MLA In-Text Citations
MLA Style uses the (Author Page) format where “Author” is the last name of the author of the publication and “Page” is the place in the text where the information can be found.
In-text citations can be formatted in many different ways. You can have the author’s last name specified in the sentence and then have the page number in parenthesis, also known as a Narrative Citation, or have both the author’s last name and page number in parenthesis at the end of the text being cited, also known as a Parenthetical Citation.
As long as all elements (Author Page) of the citation appear around the material, then the citation is complete.
Parenthetical Citation Method:
The author later goes on to speak about her depression, saying, “It was so dark and lonely. I felt like I was letting everyone down” (Furchester 12).
Note: If the author is not mentioned in the sentence, it is important that all the citation information appears in parenthesis: author and page.
Narrative Citation Method:
Dr. Rose Furchester stated, “To give up was not an option for either myself or the patient,” (10) when recalling her lowest point while treating her patient, Lucy L., for a rare cancer.
If the source being used has two or three authors, each author must appear in the in-text citation. Two authors are listed with the word ‘and’ between their last names, while three authors will use commas to separate the last name of each author with the word ‘and’ preceding the last author listed.
Parenthetical Citation Method:
Two Authors:
The authors later go on to speak about how excessive sleep deprivation can cause symptoms like “visual and auditory hallucinations, a general feeling of unwellness, and, in extreme cases, psychosis” (Furchester and Weston 42).
Three Authors:
Other researchers say their sleep study participants suffered more from increased apathy after 48 hours of remaining awake, a data point not reviewed in the Furchester and Weston study (Bailey, Augusta, and Foley 543).
Narrative Citation Method:
Two Authors:
Dr. Rose Furchester and her colleague, Dr. Jim Weston, discuss further the effects of poor sleep when they discuss Patient D of their research study specifically. Patient D recorded multiple occurrences of sleep paralysis, a symptom other patients did not experience during the study’s time frame (45-6).
Three Authors:
Bailey, Augusta, and Foley say their sleep study participants suffered more from increased apathy after 48 hours of remaining awake (543), a data point not reviewed in the Furchester and Weston study.
Parenthetical In-Text Citation Method
In a research study that focused on sleep apnea and insomnia it was found that significant sleep apnea symptomology increased the likelihood of the patient developing severe insomnia in the patients who had the placebo medication (Fulton et al. 237).
Note: Having more than three authors to cite will mean using the latin abbreviation ‘et al.’ inside the citation. When using ‘et al.’, make sure that the phrase ends in a period.
Narrative In-Text Citation Method
In a research study conducted by George Fulton, Barbara Signarri, EunSeon Kim, and Jessica Fareway, the focus was on sleep apnea and insomnia. Fulton et al. found that significant sleep apnea symptomology increased the likelihood of the patient developing severe insomnia in the patients who had the placebo medication (237).
Note: The first time an author named in the body of your paper, you need to give their full name as presented on the source. After that, you should only refer to the author by their last name.
When using a reference that does not have an author, the in-text citation changes to accommodate in the same way the reference entry does. Instead of using the author name, use the title of the reference in the author’s place:
(“Title of article” Page) or (Journal Title Page)
Notice that the article title is in quotes while the journal title is in italics. In MLA Style, article titles are placed in quotes when they are a part of an in-text citation or in a paragraph of your paper. Journal titles are written in italics when in an in-text citation or in a paragraph.
Another situation where there will be ‘no author’ is the case of an organization or corporation acting as author. The corporation/organization will be listed as an author if that entity is not also the publisher. This can happen when there are sub-departments or aspects within an organization that put together the information and then the information is hosted by the larger corporate group.
Think how a State’s department can write policies for their state however those policies are published on the federal department’s website. The author is the State’s department, the publisher is the Federal department.
Parenthetical In-Text Citation Method:
Corporation or Organization as Author:
To become a certified family counselor, one has to complete their masters degree in a related field and complete the appropriate testing (American Psychological Association 2).
Article Title in Place of Author:
To become a certified family counselor, one has to complete their masters degree in a related field and complete the appropriate testing (“How to Become a Family Counselor” 2).
Narrative In-Text Citation Method:
Corporation or Organization as Author:
According to the American Psychological Association (APA), to become a certified family counselor, one has to complete their masters degree in a related field and complete the appropriate testing (2).
Article Title in Place of Author:
In the article “How to Become a Family Counselor,” it says that one must complete a masters degree in a related field then complete the certification test before they can become a family counselor (2).
If page numbers are not provided, but the paragraphs, stanzas, or lines are otherwise labeled/numbered, then this information is used in place of the page number (e.g., volume (vol.), book (bk.), part (pt.), chapter (ch.), section (sec.), or paragraph (par.)).
Parenthetical In-Text Citation Method:
The author of “The Unmasked Poet” gave the readers only a singular line dedicated to the emotional state of the secondary character, Monique, which says “the rain fell from the yellow wheat of her hair” (Morgan ln. 458).
Narrative In-Text Citation Method:
Jay Ellis, the author of A Book of Genius, described the hollow feelings of his characters in a singular 30 page, non-paginated paragraph (ch. 3). Ellis’s choice is reminiscent of the writing technique known as ‘stream of consciousness’ and blurs the separation between characters and narrator.
A quotation that is 4 lines of a paragraph or longer is formatted and cited differently than the examples above.
Rules for Block Quotes:
- Block quotes are 4 lines or longer.
- Block quotes are introduced within a paragraph, but the quote itself is started on a new line.
- The entirety of the quote is indented 1/2 inch from the margin.
- Citation for the block quote goes at the end of the quote after any punctuation.
Example:
