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MLA Citation Guide (MLA 9th Edition): In-Text Citation

Understanding Core Elements
Formatting Appendices and Works Cited List
Writing an Annotated Bibliography
Academic Honesty and Citation

In-Text Citation

Charts, Graphs, Images, and Tables
Class Notes and Presentations
Encyclopedias and Dictionaries
Generative AI
In Digital Assignments
Interviews and Emails
Journal and Magazine Articles
Newspaper Articles
Social Media
Special Collections
Videos and DVDs
When Information Is Missing
Citation Software

In-text citations are inserted in the body of your research paper to briefly document the source of your information.

In-text citations in MLA style follow the general format of author's last name followed by a page number enclosed in parentheses. Here is an example: "Here's a direct quote" (Smith 8).
If the author's name is not given, use the first word (or words) of the title. Follow the same formatting that is used in the works-cited list, such as quotation marks. Here is an example: This is a paraphrase ("Trouble" 22).
If the source does not have page numbers (for example, some online articles, websites and e-books), only include the author's name for the in-text citation. Do not estimate or make up page numbers.
In-text citations point the reader to the works-cited list, which is located at the end of your paper, for more complete bibliographic information.

Repeated Use of Sources

If you use information from a single source more than once in succession (i.e., no other sources referred to in between), you can use a simplified in-text citation. Here is an example:

Cell biology is an area of science that focuses on the structure and function of cells (Smith 15). It revolves around the idea that the cell is a "fundamental unit of life" (17).

Note: If using this simplified in-text citation creates ambiguity regarding the source being referred to, use the full in-text citation format.

In-Text Citation Formatting and Examples

Format: (Author's Last Name Page Number)

Example: (Hunt 358)

Two Authors

Format: (Author's Last Name and Author's Last Name Page Number)

Example: (Case and Daristotle 57)

Three or More Authors

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

Example: (Case et al. 57)

Unknown Author

Where you would normally put the author's last name, instead use the first one, two, or three words from the title. Do not use initial articles such as "A", "An" or "The". Provide enough words to clarify which sources from your works-cited list that you are referencing.

Follow the formatting of the title. For example, if the title in the works-cited list is in italics, italicize the words from the title in the in-text citation, and if the title in the works-cited list is in quotation marks, put quotation marks around the words from the title in the in-text citation.

Format: (Title Page Number)

Examples :

( Cell Biology 12)

("Nursing" 12)

Multiple Sources

To cite more than one source when you are paraphrasing, separate the in-text citations with a semi-colon.

Format: (Author's Last Name Page Number; Author's Last Name Page Number).

(Smith 42; Bennett 71).

( It Takes Two ; Brock 43).

Note: In MLA style, the sources within the in-text citation do not need to be in alphabetical order.

Works Quoted in Another Source

Sometimes an author of a book, article or website will mention another person's work by using a quotation or paraphrased idea from that source. (This may be a secondary source.) For example, the Kirkey article you are reading includes a quotation by Smith that you would like to include in your essay. The basic rule is that in both your Works-Cited List and in-text citation you will still cite Kirkey. Kirkey will appear in your Works Cited list – NOT Smith. Add the words "qtd. in" to your in-text citation.

Examples of in-text citations:

According to a study by Smith (qtd. in Kirkey) 42% of doctors would refuse to perform legal euthanasia.

Smith (qtd. in Kirkey) states that “even if euthanasia was legal, 42% of doctors would be against this method of assisted dying” (A.10).

Example of Works Cited List citation:

Kirkey, Susan. "Euthanasia." The Montreal Gazette , 9 Feb. 2013, p. A.10. Canadian Newsstand Major Dailies.

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Home / Guides / Citation Guides / MLA Format / MLA In-text Citations

MLA In-Text Citations

An in-text citation is a reference to a source that is found within the text of a paper ( Handbook 227). This tells a reader that an idea, quote, or paraphrase originated from a source. MLA in-text citations usually include the last name of the author and the location of cited information.

This guide focuses on how to create MLA in-text citations, such as citations in prose and parenthetical citations in the current MLA style, which is in its 9th edition. This style was created by the Modern Language Association . This guide reviews MLA guidelines but is not related directly to the association.

Here’s a quick rundown of the contents of this guide on how to use in-text citations.

Fundamentals

Why in-text citations are important
Prose vs parenthetical in-text citation differences
Parenthetical citation reference chart

In-text citation examples

In-text citation with two authors
In-text citation with 3+ authors
In-text citation with no authors
In-text citation with corporate authors
In-text citation with edited books and anthologies
In-text citation with no page numbers and online sources
Citing the same sources multiple times
Citing 2+ sources in the same in-text citation
Citing multiple works by the same author in the same in-text citation
Abbreviating titles
Citing religious works and scriptures
Citing long or block quotes

Why are in-text citations important?

In-text citations

Give full credit to sources that are quoted and paraphrased in a work/paper.
Help the writer avoid plagiarism.
Are a signal that the information came from another source.
Tell the reader where the information came from.

In-text citation vs. in-prose vs. parenthetical

An in-text citation is a general citation of where presented information came from. In MLA, an in-text citation can be displayed in two different ways:

In the prose
As a parenthetical citation

While the two ways are similar, there are slight differences. However, for both ways, you’ll need to know how to format page numbers in MLA .

Citation in prose

An MLA citation in prose is when the author’s name is used in the text of the sentence. At the end of the sentence, in parentheses, is the page number where the information was found.

Here is an example

When it comes to technology, King states that we “need to be comfortable enough with technology tools and services that we can help point our patrons in the right direction, even if we aren’t intimately familiar with how the device works” (11).

This MLA citation in prose includes King’s name in the sentence itself, and this specific line of text was taken from page 11 of the journal it was found in.

Parenthetical citation

An MLA parenthetical citation is created when the author’s name is NOT in the sentence. Instead, the author’s name is in parentheses after the sentence, along with the page number.

Here is an MLA parenthetical citation example

When it comes to technology, we “need to be comfortable enough with technology tools and services that we can help point our patrons in the right direction, even if we aren’t intimately familiar with how the device works” (King 11).

In the above example, King’s name is not included in the sentence itself, so his name is in parentheses after the sentence, with 11 for the page number. The 11 indicates that the quote is found on page 11 in the journal.

Full reference

For every source that is cited using an in-text citation, there is a corresponding full reference. This allows readers to track down the original source.

At the end of the assignment, on the MLA works cited page , is the full reference. The full reference includes the full name of the author, the title of the article, the title of the journal, the volume and issue number, the date the journal was published, and the URL where the article was found.

Here is the full reference for King’s quote

King, David Lee. “Why Stay on Top of Technology Trends?” Library Technology Reports , vol. 54, no. 2, Feb.-Mar. 2018, ezproxy.nypl.org/login?url=//search-proquest-com.i.ezproxy.nypl.org/docview/2008817033?accountid=35635.

Readers can locate the article online via the information included above.

Citation overview

mla-in-text-citations-reference-overview

The next section of this guide focuses on how to structure an MLA in-text citation and reference in parentheses in various situations.

A narrative APA in-text citation and APA parenthetical citation are somewhat similar but have some minor differences. Check out our helpful guides, and others, on EasyBib.com!

Wondering how to handle these types of references in other styles? Check out our page on APA format , or choose from more styles .

Parenthetical Citation Reference Chart

Author/Sources	In-text citation	Structure & Explanation
	41 (“Nothing Lost” 178)	(Title Location) Use the title. Use an abbreviated version if it’s long. Format the title like you do in the reference. “Quotation marks” = Work that’s part of a bigger source (e.g., book chapter, journal article, blog post, etc.) = Book, play, entire website, etc.
One author	(Epstein 161)	(Author’s last name Location)
	(Austen and )	(Last name and )
	(Eriksson and Sagen 23)	From one source – list both authors separated by , followed by the page number.
	(Leung et al. 58)	Use et al. to indicate that there are 3 or more authors.
	(The British Museum) (United States, Dept. of Education 82)	List the corporation or organization’s name. Use abbreviations as appropriate. If several names are given, list all the names and separate them by a comma.
	(Castillo 74)	Use the editor’s name instead of the author’s name.
	(Sarreal 11; DeArce 65)	Cite both authors/locations individually separated by a semicolon.

Sources with Two Authors

There are many books, journal articles, magazine articles, reports, and other source types written or created by two authors.

When a source has two authors, place both authors’ last names in the body of your work ( Handbook 232). The last names do not need to be listed in alphabetical order. Instead, follow the same order as shown on the source.

In an MLA in-text citation, separate the two last names with the word “and.” After both authors’ names, add a space and the page number where the original quote or information is found on.

Here is an example of an MLA citation in prose for a book with two authors

Gaiman and Pratchett further elaborate by sharing their creepy reminder that “just because it’s a mild night doesn’t mean that dark forces aren’t abroad. They’re abroad all of the time. They’re everywhere” (15).

Here is an example of an MLA parenthetical citation for a book with two authors

Don’t forget that “just because it’s a mild night doesn’t mean that dark forces aren’t abroad. They’re abroad all of the time. They’re everywhere” (Gaiman and Pratchett 15).

If you’re still confused, check out EasyBib.com’s MLA in-text citation generator, which allows you to create MLA in-text citations and other types of references in just a few clicks!

If it’s an APA book citation you’re looking to create, we have a helpful guide on EasyBib.com. While you’re at it, check out our APA journal guide!

Sources With Three or More Authors

There are a number of sources written or created by three or more authors. Many research studies and reports, scholarly journal articles, and government publications are developed by three or more individuals.

If you included the last names of all individuals in your MLA in-text citations or in parentheses, it would be too distracting to the reader. It may also cause the reader to lose sight of the overall message of the paper or assignment. Instead of including all last names, only include the last name of the first individual shown on the source. Follow the first author’s last name with the Latin phrase, “et al.” This Latin phrase translates to “and others.” Add the page number after et al.

Here’s an example of an MLA parenthetical citation for multiple authors

“School library programs in Croatia and Hong Kong are mainly focused on two major educational tasks. One task is enhancing students’ general literacy and developing reading habits, whereas the other task is developing students’ information literacy and research abilities” (Tam et al. 299).

The example above only includes the first listed author’s last name. All other authors are credited when “et al.” is used. If the reader wants to see the other authors’ full names, the reader can refer to the final references at the end of the assignment or to the full source.

The abbreviation et al. is used with references in parentheses, as well as in full references. To include the authors’ names in prose, you can either write each name out individually or, you can type out the meaning of et al., which is “and others.”

Here is an acceptable MLA citation in prose example for sources with more than three authors

School library programming in Croatia and Hong Kong is somewhat similar to programming in the United States. Tam, Choi, Tkalcevic, Dukic, and Zheng share that “school library programs in Croatia and Hong Kong are mainly focused on two major educational tasks. One task is enhancing students’ general literacy and developing reading habits, whereas the other task is developing students’ information literacy and research abilities” (299).

If your instructor’s examples of how to do MLA in-text citations for three or more authors looks different than the example here, your instructor may be using an older edition of this style. To discover more about previous editions, learn more here .

Need some inspiration for your research project? Trying to figure out the perfect topic? Check out our Dr. Seuss , Marilyn Monroe , and Malcolm X topic guides!

Sources Without an Author

It may seem unlikely, but there are times when an author’s name isn’t included on a source. Many digital images, films and videos, encyclopedia articles, dictionary entries, web pages, and more do not have author names listed.

If the source you’re attempting to cite does not have an author’s name listed, the MLA in-text citation or parenthetical citation should display the title. If the title is rather long, it is acceptable to shorten it in the body of your assignment. If you choose to shorten the title, make sure the first word in the full citation is also the first word used in the citation in prose or parenthetical citation. This is done to allow the reader to easily locate the full citation that corresponds with the reference in the text.

If, in the Works Cited list, the full reference has the title within quotation marks, include those quotation marks in the in-text citation or reference in parentheses. If the title is written in italics in the full reference, use italics for the title in the in-text citation or reference in parentheses as well.

Parenthetical Citations MLA Examples

The example below is from a poem found online, titled “the last time.” the poem’s author is unknown..

“From the moment you hold your baby in your arms you will never be the same. You might long for the person you were before, when you had freedom and time and nothing in particular to worry about” (“The Last Time”).

The example below is from the movie, The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain .

“Perhaps it would have been different if there hadn’t been a war, but this was 1917, and people were exhausted by loss. Those that were allowed to stay manned the pits, mining the coal that would fuel the ships. Twenty-four hours a day they labored” ( Englishman ).

Notice the shortened title in the above reference. This allows the reader to spend more time focusing on the content of your project, rather than the sources.

If you’re looking for an MLA in-text citation website to help you with your references, check out EasyBib Plus on EasyBib.com! EasyBib Plus can help you determine how to do in-text citations MLA and many other types of references!

Corporate Authors

Numerous government publications, research reports, and brochures state the name of the organization as the author responsible for publishing it.

When the author is a corporate entity or organization, this information is included in the MLA citation in prose or parenthetical citation.

“One project became the first to evaluate how e-prescribing standards work in certain long-term care settings and assessed the impact of e-prescribing on the workflow among prescribers, nurses, the pharmacies, and payers” (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality 2).

If the full name of the organization or governmental agency is long in length, it is acceptable to abbreviate some words, as long as they are considered common abbreviations. These abbreviations should only be in the references with parentheses. They should not be used in citations in prose.

Here is a list of words that can be abbreviated in parentheses:

Department = Dept.
Government = Govt.
Corporation = Corp.
Incorporated = Inc.
Company = Co.
United States = US

Example of a shortened corporate author name in an MLA parenthetical citation

“Based on our analysis of available data provided by selected states’ departments of corrections, the most common crimes committed by inmates with serious mental illness varied from state to state” (US Govt. Accountability Office 14).

