MLA in-text citations are made with a combination of signal phrases and parenthetical references. A signal phrase introduces information taken from a source (a quotation, summary, paraphrase, or fact); usually the signal phrase includes the author’s name. The parenthetical reference comes after the cited material, often at the end of the sentence. It includes at least a page number (except for unpaginated sources, such as those found on the Web). In the models in MLA-4a, the elements of the in-text citation are highlighted in orange.
in-text citation
Resnik acknowledges that his argument relies on “slippery slope” thinking, but he insists that “social and political pressures” regarding food regulation make his concerns valid (31).
Readers can look up the author’s last name in the alphabetized list of works cited, where they will learn the work’s title and other publication information. If readers decide to consult the source, the page number will take them straight to the passage that has been cited.
General guidelines for signal phrases and page numbers
Items 1-5 explain how the MLA system usually works for all sources—in print, on the Web, in other media, and with or without authors and page numbers. Items 6-27 give variations on the basic guidelines.
1. Author named in a signal phrase Ordinarily, introduce the material being cited with a signal phrase that includes the author’s name. In addition to preparing readers for the source, the signal phrase allows you to keep the parenthetical citation brief.
According to Lorine Goodwin, a food historian, nineteenth-century reformers who sought to purify the food supply were called “fanatics” and “radicals” by critics who argued that consumers should be free to buy and eat what they want (77).
The signal phrase—According to Lorine Goodwin—names the author; the parenthetical citation gives the page number of the book in which the quoted words may be found.
Notice that the period follows the parenthetical citation. When a quotation ends with a question mark or an exclamation point, leave the end punctuation inside the quotation mark and add a period at the end of your sentence.
Burgess asks a critical question: “How can we think differently about food labeling?” (51).
2. Author named in parentheses If you do not give the author’s name in a signal phrase, put the last name in parentheses along with the page number (if the source has one). Use no punctuation between the name and the page number: (Moran 351).
According to a nationwide poll, 75% of Americans are opposed to laws that restrict or put limitations on access to unhealthy foods (Neergaard and Agiesta).
3. Author unknown If a source has no author, the works cited entry will begin with the title. In your in-text citation, either use the complete title in a signal phrase or use a short form of the title in parentheses. Titles of books and other long works are italicized; titles of articles and other short works are put in quotation marks.
As a result, kids see nearly four thousand ads per year encouraging them to eat unhealthy food and drinks (“Facts”).
NOTE: If the author is a corporation or a government agency, see items 8 and 17, respectively.
4. Page number unknown Do not include the page number if a work lacks page numbers, as is the case with many Web sources. Do not use page numbers from a printout from a Web site. (When the pages of a Web source are stable, as in PDF files, supply a page number in your in-text citation.)
Michael Pollan points out that “cheap food” actually has “significant costs—to the environment, to public health, to the public purse, even to the culture.”
If a source has numbered paragraphs or sections, use “par.” (or “pars.”) or “sec.” (or “secs.”) in the parentheses: (Smith, par. 4). Notice that a comma follows the author’s name.
5. One-page source If the source is one page long, MLA allows (but does not require) you to omit the page number. It’s a good idea to include the page number because without it readers may not know where your citation ends or, worse, may not realize that you have provided a citation at all.
no page number in citation
Sarah Conly uses John Stuart Mill’s “harm principle” to argue that citizens need their government to intervene to prevent them from taking harmful actions—such as driving too fast or buying unhealthy foods—out of ignorance of the harm they can do. But government intervention may overstep in the case of food choices.
page number in citation
Sarah Conly uses John Stuart Mill’s “harm principle” to argue that citizens need their government to intervene to prevent them from taking harmful actions—such as driving too fast or buying unhealthy foods—out of ignorance of the harm they can do (A23). But government intervention may overstep in the case of food choices.
Variations on the general guidelines
This section describes the MLA guidelines for handling a variety of situations not covered in items 1-5.
6. Two authors Name the authors in a signal phrase, as in the following example, or include their last names in the parenthetical reference: (Gostin and Gostin 214).
As legal scholars Gostin and Gostin explain, “[I]nterventions that do not pose a truly significant burden on individual liberty” are justified if they “go a long way towards safeguarding the health and well-being of the populace” (214).
7. Three or more authors Give the first author’s name followed by “et al.” (Latin for “and others”). The format in your text citation should match the format in your works cited entry.
The study was extended for two years, and only after results were reviewed by an independent panel did the researchers publish their findings (Blaine et al. 35).
8. Organization as author When the author is a corporation or an organization, name that author either in the signal phrase or in the parenthetical citation. (For a government agency as author, see item 17.)
The American Diabetes Association estimates that the cost of diagnosed diabetes in the United States in 2012 was $245 billion.
In the list of works cited, the American Diabetes Association is treated as the author and alphabetized under A. When you give the organization name in the text, spell out the name; when you use it in parentheses, abbreviate common words in the name: “Assn.,” “Dept.,” “Natl.,” “Soc.,” and so on.
