Enter the citation for your first source in MLA format below.

You'll need to determine the educational or professional background of the author of your resource (if the piece was written by a person). You can do this by examining the resource more closely to see if it provides a bio or educational credentials for the author. If the source doesn't provide relevant credentials, research your author in Google and see if you can find a profile in LinkedIn, ResearchGate, or on a university or personal/professional website. HINT: If your piece has more than one author, stick with researching just one author. HINT HINT: If the piece has no individual author, try to figure out if a company or organization takes responsibility for the piece.

Please explain how you made your choice. (For example: "My piece is about how to talk to goldfish. The author is Dr. Dolittle. I went online and found that Dr. Dolittle has an MD, which means he went to medical school to treat human patients. An interview online also indicates that he has been speaking to animals for many years. Therefore, I selected 'Academic-amateur'.") HINT: It's not enough to state someone has an advanced degree. You also have to show that you know what field the author got the degree in, and how it relates to piece you are citing.

You'll need to determine how your resource was edited before it was published. Find the publication's website and look for a list of editors/editorial board. Visit the "About Us" or "Staff" section of a website. Sometimes, no staff are listed with the title of editor. If that's the case, the item is either a Self-published or Nonprofessionally Reviewed. HINT: If searching the website fails to bring you helpful results, you can also Google the title of your source and the term "editor" or "editorial staff."

Please explain how you made your choice. (For example: "My piece appeared in the New York Times. When I googled "editorial staff" and "New York Times," I found a list of Times editors. At least one editor, Philip B. Corbett, has worked as a professional journalist for the Times since 1990, so he is a Professional or Journalist. That means the New York Times is Professionally Edited.") HINT: If you think you piece was edited by an editor and editorial staff, you'll need to research at least one of the editors to prove that he/she/they meet the criteria for Professional or Journalist. If the "editors" aren't quite at that level, then the resource should be marked as Nonprofessionally Reviewed.

You'll need to determine the reason your resource was published. To make a profit (Commercial)? To share information that supports the mission of a non-profit organization (Non-profit)?  To inform university students and academic professionals (Higher Education)?

Please explain how you made your choice. (For example: "My article was published in the American Psychological Association's magazine, Monitor on Psychology. The American Psychological Association is non-commercial. The website states clearly that the organization is a 501c3, or non-profit organization, so I selected Non-profit.")