Here is how the same corporate author name would look in an MLA citation in prose

The United States Government Accountability Office states, “Based on our analysis of available data provided by selected states’ departments of corrections, the most common crimes committed by inmates with serious mental illness varied from state to state” (14).

Remember, citations in prose should not have abbreviations; other types of references can.

Looking for more information on abbreviations? Check out our page on MLA format.

Edited Books and Anthologies

Edited books and anthologies often include chapters or sections, each written by an individual author or a small group of authors. These compilations are placed together by an editor or a group of editors. There are tons of edited books and anthologies available today, ranging from ones showcasing Black history facts and literature to those focusing on notable individuals such as scientists like Albert Eintein and politicians such as Winston Churchill .

If you’re using information from an edited book or an anthology, include the chapter author’s name in your MLA citation in prose or reference in parentheses. Do not use the name(s) of the editor(s). Remember, the purpose of these references is to provide the reader with some insight as to where the information originated. If, after reading your project, the reader would like more information on the sources used, the reader can use the information provided in the full reference, at the very end of the assignment. With that in mind, since the full reference begins with the author of the individual chapter or section, that same information is what should be included in any citations in prose or references in parentheses.

Here is an example of an MLA citation in prose for a book with an editor

Weinstein further states that “one implication of this widespread adaptation of anthropological methods to historical research was the eclipse of the longstanding concern with “change over time,” and the emergence of a preference for synchronic, rather than diachronic, themes” (195).

Full reference at the end of the assignment

Weinstein, Barbara. “History Without a Cause? Grand Narratives, World History, and the Postcolonial Dilemma.” Postcolonial Studies: An Anthology , edited by Pramod K. Nayar, Wiley-Blackwell, 2015, p. 196. Wiley , www.wiley.com/en-us/Postcolonial+Studies%3A+An+Anthology-p-9781118780985.

Once you’re through with writing and citing, run your paper through our innovative plagiarism checker ! It’s the editor of your dreams and provides suggestions for improvement.

Sources Without Page Numbers and Online Sources

When a source has no page numbers, which is often the case with long web page articles, e-books, and numerous other source types, do not include any page number information in the body of the project. Do not estimate or invent your own page numbering system for the source. If there aren’t any page numbers, omit this information from the MLA in-text citation. There may, however, be paragraph numbers included in some sources. If there are distinct and clear paragraph numbers directly on the source, replace the page number with this information. Make it clear to the reader that the source is organized by paragraphs by using “par.” before the paragraph number, or use “pars.” if the information is from more than one paragraph.

Here is an example of how to create an MLA parenthetical citation for a website

“She ran through the field with the wind blowing in her hair and a song through the breeze” (Jackson par. 5).

Here’s an example of an MLA citation in prose for a website

In Brenner’s meeting notes, he further shared his motivation to actively seek out and secure self help resources when he announced, “When we looked at statistical evidence, the most commonly checked out section of the library was self-help. This proves that patrons consistently seek out help for personal issues and wish to solve them with the help of the community’s resources” (pars. 2-3).

Here’s another MLA in-text citation example for a website

Holson writes about a new mindful app, which provides listeners with the soothing sound of not only Bob Ross’ voice, but also the “soothing swish of his painter’s brush on canvas.”

In above example, the information normally found in the parentheses is omitted since there aren’t any page, parentheses, or chapter numbers on the website article.

Looking for APA citation website examples? We have what you need on EasyBib.com!

Need an in-text or parenthetical citation MLA website? Check out EasyBib Plus on EasyBib.com! Also, check out MLA Citation Website , which explains how to create references for websites.

Citing the Same Source Multiple Times

It may seem redundant to constantly include an author’s name in the body of a research project or paper. If you use an author’s work in one section of your project, and the next piece of information included is by the same individual(s), then it is not necessary to share in-text, whether in prose or in parentheses, that both items are from the same author. It is acceptable to include the last name of the author in the first use, and in the second usage, only a page number needs to be included.

Here is an example of how to cite the same source multiple times

“One of the major tests is the Project for Standardized Assessment of Information Literacy Skills. This measurement was developed over four years as a joint partnership between the Association of Research Libraries and Kent State University” (Tong and Moran 290). This exam is just one of many available to measure students’ information literacy skills. It is fee-based, so it is not free, but the results can provide stakeholders, professors, curriculum developers, and even librarians and library service team members with an understanding of students’ abilities and misconceptions. It is not surprising to read the results, which stated that “upper-level undergraduate students generally lack information literacy skills as evidenced by the results on this specific iteration of the Standardized Assessment of Information Literacy Skills test” (295).

The reader can assume that the information in the second quote is from the same article as the first quote. If, in between the two quotes, a different source is included, Tong and Moran’s names would need to be added again in the last quote.

Here is the full reference at the end of the project:

Tong, Min, and Carrie Moran. “Are Transfer Students Lagging Behind in Information Literacy?” Reference Services Review , vol. 45, no. 2, 2017, pp. 286-297. ProQuest , ezproxy.nypl.org/login?url=//search-proquest-com.i.ezproxy.nypl.org/docview/1917280148?accountid=35635.

Citing Two or More Sources in the Same In-text Citation

According to section 6.30 of the Handbook , parenthetical citations containing multiple sources in a single parenthesis should be separated by semicolons.

(Granger 5; Tsun 77) (Ruiz 212; Diego 149)

Citing Multiple Works by the Same Author in One In-text Citation

Just as you might want to cite two different sources at the same time, it can also be useful to cite different works by the same author all at once.

Section 6.30 of the Handbook specifies that “citations of different locations in a single source are separated by commas” (251).

(Maeda 59, 174-76, 24) (Kauffman 7, 234, 299)

Furthermore, if you are citing multiple works by the same author, the titles should be joined by and if there are only two. Otherwise, use commas and and .

(Murakami, Wild Sheep Chase and Norwegian Wood ) (Murakami, Wild Sheep Chase , Norwegian Wood , and “With the Beatles”)

Abbreviating Titles

When listing the titles, be aware that long titles in parenthetical citations can distract the reader and cause confusion. It will be necessary to shorten the titles appropriately for in-text citations. According to the Handbook , “shorten the title if it is longer than a noun phrase” (237). The abbreviated title should begin with the word by which the title is alphabetized.

Best practice is to give the first word the reference is listed by so the source is easily found in the works cited. Omit articles that start a title: a, an, the. When possible, use the first noun (and any adjectives before it). For more on titles and their abbreviations, head to section 6.10 of the Handbook .

Full title : The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Abbreviated: Curious
Full title: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
Abbreviated: Disreputable History

Religious Works and Scriptures

There are instances when religious works are italicized in the text of a project, and times when it is not necessary to italicize the title.

If you’re referring to the general religious text, such as the Bible, Torah, or Qur’an, it is not necessary to italicize the name of the scripture in the body of the project. If you’re referring to a specific edition of a religious text, then it is necessary to italicize it, both in text and in the full reference.

Here are some commonly used editions:

King James Bible
The Orthodox Jewish Bible
American Standard Bible
The Steinsaltz Talmud
The Babylonian Talmud
New International Bible

When including a reference, do not use page numbers from the scripture. Instead, use the designated chapter numbers and verse numbers.

MLA example of an in-text citation for a religious scripture

While, unacceptable in today’s society, the Bible is riddled with individuals who have two, three, and sometimes four or more spouses. One example in the King James Bible , states that an individual “had two wives, the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children” (1 Sam. 1.2)

The only religious scripture that is allowed to be in the text of a project, but not in the Works Cited list, is the Qur’an. There is only one version of the Qur’an. It is acceptable to include the name of the Qur’an in the text, along with the specific chapter and verse numbers.

If you’re attempting to create a reference for a religious work, but it’s not considered a “classic” religious book, such as a biography about Mother Teresa , or a book about Muhammed Ali’s conversion, then a reference in the text and also on the final page of the project is necessary.

If you’re creating an APA bibliography , you do not need to create a full reference for classic religious works on an APA reference page .

For another MLA in-text citation website and for more on the Bible and other source types, click here .

Long or Block Quotes

Quotes longer than four lines are called, “block quotes.” Block quotes are sometimes necessary when you’re adding a lengthy piece of information into your project. If you’d like to add a large portion of Martin Luther King ’s “I Have a Dream” speech, a lengthy amount of text from a Mark Twain book, or multiple lines from Abraham Lincoln ’s Gettysburg Address, a block quote is needed.

MLA block quotes are formatted differently than shorter quotes in the body of a project. Why? The unique formatting signals to the reader that they’re about to read a lengthy quote.

Block quotes are called block quotes because they form their own block of text. They are set apart from the body of a project with different spacing and margins.

Begin the block quote on a new line. The body of the full project should run along the one inch margin, but the block quote should be set in an inch and a half. The entire quote should be along the inch and a half margin.

If there aren’t any quotation marks in the text itself, do not include any in the block quote. This is very different than standard reference rules. In most cases, quotation marks are added around quoted material. For block quotes, since the reader can see that the quoted material sits in its own block, it is not necessary to place quotation marks around it.

Here is an MLA citation in prose example of a block quote

Despite Bruchac’s consistent difficult situations at home, basketball kept his mind busy and focused:

When I got off the late bus that afternoon, my grandparents weren’t home. The store was locked and there was a note from Grama on the house door. Doc Magovern had come to the house because Grampa was “having trouble with his blood.” Now they were off to the hospital and I “wasn’t to worry.” This had happened before. Grampa had pernicious anemia and sometimes was very sick. So, naturally, it worried the pants off me. I actually thought about taking my bike down the dreaded 9N the three miles to the Saratoga Hospital. Instead, I did as I knew they wanted. I opened the store and waited for customers. None came, though, and my eye was caught by the basketball stowed away as usual behind the door. I had to do something to take my mind off what was happening to Grampa. I took out the ball and went around the side. (13)

Notice the use of the colon prior to the start of the block quote. Do not use a colon if the block quote is part of the sentence above it.

Here is an example of the same block quote, without the use of the colon:

Despite Bruchac’s consistent difficult situations at home, it was clear that basketball kept his mind busy and focused when he states

When I get off the late bus that afternoon, my grandparents weren’t home…

If two or more paragraphs are included in your block quote, start each paragraph on a new line.

Looking for additional helpful websites? Need another MLA in-text citation website? Check out the style in the news . We also have other handy articles, guides, and posts to help you with your research needs. Here’s one on how to write an MLA annotated bibliography .

Visit our EasyBib Twitter feed to discover more citing tips, fun grammar facts, and the latest product updates.

Overview of MLA in-text citation structures

If you’re looking for information on styling an APA citation , EasyBib.com has the guides you need!

MLA Handbook . 9th ed., Modern Language Association of America, 2021.

Published October 31, 2011. Updated July 5, 2021.

Written and edited by Michele Kirschenbaum and Elise Barbeau. Michele Kirschenbaum is a school library media specialist and the in-house librarian at EasyBib.com. Elise Barbeau is the Citation Specialist at Chegg. She has worked in digital marketing, libraries, and publishing.

MLA Formatting Guide

MLA Formatting

Annotated Bibliography
Bibliography
Block Quotes
et al Usage
In-text Citations
Paraphrasing
Page Numbers
Sample Paper
Works Cited
MLA 8 Updates
MLA 9 Updates
View MLA Guide

Citation Examples

Book Chapter
Journal Article
Magazine Article
Newspaper Article
Website (no author)
View all MLA Examples

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In MLA style, if multiple sources have the same author , the titles should be joined by and if there are only two. Otherwise, use commas and and .

In-text citation: (Austen Emma and Mansfield Park )
Structure: (Last name 1st Source’s title and 2nd Source’s title )
In-text citation: (Leung et al. 58)

If the author is a corporate entity or organization, included the name of the corporate entity or organization in the in-text citation.

In-text citation: (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality 2)

Yes, there’s an option to download source citations as a Word Doc or a Google Doc. You may also copy citations from the EasyBib Citation Generator and paste them into your paper.

Yes! Whether you’d like to learn how to construct citations on your own, our Autocite tool isn’t able to gather the metadata you need, or anything in between, manual citations are always an option. Click here for directions on using creating manual citations.

An in-text citation is a shortened version of the source being referred to in the paper. As the name implies, it appears in the text of the paper. A works cited list entry, on the other hand, details the complete information of the source being cited and is listed within the works cited list at the end of the paper after the main text. The in-text citation is designed to direct the reader to the full works cited list entry. An example of an in-text citation and the corresponding works cited list entry for a journal article with one author is listed below:

In-text citation template and example:

Only the author surname (or the title of the work if there is no author) is used in in-text citations to direct the reader to the corresponding reference list entry. For citations in prose, use the first name and surname of the author for the first occurrence. In subsequent citations, use only the surname. In parenthetical citations, always use only the surname of the author. If you are directly quoting the source, the page number should also be included in the in-text citation.

Citation in prose:

First mention: Christopher Collins ….

Subsequent occurrences: Collins ….

Parenthetical:

….(Collins)

….(Collins 5)

Works cited list entry template and example:

The title of the article is in plain text and title case and is placed inside quotation marks. The title of the journal is set in italics.

Surname, F. “Title of the Article.” Journal Title , vol. #, no. #, Publication Date, page range.

Collins, Christopher. “On Posthuman Materiality: Art-Making as Rhizomatic Rehearsal.” Text and Performance Quarterly , vol. 39, no. 2, 2019, pp. 153–59.

Note that because the author’s surname (Collins) was included in the in-text citation, the reader would then be able to easily locate the works cited list entry since the entry begins with the author’s surname.

An in-text citation is a short citation that is placed next to the text being cited. The basic element needed for an in-text citation is the author’s name . The publication year is not required in in-text citations. Sometimes, page numbers or line numbers are also included, especially when text is quoted from the source being cited. In-text citations are mentioned in the text in two ways: as a citation in prose or a parenthetical citation.

