College Composition and Communication Online

How to Cite Material Published in CCC Online

Online citation is complicated. For example, the official style manual of CCC, The MLA Handbook (4th edition) , contains inadequate advice for citing online materials, especially materials on the World Wide Web (see pages 160-67). The MLA has published an update to the style promoted in The MLA Handbook; the update is located at http://www.mla.org/set_stl.htm. This update is an improvement on the The MLA Handbook, but it is also inadequate. For example, the new guidelines do not explain how to cite much of the information from CCC Online effectively. Many people prefer to use Janice Walker's citation style; it is located at http://www.cas.usf.edu/english/walker/mla.html.

Users who browse CCC Online with one of our two frame-based interfaces will notice that the URL displayed will not change as they travel from page to page. Consequently, if they are not careful, they are likely to cite a URL that will not lead others to the exact location to which they refer.

The best way to cite material from CCC Online is to navigate through the site using the Lynx or Text-Only Interface located at http://www.ncte.org/ccc/lx.html. The URLs in the text-only version should be displayed correctly as you browse, changing for each individual page, allowing each to be cited. Once you have determined the URL for the page, follow one of the two formats below, depending on the type of document:

Citing an article, essay, editorial, letter, bibliography, or other individually authored segment of CCC Online.
Author of Page or Segment. "Title of Page or Segment." date of publication. CCC Online. URL (date of access).
Citing a portion of the journal.
CCC Online. Name of portion. NCTE. URL (date of access).
Note: MLA citation style requires angle brackets around URLs like so: <http://www.ncte.org/ccc/>. Janice Walker's style does not recommend such brackets; they can cause problems when uploading a bibliography to the Web. The brackets are unnecessary. Periods at the ends of URLs can also cause confusion.

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