MLA In-Text Citations

MLA Citations in the Body of Your Paper

MLA citations follow specific conventions that distinguish them from other styles. In-text citations are also sometimes known as “parenthetical citations” because they are enclosed in parentheses. The author’s last name and the page number(s) from which the quotation or paraphrase is taken must appear in parentheses at the end of the sentence. For example:

At the end of the day, Wilbur made “in excess of half a million dollars” (Marx 43).

Key Takeaway: In-text Citations in MLA

Note: If you use the name of the author to set up your quote or paraphrase, you mention the author’s name in the sentence and then only put the page number in the parentheses at the end of the sentence.

According to Marx, Wilbur made “in excess of half a million dollars” (43).

Examples: Common MLA Citation Errors

Example 1:

Incorrect: Shakespeare’s work is considered timeless (William Shakespeare, Hamlet, 57).
- In MLA format, do not include the author’s full name in the in-text citation if it is already clear from the context. Also, only the title of the work (if needed) and the page number should be inside the parentheses.
Correct: Shakespeare’s work is considered timeless (Hamlet 57).

Example 2:

Incorrect: Social media has significantly altered communication dynamics (Johnson, 2021).
- MLA in-text citations do not use years. Since websites often lack page numbers, you only include the author’s last name in the citation.
Correct: Social media has significantly altered communication dynamics (Johnson).

Example 3:

Incorrect: The study found that students perform better with structured schedules (Smith & Lee 98).
- In MLA, use “and” instead of “&” when citing a source with two authors.
Correct: The study found that students perform better with structured schedules (Smith and Lee 98).

Example 4:

Incorrect: Team-based learning improves retention rates (Garcia, Patel, and Nguyen 213).
- When citing a source with three or more authors, include only the first author’s last name followed by “et al.”
Correct: Team-based learning improves retention rates (Garcia et al. 213).

It’s important to remember, in MLA style, each citation in your text must have a complete bibliographic entry in your Works Cited page, so, if readers want to go to the original source, they can!

Figure 2. Follow the trail on the infographic to determine what needs to be included in your in-text citation.

When to Use a Block Quotation

A typical quotation is enclosed in double quotation marks and is part of a sentence within a paragraph of your paper. However, if you want to quote more than four lines of prose (or three lines of poetry) from a source, you should format the excerpt as a block quotation, rather than as a regular quotation within the text of a paragraph. Most of the standard rules for quotations still apply, with the following exceptions: a block quotation will begin on its own line, it will not be enclosed in quotation marks, and its in-text citation will come after the ending punctuation, not before it.

Example: Block Quotes

For example, if you wanted to quote the entire first paragraph of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, you would begin that quotation on its own line and format it as follows:

Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, “and what is the use of a book,” thought Alice, “without pictures or conversations?” (Carroll 98)

The full reference for this source would then be included in your Works Cited section at the end of your paper.

The entire block quotation should be indented one inch from the left margin (double the normal paragraph indentation). The first line of the excerpt should not be further indented unless you are quoting multiple paragraphs—in which case the first line of each quoted paragraph should be further indented 0.25 inches. As should the rest of your paper, a block quotation in MLA style should be double-spaced.

Try It

Check your understanding of appropriate in-text citations in the activity below.

⬅️ Previous: MLA Document Format

Next: MLA Works Cited Pages ➡️

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MLA In-text citations. Provided by: Excelsior College Online Writing Lab. Located at: https://owl.excelsior.edu/citation-and-documentation/mla-style/mla-in-text-citations/. License: CC BY: Attribution. License Terms: Standard YouTube License
MLA: Block Quotations. Authored by: Catherine McCarthy. Provided by: Boundless. Located at: https://www.boundless.com/writing/textbooks/boundless-writing-textbook/writing-a-paper-in-mla-style-humanities-255/mla-structure-and-formatting-of-specific-elements-302/mla-block-quotations-310-16896/. Project: Boundless Writing. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
Formatting In-text Citations (MLA). Authored by: Jennifer Yirinec and Lauren Cutlip. License: Public Domain: No Known Copyright
MLA Activity. Provided by: Excelsior OWL. Located at: https://owl.excelsior.edu/citation-and-documentation/mla-style/mla-activity/. License: CC BY: Attribution

Adapted from "MLA In-Text Citations" by Lumen Learning, which is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

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