Citations in prose are incorporated into the text and act as a part of the sentence. Usually, citations in prose use the author’s full name when cited the first time in the text. Thereafter, only the surname is used. Avoid including the middle initial even if it is present in the works-cited-list entry.

Parenthetical

Parenthetical citations add only the author’s surname at the end of the sentence in parentheses.

Examples of in-text citations

Here are a few tips to create in-text citations for sources with various numbers and types of authors:

Use both the first name and surname of the author if you are mentioning the author for the first time in the prose. In subsequent occurrences, use only the author’s surname. Always use only the surname of the author in parenthetical citations.

First mention: Sheele John asserts …. (7).

Subsequent occurrences: John argues …. (7).

…. (John 7).

Two authors

Use the first name and surname of both authors if you are mentioning the work for the first time in the prose. In subsequent occurrences, use only the surnames of the two authors. Always use only the authors’ surnames in parenthetical citations. Use “and” to separate the two authors in parenthetical citations.

First mention: Katie Longman and Clara Sullivan ….

Subsequent occurrences: Longman and Sullivan ….

…. ( Longman and Sullivan).

Three or more authors

For citations in prose, use the first name and surname of the first author followed by “and others” or “and colleagues.” For parenthetical citations, use only the surname of the first author followed by “et al.”

Lincy Mathew and colleagues…. or Lincy Mathew and others ….

…. (Mathew et al.).

Corporate author

For citations in prose, treat the corporate author like you would treat the author’s name. For parenthetical citations, shorten the organization name to the shortest noun phrase. For example, shorten the Modern Language Association of America to Modern Language Association.

The Literary Society of Malaysia….

…. (Literary Society).

If there is no author for the source, use the source’s title in place of the author’s name for both citations in prose and parenthetical citations.

When you add such in-text citations, italicize the text of the title. If the source title is longer than a noun phrase, use a shortened version of the title. For example, shorten the title Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them to Fantastic Beasts .

Knowing Body of Work explains …. (102).

….( Knowing Body 102).

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MLA Citation Guide (9th Edition): In-Text Citation

What Kind of Source Is This?
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Books, eBooks & Pamphlets
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Interviews and Emails (Personal Communications)
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Primary Sources
Religious Texts
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Videos & DVDs
In-Text Citation

Works Quoted in Another Source

No Author, No Date etc.
Works Cited List & Sample Paper
Annotated Bibliography
Powerpoint Presentations

Number of Authors/Editors	Format of In-Text Citation
One	(Author's Last Name Page Number) Example: (Case 57)
Two	(Author's Last Name and Author's Last Name Page Number) Example: (Case and Daristotle 57)
Three or more	(Author's Last Name et al. Page Number) Example: (Case et al. 57)

If you're using information from a single source more than once in a row (with no other sources referred to in between), you can use a simplified in-text citation. The first time you use information from the source, use a full in-text citation. The second time, you only need to give the page number.

Cell biology is an area of science that focuses on the structure and function of cells (Smith 15). It revolves around the idea that the cell is a "fundamental unit of life" (17). Many important scientists have contributed to the evolution of cell biology. Mattias Jakob Schleiden and Theodor Schwann, for example, were scientists who formulated cell theory in 1838 (20).

Note: If using this simplified in-text citation creates ambiguity regarding the source being referred to, use the full in-text citation format.

If you would like to cite more than one source within the same in-text citation, simply record the in-text citations as normal and separate them with a semi-colon.

(Smith 42; Bennett 71).

( It Takes Two ; Brock 43).

Note: The sources within the in-text citation do not need to be in alphabetical order for MLA style.

What Is a Long Quotation?

If your quotation is longer than four lines, it is a considered a long quotation. This can also be referred to as a block quotation.

Rules for Long Quotations

There are 4 rules that apply to long quotations that are different from regular quotations:

Place a colon at the end of the line that you write to introduce your long quotation.
Indent the long quotation 0.5 inches from the rest of the text, so it looks like a block of text.
Do not put quotation marks around the quotation.
Place the period at the end of the quotation before your in-text citation instead of after , as with regular quotations.

Example of a Long Quotation

Vivian Gornick describes the process of maturing as a reader as a reckoning with human limitations:

Suddenly, literature, politics, and analysis came together, and I began to think more inclusively about the emotional

imprisonment of mind and spirit to which all human beings are heir. In the course of analytic time, it became apparent

that—with or without the burden of social justice—the effort required to attain any semblance of inner freedom was

extraordinary. Great literature, I then realized, is a record not of the achievement, but of the effort.

With this insight as my guiding light, I began to interpret the lives and work of women and men alike who had

spent their years making literature. (x-xi)

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Citations - MLA: In-Text Citations - Quotations & Paraphrasing

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In-Text Citations - Quotations & Paraphrasing
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Paraphrasing

In-Text Citation for One, Two, or More Authors/Editors

Unknown Author

Repeated use of sources, long quotations.

In-Text Citation for More Than One Source

Citing a Source that you Found in Another Source (Secondary Source)

Order of authors, physician credentials, about in-text citations.

In MLA, in-text citations are inserted in the body of your research paper to briefly document the source of your information. Brief in-text citations point the reader to the full citation on the works cited list at the end of the paper.

Create in-text citations for the following:

Direct quotes

If you're using information from a single source more than once in succession (i.e., no other sources referred to in between), you can use a simplified in-text citation.

Note: If using this simplified in-text citation creates ambiguity regarding the source being referred to, use the full in-text citation format.

What Is a Long Quotation?

If your quotation extends to more than four lines as you're typing your essay, it is a long quotation.

Rules for Long Quotations

There are 4 rules that apply to long quotations that are different from regular quotations:

The line before your long quotation, when you're introducing the quote, usually ends with a colon.
The long quotation is indented half an inch from the rest of the text, so it looks like a block of text.
There are no quotation marks around the quotation.
The period at the end of the quotation comes before your in-text citation as opposed to after , as it does with regular quotations.

Example of a Long Quotation

At the end of Lord of the Flies the boys are struck with the realization of their behaviour:

The tears began to flow and sobs shook him. He gave himself up to them now for the first time on the island; great, shuddering spasms of grief that seemed to wrench his whole body. His voice rose under the black smoke before the burning wreckage of the island; and infected by that emotion, the other little boys began to shake and sob too . (Golding 186)

Direct Quote - Add an in-text citation at the end of the quote with the author name and page number:

Authors Name in the Sentence & with a Direct Quote - If you refer to the author's name in a sentence you do not have to include the name in the in-text citation, instead include the page number (if there is one) at the end of the quotation or paraphrased section. For example:

No Page Numbers & with a Direct Quote - When you quote from electronic sources that do not provide page numbers (like Web pages), cite the author name only.

"Three phases of the separation response: protest, despair, and detachment" (Garelli).

Note: The period goes outside the brackets, at the end of your in-text citation.

In-Text Citation For One, Two, or More Authors/Editors

Author Known:

"Here's a direct quote" (Smith 8).

Number of Authors/Editors	In-Text Citation Example
One	(Author's Last Name Page Number) (Lee 5)
Two	(Author's Last Name and Author's Last Name Page Number) Example: (Daristotle and Case 57)
Three or more	(Author's Last Name et al. Page Number) Example: (Daristotle et al. 57)

Number of Authors/Editors

In-Text Citation Example

One

(Author's Last Name Page Number)

(Lee 5)

Two

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

Example: (Daristotle and Case 57)

Three or more

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

Example: (Daristotle et al. 57)

In-Text Citation For More Than One Source

If you would like to cite more than one source within the same in-text citation, simply record the in-text citations as normal and separate them with a semi-colon.

(Smith 42; Bennett 71).

( It Takes Two ; Brock 43).

Note: The sources within the in-text citation do not need to be in alphabetical order for MLA style.

When creating an in-text citation or full citation, the authors should be listed in the original order displayed on the item (book, article, ...).

Do not include academic credentials (e.g., MD, MPH, PhD,. DDS) when citing doctors in the in-text or full citation.

The writer may refer to the physician by Dr. (name), when writing a paraphrase or inserting a direct quotation, although, it is not required.

Using the medical credential in the sentence:

Dr. Higgins, said the reason behind the complication was "direct quote here" (257).

Dr. Price realized that nutrition was tied to health outcomes and encountered this observation in various regions of the world during his travels (390).

Omitting the medical credential from the sentence:

He sad the reason behind the complication was "direct quote here" (Higgins 257).

Price observed that nutrition was tied to health outcomes and encountered this in various regions of the world during his travels (390).

When you write information or ideas from a source in your own words, cite the source by adding an in-text citation at the end of the paraphrased portion.

Paraphrasing from One Page

Include a full in-text citation with the author name and page number (if there is one). For example:

Mother-infant attachment became a leading topic of developmental research following the publication of John Bowlby's studies (Hunt 65).

Hunt discussed mother-infant attachment becoming a leading topic of developmental research following the publication of John Bowlby's studies (65).

Paraphrasing from Multiple Pages

If the paraphrased information/idea is from several pages, include them. For example:

Mother-infant attachment became a leading topic of developmental research following the publication of John Bowlby's studies (Hunt 50, 55, 65-71).

Author Unknown:

If the author's name is not given, then use the first word or words of the title. Follow the same formatting that was used in the works cited list, such as quotation marks. This is a paraphrase ("Trouble" 22).
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" or "The". You should provide enough words to make it clear which work you're referring to from your Works Cited list.
If the title in the Works Cited list is in italics, italicize the words from the title in the in-text citation.
If the title in the Works Cited list is in quotation marks, put quotation marks around the words from the title in the in-text citation.

( Cell Biology 12)

("Nursing" 12)

Sometimes an author of a book, article or website will mention another person’s work by using a quotation or paraphrased idea from that source. ( This may be called a secondary source.)

For example, the Kirkey article you are reading includes a quotation by Smith that you would like to include in your essay.

The basic rule: in your Works Cited and in-text citation you will still cite Kirkey NOT Smith.
A dd the words “qtd. in” to your in-text citation.

Examples of in-text citations :

According to a study by Smith (qtd. in Kirkey) 42% of doctors would refuse to perform legal euthanasia.

Smith (qtd. in Kirkey) states that “even if euthanasia was legal, 42% of doctors would be against this method of assisted dying” (A.10).

Example of Works Cited list citation:

Kirkey, Susan. "Euthanasia." The Montreal Gazette , 9 Feb. 2013, p. A.10. Canadian Newsstand Major Dailies.

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Citing Sources: MLA

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Developed by the Modern Language Association, this style is most widely used for research papers in the humanities.

Citing sources in this style consists of two parts:

In-text citations
A works-cited list

See How to Format In-Text Citations and How to Format the Works-Cited List .

With the 8th edition of the MLA Handbook , the approach to citing sources shifts from creating entries based on the type of source cited (books, articles, etc.) to recording common features of the work. While this approach is more flexible for new media, it may be challenging for you to know which core elements are relevant to the source you are citing. Thus, this guide also provides some examples of commonly cited sources.

How to Format In-Text Citations

For more detailed information see MLA Handbook , 54-58, 116-128.

An in-text citation provides your reader with two pieces of information:

The first element from the corresponding works-cited list entry, usually the author's last name
The location of the cited information in the work, usually a page number

Standard Formatting of the In-Text Citation

Put the page number in parentheses

Said makes a similar argument (3-4).

This point has been argued previously (Said 3-4).

The article "Black Workers Matter" links racism and union representation (18).

The link between racism and union representation is important ("Black Workers Matter" 18).

Later, the protagonist of Jane Eyre proclaims, "I would always rather be happy than dignified" (413).

Place the parenthetical reference at a natural pause in the text or after the quotation marks for direct quotations.

(Smith, Jones, and Brown 323)

(Bia et al. 161)

(K. Shepard 36)

(J. Shepard 212)

We should all try to "live in the Past, the Present, and the Future" (Dickens, A Christmas Carol 95).

(Pushkin, ch. 5)

("Hell Hath No Fury" 00:15:23-00:18:58)

How to Format the Works Cited List

The "Works Cited" list provides details on all sources you used in your paper. If you include other sources consulted during your research, title the page "Works Consulted."

Core Elements

The menu below lists the core elements in a works-cited entry with its associated punctuation mark. Use information found in the source itself; do not use information about the source found on websites or in library catalogs. If an element does not exist for the source you are citing, skip it. For further details on an element, open the menu item.

For more information see: MLA Handbook , 21-25.

The author is the person or group responsible for creating or producing the work.

Esquivel, Laura.
No author: skip element and begin with title, but also see below for corporate author.
If published by the organization: skip the author element and put the organization's name in Publisher.
If published by a different publisher: enter the organization's name as the author.
Dorris, Michael, and Louise Erdrich.
Risam, Roopika, et al.
Ghazoul, Ferial, editor.
Sayers, Dorothy L., translator.
Thompson, Tessa, performer.
Nair, Mira, director.
Pseudonyms, online usernames: Enter like regular author names. If the name takes the form of a traditional first name and last name, start the entry with the last name.

Title of Source.

The title of the source is often located near the author's name and prominently displayed.

Enter the title exactly as it appears in the source, except for standardizing capitalization and punctuation.
essay, poem, short story
television episode
blog posting
Italicize the title if the work is self-contained and independent, such as books and films.
Untitled works: Give a generic description in place of the title. Do not use italics or quotation marks.

Title of Container ,

For more information see: MLA Handbook , 30-36.

