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English Overview

Guide created to support research in English at TCC

TCC Writing Centers

pencil iconThe Writing Centers at TCC are located on every campus and can help you with your citation and formatting questions. Visit the Writing and Reading Support Canvas page to chat with a tutor, schedule an appointment, and learn more about their services and how they can help. 

Plagiarism Tutorials

Refer to the TCC Student Handbook for information regarding academic integrity and prohibited behaviors, including a definition and examples of plagiarism (Student Code of Conduct, Article III, Item 31). 

The TCC Libraries offer two tutorials about plagiarism and how to avoid it. The tutorials cover the same content but use different citation styles. 

Citations

For more help with citations check our Citation guide or reach out to the Writing Center. 

Recommended Resources - MLA

In the library:

Additional resources:

Book by One Author

Mantel, Hilary. Wolf Hall. Picador, 2010.

Book by an Unknown Author

Beowulf. Translated by Alan Sullivan and Timothy Murphy, edited by Sarah Anderson, Pearson, 2004.

An Edited Book

Sánchez Prado, Ignacio M., editor. Mexican Literature in Theory. Bloomsbury, 2018.

Article on a website

Deresiewicz, William. “The Death of the Artist—and the Birth of the Creative Entrepreneur.” The Atlantic, 28 Dec. 2014, theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/01/ the-death-of-the-artist-and-the-birth-of-thecreative-entrepreneur/383497/.

Book on a website

Poe, Edgar Allan. “The Masque of the Red Death.” The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe, edited by James A. Harrison, vol. 4, Thomas Y. Crowell, 1902, pp. 250-58. HathiTrust Digital Library, hdl.handle.net/2027/coo.31924079574368.

Journal Article in a Database

Goldman, Anne. “Questions of Transport: Reading Primo Levi Reading Dante.” The Georgia Review, vol. 64, no. 1, spring 2010, pp. 69-88. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41403188.

Song from an Album

Snail Mail. “Thinning.” Habit, Sister Polygon Records, 2016. Vinyl EP.

Song on a website

Snail Mail. “Thinning.” Bandcamp, snailmailbaltimore.bandcamp.com.

Concert Attended in Person

Beyoncé. The “Formation” World Tour. 14 May 2016, Rose Bowl, Los Angeles.

A Movie Viewed in Person

Opening Night. Directed by John Cassavetes, Faces Distribution, 1977.

A Movie Viewed Online

Richardson, Tony, director. Sanctuary. Screenplay by James Poe, Twentieth Century Fox, 1961. YouTube, uploaded by LostCinemaChannel, 17 July 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMnzFM_Sq8s.

A Television Show Viewed on Physical Media

“Hush.” 1999. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Complete Fourth Season, created by Joss Whedon, episode 10, Mutant Enemy / Twentieth Century Fox, 2003, disc 3. DVD.

A Photograph Viewed in Person

Cameron, Julia Margaret. Alfred, Lord Tennyson. 1866, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.

A Painting Viewed Online

Bearden, Romare. The Train. 1975. MOMA, www.moma.org/collection/works/65232?locale=en.

An Untitled Image from a Print Magazine

Karasik, Paul. Cartoon. The New Yorker, 14 Apr. 2008, p. 49.

(Source: MLA Style Center)

Citations from the Databases

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Remember to check all your citations!

Most databases have a citation feature that allows you to copy the full citation for your source in your chosen format. This is a great way to get started with your reference list, but citations pulled from databases are not always 100% correct! 

  • Pay attention to details such as names, dates, capitalization, and punctuation.
  • Pay attention to what edition of the citation style is being used.
  • Remember that it is up to you to check over all your citations to make sure they are complete, accurate, and formatted correctly according to the citation style you are using.

Click below to view where to find the citation information in the different library databases. 

Screenshot from the Bloom's Literature database

  • Look to the top of the item for "Citation" 
  • Select the citation format that you want
  • Formats available include MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and APA

Screenshot from the CINAHL Complete database

CINAHL Complete, Communication and Mass Media Complete from EBSCO, eBook Collection from EBSCOhost

  • Look to the right of the item for an icon that looks like a document. If viewing the PDF, you'll only see the icon. If you are in the detailed record view, you will see "Cite" next to the icon, which will be listed under the "Tools" on the right side of the screen.
  • Scroll down to locate the citation format you want
  • Formats available include ABNT, AMA, APA, Chicago, Harvard, MLA, and Vancouver/ICMJE

Screenshot from a Gale database

  • Look to the top of the item for "Cite"
  • Click on the citation format that you want
  • Formats available include MLA, APA, Chicago, and Harvard

Screenshot from the JSTOR database

  • Look to the top of the item for "Cite"
  • Formats available include MLA, Chicago, and APA

Screenshot from a ProQuest database

  • Look to the top of the item for "Cite"
  • Use the drop-down menu to select the citation format
  • Formats available to choose from include MLA, Chicago, APA, Harvard, and many others

Screenshot from the PubMed database

  • Look to the right of the item for "Cite" (or to the top of the item if viewing on a smaller screen size)
  • Use the drop-down menu to select the citation format
  • Formats available include AMA, APA, MLA, and NLM

Screenshot from the TCC Library Catalog

  • In the item record, look for "Citation" listed in the options under "Send to" (located just below the item information listed at the top of the record)
  • Click on the citation format that you want
  • Formats available include MLA, APA, Chicago/Turabian, and Harvard