Introduction
Anytime that you quote, paraphrase, or summarize materials or ideas that are not your own, you must give credit to the original author. Citing your sources helps to make your writing more credible to your readers and also helps you to avoid plagiarism.
MLA requires a citation in the text of an essay for every quotation, paraphrase, and summary. When you use an in-text citation, it gives credit to a source within the body of your writing. In MLA format, in-text citations take the form of both signal phrases and parenthetical references. Signal phrases include the author’s name or title of the work early in the sentence as you introduce your quoted or paraphrased material. Parenthetical references identify for your reader which source you refer to in the Works Cited page and where in the source your quoted, paraphrased, or summarized material came from.
When you are new to this kind of citation, it can sometimes feel distracting and awkward, but don’t worry, it is standard practice that your reader will expect, and the more you use it, the more quickly you will become familiar with this kind of citation.
MLA In-Text Citations
Because the use of in-text citations will be so integral to your writing processes, being able to instantly craft correct citations and identify incorrect citations will save you time during writing and will help you avoid having unnecessary points taken off for citation errors.
Here is the standard correct in-text citation style according to MLA guidelines:
“Quotation” (Author’s Last Name Page Number).
Take a moment to carefully consider the placement of the parts and punctuation of this in-text citation. Note that there is no punctuation indicating the end of a sentence inside of the quotation marks—closing punctuation should instead follow the parentheses. There is also no punctuation between the author’s last name and the page number inside of the parentheses. The misplacement of these simple punctuation marks is one of the most common errors students make when crafting in-text citations.
So, let’s say we have the following quote, which comes from page 100 of Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South: “Margaret had never spoken of Helstone since she left it.”[1]
The following examples show incorrect MLA formatting:
| “Margaret had never spoken of Helstone since she left it.” (Gaskell 100) | Incorrect because the period falls within the quotation marks |
| “Margaret had never spoken of Helstone since she left it” (Gaskell, 100). | Incorrect because of the comma separating the author’s last name and the page number |
| “Margaret had never spoken of Helstone since she left it” (Elizabeth Gaskell 100). | Incorrect because the author’s full name is used instead of just her last name |
| “Margaret had never spoken of Helstone since she left it” (North and South 100). | Incorrect because the title of the work appears, rather than the author’s last name; the title should only be used if no author name is provided |
The following example shows correct MLA formatting:
“Margaret had never spoken of Helstone since she left it” (Gaskell 100).
However, there are exceptions to the above citation guideline. Consider the following format of an in-text citation, which is also formed correctly.
Elizabeth Gaskell’s narrator makes it clear that “Margaret had never spoken of Helstone since she left it” (100).
Do you notice the difference between this citation format and the format of the first example? Unlike the first example, this citation does not list the author’s last name inside the parentheses. This is because the last name is included in quotation’s introduction, which makes the identity of the author clear to the reader. Including the author’s last name again inside of the parenthesis would be thus redundant and is not required for MLA citation.
The same rule about inclusion of the author’s last name applies for paraphrased information, as well, as shown in the following example:
Elizabeth Gaskell’s narrator makes it clear that her protagonist does not speak of her home once she is in Milton (100).
In this paraphrase, the author’s last name precedes the paraphrased material, but as in the case of quotation integration, if the author’s last name is not described in the paraphrase then it is required inside of the parentheses before the page number.
MLA In-text citations graphic. Authored by: Kim Louie for Lumen Learning. License: CC BY: Attribution
How to create in-text citations
Kirkwood Library: http://guides.kirkwood.edu/citation
Summary
Citing your sources within your written essay is important and demonstrates four main ideas: First, it shows that you have done your research on your topic.
Second, it shows that your writing is part of a larger scholarly conversation.
Third, it demonstrates that you understand the necessity of acknowledging others’ ideas.
And, finally, citing your sources helps your reader locate the original text by directing them to your works cited page.
In-text citations, in the form of signal phrases and/or parenthetical references, provide the necessary information for your reader to be able to locate the sources you quote from if they would like to look at your materials for their own research.
You might even think of in-text citations as like leaving a trail of breadcrumbs for your reader. Your use of a source makes your reader interested in reading that text him or herself. Then, the in-text citation provides the information necessary for your reader to locate the source on your works cited page. Your work cited page, in turn, provides the information necessary for your reader to locate the source in a library or database.
When you write a research essay, you are drawing on what others have written before you and your citations give credit to their work. In the future should someone use your essay as research for their writing, you’d certainly want credit from them, right? And you’d want them to make it easy for other readers to find your essay too. In-text citations are not primarily used to avoid plagiarism, they are used to show how your ideas fit in with a much larger conversation about your topic.
