Incorporating Research and Documentation

Incorporating information into your paper:

--use a signal phrase or identifying phrase when you use a direct quote (refer to page 714 for an example)

--if it is a direct quote, be sure to include quotation marks

--whether it is a direct quote, a summary or a paraphrase, be sure to give credit for the information—this is called a CITATION or CITE (refer to page 714 for an example)

An example, based on the information on page 630 and the topic of a “sugar tax:”

               The obesity rate among Americans has risen a whopping 34 per cent, up from 15 percent in the 1960s and 1970s (Kirszner and Mandell 630). 

If the information comes from a website, only the author's name goes in parentheses. Example:

As of 2010, over 100,000 people in America were in need of organ transplants (Matthews).

If the website does not provide an author's name, give the title of the article, in quotation marks, within parentheses. Example:

According to information provided by Princeton, "Organ donation typically takes place after brain death, the irreversible loss of all brain functions, including the brain stem" (Organ Donation).

The reference given in the paraentheses is called an internal  citation. The name of the author or title of the article lead to the WCP - Works Cited page.

The internal citation includes:

Parenthesis – last name(s) of author and page number –Parenthesis – period.

The keys to a correct Works Cited page:

Follow the example and use Easybib.com

The BEST source for help with creating the Works Cited page is Easybib.

Easybib is already set up in MLA format. All you have to do is choose the type of reference you have and follow the directions. Make SURE you include all the requested information. Fill out Easybib for all of your references, then set up your page to print. Be sure to insert your page and last name on the Works Cited page before printing.

You should have at least 5-7 internal references in the final draft of your argumentative paper and at least 3 references on your Works Cited page that you have used in your paper. 

DO NOT take all the information for your paper from ONE source. The point of a research paper is to show you have, indeed, consulted several sources in order to find sufficient information.