How do I use in-text citations in MLA style?

Oh no! You need to write an MLA-based essay, and your professor said it must include MLA in-text citations. What do you do?

Actually, in-text citations (sometimes known as parenthetical citations) are not that tricky!

So, what is an in-text citation?

It's the shortest piece of information that directs your reader to the works-cited list. The citation can appear in your writing or in parentheses.

If you're citing a commonly studied work of prose, such as a novel, a play, or an article, the first thing you'll need to do is look to see if there is an official page number. If there's no page number, then just use the author's last name. However, if a page number is given, you'll need to use both.

Example (with page numbers):

"The forest has become a labyrinth of snow and ice" (Maas 1).

Example (without page numbers):

"In many of the videos on the app, which are 15 seconds to a minute long, school hallways, classrooms and courtyards serve as a recurrent backdrop" (Lorenz).

For a work with no author, cite its title or, if untitled, a brief description.

For unknown authors, simply use an abbreviated version of the title.

Example:

"Roadside zoos, wildlife sanctuaries, safari parks, and traveling zoos are of special concern to animal welfare advocates due to numerous cases of animal abuse and neglect" (Zoos and Aquariums).

As you can imagine, we get a lot of our research online. You may wonder, "How do I create MLA in-text citations for online sources?"

For a website:

Just like before with text-based, you would would the author's last name when you have it. If not, you could use an abbreviated title of the article from the website.

For YouTube:

In-text citation with author:

(Last name, 00:00:15 - 00:00:55). 

In-text citation with no author or same author and uploader:

("Title of video," 00:01:30 - 00:02:10). 

In MLA, parenthetical citations give credit to where you found your information. It helps your reader know that did you your research and shows you didn't plagiarize.

When writing, you can direct quote, as shown in the above section, or you can paraphrase. Check out How do I avoid plagiarism with appropriate paraphrasing? to learn more about it.

Either way, directly quoted or paraphrased materials should have a parenthesis and the author's last name at the end.

However, a second way to cite can be done!

Example: “He was obeyed,” writes Joseph Conrad of the company manager in Heart of Darkness, “yet he inspired neither love nor fear, nor even respect” (87).

This shows that you can use the author's name, split with the quote and some of your own words in between. The only information then needed in the parenthesis would be the page number (if available).

Photo by Nguyen Dang Hoang Nhu on Unsplash

Your professor asked you to write a 7-10 page MLA paper. Determine which of the following quotes taken from the article Ultra-fast Fashion is Eating the World uses an MLA in-text citation correctly:

1. Fashion brands have always played on our aspirations and insecurities, and on the seemingly innate desire to express ourselves through our clothing. 

2. "Fashion brands have always played on our aspirations and insecurities, and on the seemingly innate desire to express ourselves through our clothing" (Monroe).  

3. Fashion brands have always played on our aspirations and insecurities, and on the seemingly innate desire to express ourselves through our clothing. Monroe, 2021.

4. None of the above

Remember there are tons of sources for MLA all over the internet or your school library!

Check out the following Bytes and website: