In-Text Citations

In MLA style, you use parenthetical citations within the text of your paper to credit your sources and to refer your reader to a more detailed citation of the source in the "Works Cited" list at the end of your paper. You should use parenthetical citations when you paraphrase, quote, or make any reference to another author's work. A parenthetical citation in MLA style should include the author's last name and the page number to which you refer in that author's work.

If you mention the author’s name in the sentence or sentences preceding the citation, then you do not need to repeat the name in the parenthetical citation. If the work you are citing does not have page numbers (many articles published online will not have page numbers), or if you are referring to the entire work, then you do not need to include a page number in the citation. If you are having trouble keeping track of the MLA guidelines, it might help to think of it this way: You are including citation information so that your reader will be able to find your sources easily if they want to take a closer look. That means you only need to include information that will help readers; you don’t need to repeat information that you have already provided in your sentence.

You should not use a comma to separate author and page number in an MLA in-text citation. When the citation appears at the end of a sentence, the period goes outside the parentheses at the end of the sentence. If you need to put the citation before the end of the sentence (in cases where you have more than one citation in a sentence), place any necessary punctuation after the citation as well.

If you find an article through an online database and you have the option of choosing a PDF version or an HTML version, you should choose the PDF. The PDF version will have stable page numbers, which will make it easier for a reader to find the material you cite. You should not count the pages of a document yourself and add numbers to them. A reader could print or view that document differently, and your numbering will not make sense in that context.

E-book page numbers vary depending on how someone is reading the e-book. If you are referring to an e-book that has page numbers, you should not include those page numbers. You should include stable numbers like section numbers, line numbers, or chapter numbers.