MLA: In-Text Citations

When you use sources in your assignment, those sources have to be cited. It doesn't matter if it's a paraphrase or a direct quote! The goal is to tell your readers where you got your information.

The in-text citation is a shortened form of what is listed on your Works Cited page. In the example below, the in-text citation (Smith) goes to the source written by Susie Smith, found on the Works Cited page. 

In-text citation: (Smith)

Works Cited page:

Smith, Susie. "Article Title." My Awesome Website, 1 Jan. 2019, www.myawesomewebsite.com/susie.

Your in-text citation may look differently, depending on the source you use. See the boxes below for some common examples.

Always check your work!

Always check to see that your citations match up with your Works Cited page! If you list something on your Works Cited page, it should be cited somewhere in your paper. If you cited it in your paper, it should be listed on your Works Cited. 

Don't accidentally plagiarize!

If you forget to cite sources in your paper, it's plagiarism. When you proofread your paper, be sure to look to see if you cited everything.

When you are citing a printed source, like a book, you will use the author's last name and the page number where you found the information you are citing. If your citation is at the end of a sentence, the period goes AFTER the citation. Your citation is a part of the sentence.

One Author

(Nickerson 135) 

This tells your reader that the information you just provided came from someone with the last name Nickerson and the information was found on page 135. 

If you want to include the name of the author in your sentence, your in-text citation only needs to have the page number. For example:

According to Nickerson, blah, blah, blah (135). 

Two Authors

(Nickerson and Johnson 135)

Three Authors

If your source has three or more authors, you get to shorten your citation! Use the first author's last name and then et al. This is Latin for and others. Be sure to include the period after al. 

(Nickerson et al. 135)

Multiple Pages

If you are summering information that falls across multiple pages, you can include the page range. 

(Nickerson et al. 135-136)

When citing sources that don't have page numbers, such as a website, you will only list the author's last name. If your citation is at the end of a sentence, the period goes AFTER the citation. Your citation is a part of the sentence.

One Author

(Nickerson) 

This tells your reader that the information you just provided came from someone with the last name Nickerson.

If you want to include the name of the author in your sentence and there is no page number, you don't have to include the name in parentheses at the end of the sentence because you already listed the author. For example:

According to Nickerson, "blah, blah, blah". 

Two Authors

(Nickerson and Johnson)

Three Authors

If your source has three or more authors, you get to shorten your citation! Use the first author's last name and then et al. (That's a lower case L in the al). This is Latin for and others. Be sure to include the period after al. 

(Nickerson et al.)

Organizations as Authors

Organizations and governments are producers of information, too! For example, you read the recommended guidelines for hand washing on the Centers for Disease Control website, but there is no individual author listed. Since the Centers for Disease Control is the one producing the information, you may use them as the author. 

(Centers for Disease Control)

No Author

If there is no author, you will use the title or a shortened version of the title. If the title is only a few words, there is no reason to shorten it. In the example above, we will shorten the title to Web Insight. 

The title will be italicized. 

(Web Insight)

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