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MLA 8/9 Citation Guide: In-text Citations

In-text examples

When quoting or paraphrasing another's person's words or ideas, you include an in-text citation in the body of your paper to briefly document the source of your information. The in-text citations will point your reader to a full citation at the end of your paper on your Works Cited list.  This means your in-text citation should begin with what ever comes first in your entry on the Works Cited list.

Standard set up for an in-text citations includes the last name of the author followed by a page number, enclosed in parentheses, with the period outside the parenthesis:  (last name page number). However, this set up can vary, depending on your sentence.

When the author's name is part of the text:

► Example
According to Naomi Baron, reading is “just half of literacy. The other half is writing” (194).

When the author's name is not introduced in your text:

► Example
Reading is “just half of literacy. The other half is writing” (Baron 194). 

[Note: Be concise. You do not need to put the author's name in both your text and parenthesis.]

► Citation on Works Cited page:

Baron, Naomi S. “Redefining Reading: The Impact of Digital Communication Media.” PMLA, vol. 128, no. 1, Jan. 2013, pp. 193–200.

When there is no page number:

► Example
The incident at Virginia Tech involved a greater number of deaths than any campus shooting in U.S. history (Johnson).

► Citation on Works Cited page:

Johnson, Alex. "Worst U.S. Shooting Ever Kills 33 on Va. Campus." MSNBC, 16 April 2007, www.nbcnews.com/id/18143829/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/t/worst-us-shooting-ever-kills-va-campus.

When there is no author, use a short form of the title, followed by the page number

► Example
As of 2001, at least three hundred towns and municipalities had considered legislation regulating use of cell phones while driving ("Lawmakers" 2).

► Citation on Works Cited page

"Lawmakers Drive Message Home. " Telegraph-Herald, 22  Nov. 2007, p. A8. ProQuest, edmonds.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/368819856?accountid=1626.

When there are two authors, list both names, followed by the page number

► Example
Experts in the affect of trauma should be more extensively involved in the formulation of disaster response policy (Fairbank and Gerrity 317).

► Citation for Works Cited page:

Fairbank, John A., and Ellen T. Gerrity. "Making Trauma Intervention Principles Public Policy." Psychiatry, vol. 70, no. 4 2007, pp. 316-319. ProQuest, edmonds.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/220675433?accountid=1626.

When there is an indirect quote, use 'qtd in' (for 'quoted in')

Examples
According to C. S. Lewis, “Failures, repeated failures, are finger posts on the road to achievement. One fails forward toward success” (qtd. in “C. S. Lewis Quotes”).

OR

C. S. Lewis quotations like this one can be found all over the Internet: “Failures, repeated failures, are finger posts on the road to achievement. One fails forward toward success” (“C. S. Lewis Quotes”).

[NOTE: If your discussion makes clear that the quotation is from an indirect source, then the abbreviation “qtd. in” isn’t needed]

►Citation for Works Cited page:

“C. S. Lewis Quotes.” BrainyQuote, 2001-20, www.brainyquote.com/authors/c-s-lewis-quotes.