Research Documentation Guidelines

For all papers written at Seton two forms of documentation are required: parenthetical notes in the text of the paper and a Works Cited page. Do this for any facts, ideas, images or exact wording you get from any source.

Seton School requires the use of the MLA style for all papers or projects using research. In its 8th Edition Handbook, the Modern Language Association revised its documentation format for Works Cited entries; citations in the text (parenthetical notes) are in the same format as before.  The new Works Cited format is shown below in its simplest form, the book with a single author. See page 2 for the new MLA format for Electronic sources (now required at Seton) and for a link to information on other types of sources. See page 3 for a sample Works Cited page, also showing other types of sources.

**Please note that teachers often collect pages of cited books, articles, etc. to check the accuracy of the research. Students usually photocopy book and magazine pages (and print Internet pages), marking or highlighting the information used in the paper.

Parenthetical Notes: Documenting Sources in the Text of the Paper (No Change)

In the paper’s text, use parenthetical notes to indicate the source of the information. Immediately after the information or quotation taken from the source, place the author’s last name and the page number, with no punctuation, in parentheses. Place this after quotation marks, if any, but before the period of the sentence. See examples below.

The Works Cited Page (Revised)

On a separate page at the end of the paper, list all cited sources on the Works Cited page. For each source, list information using the correct order and punctuation, arranging sources in alphabetical order according to authors’ last names. Indent the 2nd and subsequent lines in each entry. Double space between lines and between entries.

Please click on the document provided below for more information and examples.

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