Prof. Wilson's Documentation System

The Notation System you should use for Your Papers

Simplified Documentation: Modern Language Association

Each discipline you'll encounter at Boston College has its own system for documenting the material you use for backgrounding or researching your own writing. (For this reason, it's often a good idea to ask your professor which system he or she prefers.) In recent years, however, many disciplines have gravitated to a "simplified" citation system which cuts down on footnotes in favor of citations that appear in the body of your text. That is, instead of a series of distracting footnotes, you cite the author's name and page number right in your own paragraphs; if the reader is curious about the full source, he or she can consult a list (often called a "Works Cited" or "Works Consulted" list) at the end of your paper.

In courses with me, we'll be using a simplified version of the citation system used by the Modern Language Association (MLA). Here is how it works:

1. At the end of your paper, under the heading of "Works Consulted,"  list of all of works you consulted in any way while researching your paper. Every work you're analyzing also should appear there (e.g. if you're analyzing a short story, it should be listed there). The general format for this list is author (first name, last name), followed by a period. Then the title, either surrounded by quotation marks (for articles and short stories) or underlined (for books), again followed by a period. Then the publication data, as follows:

 Works Consulted

Bower, Bruce. "Kanzi Extends His Speech Reach." Science News 27 Aug. 1988: 140.

Crail, Ted. Apetalk and Whalespeak. Los Angeles: Tarcher, 1981.

Davis, Fred. "Communication Skills Among Primates," Journal of Experimental Psychology 115 (1986): 211-235.


For examples of how to list different kinds of publications, consult a writing handbook (for example, Diana Hacker, A Pocket Style Manual).

2. In the body of your paper, whenever you are citing, implicitly or explicitly, information or opinions other than your own, use the following format: At the end of the sentence, and outside all relevant punctuation, list the author's last name and the relevant page number--for example, (Didion 23). No "p. or "pg." or "pp." is necessary.

3. When you're using more than one source by a single author, list a short version of the title as well--for example, (Kincaid, Small Place 44).

4. Any time where it's clear that you're quoting from a text, or providing opinion from a text, and the author of that text should be self-evident from the passage, you can just list the page number without the author. For example: Rushdie clearly believes Indian politics has become corrupt, a "beehive" of petty tyrants (46).

5. Internet or WWW sites should be cited with the web page's Title (usually it appears in the Box at the top of the Web Page in your browser), http. address, and then the date you looked at the page. Cite an author as well when appropriate.
    That usually will be enough. In some cases, however, it is very important to list the source of the WWW information you're citing as well, not just the internet url or address. That is, list the "sponsor" of the material you're looking at. Since much of the seemingly "factual" material on the WWW is often partisan and sometimes suspect, this step is often crucial.
    In your in-text parenthetical citations, meanwhile, use a short version of the author or sponsor, not the WWW address. So, not http:///www2.ACLU/aclu/deathpenalty.html  for every citation in parenthesis, but simply ACLU. In other words, you're using a shorthand.

For citing films, make sure your film appears in  your works consulted list, as Director (Last name, first name). Title of Film.  Date.  But inside your paper, don't worry about specific scene citations. Just make it clear in your paper (E.g "In the scene where Ransom Stoddard is beaten by Liberty,.."). 

Finally, the main reason I use "Works Consulted" rather than "Works Cited" is that I want you to list all of the works you consulted to complete this particular assignment.  This is a way of establishing the integrity of your efforts, and avoiding ambiguity about what is your work and what is someone else's.  If you don't list a source in your "Works Consulted," we'll assume you're saying you didn't consult it. So, for all concerned, list everything you did consult. 

Please don't hesitate to ask me for clarification on this matter. You can email me by clicking here:wilsonc@bc.edu