WW1: Lesson - MLA Citations

MLA Citations

It is important to follow MLA guidelines when formatting your page layout, but it is also important to use these guidelines when citing work from other sources. There are two important parts of your paper to keep in mind when citing other sources: in-text citations and the Works Cited page. There are a variety of citation expectations that you must follow when quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing work from another author. This work may be in the form of a website, book, or an article from a journal or magazine; there are different citation requirements for these various source types.

Video Lesson

View the following video; you may wish to take notes on important features of MLA formatting and citations as you view it.

Common Examples

Let's review some of the fundamental MLA rules for in-text citation. Each example of proper citation is followed by an explanation of the rule.

  • (Smith 26)
    • When you quote or paraphrase a source with one author, use parenthetical citation that includes the author’s last name and page number.  If no page number is available, just use the author’s last name.
  • (Smith and Franklin 26)
    • When you quote or paraphrase a source with two authors, use parenthetical citation that includes both authors' last names and the page number.
  • (Smith et al. 26)
    • When you quote or paraphrase a source with more than two authors, use parenthetical citation that includes the first author’s last name, followed by “et al.” and the page number.
  • ("A New Study Reveals Reading Levels" 26)
    • When you quote or paraphrase a source without an author, use parenthetical citation that includes the title of the article or reference and the page number.
  • The New York Times
    • The titles of ‘container works’ such as magazines, journals, and newspapers should be italicized.
    • Additional Example:
      • Journal of Scientific Research
  • "A New Study Reveals Reading Levels"
    • The titles of articles should be placed inside quotation marks.

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