A container is the larger work in which the source appears.

journals, magazines, newspapers
books containing collections of essays, poems, or short stories
television show
Italicize the title and follow it with a comma.
an article from a journal available through a library database. The first container is the journal and the second is the database.
a television episode watched online. The first container is the television show and the second is the online provider (Hulu, Netflix, etc.).
In order to have a complete citation, you should add the core elements from "Title of Container" to "Location" to the end of the entry for each container.
If there is no larger container, skip this element.

Other Contributors,

For more information see: MLA Handbook , 37-38.

Other contributors are other people credited for the work.

If a person other than the author is important to what you are researching or for identifying the work, include their name in this element.
Translated by
Introduction by
Directed by
Performance by
Illustrated by
For works with many contributors, such as film and television, include only those people most relevant to your research.

For more information see: MLA Handbook , 38-39.

Version indicates that there is more than one form of the work.

For books there may be numbered editions (1st ed., 2nd ed., etc.) or revised editions (rev. ed., updated ed., etc.)
unabridged version
director's cut
software versions
The version information is written in lowercase, unless the previous element ended in a period, in which case the initial word is capitalized.

For more information see: MLA Handbook , 39-40.

Number refers to works appearing in a numbered sequence.

Instances where the number element is used include:

Using one volume of a multi-volume set: indicate which volume you used, using abbreviation vol. and the number.
Journal volumes and issues: indicate volume with abbreviation vol. and the number, followed by a comma, and issue number with the abbreviation no. and the number (e.g., vol. 7 no. 4).
Television series and episodes: record the season number and the episode number (e.g., season 5, episode 20).

For more information see: MLA Handbook , 40-42.

Publisher is the organization responsible for making the content publicly available.

If two or more organizations are equally responsible for the work, separate their names with a forward slash (/) with spaces before and after the slash.
Books: look for the publisher on the title page or copyright page.
Film and Television : cite the company that had the primary responsibility for the work.
Web sites : look for a copyright notice in the footer or an About Us page.
Omit business words such as Co., Corp., Inc., and Ltd. from the publisher's name.
Abbreviate University (U) and Press (P) in the names of academic publishers.
Journals, magazines, newspapers
Works published by its author or editor
Web sites whose title is essentially the same as the name of its publisher
Web services not involved in producing the works it makes available. For example, YouTube, JSTOR, ProQuest. These services are containers.

Publication Date,

For more information see: MLA Handbook , 42-46.

Publication date documents the date of the work you used.

Multiple publication dates: for some sources there may be a print publication date and an online date. Cite the date for the format you used only.
Works developed over time: cite the range of dates.
Issues of a journal, magazines, newspapers: Indicate year (e.g., 2012), month and year (e.g., Oct. 2012), season and year (e.g., Fall 2012), or full date (e.g., 18 October 2012) as indicated on the work.
Online comments : Record time stamp using 12-hour clock format ( e.g., 18 Oct. 2012, 8:58 a.m.)

For more information see: MLA Handbook , 46-54.

Location specifies where you found the item within a larger container.

Print works: indicate the page number or range of page numbers, preceded by p. or pp. (e.g., p. 6 or pp. 6-10).
Online sources: provide the URL, stable URL (also called permalink), or DOI (digital object identifier).
Episodes on DVD: indicate disc number (e.g., disc 4).
Physical object: give name of the place that holds the object and the city (e.g., Davis Museum, Wellesley, MA).
Archival material: provide name of repository, city, and collection locator (e.g. Wellesley College Special Collections, Wellesley, MA, Juvenile Collection).
Performances: indicate the venue and city (e.g., Wellesley College Theatre, Wellesley, MA).

Formatting and Ordering the Works-Cited List

For more information see: MLA Handbook , 111-116.

Place the works-cited list at end of the paper .
Use hanging indent feature of your word processor to indent the second and subsequent lines of the entry .5 inches from the left margin.
Arrange entries in alphabetical order by the first element, usually the author. If there is no author, use the title.
Alphabetize letter by letter of the author's name before the comma. Letters after the comma are used only when authors have the same last name.
For multiple works by the same author, alphabetize by title. Also, replace the author's name with three hyphens on the second and subsequent entries.
Alphabetize titles letter by letter ignoring initial articles (A, An, The, and foreign equivalents).

How do I deal with ___?

Missing citation elements.

In general, if one of the core citation elements is missing, you may skip that element in the works-cited entry.

Determine whether an organization is responsible for the content. If so, use that organization's name as the author. ( MLA Handbook 25, 55-56)
For unknown author, start the works-cited entry with the title, and use the title in place of the author in the in-text citation. ( MLA Handbook 24, 55-56)
No page number: For the in-text citation use explicitly numbered parts of the work (paragraphs, sections, chapters). Use author (or title) alone if there are no numbered parts. ( MLA Handbook 56)
Use "circa": if you supply a date that is approximate. Example: [circa 2014]
Use ?: if you are uncertain about the information you provide. Example: [2014?]

More than one author

List authors in order they appear on title page
Use the word "and," not an ampersand (&)
For the in-text citation: use the first author's last name followed by et al. (Smith et al. 23). ( MLA Handbook 116)
For the works-cited list: invert the first author's name, follow with a comma and et al. Smith, John, et al. ( MLA Handbook 22)

Using a source quoted in a secondary source

It is always better to consult the original source, but if it cannot be obtained, cite the secondary source in the works-cited list. If you are citing a quotation, use "qtd. in" (quoted in) in the in-text citation. Example: (qtd. in Smith 22). ( MLA Handbook 124)

Examples: Books, Chapters

Generic citation format.

Author Last Name, First Name. Title of Source. Title of Container , Other Contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication Date, Location.

For further details on the core elements, see How to Format the Works-Cited List .

Battat, Erin Royston. Ain’t Got No Home: America's Great Migrations and the Making of an Interracial Left. U of North Carolina P, 2014.

Jeffries, Michael P. Paint the White House Black: Barack Obama and the Meaning of Race in America. Stanford UP, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central , ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/well/detail.action?docID=1102615.

Edited Book

Ball, Erica L., and Kellie Carter Jackson, editors. Reconsidering Roots: Race, Politics, and Memory . U of Georgia P, 2017.

Translated Book

Nakagami, Kenji. The Cape and Other Stories from the Japanese Ghetto. Translated by Eve Zimmerman, Stone Bridge P, 2008.

Note: If your focus is on the translation of the text, move the translator's name to the Author position, and put the main content author's name in the Other Contributors position.

Zimmerman, Eve, translator. The Cape and Other Stories from the Japanese Ghetto. By Kenji Nakagami, Stone Bridge P, 2008.

Chapter or Essay in a Book

Rivera-Rideau, Petra R. “From Panama to the Bay: Los Rakas’s Expressions of Afrolatinidad.” La Verdad: An International Dialogue on Hip Hop Latinidades , edited by Melissa Castillo-Garsow and Jason Nichols, Ohio State UP, 2016, pp. 63–79.

Introduction, Preface, Foreword, Afterword

Parussa, Sergio. Introduction. The Great Bear, by Ginevra Bompiani, translated by Brian Kern and Sergio Parussa, Italica P, 2008, pp. vii-xv.

If the introduction, preface, foreword, or afterword has a title, include it in quotation marks before the descriptive term (Introduction, Preface, etc.) ( MLA Handbook 106).

Examples: Articles

Journal article.

Gonzalez, Octavio R. “Isherwood's Impersonality: Ascetic Self-Divestiture and Queer Relationality in ‘A Single Man.’” Modern Fiction Studies , vol. 59, no. 4, 2013, pp. 758–783. JSTOR , www.jstor.org/stable/26287280.

Rodensky, Lisa. "Popular Dickens." Victorian Literature and Culture , vol. 37, no. 2, 2009, pp. 583-607. ProQuest , doi:10.1017/S1060150309090354.

Magazine Article

Erdrich, Louise. "The Flower." The New Yorker , 29 June 2015, pp. 56-61.

Erdrich, Louise. "The Flower." The New Yorker , 29 June 2015, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/06/29/the-flower.

Newspaper Article

Byatt, A.S. "Harry Potter and the Childish Adult." The New York Times , 7 July 2003, p. A13. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times , search.proquest.com/docview/92581320?accountid=15054.

Byatt, A.S. "Harry Potter and the Childish Adult." The New York Times , 7 July 2003, www.nytimes.com/2003/07/07/opinion/harry-potter-and-the-childish-adult.html.

Examples: Websites, Blogs, Social Media

For further details on the core elements, see How to Format the Works Cited List .

"How EPA Regulates Drinking Water Contaminants." United States Environmental Protection Agency , 6 June 2019, https://www.epa.gov/dwregdev/how-epa-regulates-drinking-water-contaminants. Accessed 21 August 2019.

Note: Access date is not a core element, but it can be included if it helps to identify the version of the page you consulted or when there is no specific publication date.

Cheema, Amal. "Doctors Must Educate Themselves on Transgender Health Care." Huffington Post , 30 March 2017, www.huffpost.com/entry/doctors-must-educate-themselves-on-transgender-health-care_b_9558018.

Blog Comment

Chaar-Pérez, Khalil, Comment on "Angela Davis and the Black Radical Tradition in the Era of Black Lives Matter," Black Perspectives , 2 Oct. 2016, 11:22 a.m., www.aaihs.org/angela-davis-and-the-black-radical-tradition-in-the-era-of-black-lives-matter/#comments.

Social Media

@POTUS (President Obama). "Today is a big step in our march toward equality. Gay and lesbian couples now have the right to marry, just like anyone else. #LoveWins." Twitter , 26 June 2015, 7:10 a.m., twitter.com/POTUS/status/614435467120001024.

For untitled short works, such as tweets, use the entire tweet without changes as the title ( MLA Handbook 29).

Examples: Music, Film, TV, Images

Author Last Name, First Name. Title of Source. Title of Container, Other Contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication Date, Location.

Music Scores

Tower, Joan. Sixth Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman. Associated Music Publishers, Inc., 2016.

Audio Recordings

Gubaidulina, Sofia. Quartet No. 1. Performance by Danish Quartet, String quartets 1-3; String trio, 999 064-2, CPO, 1992.

Monae, Janelle. Dirty Computer , 567342-2, Bad Boy Records, 2018.

Scott, Ridley. Thelma and Louise. 1991. MGM Home Entertainment, 2004. DVD.

Note: The date of original release (1991 in this example) is an optional element. Include it if you want to provide insight into the creation of the work. Although "DVD" is not required, you can add it to let your reader know how you accessed the film.

Online Video

Adichie, Chimamanda. "The Danger of a Single Story." TED: Ideas Worth Spreading, July 2009, www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_ the_danger_of_a_single_story.

"Chapter One: The Pilot." Jane the Virgin, created by Jennie Snyder Urman, season 1, episode 1, Poppy Productions, 2014. Netflix, www.netflix.com/watch/80060553.

Rodriguez, Gina, performer. "Chapter Forty-Four." Jane the Virgin, created by Jennie Snyder Urman, season 2, episode 22, The CW, 16 May 2016. www.cwtv.com/shows/jane-the-virgin/.

Jane the Virgin: Season 1. Created by Jennie Snyder Urman, performance by Gina Rodriguez, Warner Home Video, 2015. DVD.

If you are writing about a television episode without focusing on a particular individual's contribution, start the entry with the title. If you are focusing on the creator or performer, start with their name and role.

The first example above is writing about the first episode in general, which was watched on Netflix. The second example is writing about Gina Rodriguez's performance in a particular episode that was watched online during the season. The last example is writing about the first season in general, watched on DVD. While MLA Handbook , 8th edition, does not require "DVD" to be included in the citation, you can add it to help your reader know how you accessed the film.

Catlett, Elizabeth. Sharecropper. 1952, printed 1970, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Catlett, Elizabeth. Sharecropper. 1952, printed 1970. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston , collections.mfa.org/objects/513239/sharecropper

Catlett, Elizabeth. Sharecropper. 1952, printed 1970. ArtStor, library.artstor.org.

Catlett, Elizabeth. Sharecropper. 1952. Elizabeth Catlett: Art for Social Justice, edited by Klare Scarborough, La Salle U Art Museum, 2015, p. 21.

In the examples above, the first one is seeing the artwork in person, the second is accessing the image from the museum's website, the third is accessing it through the library database ArtStor, and the last is using an image from a book.

Examples: Government Documents

See "Corporate Authors" (section 2.1.3) of the MLA Handbook for more details about how to list publications from government agencies.

Congressional Hearing

U.S. Congress, House, Committee on International Relations. The Threat from International Organized Crime and Global Terrorism: Hearing before the Committee on International Relations . Government Printing Office, 1997. 105th Congress, 1st session.

You may end entries for congressional documents with the number of the Congress, session, and the type and number of publication (if applicable). If you are using many congressional publications, consult the Chicago Manual of Style for more specialized guidelines ( MLA Handbook 105.).

Examples: Unpublished / Archival

Interview/discussion.

Falk, Adam. Interview by author, 15 May 2016, Williamstown, MA.

Manuscript/Archival

Hopkins, Mark. Letter to Jaime Margalotti, 22 March 1861, Williams College Special Collections, Williamstown, MA, Hopkins Family Papers.

New Online Resource: MLA Handbook Plus!

how to quote sources in a research paper mla

Your online guide to everything MLA Style! Get access to hundreds of example citations, step-by-step instructions for creating a list of works cited, video tutorials, and more.

MLA Handbook Plus This link opens in a new window Full text of the 9th edition of the MLA Handbook , the 2nd edition of the MLA Guide to Digital Literacy , and the MLA Guide to Undergraduate Research in Literature , as well as a video course that teaches the principles of MLA documentation style through a series of short videos paired with quizzes, plus a final assessment.

Need More Info?

Works Cited: A Quick Guide [The MLA Style Center] Provides an introduction to MLA style and a practice template for creating entries for the works-cited list.
Ask the MLA Official answers to questions about MLA style.

