (1906points) November 11th, 2011

I am supposed to be using MLA format and I have no problem with the works cited, I just get so confused with in text citations after quotes. My problem arises whenever I quote something this is already quoted in the book I’m taking it from. Do I use the name of the author of the book with the page number or do I use the name of the person who actually said the quote with the page number? Also, when referencing a book with several authors, do I use the name of the person who wrote the specific section where my quote is coming from or do I cite one of the editors of the book?

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4 Answers

Simone_De_Beauvoir's avatar

Generally, to avoid this, I do not quote quotes from a book. I write something like ‘In Simone’s reading of Nomad’s views on pedagogy, specificity is positioned against generalization of conceptual frameworks. She writes, ”....” (...., pg.)’ so that you only quote the author not the author’s quote of another author. You can go one step further and do a deeper paraphrasing of the quote used by the author and then paraphrase or directly quote what the author said about the quote. I suppose I also sometimes fake that I have the actual original book out of which that quote came from and I put that source as citation.

Lightlyseared's avatar

It depends. If you really want to mention the person who said whatever (and some times you do cause their famous for saying it) then I would put something like…
Famous person said “quote” (standard citation of book you got it from).

i hope that all makes sense

bkcunningham's avatar

In-Text Citations: Author-Page Style
MLA format follows the author-page method of in-text citation. This means that the author’s last name and the page number(s) from which the quotation or paraphrase is taken must appear in the text, and a complete reference should appear on your Works Cited page. The author’s name may appear either in the sentence itself or in parentheses following the quotation or paraphrase, but the page number(s) should always appear in the parentheses, not in the text of your sentence. For example:

Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by a “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” (263).

Romantic poetry is characterized by the “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” (Wordsworth 263).
Wordsworth extensively explored the role of emotion in the creative process (263).
Both citations in the examples above, (263) and (Wordsworth 263), tell readers that the information in the sentence can be located on page 263 of a work by an author named Wordsworth. If readers want more information about this source, they can turn to the Works Cited page, where, under the name of Wordsworth, they would find the following information:

Wordsworth, William. Lyrical Ballads. London: Oxford U.P., 1967. Print.

In-text Citations for Print Sources with Known Author
For Print sources like books, magazines, scholarly journal articles, and newspapers, provide a signal word or phrase (usually the author’s last name) and a page number. If you provide the signal word/phrase in the sentence, you do not need to include it in the parenthetical citation.

Human beings have been described by Kenneth Burke as “symbol-using animals” (3). Human beings have been described as “symbol-using animals” (Burke 3).
These examples must correspond to an entry that begins with Burke, which will be the first thing that appears on the left-hand margin of an entry in the Works Cited:

Burke, Kenneth. Language as Symbolic Action: Essays on Life, Literature, and Method. Berkeley: U of California P, 1966. Print.

In-text Citations for Print Sources with No Known Author
When a source has no known author, use a shortened title of the work instead of an author name. Place the title in quotation marks if it’s a short work (e.g. articles) or italicize it if it’s a longer work (e.g. plays, books, television shows, entire websites) and provide a page number.

We see so many global warming hotspots in North America likely because this region has “more readily accessible climatic data and more comprehensive programs to monitor and study environmental change . . . ” (“Impact of Global Warming” 6).
In this example, since the reader does not know the author of the article, an abbreviated title of the article appears in the parenthetical citation which corresponds to the full name of the article which appears first at the left-hand margin of its respective entry in the Works Cited. Thus, the writer includes the title in quotation marks as the signal phrase in the parenthetical citation in order to lead the reader directly to the source on the Works Cited page. The Works Cited entry appears as follows:

“The Impact of Global Warming in North America.” GLOBAL WARMING: Early Signs. 1999. Web. 23 Mar. 2009.

We’ll learn how to make a Works Cited page in a bit, but right now it’s important to know that parenthetical citations and Works Cited pages allow readers to know which sources you consulted in writing your essay, so that they can either verify your interpretation of the sources or use them in their own scholarly work.

Citing a Work by Multiple Authors
For a source with three or fewer authors, list the authors’ last names in the text or in the parenthetical citation:

Smith, Yang, and Moore argue that tougher gun control is not needed in the United States (76).
The authors state “Tighter gun control in the United States erodes Second Amendment rights” (Smith, Yang, and Moore 76).
For a source with more than three authors, use the work’s bibliographic information as a guide for your citation. Provide the first author’s last name followed by et al. or list all the last names.

Jones et al. counter Smith, Yang, and Moore’s argument by noting that the current spike in gun violence in America compels law makers to adjust gun laws (4).
Or

Legal experts counter Smith, Yang, and Moore’s argument by noting that the current spike in gun violence in America compels law makers to adjust gun laws (Jones et al. 4).
Or

Jones, Driscoll, Ackerson, and Bell counter Smith, Yang, and Moore’s argument by noting that the current spike in gun violence in America compels law makers to adjust gun laws (4).

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/1/

Eroundy12's avatar

The next time you have to deal with citing a reference go to easybib.com. All you have to do is put in your information on the reference, and it will correctly cite it for you.

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