MLA Style

In-Text Citations

After a quote, add the author's last name and a page reference. This is usually enough to identify the source and the specific location from which you borrowed the material.

Example: "Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself" (Woolf 3). 

If using the author's name in your text, do not include it in the parentheses.

Example: In her novel, Woolf writes, "Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself" (3).

If you use more than one work by the same author, include the title or a shorted form of the title.

Example: "Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself" (Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway 3).

If more than one author has the same last name, add their first initial.

Example: "Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself" (V. Woolf 3).

If two authors wrote the work, list both of them.

Example: "Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself" (Woolf and Scott102-103).

If three or more authors wrote the work, list the first followed by et al.

Example: "Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself" (Woolf et al. 3).

If citing a multivolume work, include the volume number before the page numbers.

Example: "Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself" (Woolf 2: 102).

If no pagination information is available, but paragraphs are numbered, include that information.

Example: "Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself" (Woolf par. 5).

If no pagination information is available and paragraphs are not numbered, the work must be cited only in its entirety, but you can include words in your text that indicate about where to find the quote.

Example: In the first third of her article, Woolf mentioned that "Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself."

If you wish to include two or more works in a single parenthetical reference, use semicolons to separate the citations.

Example: (Woolf 35; Scott 167-171)

Note: When paraphrasing or mentioning another work, it is helpful to still provide pagination information if the source text is long or difficult, or if it would help the reader find the text being paraphrased.