MLA - How to Cite Your Sources

In-text citations should look consistent throughout your paper. References in the text must clearly point to specific sources in the list of work cited. In order to do this, a quote or a paraphrase must be followed by the source and page number(s) in parentheses, This is called a parenthetical reference.

MLA guidelines for this kind of documentation are covered in section 6 of the MLA Handbook, 9th ed., starting on page 227.

• For time-based media like video, times are now cited in the text (p. 250).
• The use of my trans. to identify your translation of a non-English quotation is described (p. 282).
• How to shorten long titles when they have to be included in a parenthetical citation is clarified (p. 237-238).
• The common practice of documenting borrowings from Greek, Roman, and medieval works with part numbers, not page numbers alone, is described (p. 247).
• The punctuation used when multiple sources are combined in a single parenthesis (262-263).
• Ways of formatting citations in research projects other than print papers are suggested (285-286).

There are a number of different ways to use parenthetical references in MLA formatting. Here are some examples:

• After a quote, add the author's last name and a page number(s). 

Example: "the ancestor of every action is a thought" (Emerson 154).

• If using the author's name in your text, do not include it in the parentheses.

Example: In his essay, Emerson observed that "the ancestor of every action is a thought" (154).

• If more than one author has the same last name, include enough information to differentiate them.

Example: "the ancestor of every action is a thought." (R.W. Emerson 154).

• If two or more authors wrote the work, list them all.

Example: "the ancestor of every action is a thought" (Emerson and Thoureau 154).