I am confused.. I am writing a research paper on a health condition, This whole MlA citing can be confusing to me. My last research paper I got a 66 because I used too much information from the sources. If the information I am getting from one page is in differant paragraphs, how would I cite that correctly?
**would I use (author last name,pg#,par#)
Any help on this would be greatly appreciated!
Greetings!
Citing correctly can be a real challenge! In general, it is not necessary to use paragraph numbers when citing in MLA. If you were citing a web page on a site that did not have numbered pages, you might need to, but otherwise, the page number should suffice. The trick to proper referencing is to remember that not only do direct quotations require a reference, but paraphrased ideas do, as well. If you use someone else's ideas, you must include a reference, regardless of the fact that you changed it by paraphrasing. You can use phrases which continue to indicate where you got the information:
Smith found that sleep disorders affected health (217). "The results were indisputable that REM sleep is vital" (Smith 219). But the most surprising result was that deep sleep was even more important than REM, according to Smith's exhaustive studies, particularly the Boston study (235). There, a group of seventeen men and 15 woman had outcomes with dramatic results. This was a completely new way of looking at the sleep cycle. [No need to cite again, if this information is on the same page]. This promises to be a great help for the treatment of insomnia, and shows that ensuring proper amounts of the right kind of sleep should be emphasized by family physicians to their patients. [No need to cite if this is your own idea.]
I hope this helps!
Thanks,
Sarah, EssayForum.com