Acknowledgement

The Wellesley College Research & Instruction Team would like to thank the Williams College library team for agreeing to let us reuse and share their excellent resources .

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Cite Sources: MLA Style

Chicago Style
Citation Managers

General Information on MLA

This page contains examples of commonly used citation formats from MLA-9th ed. There is essentially no difference between the MLA-8 and MLA-9, only more examples in MLA-9.
Cite sources that you have used in the body of your paper ( in-text citation ) and in the Works Cited list at the end of your paper.
Double space all of the citations on your Works Cited page.
Indent the second and following lines of the citation 5-7 spaces.

NOTE: The MLA style is generally used in humanities disciplines, such as reading and English classes. Please check with your instructors which style to use in your assignments.

Create In-Text Citations in MLA Style

In-Text Citation
Quoting, Paraphrasing, & Summarizing
Signal Phrases
Verbs in Signal Phrases

What is an In-Text Citation?

In-text citations are short references that lead the readers to the works-cited entries for the sources you have used in your research paper. The signal word/phrase that you use in the text must match the first thing that appears on the corresponding entry on the Works Cited page.

In MLA, the author's last name and the page number(s) from which the quotation or paraphrase is taken must appear in the text and a complete reference should appear on your Works Cited page.

Quoting Sources

When you quote a source, you include the author's exact words in your text. Use "quotation marks" around the author's words. Include signal phrases and an in-text citation to show where the quote is from.

Paraphrasing & Summarizing Sources

When you paraphrase or summarize a source, you restate the source's ideas in your own words and sentence structure . Select what is relevant to your topic, and restate only that. Changing only a few words is not sufficient in paraphrasing/ summarizing. Instead, you need to completely rephrase the author's ideas in your own words. You do not need to use quotation marks.

Always use in-text citations when you paraphrase or summarize, to let the reader know that the information comes from another source. Continue to use signal phrases as well.

Signal phrases let your reader know that you are quoting or summarizing from another source.

In the words of researchers Redelmeier and Tibshirani, "..."
As Matt Sundeen has noted, "..."
Patti Pena, mother of a child killed by a driver distracted by a cell phone, points out that "..."
"...," writes Christine Haughtney.
"...," claims wireless spokesperson Annette Jacobs.
from Bedford Handbook (583)

acknowledges	comments	endorses	reasons
adds	compares	grants	refutes
admits	confirms	illustrates	rejects
agrees	contends	implies	reports
argues	declares	insists	responds
asserts	denies	notes	suggests
believes	disputes	observes	thinks
claims	emphasizes	points	outwrites

In-Text Examples in MLA Style

Author Named in Your Text
Author Not Named in Your Text
Online Sources with No Page Numbers

Signal phrase with author's name, "quote" (page).

One or two authors: Signal phrase, "quote" (Author page).

More than two authors: Signal phrase, "quote" (Author et al. page).

If the source has no named author, use the first main word in the title. If it is a very short title, you may use the whole thing. Put the title in quotation marks if it's a short source (e.g., an article) or italicize it if it's a longer source, like a book.

You may also name the title in your text and provide the page number in parentheses: Signal phrase, "quote" (Shortened Title page). Signal phrase with title, "quote" (page).

One article states that, "A death row inmate may demand his execution for notoriety" ( Challenging Capital Punishment 135).

Challenging Capital Punishment states that "A death row inmate may demand his execution for notoriety" (135).

If there are no page numbers on the electronic source, use only the author name or the first main word of the title:

Signal phrase, "quote" (Author). Signal phrase, "quote" (Shortened Title).

According to a study, "Twins reared apart report similar feelings" (Palfrey).

Despite many myths in popular culture, young twins rarely create their own unique language ( Idioglossia and Secret Language ).

Create a Works Cited List in MLA

Some guidelines for the list of references at the end of your paper:

Alphabetize your Works Cited list by the first word of the citation, usually the author's last name. If there is no author, alphabetize by the first main word in the title (ignore a, an, or the).
Capitalize the main words in the document title. If there is a colon in the title (a subtitle), capitalize the main words after the colon.

Works Cited

Clift, Eleanor. "When Women Said 'No.'" Newsweek , 31 Dec. 2012, pp. 44-50. Academic Search Complete , montgomerycollege.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,cookie,url,uid&db=aph&AN=84583654&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Food Allergies: Reducing the Risks . Food and Drug Administration, Department of Health and Human Services, United States, 2009.

"Japan." Webster's New World Encyclopedia, 9th ed., Prentice Hall, 1992.

North, Stephen. "The Idea of a Writing Center." College English , vol. 46, no. 5, 1984, pp. 433-446. JSTOR , www.jstor.org/stable/377047.

Robinson, Ken. "Do Schools Kill Creativity?" YouTube , TED Conferences, 6 Jan. 2007, youtu.be/iG9CE55wbtY.

Walsh, John. Emily Dickinson in Love: The Case for Otis Lord . Rutgers University Press, 2012. Project Muse , muse.jhu.edu/book/13760.

Wymand-Marchand, Tracy. "Kahlo, Frida (1907 - 1954)." Encyclopedia of Activism and Social Justice , 2007. Credo Reference , search.credoreference.com/content/topic/kahlo_frida_1907_1954.

Cite Books, E-Books, and More in MLA Style

Books with No Authors or One Author
Books with Two or More Authors
Books with an Editor

One author:

Last Name, First Name. Title of Book . Publisher, Year.

Morrison, Toni. Song of Solomon. Vintage, 2004.

Title of Book . Publisher, Year.

World Almanac and Book of Facts . Funk, 2007.

Books with two authors:

Last Name, First Name and First Name Last Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Year.

Twycross, Meg, and Sarah Carpenter. Masks and Masking in Medieval and Early Tudor England . Routledge, 2002.

Books with more than two authors:

Last Name, First Name et al. Title of Book. Publisher, Year.

Vaughan, Samantha, et al. Half Empty Half Full . Harcourt, 2000.

Entire book: You may cite an essay from a book with an editor and multiple authors, or cite the whole book. This will depend on what you have quoted within your paper.

Last Name, First Name, editor. Title of Book. Publisher, Year.

Grover, Jan, editor. Healthcare . Greenhaven Press, 2007.

Essay from an edited book:

Last Name, First Name. "Essay Title." Title of Book , edited by (Editor) First Name Last Name, Publisher, Year, p(p). Page(s).

Williams, Walter. "Bogus Rights." Healthcare , edited by Jan Grover, Greenhaven Press, 2007, pp. 127-136.

An e-book citation follows the same rules as a print book citation. E-books may have been published in different file formats (e.g., EPUB or Kindle). If you have that information you can list the file format as a supplemental element at the end of the entry.

Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Year. Title of database or website, DOI or Permalink or shortened Database URL.

MLA Handbook . 8th ed., E-book ed., Modern Language Association of America, 2016. EPUB.

Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets . Kindle ed., Arthur A. Levine Books, 1999.

If you can't tell the specific file format, use "E-book" as a description:

Silva, Paul J. How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing. E-book, American Psychological Association, 2007.

A book published in audiobook format:

Last Name, First Name. Title of Book . Narrated by Narrator Name, edition. Publisher, Publication Date.

Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. Narrated by Sissy Specek, audiobook ed., unabridgd ed., HarperAudio, 2014.

Cite Articles and Reports in MLA Style

Database and Web Articles
Magazine Articles
Newspaper Articles

If a permalink or DOI (Digital Object Identifier) is available, include either of those after the name of the database. If it is not, you may use the basic URL for the database home page. For more than 2 authors, provide only the first author, followed by et al. (e.g., Wingert, Peter, et al.)

Note: Check with your instructor if you need to provide the date that the article was accessed.

Article in a database with a DOI:

Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Title of Journal , vol. #, no. #, Year, p(p). Page(s). Name of Database , DOI.

Cutler White, Carol. “Higher Education Governance and the Attainment Agenda: Arrangements With Benefits for Community Colleges?” Community College Review , vol. 47, no. 3, July 2019, pp. 219–41. Academic Search Complete, https://doi.org/10.1177/0091552119852158 .

Article in a database with a permalink:

Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Title of Journal , vol. #, no. #, Year, p(p). Page(s). Permalink.

Teranishi, Robert T., et al. “Immigrants in Community Colleges.” The Future of Children , vol. 21, no. 1, 2011, pp. 153–69, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41229015 . Accessed 9 May 2022.

Journal article published online/web:

Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Title of Journal , vol. #, no. #, Year, p(p). Page(s). URL.

Thimann, Heidi. "Marginal Beings: Hybrids as the Other in Late Medieval Manuscripts." Hortulus , vol. 5, no. 1, 2009, hortulus-journal.com/journal/volume-5-number-1-2009/thimann/ .

Magazine article online from a database:

Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Title of Magazine , Day Month Year, p(p). Page(s). Database Name , URL.

Clift, Eleanor. "When Women Said 'No.'" Newsweek , 31 Dec. 2012, pp. 44-50. Academic Search Complete, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=84583654&site=eds-live&scope=site .

Magazine article free from web:

Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Title of Magazine , Day Month Year, URL.

"The Decline of the American Summer Job." Economist , 6 July 2017, www.economist.com/news/united-states/21724850-it-striking-how-often-self-made-americans-have-stories-tell-about-boring-summer .

If a newspaper article is several pages long but the pages are not continuous, use the first page number followed by a + sign (e.g., pp. 14+).

Online newspaper article from database:

Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Newspaper Title , Day Month Year, Edition (if available), Page(s). Name of Database , DOI or Permalink or shortened Database URL.

Will, George. "A Health 'Reform' to Regret." Washington Post , 28 June 2009, final ed., p. A17. ProQuest Newspapers , search.proquest.com/docview/410321858?accountid=39773 .

Online newspaper article from the web:

Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Newspaper Title , Day Month Year, URL.

Ruane, Michael. "Rare Tiger Cub Born at National Zoo." Washington Post , 11 July 2017, wapo.st/2u9dVuO?tid=ss_mail&utm_term=.91331eedc7c7 .

Cite Websites, Streaming Media, and More in MLA Style

Social Media
Streaming Media

Internet sources can be difficult to cite because the information available is not consistent. When creating your citation, follow the guidelines and use as much information as you have. If information is not available, leave out that part of the citation. Copy the URLs from your web browser, but remove the http:// or https:// from the beginning.

Website with no author:

Title of Web Site. Publisher of site, Date of Publication or Update Date, URL.

Medline Plus. U.S. National Library of Medicine and National institutes of Health, 26 Aug. 2016, medlineplus.gov .

Webpage with an author:

Last Name, First Name. "Title of Page, Document, or Section." Title of Web site , Publisher or Sponsor of site, Date of Publication, URL.

Welch, Ashley. "What Are the Symptoms of Zika Virus?" CBS News , CBS Interactive, 2 Aug. 2016, www.cbsnews.com/news/zika-virus-symptoms-how-do-you-know-if-youre-infected/ .

Webpage with no author:

"Title of Page, Document, or Section." Title of Web site , Publisher or Sponsor of site, Date of Publication, URL.

"Underage Drinking." Medline Plus, U.S. National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health, 26 June 2017, medlineplus.gov/underagedrinking.html .

Twitter Handle [Full User Name if available]. "The entire tweet word-for-word." Twitter, Day Month Year, time, URL.

@librarycongress [Library of Congress]. "Pinterest users: Dreaming of the Beach? Don't Miss Out on Our Seaside Images https://www.pinterest.com/LibraryCongress/the-beach/" Twitter, 7 July 2017, 4:00 p.m., twitter.com/librarycongress .

User Name. "The entire post word-for-word." Instagram, Day Month Year, URL.

librarycongress. "What an amazing day with Wonder Woman herself, Lynda Carter, joining us for the Library of Awesome event!" Instagram , 16 Jun 2017, www.instagram.com/p/BVasbqBhwYw/?taken-by=librarycongress .

Author Last Name, First Name. "Title." Blog Name, Day Month Year, URL.

Naish, Darren. "If Bigfoot Were Real." Scientific American Blogs , 27 June 2016, blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/if-bigfoot-were-real/ . Accessed 28 June 2016.

Note: MLA recommends starting with the title of the video since it is often hard to tell if the user who uploaded the video is also the creator.

"Title." Platform, uploaded by username, Day Month Year, URL.

"Dog Turns Roomba Off." You Tube , uploaded by ilovetobemom, 28 Dec. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei5H-wd3BIU .

Note: The publication date for the audio recording in a physical format is generally on the album or CD, or the accompanying booklet.

An entire audio CD:

Artist Name. Title. Publisher, Year. Format.

Odetta. One Grain of Sand. Vanguard Recording Society, 1963.Vinyl.

A song streamed from an app:

Artist Name. "Song Title." Album Title. Publisher, Date. Streaming platform.

Odetta."Sail Away, Ladies." One Grain of Sand, Vanguard Records, 1 Jan. 1963. Spotify app.

Pencils against a blue background. 'Learn More'

Access the e-book version of MLA with your MC ID to learn more about how to create citations using MLA -9.

MLA Style Center (official site)

"Try It!" with blank notebook and pencil

Practice building a citation in the MLA format using the template linked here from the MLA Style Center.

MC Library's MLA Citations, 9th Edition Tutorial

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For Library Employees

MLA Guide (7th edition)

The examples provided in this guide are meant to introduce you to the basics of citing sources using the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (seventh edition). For types of resources not included in this guide (e.g., government documents, manuscript collections, video recordings) and for further information about the examples included below, please consult the MLA Handbook itself , and/or a Reference Librarian . For help with layout, margins, spacing and page numbering, see the MLA Handbook (Fig. 12, page 131). Consider using RefWorks to help you track your research and automatically create a bibliography in MLA style.

If you need help with the current version of MLA, please see the guide for MLA ( 8th edition, 2016). If you are unsure which version of MLA to use, please consult with your professor.

