Research and

Documentation of Sources
Wh en yo u need to research yo ur topi c, there are two places to look for information:
in a library and o n the Internet.

Type of Sources

You can find the following kind s of so urces in a library:

I. R eference b ooks , such as d icti on a ri es, encyclo pedias, a tlases, and books
of facts There are general encyclopedias like the Encyclopedia Americana
and specialized encyclopedias like the Film Encyclopedia . There are also
gen eral dictionaries and specialized dictionaries like A Dictionary of Botany.
Reference books are in the reference room or reference area of the library.
You cannot check them out and take them home; you must use them inside
the library. Make photocopies of pages that you need .
Note: Although encyclopedias are a good place to get basic information
about your topic, many college instructors will not allow them as sources in
college research papers.
2. Books Libraries today usually list their books in a computerized catalog.
You can search for books by title, by author's last name, or by subject.
Unl ess you know the name of an author or the title of a book, you will
begin by searching by subj ect. You may have to look under several subjects
at first. To find books on IQ tests, for example, look under the subject
"IQ tests." If there are no books listed, try looking under the subjects
" intelligence testing" or "tes ting" and " intelligence" separately. Eventually
you will find what you need.
When you find a book that you think might be useful, writ e down the title,
the name of the author, and the book's call number. A ca ll number is a book's
address in the library. You must know this number to find the book on the
library she lve s.
3. Articles in p opul a r m a ga zines a nd newsp apers Examples of popular
magazines are Psychology Today and Newsweek . You can find magazine
articles in two main ways. The first way is to sea rch in an index . An index
is a ca talog of magazine and new spaper articles, and like a book catalog, it
lists articles by title, author, and subject. Indexes are usually on CD-ROMs.
There are different inde xes for ma gazines, new spapers, and specialized
subjects like psychology and busin ess. Articles in popular magazines are
indexed in the Readers ' Guide to Periodical Lit erature . Th e National News
Ind ex lists articles from five major U.S. new spapers.
A more co nvenie nt way to find maga zin e articles is to use an online
co mpute r se arch se rv ice suc h as InfoTrac and Eb scohost , which most
libraries have. T he proces s is the same as se arching an index. However; these

303
04 ' ,.- ~" ~ i1 <!i .", .,:. I Research an d Do cum entation o f So u r ces

o nli ne serv ices ha ve a n ad va ntage : T he y a llow yo u to print o ut a rticles

di rect ly from the co mputer termi na l. T hi s saves yo u the time and tro uble o f
looking for the magazine 0 11 the library shelves .
Note: Be cauti ous ab o ut usin g info rm ati on from popul ar magazines
and ne ws pa pe rs . Su me pop u la r ma ga zines. s uc h as People. a nd tab loid
new spap ers suc h as the Na tio nal Enq uire r are not appropriat e so urc es.
Some In ternet so urces also may no t be appropriate . Se e the next sec tio n,
Evalua ti ng Sources.
4 . Scholarly journals For student s in gradu ate sc hool w ho do ad vanced
research . sc ho la rly j ournal s are imp ort an t so urces o f info rma tion. Sc ho larly
journa ls are magazines that pr int aca dem ic arti cle s. usua lly abo ut a spec ific
field of study. They are al so called periodicals or periodical journa ls.
Examples of sc ho larly journals are Jou rnal o] Ed uca tional Psych ology an d
New England Jo urna l of Medicin e. Instru ct ors in undergradu at e classes do
not usuall y require stude nts to use sc ho larly j ournals.
Searchi ng the Intern et is a convenie nt way to do research . but it takes prac tice to
do it efficie ntly . Th ere are se ve ral ways to find inform at ion . On e way is to ty pe in
keywords. Keywords a re wo rds that nam e you r specific topi c . suc h as tattoos or
poisonou s snakes. Se arch program s like Google, Alt a Vista, and Yah o o will search
the Int ernet and d ispl ay Web sites containin g yo ur keywords. Th e more specific yo ur
key wo rds are. th e mo re se lec tive th e sea rc h will be. For example , the keyword
snakes w ill produce a n e normous number of sites . T he keywords poisonous snakes
w ill g ive fewer. and Central A merica n poisonou s snakes will g ive the fewes t.
Your instructor ma y allow you to ga the r information on yo ur topic by perform-
ing a n ex perime nt. taking a survey , or interviewi ng peop le.

