MLA Formatting

In MLA, in-text citations are inserted in the body of the paper to document the source in which the information was collected. In-text citations shows the reader where the information originated and to determine where to focus their attention when looking at the Works Cited page at the end of the paper.

There are many ways you can introduce a quote or quotations into your paper. A quotation should not just be inserted into the paper without an introduction or explanation, this causes the paper to not flow properly. 

• You can use an introductory phrase naming the source, followed by a comma.

•  Introduce the quotation with a complete sentence and a colon.

• Begin a sentence with your own word, then complete it with quoted words.

• Make the quote a part of your sentence without punctuation between your words and the words you are quoting.

• Place the in-text citation directly after the relevant information, and before any other punctuation except when using a long quotation.

 

• When Paraphrasing a quote or sentence from a source make sure you add an in-text citation after the paraphrased sentence.
  • Paraphrasing: means you took and idea or quote and put it in your own words to clarify it in simpler terms

 

• If you quote a sentence or phrase directly from a source, enclose the quoted section in quotation marks. Add an in-text citation at the end of the quote. The In-text citation should have Author's last name and page number in parentheses. Use a shortened title of the work instead of an author name if one is not available.
  • Shortened Title: Where you'd normally put the author's last name, instead use the first one, two, or three words from the title. Don't count initial articles like A, An, The. make sure it is clear where the quote came from.

 

• ​For audio-visual sources, use the timecode for the quote instead of the page number. Sites with no page number like websites use author or title only.

 

• If the source does not have page numbers but is divided into numbered paragraphs, sections or chapters, use them instead, use appropriate abbreviation (par., sec., ch.). In this case, use a comma after the author’s name.
  • for plays use Acts, Scenes, and line numbers with no comma after author's name

MLA format follows the author-page method of in-text citation. the In-Text Citation should match the Works cited page citation.

 

 

In text Citations With one Author:

(Author's last name page number)

 

If you state the author in the sentence than you only have to put the page number in the parentheses at the end of the sentence. If you just quote the phrase and not mention the author than the author and page number must be listed.

 

 

In text Citations With two Authors: 

(First Author's Last Name and Second Author's Last Name Page Number)

 

 

In text Citations with three or more authors: 

(First Author's Last Name et al. Page Number)

 

 

When the author is a corporate entity or organization, this information is included:

(corporate name page number)

 

 

If no author use a shortened title in the in-text citation where the authors last name would be.

(shortened Title page number)

 

 

If more than one works of an author is used distinguish between the sources in the in-text citations with shortened title: 

(Last name, shortened title page number)

 

 

Authors with same last name put letter of first name before the last name: 

(First Initial. Last Name Page number)

When using long quotations which are more than four lines long

• The sentence that introduces the quote, usually will end with a colon.
• The long quote is indented from the rest of the text, so it looks like a block of text.
• Do not put quotation marks around the quote.
• The period at the end of the quote will come before your in-text citation as opposed to after