All about MLA Citations

What is MLA?
MLA gives specifies guidelines for formatting manuscripts and citing research in writing. MLA also
provides writers with a system for referencing their sources through parenthetical (in-text) citation in
their essays and Works Cited pages. Writers who properly use MLA also build their credibility by
demonstrating accountability to their source material. Most importantly, the use of MLA can protect
writers from accusations of plagiarism, which is the purposeful or accidental uncredited use of source
material produced by other writers (“MLA General Format”).
How to in-text cite in MLA
MLA uses the Author’s Last Name/Page # style unlike other formatting styles.
Basic Format:
One Author = (Burke 354)
Two Authors = (Best and Marcus 9)
Three or More Authors = Use the first author's last name and et al., and include the page number.
(Franck et al. 327)
No Author = Use a shortened title of the piece like I did in the “What is MLA?” section above.
You can choose to introduce your source information in one of two ways:
Type #1: Introduce the author at the beginning of the citation.
Example: Johnson argued that the decision was final (333).
Type #2: Don’t mention the author at the beginning of the sentence and put the entire reference
at the end of the sentence like so:
Example: Kennedy’s decision was final (Johnson 333).
What is an in-text Citation?
An in-text citation (A.K.A. a parenthetical citation) is an acknowledgement included in your writing
whenever you quote, paraphrase, or summarize a source. In MLA format, it gives the author’s last name
(if known) and the page number of the relevant text. In-text citations allow the reader to look up the full
source information in the Works Cited page and see sources for themselves (“What is an in-text
citation?”).

To incorporate a text into writing (in other words, in order to need an in-text citation) you will use one of
the following techniques:
Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and/or Direct Quoting
Summarizing
Summarizing information is retelling information in your own words. The best way to summarize is to
read the text, cover up the text, and then retell what you just read. You can then look back at the summary
to tighten up the details. If you look at the text while you summarize, you are very likely to plagiarize.
These in-text (parenthetical) citations only use the author’s last name as the summary technically covers
numerous page numbers.
Below is a summary of Stanley Milgram’s book Obedience to Authority. Please note the two correct
ways in which this source could be in-text (parenthetically) cited:

TECHNIQUE 1: Because the author’s name is used in the lead-in, nothing is needed in parenthesis.
In Obedience to Authority, Stanley Milgram argues that people who are normally kind to others will
act otherwise when they are under the influence of a person in a position of power. He recounts
the results of an experiment in which people who were asked to deliver electric shocks to others
not only agreed to do so but also continued to do so even when it was clear that those receiving
the shocks were in pain. Milgram concludes that the further down the chain of command people
are, the less likely they are to take responsibility for their actions.
TECHNIQUE 2: Because the author’s name was not used in the lead-in, it belongs in parenthesis
following the summary.
In Obedience to Authority, the author argues that people who are normally kind to others will
act otherwise when they are under the influence of a person in a position of power. He recounts
the results of an experiment in which people who were asked to deliver electric shocks to others
not only agreed to do so but also continued to do so even when it was clear that those receiving
the shocks were in pain. Milgram concludes that the further down the chain of command people
are, the less likely they are to take responsibility for their actions (Milgram).
Notice for a summary, no quotes are needed.
Paraphrasing
Paraphrasing is not the same as summarizing. Paraphrasing requires that you change individual word
choices but that the ideas closely resemble the original text. You MUST still include a parenthetical
reference at the end of every single paraphrased sentence. Not including the parentheses is plagiarism.
These in-text (parenthetical) citations will use both the author’s last name and all the page numbers from
which the paraphrased info was found.
 Below is an example of paraphrasing showing the original text followed by its paraphrase and in-
text citation.
THE ORIGINAL PASSAGE:
Students frequently overuse direct quotation in taking notes, and as a result they overuse
quotations in the final [research] paper. Probably only about 10% of your final manuscript should
appear as directly quoted matter. Therefore, you should strive to limit the amount of exact
transcribing of source materials while taking notes.
Work Cited:
Lester, James D. Writing Research Papers. 2nd ed., 1976, pp. 46-47.
A LEGITIMATE PARAPHRASE:
In research papers, students often quote excessively, failing to keep quoted material down to a
desirable level. Since the problem usually originates during note taking, it is essential to minimize
the material recorded verbatim (Lester 46-47).
Notice that the above in-text citation tells us this info came from pages 46 through 47.
Direct Quoting
If paraphrasing is inadequate and you want to use actual words from the text, you can use
the technique of direct quoting. However, quotes have to be properly introduced and explained.
They cannot be randomly placed in the paragraphs. In MLA style, quoted material ALWAYS requires in-
text (parenthetical) citations, and they will use both the author’s last name and the page numbers if
known.
How to incorporate direct quotes
Quotes need to be properly introduced and discussed. They are not simply a “filler” for your paper.
Every single quote MUST be introduced.
Introducing Quotations in MLA
Technique #1: Incorporate the quote as part of your own sentence:
John and Hill argued that “fake media is a menace” (23).
Technique #2: Lead-in the quote with an introductory phrase:
According to John and Hill, “fake media is a menace” (23).
Technique #3: Attach a colon to the end of a complete sentence before the quote:
Many researchers have found that fake news is a problem: “Fake media is a
menace” (John & Hill 3).
How to use these MLA techniques if the author(s) is unknown
If the author of the internet source you are reviewing is unknown, you DO NOT cite the entire website.
Instead, you would cite the webpage. For instance, Scribbr is a website from which I get a lot of my
information; however, there are hundreds of webpages in that one website. Therefore, I must in-text cite
whichever page I took information from.
Example: The following direct quote is from Scribbr’s webpage entitled “MLA In-Text
Citations: A Complete Guide (9th Edition)”
Technique #1: Incorporate the quote as part of your own sentence:
The Scribbr website states that “each in-text citation must correspond to a full reference in
the list of a Works Cited” (“MLA In-Text Citations”).
Notice that even though I mentioned the website in my sentence, I still had to put the webpage name in
my in-text citation. Also, since the webpage name is so long, I shortened the title a bit.

Technique #2: Lead-in the quote with an introductory phrase:

According to an academic website, “each in-text citation must correspond to a full reference
in the list of a Works Cited” (“MLA In-Text Citations”).
Notice that even though I mentioned it was from a website, I still had to put the webpage name in my in-
text citation. And again, I shortened the title a bit.

Technique #3: Attach a colon to the end of a complete sentence before the quote:
Academic sources exclaim that in-text citations should match the Works Cited Page
citation: “Each in-text citation must correspond to a full reference in the list of a
Works Cited” (“MLA In-Text Citations”).
Sources without Page Numbers
If your source does NOT have page numbers, then you will simply put the author’s last name.
For example: (Weishuhn).
If your source does NOT have page numbers and does NOT have an author’s last name, you will do as I
did above.
Examples of verbs that can be used when citing in-text

Precise Verbs Precise Verbs + That

Addressed Kinley and Jones Asserted Kinley and Jones

Discussed addressed the idea of Argued asserted that students
Examined students monitoring Believed should monitor their
Explored their own dress codes Claimed own dress codes (4).
Considered (4). Conceded
Questioned Declared
Analyzed Hinted
Opposed Hypothesized
Debated Implied
Disputed Inferred
Scrutinized Intimated
Contested Maintained
Criticized Noted
Commented on Posited
Elaborated on Proposed
Focused on Stated
Reflected on Suggested
argued about/for Theorized