A research paper should have a source, noted by a text citation, for every statement of fact made in the paper. Text citations ARE NOT limited to quotes only, but should be used for every statement of fact in the paper. In addition, the “Works Cited” page should list ONLY those works actually cited in the text of the paper. This is covered in the MLA Handbook:
In MLS documentation style, you acknowledge your sources by keying brief parenthetical citations in your text to an alphabetical list of works that appear at the end of the paper. Rule 6 states in pertinent part: (Gibaldi 142)
Per MLA 5.3, the Works Cited page should include only works in parenthetical citations in the text. MLA 5.4 gives the format for the Works Cited page.
MLA 6 covers the format for parenthetical citations in the text:
6.1 The list of works cited at the end of your research paper plays an important role in your acknowledgment of sources (see ch. 5), but the list does not itself provide sufficiently detailed and precise documentation. You must indicate to your readers not only what works you used in writing the paper but also exactly what you derived from each source and exactly where in the work you found the material. The most practical way to supply this information is to insert a brief parenthetical acknowledgment in your paper wherever you incorporate another’s words, facts, or ideas. Usually the author’s last name and a page reference are enough to identify the source and the specific location from which you borrowed material.
6.2 In determining the information needed to document sources accurately, keep the following guidelines in mind.
References in the text must clearly point to specific sources in the list of works cited. The information in your parenthetical references in the text must match the corresponding information in the entries in your list of works cited.
Identify the location of the borrowed information as specifically as possible. For a printed source, give the relevant page number or numbers in the parenthetical reference (see esp. 6.4.2)….[N]on print sources such as…electronic sources with no pagination or other type of reference markers cannot be cited by page number. Such works are usually cited in their entirety (see 6.4.1) and often by title (see 6.4.4).(See 6.4.2 for electronic publications with paragraph numbers or other kinds of reference numbers.) (Gibaldi 238-239)
Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6th ed. New York. The Modern Language Association of America. 2003.
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