Table of Contents:

Parenthetical Documentation Preparing the List of Works Cited A Brief Note on Footnotes and Endnotes For More Help

PARENTHETICAL DOCUMENTATION

When using MLA documentation style, you need to reference your sources by using a combination of a list of works cited (see below) and parenthetical notation . Whenever you refer to or use another's words, facts or ideas in your paper, you are required to cite the source. Generally, brief parenthetical notations consisting of the author's last name and a page reference are sufficient. For example: (Drucker 30) .

Note: If you mention the author in your sentence, then you need only cite the page number . And if you cite more than one work by the same author , include the title of the work in your notation. For example: (Drucker, Management Cases 30) .

1. ONE AUTHOR

The character Folly denies satirizing Christianity when she says, "it is no part of my present plan to rummage through the lives of popes and priests," yet she spends much of her encomium doing just that (Erasmus 115).

2. TWO OR MORE AUTHORS

Max Weber purported that value systems could be studied "without the social scientist's own values distorting such studies" (Keat and Urry 196).

According to Russell Keat and John Urry in Social Science as Theory, Max Weber believed that value systems could be studied "without the social scientist's own values distorting such studies" (196).

Max Weber believed that individuals can objectively study values without their own values interfering with their judgment (Keat and Urry 196).

3. CORPORATE AUTHOR

Children of Central and Eastern Europe have not escaped the nutritional ramifications of iron deficiency, a worldwide problem (UNICEF 44).

4. NO AUTHOR

Marketers of health services and products will find the National Center for Health Statistics' site useful, particularly its statistics on mortality rates. Discovering a population's leading causes of death "tells the researcher a lot about its underlying health problems" ("Information to Die For" 40).

5. WORK IN AN ANTHOLOGY

Cite the author of the essay or story and not the editor of the anthology unless they are the same.

Although some critics disliked Mel Brook's 1993 parody of Robin Hood, it is actually "in the mainstream of the Robin Hood tradition" (Knight 461).

6. INDIRECT QUOTATION

Chief Joseph concluded his surrender by stating eloquently: "[.. .] I will fight no more forever" (qtd. in Safire 108).

7. ONLINE RESOURCE

If the work is not paginated, include the name of the author or editor within the context of your sentence (for example, from a discussion list).

Posting on the VICTORIA listserv, Karen O'Connell mentioned a relevant novel by Wilkie Collins that deals with the 19th-century use of arsenic as a complexion improver.

If the work is paginated, cite it as you would a print resource.

Imagine that the sentences above could somehow be synthesized and used in a single paper. The works cited page would look like this:

WORKS CITED

Erasmus, Desiderius. The Praise of Folly. Trans. Clarence H. Miller. New Haven:

Yale University Press, 1979. Print.

"Information to Die For." Marketing Health Services 22.1 (2002): 40-42. ABI/Inform.

Web. 14 Aug. 2009.

Keat, Russell, and John Urry. Social Theory as Science. 2nd ed. London: Routledge

and K. Paul, 1982. Print.

Knight, Stephen. "Robin Hood: Men in Tights: Fitting the Tradition Snugly."

Robin Hood: An Anthology of Scholarship and Criticism. Ed. Stephen

Knight. Woodbridge: D. S. Brewer, 1999. 461-467. Print.

O'Connell, Karen. "Re: Poisoning." VICTORIA. Indiana U. 3 Nov. 2000. Web.

14 Aug. 2009.

Safire, William. Lend Me Your Ears: Great Speeches in History. New York: W. W.

Norton and Company, 1992. Print.

UNICEF. Generation in Jeopardy: Children in Central and Eastern Europe and the

Former Soviet Union. Ed. Alexander Zouev. Armonk: M. E. Sharpe, 1999.

Print.

PREPARING THE LIST OF WORKS CITED

As demonstrated above, a works cited page consists of an alphabetical listing of the books, articles and other sources that you parenthetically noted in your paper. The works cited page occurs at the end of your paper; however, it is useful to create a draft of it before you begin writing. Following are typical examples of the types of references you will use in your research.

Include some or all of the following elements in your book citation:

Author or editor
Title (italicized)
Translator or compiler
Volume(s) used
Name of series
Place of publication, publisher, and date of publication
Page numbers
Name of vendor, database, or provider (italicized)
Medium of publication consulted (e.g., Print)
Date of access (Web only; day, month, year)
Supplementary information and annotation

1. ONE AUTHOR OR EDITOR

Cather, Willa. The Professor's House. New York: A. A. Knopf, 1925. Print.

UNICEF. Generation in Jeopardy: Children in Central and Eastern Europe

and the Former Soviet Union. Ed. Alexander Zouev. Armonk: M. E.

Sharpe, 1999. Print.

Hudson, Valerie N., ed. Culture and Foreign Policy. Boulder: L. Rienner

Publishers, 1997. Print.

2. TWO OR MORE AUTHORS OR EDITORS

Names should be given in the order in which they appear on the title page.

Keat, Russell, and John Urry. Social Theory as Science. 2nd ed. London: Routledge

and K. Paul, 1982. Print.

Kennedy, Mary, Kathy Lubelska, and Val Walsh, eds. Making Connections: Women's

Studies, Women's Movements, Women's Lives. London: Taylor and Francis,

1993. Print.

3. ELECTRONIC BOOK

Include the vendor, database, or provider's name (italicized) and date of access (day, month, year) .

Turam, Berna. Between Islam and the State: The Politics of Engagement. Stanford,

CA: Stanford UP, 2007. NetLibrary. Web. 14 Aug. 2009.

If the book is accessed from a SCHOLARLY PROJECT , also include the project name, place of publication, and the date of the electronic publication if available.

Child, Lydia Maria. An Appeal in Favor of that Class of Americans Called Africans.

Boston: Allen and Ticknor, 1833. Women Writers Online. Brown U. Web. 14

Aug. 2009.

4. ANTHOLOGY

Knight, Stephen. "Robin Hood: Men in Tights: Fitting the Tradition Snugly."

Robin Hood: An Anthology of Scholarship and Criticism. Ed. Stephen

Barrick, Richard, John Sullivan, and Alexander White. "The American Bloody Register."

Pillars of Salt: An Anthology of Early American Criminal Narratives. Comp.

Daniel E. Williams. Madison: Madison House, 1993. 233-258. Print.

5. INTRODUCTION, PREFACE, FOREWORD, OR AFTERWORD

Ritterson, Michael. Introduction. The Odin Field: A Story. By Wilhem Raabe.

Trans. Michael Ritterson. Studies in German Literature, Linguistics, and Culture.

Rochester: Camden House, 2001. xi-xxvii. Print.

6. MULTIVOLUME WORK

Tomkins, Silvan S. Affect, Imagery, Consciousness. 4 vols. New York: Springer,

1962-1992. Print.

Anthony, Robert N., and James S. Reece. Accounting Principles. 7th ed. Chicago:

Irwin, 1995. Print.

8. TRANSLATION

Erasmus, Desiderius. The Praise of Folly. Trans. Clarence H. Miller. New Haven:

Yale, 1979. Print.

9. ARTICLE IN A REFERENCE BOOK

"Audubon, John James." The New Encyclopaedia Britannica: Micropaedia. 15th

ed. 2002. Print.

"Audubon, John James." Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. Encyclopaedia

Britannica, 2009. Web. 14 Aug. 2009.

Ebeling, Richard, ed. Global Free Trade: Rhetoric or Reality? Hillsdale, MI: Hillsdale

College Press, 1993. Print. Champions of Freedom 20.

B. Articles in Periodicals

Include some or all of the following in your article citation:

Article title (usually in quotation marks)
Periodical title (italicized)
Series/Issue number or name
Volume number
Issue number (if available)
Publication date (year for scholarly journals; day, month, year for others, as available)
Medium of publication
Name of database (italicized and placed before medium of publication) (Web only)
Date of access (day, month, year) (Web only)

1. SCHOLARLY JOURNAL

Freedman, L. "The Changing Forms of Military Conflict." Survival 40.4 (1998): 39-56.

Print.

Kirby, John T. "Aristotle on Metaphor." American Journal of Philology 118.4

(1997): 517-554. Print.

Online Journal -- Use n. pag. to indicate the absence of inclusive page numbers.

Ketabgian, Tamara. Rev. of The Body Economic: Life, Death, and Sensation in

Political Economy and the Victorian Novel, by Catherine Gallagher. Bryn Mawr

Review of Comparative Literature 6.2 (2007): n. pag. Web. 19 Aug. 2009.

Chan, Winnie. "Curry on the Divide in Rudyard Kipling's Kim and Gurinder Chadha's

Bend it Like Beckham." ARIEL: A Review of International English

Literature 36.3-4 (2005): 1-23. Web. 14. Aug. 2009.

Full text of an article from a Database -- Include the name of the database, the name of the database provider and the date of access. Use n. pag. to indicate the absence of inclusive page numbers.

Freedman, Lawrence. "The Changing Forms of Military Conflict." Survival 40.4 (1998):

39-56. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 14 Aug. 2009.

Kirby, John T. "Aristotle on Metaphor." American Journal of Philology 118.4 (1997):

517-554. JSTOR. Web. 14 Aug. 2009.

2. MAGAZINE

Monthly or Bimonthly

Goldberger, Paul. "Machines for Living: Architectonic Allure of the Automobile."

Architectural Digest Oct. 1996: 82.

Weekly

Levy, Steven, and Brad Stone. "Silicon Valley Reboots." Newsweek 25 Mar.

2002: 42-50. Print.

2002: 42-50. Academic Search Premier. Web. 14 Aug. 2009.

3. ANONYMOUS ARTICLE

"Information to Die For." Marketing Health Services 22.1 (2002): 40-42. Print.

"Information to Die For." Marketing Health Services 22.1 (2002): 40-42. ABI/Inform. 14 Aug. 2009.

4. NEWSPAPER

Pianin, Eric. "Use of Arsenic in Wood Products to End." The Washington Post 13

Feb. 2002, final ed.: A2. Print.

Pianin, Eric. "Use of Arsenic in Wood Products to End." The Washington Post 13 Feb.

2002, final ed.: A2. LexisNexis Academic. Web. 14 Aug. 2009.

Nash, Alanna. "Hit 'em with a lizard!" Rev. of Basket Case, by Carl Hiaasen. New

York Times 3 Feb. 2002, late ed., sec. 7: 24. Print.

York Times 3 Feb. 2002, late ed., sec. 7: 24. LexisNexis Academic. Web. 14

C. Web Sites

Following are elements to include when citing entire Web sites. Keep in mind that

if you cannot find all of the elements, you should include whatever is available on the site . The URL is no longer required unless locating the site requires it or your professor requires it.

Title of Web site (italicized)
Site publisher/sponsor
Date of site's publication (if none, use n.d. )
Date of access (day, month, year)

1. SCHOLARLY PROJECT

Crane, Gregory, ed. Perseus Digital Library. Dept. of the Classics, Tufts U.

n.d. Web. 14 Aug. 2009.

2. PROFESSIONAL SITE

Financial Accounting Standards Board . Feb. 2002. Web. 14 Aug. 2009.

3. PERSONAL SITE

Lewis, Paul. The Wilkie Collins Pages. n.d. Web. 14 Aug. 2009.

<http://www.paullewis.co.uk/>.

See also Electronic Book and Periodicals above.

D. Online Postings

To cite a posting from a discussion list, include the following elements if available:

Author of posting
Title of posting (from subject line of posting, in quotes)
Name of discussion list
Date of posting
5. Medium of publication
Date of access

O'Connell, Karen. "Re: Poisoning." VICTORIA. Indiana U. 3 Nov. 2000. Web.

A BRIEF NOTE ON FOOTNOTES AND ENDNOTES

Long explanatory footnotes or endnotes can distract the reader. Nevertheless, you may occasionally need to clarify a citation with a bibliographic note . Or you may wish to incorporate information that might interest your reader but which would seem tangential if included within the text of your paper. In this case, you would use a content note. Notes are indicated with consecutive superscript numbers within the text of your paper. The actual note is indented and can occur either as a footnote at the bottom of the page or as an endnote at the end of the paper.

1. BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTE

Nineteenth-century critics of cheap, mass-produced fiction feared that the gory subject matter of stories like Sweeney Todd would lead a generation of youth into depravity. 1

1 For a selection of penny fiction as well as 19th-century criticism of it, see

Haining's The Penny Dreadful .

2. CONTENT NOTE

Charles Knight did not rely solely on the cheaply printed word in publications like the Penny Magazine to educate people; he also mass-produced images to diffuse knowledge visually. 2

2 Patricia Anderson's The Printed Image and the Transformation of Popular Culture, 1790-1860 provides examples of Penny Magazine images, such as depictions of flamingos, reproduced portraits of people like Benjamin Franklin, and engravings of famous artworks like "The Dying Gladiator" and "Laocoon" (50-83).

FOR MORE HELP

Following are links to sites that have additional information and further examples:

RefWorks : Once you have created an account, go to Tools/Preview Output Style to see examples of MLA style.
Purdue's Online Writing Lab (OWL) : Excellent source for research, writing and citation tips.
Citing Sources : Duke University's guide to citing sources. The site offers comparison citation tables with examples from APA , Chicago , MLA and Turabian for both print and electronic works.
Citing Electronic Primary Sources : From the Library of Congress. Provides MLA and Turabian examples of citing formats such as films, photographs, maps and recorded sound that are accessed electronically.