Evaluating Sources
,- _ ._- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - _.
Before yo u use informat ion fro m an outsi de source, yo u shou ld first de termine if the
informati on is reli able. There is a lot of o utda ted, biased , and false inform at ion in
print and on the Int ernet. Your so urces sho uld be reliable. whi ch means th at the
information sho uld be c urre nt , unbiased . an d true. You can j udge a source 's re lia-
bility by c hecking the fo llowi ng :
I . Chec k the date . Your so urces of info rmatio n sho uld be c urrent unl ess yo ur
topi c is a hi stori cal on e . For example , if your topic is space ex ploratio n.
a so urce dated before 1960 wo uld probabl y not ha ve very useful
information .
2. Check the reputat ion of the author(s). Wh at do yo u know abo ut them ? You
sho uld find out their occ upa tio ns. at a minimum . A re liab le a uthor is not
necessarily famous ; he or she ju st has to have spec ia l knowl ed ge abo ut yo ur
topic . For example. if yo ur top ic is the co ndi tio ns in U.S. prison s. a lette r or
article written by a prisone r is rel iable. However. the sa me priso ner wou ld
prob ably not be a reliable so urce o n the top ic of ba lle t dan cing .
3. C hec k the repu tati on o f the publi sher. Wh at co mpa ny or organ iza tio n
publish ed the info rm ati on ? Is it nati on all y or internation all y known ?
 /\ ; PC\ , ~ i i' r I Research and Doc umentation of Sources 3

4 . What is the purpose of the publication o r Web site ? Is it to sell a product,

support one side of a co ntroversy, promot e a po litical point of view, or
merel y provide inform ation ?
S. Chec k the co ntent. Is it mostly fac t. opinion, or propaganda? Does it seem
stro ng ly biased ? Are the ideas supported by rel iabl e ev ide nce?
6. Chec k the langu age. Does the source seem we ll written? Is it free from
emo tio n-aro usi ng wo rds? Do yo u notice any spelli ng errors?
7. Check the quality of the presentation . Is the q uality of the printing good?
Is the Web site well orga nized? Does it offer links to oth er sites? Check
them out.
If yo u aren' t sure abo ut a so urce, ask yo ur instru ctor o r a reference librarian forhelp
in evalua ting it. Th ere are also sites on the Internet that can help. Find them by
sea rching the keywords "evaluating Internet information ."

PRA.CT1CE I Ch eck (wi') the sources that might be useful and re liable on the topic body art (body
painting, tattooing. and piercing) in anc ient and modern cultures.
Eva l u a t iog
Sou rces
Print sources
I. Tattoo History: A Sourc e Book by Step hen G. Gil bert. A collection of
historical writings on tattooing. Incl udes accounts of tattooing in the
Ancient World, Polynesia , Jap an, the pre -Columbian Americas,
nineteenth-century Europe and the United St ates. Published in 2001.
_ _ 2. The Rose Tattoo. A play by Tennessee William s, made into a movie
starr ing Ann a Ma gnani and Burt Lancaster. The story of a widow
whose loyalty to her dead husband is tested by a handsome truck
driver.
__ 3. 'T atto oing among the Maoris of New Ze aland." An article by
. W illiam Oldenburg in the June 1946 issue of Journ al of Cultural
Anthropology.
__ 4 . " Regulating the Body Art Indu str y." A doctor proposes laws to ensure
the safe practice of tatt ooing and body piercing in the state of New
York. An article written by Dr. Evan W hitman in the February 10,
2001, issue of The New York Times.
_ _ S. " Living Canvas." An article by Jerry Adl er in the November 29, 1999,
issue of New sweek . Tattooing and bod y piercing, long fashionable
with bikers and rebellious teen s, is gaining popularity among the
"beautiful people" of high soc iety.
__ 6. Body Decoration: A World Surv ey of Body Art by Karl Groning.
A collection of photographs traces more than 10.000 years of body
art, from the body painting of prehistor ic peopl e to the body piercing
of modern punk. Published in 1998.
 Res earch and Do cum entation of Sources

I. Tauoos.com. A Web site thai provides information about tattoo ing

a nd links ( 0 other sites.
__ 2. "Ta ttoo," An article in the online Encyclopedia Britannica , found at
britannica .co m.
_ _ 3. Body Piercing Shop. A We b site offe ring titanium. surgical steel.
silver. a nd gol d body jewelry. Also se miprecious gemstone s and
Austrian crys tal. Best prices.
__ 4. "Body-Marking." An artic le in the online Columbia Encyclopedia on
body- marking, painti ng, tattooing, or scarification (cutting a nd
burning) of the bod y for ritual. es thetic, medicin al, magic. or
religious purposes.
__ 5. Getting Pie rced Safely. A Web site that explains health factors. All
the facts yo u need if you are thinking of bod y piercin g. Choosing
a safe practitioner. Risks.
_ _ 6. '11'Ie Hum an Canvas." A report on bod y art throu ghout history.
Disco very Online, Exped ition s series , produced in cooperation with
the Am eri can Museum of Natural History.

