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High School Research Portal: Citations

Citation Styles

  • There are many citations styles to correctly reference resources. These include: 

 
 
  • Students should take care to follow citation guidelines EXACTLY as detailed.  Guessing, approximating, or creating a hodgepodge of styles is not acceptable. 

Important:  At JIS we encourage all students to use MLA Citations.

MyBib

  • By far, our easiest to use referencing tool is MyBib.  It allows users to store multiple bibliographies, continually add resources, and format their resource correctly in MLA format.
  • In fact, MyBib is so easy we HIGHLY RECOMMEND every JIS high school student create a MyBib account.  

NoodleTools

NoodleTools

NoodleTools is an online research management platform that promotes critical thinking and authentic research. Students stay organized as they evaluate information, build accurate citations, archive source material, take notes, outline topics, and prepare to write. Three differentiated levels support individual students across grades and abilities. The classroom environment allows librarians and teachers to provide feedback, monitor individual contributions to group work, and view statistics about source use. In contrast to an auto-cite, auto-evaluate product, we support students to engage deeply in research and produce original work. NoodleTools is also designed with online student privacy in mind.

Common MLA Formats

Book  Lastname, Firstname. Title of Book. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication. 
Magazine, Journal, or Newspaper Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Periodical Day Month Year: pages. Medium of publication.

Electronic Resources
 		 Author and/or editor names (if available).  Article name in quotation marks (if applicable).  Title of the Website in italics.  Any version numbers available, including revisions, posting dates, volumes, or issue numbers.  Publisher information, including the publisher name and publishing date.  Take note of any page numbers (if available).  Medium of publication.  Date you accessed the material.  <URL>.
Personal Interview Last name, First name of person interviewed.  Personal Interview.  Date interview was conducted.

Artificial Intelligence/ Chatbots/Open AI like ChatGPT

 In the Works Cited entry, list OpenAI as the author, followed by “Name of the Chatbot” in italics as the website name, and then the URL. It is recommended to add an access date, since the tool is updated frequently.  Example:  OpenAI. ChatGPT. chat.openai.com.  Accessed 31 March. 2023.  
Two or more authors Last name, First name, First Last, and First Last.    
More than three authors Last name, First name, et al.
 
Same author, but different work
---.  
Photos, Painting, Pictures, Sculptures, etc.. Artist/Photographer's last name, first name.  Title of the work. Year created.  Medium.  Institution where housed, location.  Book/website title.  Print/Web.  Date accessed or published.   

Parenthetical Citations

  • After a quotation or paraphrase, MLA requires a parenthetical citation. This will easily guide the reader to the entry on the Works Cited page and enable him/her to locate the source of information.
  • Whatever is in the parenthetical citation must be the first thing that appears on the left-hand margin of the corresponding entry in the Works Cited List. Usually, this is the author's last name or the title.
  • Often this is followed by a page number if available.
  • Long titles may be abbreviated with ellipses.
  • Examples:

    (Jones 21).  
    (Smith and Jones 876).

    (Open AI).

    ("Companion to 1984" 78).
    ("The Day the Earth...")

The Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL)

  • If you have any questions about even the most obscure resources or formats, the Purdue OWL MLA Guide is perhaps the best MLA resource on the net. 
  • Be sure to add the Purdue OWL to your bookmarks.