MLA Citation Style 9th Edition: Quotations

Core Elements
Audio Materials
Books & eBooks
Encyclopedias & Dictionaries
Government Documents
Images, Infographics, Maps, Charts, & Tables
Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers (Oral Communication)
Journal Articles
Magazine Articles
Newspaper Articles
Personal Communications (including emails and interviews)
Religious Works
Social Media
Theses & Dissertations
Websites (including documents/PDFs posted on websites)
Works in Another Language / Translations
No Author/Date/Etc.
Sample Paper
Annotated Bib.

Quoting vs. Paraphrasing

There are two ways to integrate sources into your assignment: quoting directly or paraphrasing.

Quoting is copying a selection from someone else's work, phrasing it exactly as it was originally written. When quoting place quotation marks (" ") around the selected passage to show where the quote begins and where it ends. Make sure to include an in-text citation.

Paraphrasing is used to show that you understand what the author wrote. You must reword the passage, expressing the ideas in your own words, and not just change a few words here and there. Make sure to also include an in-text citation.

Quotation Examples

There are two basic formats that can be used when quoting a source:

Parenthetical Style:

Narrative Style:

Note: If there are no page numbers, as in a website, cite the author name only.

Long Quotations

A long or block quotation is a quotation which is 4 lines or more.

Rules for Long Quotations

The line before your long quotation, when you're introducing the quote, usually ends with a colon.
The long quotation is indented half an inch from the rest of the text, so it looks like a block of text.
There are no quotation marks around the quotation.
The period at the end of the quotation comes before your in-text citation as opposed to after , as it does with regular quotations.

Example of a Long Quotation

At the end of Lord of the Flies the boys are struck with the realization of their behaviour:

Modifying Quotations

Sometimes you may want to make some modifications to the quote to fit your writing. Here are some MLA rules when changing quotes:

Changing Quotations

Omitting parts of a quotation

If you would like to exclude some words from a quotation, replace the words you are not including with an ellipsis: …

Adding words to a quote

If you are adding words that are not part of the original quote, enclose the additional words in square brackets: [XYZ]

Using Quotations (The Learning Portal) Tip sheet on how and when to use quotations
Paraphrasing (The Learning Portal) Tip sheet on paraphrasing information
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Last Updated: Aug 2, 2024 3:35 PM
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Free Tools for Students
MLA Citation Generator

Free MLA Citation Generator

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An MLA citation generator is a software tool designed to automatically create academic citations in the Modern Language Association (MLA) citation format. The generator will take information such as document titles, author, and URLs as in input, and output fully formatted citations that can be inserted into the Works Cited page of an MLA-compliant academic paper.

The citations on a Works Cited page show the external sources that were used to write the main body of the academic paper, either directly as references and quotes, or indirectly as ideas.

👩‍🎓 Who uses an MLA Citation Generator?

MLA style is most often used by middle school and high school students in preparation for transition to college and further education. Ironically, MLA style is not actually used all that often beyond middle and high school, with APA (American Psychological Association) style being the favored style at colleges across the country.

It is also important at this level to learn why it's critical to cite sources, not just how to cite them.

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Writing citations manually is time consuming and error prone. Automating this process with a citation generator is easy, straightforward, and gives accurate results. It's also easier to keep citations organized and in the correct order.

The Works Cited page contributes to the overall grade of a paper, so it is important to produce accurately formatted citations that follow the guidelines in the official MLA Handbook .

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It's super easy to create MLA style citations with our MLA Citation Generator. Scroll back up to the generator at the top of the page and select the type of source you're citing. Books, journal articles, and webpages are all examples of the types of sources our generator can cite automatically. Then either search for the source, or enter the details manually in the citation form.

The generator will produce a formatted MLA citation that can be copied and pasted directly into your document, or saved to MyBib as part of your overall Works Cited page (which can be downloaded fully later!).

MyBib supports the following for MLA style:

⚙️ Styles	MLA 8 & MLA 9
📚 Sources	Websites, books, journals, newspapers
🔎 Autocite	Yes
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Daniel is a qualified librarian, former teacher, and citation expert. He has been contributing to MyBib since 2018.

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

MLA Works Cited: Electronic Sources (Web Publications)

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

The MLA Handbook highlights principles over prescriptive practices. Essentially, a writer will need to take note of primary elements in every source, such as author, title, etc. and then assort them in a general format. Thus, by using this methodology, a writer will be able to cite any source regardless of whether it’s included in this list.

However, this guide will highlight a few concerns when citing digital sources in MLA style.

Best Practices for Managing Online Sources

Because online information can change or disappear, it is always a good idea to keep personal copies of important electronic information whenever possible. Downloading or even printing key documents ensures you have a stable backup. You can also use the Bookmark function in your web browser in order to build an easy-to-access reference for all of your project's sources (though this will not help you if the information is changed or deleted).

It is also wise to keep a record of when you first consult with each online source. MLA uses the phrase, “Accessed” to denote which date you accessed the web page when available or necessary. It is not required to do so, but it is encouraged (especially when there is no copyright date listed on a website).

Important Note on the Use of URLs in MLA

Include a URL or web address to help readers locate your sources. Because web addresses are not static (i.e., they change often) and because documents sometimes appear in multiple places on the web (e.g., on multiple databases), MLA encourages the use of citing containers such as Youtube, JSTOR, Spotify, or Netflix in order to easily access and verify sources. However, MLA only requires the www. address, so eliminate all https:// when citing URLs.

Many scholarly journal articles found in databases include a DOI (digital object identifier). If a DOI is available, cite the DOI number instead of the URL.

Online newspapers and magazines sometimes include a “permalink,” which is a shortened, stable version of a URL. Look for a “share” or “cite this” button to see if a source includes a permalink. If you can find a permalink, use that instead of a URL.

Abbreviations Commonly Used with Electronic Sources

If page numbers are not available, use par. or pars. to denote paragraph numbers. Use these in place of the p. or pp. abbreviation. Par. would be used for a single paragraph, while pars. would be used for a span of two or more paragraphs.

Basic Style for Citations of Electronic Sources (Including Online Databases)

Here are some common features you should try to find before citing electronic sources in MLA style. Not every web page will provide all of the following information. However, collect as much of the following information as possible:

Author and/or editor names (if available); last names first.
"Article name in quotation marks."
Title of the website, project, or book in italics.
Any version numbers available, including editions (ed.), revisions, posting dates, volumes (vol.), or issue numbers (no.).
Publisher information, including the publisher name and publishing date.
Take note of any page numbers (p. or pp.) or paragraph numbers (par. or pars.).
DOI (if available, precede it with "https://doi.org/"), otherwise a URL (without the https://) or permalink.
Date you accessed the material (Date Accessed). While not required, saving this information it is highly recommended, especially when dealing with pages that change frequently or do not have a visible copyright date.

Use the following format:

Author. "Title." Title of container (self contained if book) , Other contributors (translators or editors), Version (edition), Number (vol. and/or no.), Publisher, Publication Date, Location (pages, paragraphs and/or URL, DOI or permalink). 2 nd container’s title , Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location, Date of Access (if applicable).

Citing an Entire Web Site

When citing an entire website, follow the same format as listed above, but include a compiler name if no single author is available.

Author, or compiler name (if available). Name of Site. Version number (if available), Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), date of resource creation (if available), DOI (preferred), otherwise include a URL or permalink. Date of access (if applicable).

Editor, author, or compiler name (if available). Name of Site . Version number, Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), date of resource creation (if available), URL, DOI or permalink. Date of access (if applicable).

The Purdue OWL Family of Sites . The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue and Purdue U, 2008, owl.english.purdue.edu/owl. Accessed 23 Apr. 2008.

Felluga, Dino. Guide to Literary and Critical Theory . Purdue U, 28 Nov. 2003, www.cla.purdue.edu/english/theory/. Accessed 10 May 2006.

Course or Department Websites

Give the instructor name. Then list the title of the course (or the school catalog designation for the course) in italics. Give appropriate department and school names as well, following the course title.

Felluga, Dino. Survey of the Literature of England . Purdue U, Aug. 2006, web.ics.purdue.edu/~felluga/241/241/Home.html. Accessed 31 May 2007.

English Department . Purdue U, 20 Apr. 2009, www.cla.purdue.edu/english/. Accessed 31 May 2015.

A Page on a Web Site

For an individual page on a Web site, list the author or alias if known, followed by an indication of the specific page or article being referenced. Usually, the title of the page or article appears in a header at the top of the page. Follow this with the information covered above for entire Web sites. If the publisher is the same as the website name, only list it once.

Lundman, Susan. “How to Make Vegetarian Chili.” eHow , www.ehow.com/how_10727_make-vegetarian-chili.html. Accessed 6 July 2015.

“ Athlete's Foot - Topic Overview. ” WebMD , 25 Sept. 2014, www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/tc/athletes-foot-topic-overview.

Citations for e-books closely resemble those for physical books. Simply indicate that the book in question is an e-book by putting the term "e-book" in the "version" slot of the MLA template (i.e., after the author, the title of the source, the title of the container, and the names of any other contributors).

Silva, Paul J. How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing. E-book, American Psychological Association, 2007.

If the e-book is formatted for a specific reader device or service, you can indicate this by treating this information the same way you would treat a physical book's edition number. Often, this will mean replacing "e-book" with "[App/Service] ed."

Machiavelli, Niccolo. The Prince , translated by W. K. Marriott, Kindle ed., Library of Alexandria, 2018.

Note: The MLA considers the term "e-book" to refer to publications formatted specifically for reading with an e-book reader device (e.g., a Kindle) or a corresponding web application. These e-books will not have URLs or DOIs. If you are citing book content from an ordinary webpage with a URL, use the "A Page on a Web Site" format above.

An Image (Including a Painting, Sculpture, or Photograph)

Provide the artist's name, the work of art italicized, the date of creation, the institution and city where the work is housed. Follow this initial entry with the name of the Website in italics, and the date of access.

Goya, Francisco. The Family of Charles IV . 1800. Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid. Museo Nacional del Prado , www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/the-family-of-carlos-iv/f47898fc-aa1c-48f6-a779-71759e417e74. Accessed 22 May 2006.

Klee, Paul. Twittering Machine . 1922. Museum of Modern Art, New York. The Artchive , www.artchive.com/artchive/K/klee/twittering_machine.jpg.html. Accessed May 2006.

If the work cited is available on the web only, then provide the name of the artist, the title of the work, and then follow the citation format for a website. If the work is posted via a username, use that username for the author.

Adams, Clifton R. “People Relax Beside a Swimming Pool at a Country Estate Near Phoenix, Arizona, 1928.” Found, National Geographic Creative, 2 June 2016, natgeofound.tumblr.com/.

An Article in a Web Magazine

Provide the author name, article name in quotation marks, title of the web magazine in italics, publisher name, publication date, URL, and the date of access.

Bernstein, Mark. “ 10 Tips on Writing the Living Web. ” A List Apart: For People Who Make Websites , 16 Aug. 2002, alistapart.com/article/writeliving. Accessed 4 May 2009.

An Article in an Online Scholarly Journal

For all online scholarly journals, provide the author(s) name(s), the name of the article in quotation marks, the title of the publication in italics, all volume and issue numbers, and the year of publication. Include a DOI if available, otherwise provide a URL or permalink to help readers locate the source.

Article in an Online-only Scholarly Journal

MLA requires a page range for articles that appear in Scholarly Journals. If the journal you are citing appears exclusively in an online format (i.e. there is no corresponding print publication) that does not make use of page numbers, indicate the URL or other location information.

Dolby, Nadine. “Research in Youth Culture and Policy: Current Conditions and Future Directions.” Social Work and Society: The International Online-Only Journal, vol. 6, no. 2, 2008, www.socwork.net/sws/article/view/60/362. Accessed 20 May 2009.

Article in an Online Scholarly Journal That Also Appears in Print

Cite articles in online scholarly journals that also appear in print as you would a scholarly journal in print, including the page range of the article . Provide the URL and the date of access.

Wheelis, Mark. “ Investigating Disease Outbreaks Under a Protocol to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention. ” Emerging Infectious Diseases , vol. 6, no. 6, 2000, pp. 595-600, wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/6/6/00-0607_article. Accessed 8 Feb. 2009.

An Article from an Online Database (or Other Electronic Subscription Service)

Cite online databases (e.g. LexisNexis, ProQuest, JSTOR, ScienceDirect) and other subscription services as containers. Thus, provide the title of the database italicized before the DOI or URL. If a DOI is not provided, use the URL instead. Provide the date of access if you wish.

Alonso, Alvaro, and Julio A. Camargo. “ Toxicity of Nitrite to Three Species of Freshwater Invertebrates. ” Environmental Toxicology, vol. 21, no. 1, 3 Feb. 2006, pp. 90-94. Wiley Online Library , https://doi.org/10.1002/tox.20155. Accessed 26 May 2009.

Langhamer, Claire. “Love and Courtship in Mid-Twentieth-Century England.” Historical Journal, vol. 50, no. 1, 2007, pp. 173-96. ProQuest , https://doi.org/10.1017/S0018246X06005966. Accessed 27 May 2009.

E-mail (including E-mail Interviews)

Give the author of the message, followed by the subject line in quotation marks. State to whom the message was sent with the phrase, “Received by” and the recipient’s name. Include the date the message was sent. Use standard capitalization.

Kunka, Andrew. “ Re: Modernist Literature. ” Received by John Watts, 15 Nov. 2000.

Neyhart, David. “ Re: Online Tutoring. ” Received by Joe Barbato, 1 Dec. 2016.

A Listserv, Discussion Group, or Blog Posting

Cite web postings as you would a standard web entry. Provide the author of the work, the title of the posting in quotation marks, the web site name in italics, the publisher, and the posting date. Follow with the date of access. Include screen names as author names when author name is not known. If both names are known, place the author’s name in brackets.

Author or compiler name (if available). “Posting Title.” Name of Site , Version number (if available), Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), URL. Date of access.

