The basic elements of MLA in-text citations are the author's last name and page number.
EXAMPLE:
Adams is said to have had "the hands of a man accustomed to pruning his own trees, cutting his own hay,
and splitting his own firewood" (McCullough 18).
NOTE:
-Last names only; never include authors' first names in in-text citations
-No punctuation inside the parentheses
-No special notation (like p. or pg.) before the page number
-The period at the end of the sentence goes after the parentheses (the in-text citation is part of the sentence)
EXAMPLE:
Others note that doctors have not adequately explained the effects climate change
will have on human health (Lemery and Aurebach 4-5).
NOTE:
-Spell out the word "and" in between authors' names (don't use & or +)
EXAMPLE:
One survey of British literature beaks the contents into thematic groupings (Anderson et al. 54-67).
NOTE:
-No period after et, but there is a period after al in "et al."
EXAMPLE:
At least one researcher has broken new ground on the subject (Baron).
NOTE:
-Don't make up page numbers, just leave them out completely
-Author's last name only is sufficient in these cases
Below is an example of a source without an author:
If a source doesn't have an author, the in-text citation will start with the source's title. If the title of the source is more than one word, shorten it to just the first one or two words. In this case, the title "Librarians and Library Media Specialists" will be shortened to just "Librarians" in the in-text citation.
EXAMPLE:
Academic librarians "help students research topics related to their coursework and teach students how to access information" ("Librarians").
NOTE:
-Keep track of quotation marks; make sure a parenthesis is separating the quotation marks used in your quote and those used in your shortened source title
WORKS CITED CITATION: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Unaired Pilot 1996." YouTube, uploaded by Brian Stowe, 28 Jan. 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=WR3J-v7QXXw.
EXAMPLE:
Buffy's promise that "there's not going to be any incidents like at my old school" is obviously not one that she can keep ("Buffy" 01:23:45).
NOTE:
-For YouTube videos, use the title of the video in the in-text citation
-An abbreviated title is appropriate in-text for longer titles
-Use hour-minute-second format in-text to identify scene or quote
WORKS CITED CITATION: Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. Narrated by Sissy Spacek, audiobook ed., unabridged ed., HarperAudio, 8 July 2014.
EXAMPLE:
"Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." (Lee 01:23:45-56).
NOTE:
-For audiobooks, use the author's last name in the in-text citation
-Use hour-minute-second format in-text to identify quote
WORKS CITED CITATION: "DUSTWUN." Serial, hosted by Sarah Koenig, season 2, episode 1, WBEZ / Serial Productions, 10 Dec. 2015, serialpodcast.org/ season-two/1/dustwun.
EXAMPLE:
"John was an older recruit—he was 26. He remembered Bowe, and he liked him. He thought he was a nice guy. One night a couple of weeks in, John says there was a fire drill." (Koenig 01:23:45-56).
NOTE:
-For podcasts, use the host / creator's last name in the in-text citation
-Use hour-minute-second format in-text to identify quote
Read more about citing films and TV on the MLA Style website at the following links:
WORKS CITED CITATION: Nikita. Directed by Luc Besson, Gaumont / Les Films du Loup, 1990.
EXAMPLE:
"Mister, is this heaven here or not?" (Nikita 01:23:45-56).
NOTE:
-For films & TV, the in-text citation is dependent on the citation in your Works Cited
**Review the two links above for best practice regarding Works Cited citations for films & TV**
-An abbreviated title is appropriate in-text for longer titles
-Use hour-minute-second format in-text to identify quote
Sources in parentheses: Put the author(s) and page number of the quote together in parentheses at the end of the quote​.
EXAMPLE:
Texting is very common in almost every environment, including the college classroom. Two researchers report finding that “the vast majority of participants (97.5%) reported at least occasional use of a cell phone to text while in class” (Olmsted and Terry 188).
Sources with a signal phrase: Write the author(s) in the text of the sentence and put the page number in parentheses at the end of the quote.
EXAMPLE:
Texting is very common in almost every environment, including the college classroom. In a 2014 study of undergraduates, Olmsted and Terry found that nearly all of the students surveyed had used their cell phones to text at some point during class (188).
Direct quotes are exact words and phrases from a source copied and pasted into your assignment. Quotation marks must be used to show that the quote is direct.
EXAMPLE:
Texting is very common in almost every environment, including the college classroom. Two researchers report finding that “the vast majority of participants (97.5%) reported at least occasional use of a cell phone to text while in class” (Olmsted and Terry 188).
Indirect quotes are your own words that summarize or paraphrase an idea from a source. Even though you’re using your own words, you must cite the source to give credit to the original idea.
EXAMPLE:
Texting is very common in almost every environment, including the college classroom. In a 2014 study of undergraduates, researchers found that nearly all of the students surveyed had used their cell phones to text at some point during class (Olmsted and Terry 188).