Documentation of Sources
In academic classes. instruc tors may ask yo u to docum ent the so urce s of outsi de
information yo u use in a paper. There are two steps to th is process.
I . Insert a sho rt refere nce in the body of your paper. Th is is called an in-text
citatio n.
2. Prepare a list describi ng all your so urces completely. Th is list is titled
Works Cited a nd appears as the last page of your paper.
Th e next few pages wi ll show you only the basics of the ML A style' of formal
docu ment ati on , Consult the MLA Handb ook fo r Writers of Research Papers for
detai led information , You ca n find this boo k and others like it in the reference area
o f any library.

In-Tex. The pu rpose of a n in-text citation is to refer the reader to the works-cited list at the
Citations e nd of your paper. In-text citations are
also called parenthetical re fere nces because
they are enclos ed in parentheses. Place in-text citations immedi ately after the bo r-
rowed information. usually at the end of a se nte nce, before the final peri od .
,v- r}; t... .. A universal language could bring countries together cutturally and economically
as well as increase good feelings among them (Kispert),

l"fh,e MI.A IMnde rn LIIl~u ;j~c A"-'t(lCiation l ~Iy lc i.. used in Engli\ h and o ee r languagc cla sses . Other fields
of stud y, w \:h a, the 't(lCial sciences. phy..jcal sciences. and bu..incs.'I, use Olher !>t y lc ~ .
 ;-tV;J'::HF..., ':: I Research and Documentation of Sources 30

T he nam e Kispert in pa rentheses at the end of thi s sentenc e te lls us that the ideas
in the se nte nce ca rne fro m a wo rk written by a per son wh ose last nam e is Kispert.
No page number is gi ven . whic h ind icates that the work is only on e page long.
If readers wa nt more informat ion abo ut this so urce. they can turn to the works-
cited list at the end of the essay, report , or paper and find th is entry:
· " :' . . .' Kisp ert, Robe rt J . "Universal language." World Book Online Reference Center.
2004. World Boo k, Inc . 12 Sep . 2004 <htt p:// www.aolsvc .worldbook.aol.com/wb/
Art icle?id=ar576960>.

In-text citatio ns are as short as possibl e. T hey co ntai n o nly eno ugh information
to allo w the reader to find the full refer enc e in the list of work s c ited at the endof
yo ur pa pe r. Here are so me guide lines .

(Clinton 17)

Use the last nam e of the author and a page number (o r numbers, if the borrowed
inform ati on appea rs on more than one page). Use no pun ctu ation .

(Bam berger and Yaeger 62)

(Singleton et al. 345)

If there are two or three authors, g ive all the nam es. If the re are four or more, use
the first author 's name and the Latin abbreviati on et al. ("and oth ers" ) followed by
a period.

If you ha ve alrea dy menti on ed the aut ho r's nam e in the text, or if yo u are citing two
co nsec utive pieces of borrowed inform ati on fro m the source, do not repeat the name
in your citation . For example, if you introduced the borrowed information with
a phrase such as "Acco rd ing to Clinton ," give onl y the page numb er.

("2002 Olympics," par. 12)

If the re is no au thor, use a short title in quotation marks.

(qtd. in Herper 1)

If you use someones word s that are qu oted in a so urce written by a different per-
so n, begin the in-t ext citation with the abbrev iatio n qtd. in (fo r quoted in).

("Global Warming ")

For an encyclo pedia article, use the author's name if yo u know it. If you do n't know it.
use the title of the article in qu otation marks. You do not need a page numb er since
encyclopedia articles are arranged alphabetic ally and a reader will be able to find the
so urce easi ly.
08 o'·,,: lp ,: nLi.; 1'~ I Research and Documentation of Sources

(Kidder, par. 7)

("2000 Olympics," par. 12)

(Gardiner, screens 2-3)

For an electronic source (online or CD-ROM). follow the same system as for print
sources . [f there are no page numbers, use whatever numbering system the source
has-section number (abbreviated as "sec." ), paragraph number (abbreviated as
"par." or " pa rs ," ), screen number. or no number. Pur a comma after the author or
short title when you use paragraph numbers or scree n numbers.