The cost of diagnosed diabetes in the United States in 2012 was estimated at $245 billion (Amer. Diabetes Assn.).
9. Authors with the same last name If your list of works cited includes works by two or more authors with the same last name, include the author’s first name in the signal phrase or first initial in the parentheses.
One approach to the problem is to introduce nutrition literacy at the K-5 level in public schools (E. Chen 15).
10. Two or more works by the same author Mention the title of the work in the signal phrase or include a short version of the title in the parentheses.
The American Diabetes Association tracks trends in diabetes across age groups. In 2012, more than 200,000 children and adolescents had diabetes (“Fast”). Because of an expected dramatic increase in diabetes in young people over the next forty years, the association encourages “strategies for implementing childhood obesity prevention programs and primary prevention programs for youth at risk of developing type 2 diabetes” (“Number”).
Titles of articles and other short works are placed in quotation marks; titles of books and other long works are italicized.
In the rare case when both the author’s name and a short title must be given in parentheses, separate them with a comma.
Researchers have estimated that “the number of youth with type 2 [diabetes] could quadruple and the number with type 1 could triple” by 2050, “with an increasing proportion of youth with diabetes from minority populations” (Amer. Diabetes Assn., “Number”).
11. Two or more works in one citation To cite more than one source in the parentheses, list the authors (or titles) in alphabetical order and separate them with semicolons.
The prevalence of early-onset Type 2 diabetes has been well documented (Finn 68; Sharma 2037; Whitaker 118).
It may be less distracting to use an information note for multiple citations.
12. Repeated citations from the same source When you are writing about a single work, you do not need to include the author’s name each time you quote from or paraphrase the work. After you mention the author’s name at the beginning of your paper, you may include just the page number in your parenthetical citations.
In Susan Glaspell’s short story “A Jury of Her Peers,” two women accompany their husbands and a county attorney to an isolated house where a farmer named John Wright has been choked to death in his bed with a rope. The chief suspect is Wright’s wife, Minnie, who is in jail awaiting trial. The sheriff’s wife, Mrs. Peters, has come along to gather some personal items for Minnie, and Mrs. Hale has joined her. Early in the story, Mrs. Hale sympathizes with Minnie and objects to the way the male investigators are “snoopin’ round and criticizin’” her kitchen (249). In contrast, Mrs. Peters shows respect for the law, saying that the men are doing “no more than their duty” (249).
In a paper with multiple sources, if you are citing a source more than once in a paragraph, you may omit the author’s name after the first mention in the paragraph as long as it is clear that you are still referring to the same source.
13. Encyclopedia or dictionary entry When an encyclopedia or a dictionary entry does not have an author, it will be alphabetized in the list of works cited under the word or entry that you consulted. Either in your text or in your parenthetical citation, mention the word or entry. No page number is required because readers can easily look up the word or entry.
The word crocodile has a complex etymology (“Crocodile”).
14. Multivolume work If your paper cites more than one volume of a multivolume work, indicate in the parentheses the volume you are referring to, followed by a colon and the page number.
In his studies of gifted children, Terman describes a pattern of accelerated language acquisition (2: 279).
If you cite only one volume of a multivolume work, you will include the volume number in the list of works cited and will not need to include it in the parentheses.
15. Entire work Use the author’s name in a signal phrase or a parenthetical citation. There is no need to use a page number.
Pollan explores the issues surrounding food production and consumption from a political angle.
16. Selection in an anthology Put the name of the author of the selection (not the editor of the anthology) in the signal phrase or the parentheses.
In “Love Is a Fallacy,” the narrator’s logical teachings disintegrate when Polly declares that she should date Petey because “[h]e’s got a raccoon coat” (Shulman 391).
In the list of works cited, the work is alphabetized under Shulman, the author of the story, not under the name of the editor of the anthology.
Shulman, Max. “Love Is a Fallacy.” Current Issues and Enduring Questions, edited by Sylvan Barnet and Hugo Bedau, 9th ed., Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011, pp. 383-91.
17. Government document When a government agency is the author, you will alphabetize it in the list of works cited under the name of the government, such as United States or Great Britain. For this reason, you must name the government as well as the agency in your in-text citation.
One government agency reports that seat belt use saved an average of more than fourteen thousand lives per year in the United States between 2000 and 2010 (United States, Dept. of Transportation, Natl. Highway Traffic Safety Administration 231).
18. Historical document For a historical document, such as the United States Constitution or the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, provide the document title, neither italicized nor in quotation marks, along with relevant article and section numbers. In parenthetical citations, use common abbreviations such as “art.” and “sec.” and abbreviations of well-known titles: (US Const., art. 1, sec. 2).
While the United States Constitution provides for the formation of new states (art. 4, sec. 3), it does not explicitly allow or prohibit the secession of states.