Salmar1515 [Sal Hernandez]. “Re: Best Strategy: Fenced Pastures vs. Max Number of Rooms?” BoardGameGeek , 29 Sept. 2008, boardgamegeek.com/thread/343929/best-strategy-fenced-pastures-vs-max-number-rooms. Accessed 5 Apr. 2009.

Begin with the user's Twitter handle in place of the author’s name. Next, place the tweet in its entirety in quotations, inserting a period after the tweet within the quotations. Include the date and time of posting, using the reader's time zone; separate the date and time with a comma and end with a period. Include the date accessed if you deem necessary.

@tombrokaw. “ SC demonstrated why all the debates are the engines of this campaign. ” Twitter, 22 Jan. 2012, 3:06 a.m., twitter.com/tombrokaw/status/160996868971704320.

@PurdueWLab. “ Spring break is around the corner, and all our locations will be open next week. ” Twitter , 5 Mar. 2012, 12:58 p.m., twitter.com/PurdueWLab/status/176728308736737282.

A YouTube Video

Video and audio sources need to be documented using the same basic guidelines for citing print sources in MLA style. Include as much descriptive information as necessary to help readers understand the type and nature of the source you are citing. If the author’s name is the same as the uploader, only cite the author once. If the author is different from the uploader, cite the author’s name before the title.

McGonigal, Jane. “Gaming and Productivity.” YouTube , uploaded by Big Think, 3 July 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkdzy9bWW3E.

“8 Hot Dog Gadgets put to the Test.” YouTube, uploaded by Crazy Russian Hacker, 6 June 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBlpjSEtELs.

A Comment on a Website or Article

List the username as the author. Use the phrase, Comment on, before the title. Use quotation marks around the article title. Name the publisher, date, time (listed on near the comment), and the URL.

Not Omniscient Enough. Comment on “ Flight Attendant Tells Passenger to ‘Shut Up’ After Argument Over Pasta. ” ABC News, 9 Jun 2016, 4:00 p.m., abcnews.go.com/US/flight-attendant-tells-passenger-shut-argument-pasta/story?id=39704050.

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Block quoting in MLA style

MLA Block Quotes | Format and Examples (8th Edition)

Published on May 23, 2018 by Courtney Gahan . Revised on March 5, 2024.

When you include a long quote in an MLA paper , you have to format it as a block quote . MLA style (8th edition) requires block quote formatting for:

Quotes of poetry longer than three lines
Quotes of prose longer than four lines

An MLA block quote is set on a new line, indented 0.5 inches, with no quotation marks. The MLA in-text citation goes after the period at the end of the block quote.

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How to block quote in mla, block quote examples, quotes within block quotes, omitting words or lines in block quotes, frequently asked questions about block quoting in mla.

To create a block quote in MLA, follow these four simple steps.

Step 1: Introduce the quote

Always introduce block quotes in your own words. Start with a sentence or two that shows the reader why you are including the quote and how it fits into your argument. After the introductory sentence, add a colon , and then start the quote on a new line.

Step 2: Format the quote

Like the rest of your MLA format paper, the block quote should be double spaced. Indent the entire quote half an inch from the left margin. Include the same capitalization , punctuation, and line breaks as appear in the original text.

Step 3: Cite the quote

At the end of the quote, add an MLA in-text citation directly after the final punctuation mark. This contains the name of the author(s) and the page number(s) from which the quote is taken.

Every in-text citation must correspond to an entry in the Works Cited list. You can create citations using our free MLA citation generator .

Step 4: Comment on the quote

Under the block quote, analyze or comment on the quoted text. Never end a paragraph with a block quote – you should always start and end in your own words.

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Use the tabs to navigate between the examples for quoting prose and quoting poetry . Pay attention to the indentation, spacing, the colon after the leading sentence, and the parenthetical citation.

Block quote of prose
Block quote of poetry

The reader quickly becomes familiar with Nick Carraway’s relationship with Jay Gatsby, as the very first mention of the character illustrates both his admiration and disdain :

The poem “My Country” is one of the most widely known in Australia, expressing the poet’s affection for the country’s unique landscape :

If you block quote from a play, follow our guide to MLA play citation .

If you want to block quote a passage that itself contains a quote , use quotation marks as you normally would around the inner quote.

Example nested quotation

Like his introduction of Gatsby, Fitzgerald’s opening description of Daisy immediately informs the reader of her charm and allure:

You can shorten block quotes by using ellipses ( … ) to indicate that you have removed some text. If you shorten a quote like this, make sure it doesn’t change the author’s original meaning or leave out important context.

If you want to omit a line of poetry , you can indicate this with a line of periods approximately the same length as the line of the poem.

In MLA style , if you quote more than four lines from a source, use MLA block quote formatting .

If you are quoting poetry , use block quote formatting for any quote longer than three lines.

To format a block quote in MLA:

Introduce the quote with a colon and set it on a new line.
Indent the whole quote 0.5 inches from the left margin.
Place the MLA in-text citation after the period at the end of the block quote.

Then continue your text on a new line (not indented).

To create a correctly formatted block quote in Microsoft Word, follow these steps:

Hit Enter at the beginning and end of the quote.
Highlight the quote and select the Layout menu.
On the Indent tab, change the left indent to 0.5″.

Do not put quotation marks around the quote, and make sure to include an MLA in-text citation after the period at the end.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Gahan, C. (2024, March 05). MLA Block Quotes | Format and Examples (8th Edition). Scribbr. Retrieved August 22, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/mla/block-quotes/

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MLA In-text Citations
Revised on March 5, 2024. An MLA in-text citation provides the author's last name and a page number in parentheses. If a source has two authors, name both. If a source has more than two authors, name only the first author, followed by " et al. ". If the part you're citing spans multiple pages, include the full page range.
MLA Formatting and Style Guide
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In-Text Citations: An Overview
In-Text Citations: An Overview. In-text citations are brief, unobtrusive references that direct readers to the works-cited-list entries for the sources you consulted and, where relevant, to the location in the source being cited. An in-text citation begins with the shortest piece of information that directs your reader to the entry in the ...
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This guide follows the 9th edition (the most recent) of the MLA Handbook, published by the Modern Language Association in 2021. To cite sources in MLA style, you need. In-text citations that give the author's last name and a page number. A list of Works Cited that gives full details of every source. Make sure your paper also adheres to MLA ...
MLA Citation Guide (MLA 9th Edition): In-Text Citation
In-text citations are inserted in the body of your research paper to briefly document the source of your information. In-text citations in MLA style follow the general format of author's last name followed by a page number enclosed in parentheses. Here is an example: "Here's a direct quote" (Smith 8).
MLA In-Text Citations
An in-text citation is a reference to a source that is found within the text of a paper ( Handbook 227). This tells a reader that an idea, quote, or paraphrase originated from a source. MLA in-text citations usually include the last name of the author and the location of cited information. This guide focuses on how to create MLA in-text ...
LibGuides: MLA Citation Guide (9th Edition): In-Text Citation
In MLA, in-text citations are inserted in the body of your research paper to briefly document the source of your information. Brief in-text citations point the reader to more complete information in the Works Cited list at the end of the paper. Number of Authors/Editors. Format of In-Text Citation. One.
MLA: In-Text Citations
In MLA, in-text citations are inserted in the body of your research paper to briefly document the source of your information. Brief in-text citations point the reader to the full citation on the works cited list at the end of the paper. Create in-text citations for the following: Direct quotes; Paraphrasing
How to Quote
Citing a quote in APA Style. To cite a direct quote in APA, you must include the author's last name, the year, and a page number, all separated by commas. If the quote appears on a single page, use "p."; if it spans a page range, use "pp.". An APA in-text citation can be parenthetical or narrative.
MLA
The MLA Handbook is published by the Modern Language Association. The new, ninth edition builds on the MLA's unique approach to documenting sources using a template of core elements--facts, common to most sources, like author, title, and publication date--that allows writers to cite any type of work, from books, e-books, and journal articles in databases to song lyrics, online images, social ...
MLA
About MLA. Developed by the Modern Language Association, this style is most widely used for research papers in the humanities. Citing sources in this style consists of two parts: In-text citations. A works-cited list. See How to Format In-Text Citations and How to Format the Works-Cited List. With the 8th edition of the MLA Handbook, the ...
MLA: Citing Within Your Paper
An in-text citation can be included in one of two ways as shown below: 1. Put all the citation information at the end of the sentence: 2. Include author name as part of the sentence (if author name unavailable, include title of work): Each source cited in-text must also be listed on your Works Cited page. RefWorks includes a citation builder ...
MC Library Research Guides: Cite Sources: MLA Style
Cite sources that you have used in the body of your paper ( in-text citation) and in the Works Cited list at the end of your paper. Double space all of the citations on your Works Cited page. Indent the second and following lines of the citation 5-7 spaces. NOTE: The MLA style is generally used in humanities disciplines, such as reading and ...
MLA Guide (7th edition)
Provides MLA and Turabian examples of citing formats such as films, photographs, maps and recorded sound that are accessed electronically. The examples provided in this guide are meant to introduce you to the basics of citing sources using the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (seventh edition). For types of resources not included in ...
LibGuides: MLA Citation Style 9th Edition: Quotations
A long or block quotation is a quotation which is 4 lines or more. Rules for Long Quotations. The line before your long quotation, when you're introducing the quote, usually ends with a colon. The long quotation is indented half an inch from the rest of the text, so it looks like a block of text. There are no quotation marks around the ...
The Basics of In-Text Citation
At college level, you must properly cite your sources in all essays, research papers, and other academic texts (except exams and in-class exercises). Add a citation whenever you quote, paraphrase, or summarize information or ideas from a source. You should also give full source details in a bibliography or reference list at the end of your text.
PDF Formatting a Research Paper
Do not use a period after your title or after any heading in the paper (e.g., Works Cited). Begin your text on a new, double-spaced line after the title, indenting the first line of the paragraph half an inch from the left margin. Fig. 1. The top of the first page of a research paper.
Free MLA Citation Generator [Updated for 2024]
Scroll back up to the generator at the top of the page and select the type of source you're citing. Books, journal articles, and webpages are all examples of the types of sources our generator can cite automatically. Then either search for the source, or enter the details manually in the citation form. The generator will produce a formatted MLA ...
How to Cite Sources
At college level, you must properly cite your sources in all essays, research papers, and other academic texts (except exams and in-class exercises). Add a citation whenever you quote, paraphrase, or summarize information or ideas from a source. You should also give full source details in a bibliography or reference list at the end of your text.
MLA Works Cited: Electronic Sources (Web Publications)
MLA Works Cited: Electronic Sources (Web Publications) The MLA Handbook highlights principles over prescriptive practices. Essentially, a writer will need to take note of primary elements in every source, such as author, title, etc. and then assort them in a general format. Thus, by using this methodology, a writer will be able to cite any ...
MLA Block Quotes
Revised on March 5, 2024. When you include a long quote in an MLA paper, you have to format it as a block quote. MLA style (8th edition) requires block quote formatting for: An MLA block quote is set on a new line, indented 0.5 inches, with no quotation marks. The MLA in-text citation goes after the period at the end of the block quote.

MLA Citation Guide (MLA 9th Edition): In-Text Citation

In-Text Citation

Repeated Use of Sources

In-Text Citation Formatting and Examples

Two Authors

Three or More Authors

Unknown Author

Multiple Sources

Works Quoted in Another Source

MLA In-Text Citations

Table of Contents

Fundamentals

In-text citation examples

Why are in-text citations important?

In-text citation vs. in-prose vs. parenthetical

Citation in prose

Here is an example

Parenthetical citation

Here is an MLA parenthetical citation example

Full reference

Here is the full reference for King’s quote

Citation overview

Parenthetical Citation Reference Chart

Sources with Two Authors

Here is an example of an MLA citation in prose for a book with two authors

Here is an example of an MLA parenthetical citation for a book with two authors

Sources With Three or More Authors

Here’s an example of an MLA parenthetical citation for multiple authors

Here is an acceptable MLA citation in prose example for sources with more than three authors

Sources Without an Author

Parenthetical Citations MLA Examples

The example below is from the movie, The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain .

Corporate Authors

Example of a shortened corporate author name in an MLA parenthetical citation

Here is how the same corporate author name would look in an MLA citation in prose

Edited Books and Anthologies

Here is an example of an MLA citation in prose for a book with an editor

Full reference at the end of the assignment

Sources Without Page Numbers and Online Sources

Here is an example of how to create an MLA parenthetical citation for a website

Here’s an example of an MLA citation in prose for a website

Here’s another MLA in-text citation example for a website

Citing the Same Source Multiple Times

Here is an example of how to cite the same source multiple times

Here is the full reference at the end of the project:

Citing Two or More Sources in the Same In-text Citation

Citing Multiple Works by the Same Author in One In-text Citation

Abbreviating Titles

Religious Works and Scriptures

MLA example of an in-text citation for a religious scripture

Long or Block Quotes

Here is an MLA citation in prose example of a block quote

Here is an example of the same block quote, without the use of the colon:

MLA Formatting Guide

Citation Examples

Parenthetical

Examples of in-text citations

Plagiarism Checker

MLA Citation Guide (9th Edition): In-Text Citation

Works Quoted in Another Source

On This Page

Citations - MLA: In-Text Citations - Quotations & Paraphrasing

On This Page

Paraphrasing

Unknown Author

Citing a Source that you Found in Another Source (Secondary Source)

In-Text Citation For One, Two, or More Authors/Editors

In-Text Citation For More Than One Source

Citing Sources: MLA

How to Format In-Text Citations

Standard Formatting of the In-Text Citation

How to Format the Works Cited List

Core Elements

Title of Source.

Title of Container ,

Other Contributors,

Publication Date,

Formatting and Ordering the Works-Cited List

How do I deal with ___?

More than one author