Works-Cited The seco nd step in citing sources is to list all the sources you actually used in your
lists paper. (Do not include sources that you read but did not use .) List them alphabeti-
cally by last name of the author or, if there is no author, by the first word of the title
(disregarding A. All, and The) . Include information about each source as described
here. Pay close attention to punctuation and capitalization. and indent the second
line 5 spaces. For kinds of sources not included here, consult a more comprehensive
English handbook, such as the MIA Handbook .

Bryson , Bill. The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way. New York:
Avon , 1991.

This is the form of a basic book reference. Divide the information into three parts:
(I) name of the author, (2) title of the book, (3) publishing information . Put a period
and one space after each part.
1. Write the author's last name first and put a comma after it. Do not include
a person's titles.
2. Put a colon between the title and subtitle, and underline both.
3. Write the city of publication, a colon, the name of the publishing company,
a comma, the year of publication, and a period. Get this information from
the title page or the back of the title page inside the book, not from the
book's cover. Use the first city listed if there are several. Include an
abbreviation for a state or country if the city is unfamiliar or in any way
unclear. Use the most recent year. Shorten the name of the publisher by
omitting words like Press, Publishers, Books, lnc. . and Co.

Hall, Edward T., and Mildred Reed Hall. Understanding Cultural Differences.
Yarmouth , ME: Intercultural, 1990.

Use reverse order for the first author's name. and then write all other authors' names
in normal order. Put a comma after the last name of the first author and also between
authors.

Baugh, Albert C., and Thomas Cable. A History of the English Language. 5th ed.
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2002.

Put the number and the abbreviation "ed." (Znd ed .. 3rd ed .. 4th ed .. and so on) after
the title. followed by a period .
 Research and Documentation of Sources 309

" Intelligence Test. " New Encycloped ia Britannica: Micropedia. 15th ed.

Use the author's name if it is give n. So me times the author's nam e appears at the end
of an encyc lopedia article and somet imes not. If there is no author, put the title of the
article first. Enclose the title in q uotat ion mark s. U nde rline the title of the encyclope-
dia. Put the edition number if there is one; if there is none, use the year.

Bamberger, Michael , and Don Yaeger. "Over the Edge." Sports Illustrated 14 Apr.
1997: 62-70.

Put the title of the art icle inside quotati on marks. Underline the nam e of the maga-
zine. Include the da y, month, and year for weekl y mag azin es follo wed by a colon
and the page number or numbers on which the article app ears. Abbreviate the names
of months except May, Ju ne, and Jul y.

Epstein, Edward A. "A Less Social Soc iety Is Becoming Shy." San Francisco
Chronicle 14 Sep. 1995: A-1.

Thi s article appeared on page A-I of the new spaper.

Jones, John . Personal interview. 31 Oct. 2003.

Kispert, Robert J. "Universal Language." World Book Online Reference Center.

2004. World Book, Inc. 25 Mar. 2004 <htt p://www.aolsvc.worldbook.aol.coml
wb /Article? id=ar576960>.

Leroux, Kivi. "Subliminal Messages: Primetime TV Programs Educate Viewers

on the Environment." E Magazine July-Aug. 1999. 14 Sep. 2004
<http://www.emagazine.com/july-augusC1999/0799curr_subliminal.html>.

Citations for online sources need the same basic information as print sources: author,
title, and date of publication . Th e date of publication for an online source is the date
it was put online or the dat e it was last revised . Sometimes you cannot find an author
or a publicati on date ; in th is case, just give whateve r inform ation you are able to find.
In addition, you need to give these two pieces of information for an online source.
I. Your dat e of access. Because online so urces are often revised , you need to
show exac tly which vers ion you used . Put the date you acc essed (visited)
the site just before the source's elec tronic address.
2. The exact electronic address. Copy the address from the top of your computer
scree n and enclose it in angle brackets « » . Cop y the exac t address of the
Web page you used, not j ust the hom e page address. If you must divide an
address because it is too long to fit on a line, divide it only at a slash mark (I).