Cite other historical documents as you would any other work, by the first element in the works cited entry.
19. Legal source For a legislative act (law) or court case, name the act or case either in a signal phrase or in parentheses. Italicize the names of cases but not the names of acts.
The Jones Act of 1917 granted US citizenship to Puerto Ricans.
In 1857, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney declared in Dred Scott v. Sandford that blacks, whether enslaved or free, could not be citizens of the United States.
20. Visual such as a table, a chart, or another graphic To cite a visual that has a figure number in the source, use the abbreviation “fig.” and the number in place of a page number in your parenthetical citation: (Manning, fig. 4). If you refer to the figure in your text, spell out the word “figure” in the text.
To cite a visual that does not have a figure number in a print source, use the visual’s title or a description in your text and cite the author and page number as for any other source.
For a visual not in a print source, identify the visual in your text and then in parentheses use the first element in the works cited entry: the artist’s or photographer’s name or the title of the work.
Photographs such as Woman Aircraft Worker (Bransby) and Women Welders (Parks) demonstrate the US government’s attempt to document the contributions of women during World War II.
21. Personal communication and social media Cite personal letters, personal interviews, e-mail messages, and social media posts by the name listed in the works cited entry, as you would for any other source. Identify the type of source in your text if you feel it is necessary for clarity.
22. Web source Your in-text citation for a source from the Web should follow the same guidelines as for other sources. If the source lacks page numbers but has numbered paragraphs, sections, or divisions, use those numbers with the appropriate abbreviation in your parenthetical citation: “par.,” “sec.,” “ch.,” “pt.,” and so on. Do not add such numbers if the source itself does not use them; simply give the author or title in your in-text citation.
Julian Hawthorne points out profound differences between his father and Ralph Waldo Emerson but concludes that, in their lives and their writing, “together they met the needs of nearly all that is worthy in human nature” (ch. 4).
23. Indirect source (source quoted in another source) When a writer’s or a speaker’s quoted words appear in a source written by someone else, begin the parenthetical citation with the abbreviation “qtd. in.” In the following example, Gostin and Gostin are the authors of the source given in the works cited list; the source contains a quotation by Beauchamp.
Public health researcher Dan Beauchamp has said that “public health practices are ‘communal in nature, and concerned with the well-being of the community as a whole and not just the well-being of any particular person’” (qtd. in Gostin and Gostin 217).
Literary works and sacred texts
Literary works and sacred texts are usually available in a variety of editions. Your list of works cited will specify which edition you are using, and your in-text citation will usually consist of a page number from the edition you consulted (see item 24). When possible, give enough information—such as book parts, play divisions, or line numbers—so that readers can locate the cited passage in any edition of the work (see items 25-27).
24. Literary work without parts or line numbers Many literary works, such as most short stories and many novels and plays, do not have parts or line numbers. In such cases, simply cite the page number.
At the end of Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour,” Mrs. Mallard drops dead upon learning that her husband is alive. In the final irony of the story, doctors report that she has died of a “joy that kills” (25).
25. Verse play or poem For verse plays, give act, scene, and line numbers that can be located in any edition of the work. Use arabic numerals and separate the numbers with periods.
In Shakespeare’s King Lear, Gloucester, blinded for suspected treason, learns a profound lesson from his tragic experience: “A man may see how this world goes / with no eyes” (4.2.148-49).
For a poem, cite the part, stanza, and line numbers, if it has them, separated by periods.
The Green Knight claims to approach King Arthur’s court “because the praise of you, prince, is puffed so high, / And your manor and your men are considered so magnificent” (1.12.258-59).
For poems that are not divided into numbered parts or stanzas, use line numbers. For a first reference, use the word “lines”: (lines 5-8). Thereafter use just the numbers: (12-13).
26. Novel with numbered divisions When a novel has numbered divisions, put the page number first, followed by a semicolon, and then the book, part, or chapter in which the passage may be found. Use abbreviations such as “bk.,” “pt.,” and “ch.”
One of Kingsolver’s narrators, teenager Rachel, pushes her vocabulary beyond its limits. For example, Rachel complains that being forced to live in the Congo with her missionary family is “a sheer tapestry of justice” because her chances of finding a boyfriend are “dull and void” (117; bk. 2, ch. 10).
27. Sacred text When citing a sacred text such as the Bible or the Qur’an, name the edition you are using in your works cited entry. In your parenthetical citation, give the book, chapter, and verse (or their equivalent), separated with periods. Common abbreviations for books of the Bible are acceptable.
Consider the words of Solomon: “If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink” (Oxford Annotated Bible, Prov. 25.21).
The title of a sacred work is italicized when it refers to a specific edition of the work, as in the preceding example. If you refer to the book in a general sense in your text, neither italicize it nor put it in quotation marks.
The Bible and the Qur’an provide allegories that help readers understand how to lead a moral life.