MLA citations appear in two parts—the brief in-text citation, usually in parentheses in the body of your written text, and the full citation in the list of works cited, to which the in-text citation directs your readers. The most straightforward in-text citations include the author’s name and the page number, but many variations on this basic format are discussed in Chapter 50.

In the text of his research essay (see Chapter 52), David Craig includes a paraphrase of material from the print book Language Play by linguist David Crystal. As shown here, he cites the book page on which the original information appears in a parenthetical reference that points readers to the entry for “Crystal, David” in his list of works cited. He also cites statistics from a report with four named authors that he found on a Web site sponsored by the nonprofit Pew Internet & American Life Project. The report, like many online texts, does not include page numbers. These examples show just two of the many ways to cite sources using in-text citations and a list of works cited. You’ll need to make case-by-case decisions based on the types of sources you include. For more information on in-text citation practices, see Chapter 50; to find models of types of sources for the list of works cited, consult Chapter 51.