Format of the Works-Cited Page

A wo rks-cited list is writte n or typed o n a se parate page , which is the last page of
a pap er. Use the following format.
I. Capitalize the title of the Wor ks-C ited list and ce nter it on the page.
2. Put the list in alphabetica l order by author's last nam e (or title of the work,
if there is no autho r).
3. Doubl e-space everything.
4 . Indent the second line of eac h ci tation 5 spaces or 1/2 inch .
110 I Research and Documentation of Sources

llODEl Works Cited

, ,
Bam berger, Michael. and Don Yaeger. "Over the Edge." Sports Illustrated

14 Apr. 1997: 62-70.

Baugh, Albert C.• and Thomas Cable. A History of the English Language.

5th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall , 2002.

Bruce, Meredith . Cybercrime . New York: Wexler. 2004.

Bru nish , Cory. Letter. l:iJlN 16 Feb . 2004 : 9.

Clinton. Patrick, "Manned Mars Aight Impossible Dream?" Spa ce Scieoce

15 Oct. 2003: 16-18.

Downie. And rew . "Brazil Considers Unguistic Barricad e." Christian Science

Monijor 6 Sap. 2000.13 Sep. 2004 <http://csmonitor.comlcgi-binl

durableRedirect.p1?I durablel2 OOO109lO61fp7s2-esm.shtml>.

Epstein. Edward. "A less Social Soc iety Is Becoming Shy," San francisco

Chronicle 14 Sap. 1995: Al +.

Henderson, Lynne. and Philip Zimbardo. "Shyness." Encyclopedia of Mental

1::tllaIIb. San 0;090: Academic Press. 19 pp. 4 May 2004

<http://www.sh yness.comIencycIopedia.html>.

Harper, Matthew. "Performance Drugs Outrun the Olympics." forbes 15 Feb .

2002: 30 Mar. 200 4 <http://www.forbes.coml2002102I1510215ped.html> .

Kispert. Robert J. "UniversaJ language." Wodd Boo k OnHne Reference Center.

2004. WoOd Book, Inc. 12 Sep. 2004

<http://www.aolsvc.world book.aol.comlwb/Article?id=ar576960> .

Kluger, Jeffrey. "M ission to Mars: First the Ro ver lands, and Now Bush Wants

to Send People. We Can Do It Even Faster Than Planned, but HElfe Is

What It Will Take." IirIHl 26 Jan . 2004: 42-47.

 Re s earch and Do cumentation of Sources 311

Jones, John. Personal interview. 31 Oct. 2003 .

Leroux, Kivi. "Subliminal Messages: Primetime TV Programs Educate Viewers

on the Environment." E Magazine July-Aug. 1999. 14 Sep. 2004

<htt p://www.emagazine.com/july-augusC 1999/ 0799curr_subliminal.html>.

Pinker, Steven. "Can a Comp uter Be Co nsc ious ?" U.S. News & World Report

18 Aug . 1997: 63-65.

"The 2000 Olympics: Games of the Drugs?" CBSNEWS.com 9 Sep. 2000.

30 Mar. 2004 <htt p://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/ 01/31/health/

main326667.shtml?CMP=ILC-SearchStories>.
_~ . .__ ..
~_ ~ ~ _·_ ~. 4 '__'.'_' '__... __ .__....._. ._-_ _....__.-" . ~ ~ __

PRJ\CT1CE 2 On a piece of paper, write the heading "Works Cited." Then write the information
about each of the following sources in a list in MLA style in alphabetical order.
Pre narltu] (I
~;~"G f·f.; " . - (- f ~ (.(} j i s!" 1. A book entitled Learning Disorders by Robert W. Henderson published by
Mo rris & Burns in Chicago in 2005 .
2. A magazine article entitled "How to Live to Be 100" by Richard Corliss
and Michael D. Lemonick on pages 40--48 of the August 30, 2004, issue of
Time magazine.
3. A newspaper article entitled "Biology of Dys lexia Varies with Culture,
Study Fin ds" on page D7 of the September 7, 2004, issue of the New York
Times newspaper. The author's name is Anahad O 'Connor.
4. An article in an online encyclopedia . The title of the article is "Dyslexia."
The site's address is http://www.aolsvc.worldbook.aol.com/wb/Article?
, id=ar 17 10 1O. The author's name is Michel W. Kibby. The Web site is
World Book Online Ref erence Center. The publ isher is World Book, Inc.,
and the copyright date is 2004 . Use today's date as your date of access.
S. A Web site publi shed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Center
for Food Safe ty and Appl ied Nutrit ion. The Web site contains an article
titled "Tattoos and Permanent Makeup." The Web site's address is
http ://www.cfsanJda.gov/-dms/cos-204.html. The article was updated on
July 1, 2004. Use today's date as your date of access .