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 known as “parenthetical citations” because they are enclosed in parenthesis. 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.

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

Or the name may appear in the sentence itself, and the page number in parentheses.

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

If you need to cite more than one source in your in-text citation, you should use a semicolon to separate the sources.

(Jones 101; Williams 23).

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.

The examples above provide you with basic in-text citations in MLA format, but more detailed information on MLA citations in your text is illustrated in the PDF below.