parenthetical citation in essay

Introduction to parenthetical citations

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Definition of parenthetical citations

This section provides guidelines on how to use parenthetical citations to cite original sources in the text of your paper. These guidelines will help you learn the essential information needed in parenthetical citations, and teach you how to format them correctly.

Parenthetical citations are citations to original sources that appear in the text of your paper. This allows the reader to see immediately where your information comes from, and it saves you the trouble of having to make footnotes or endnotes.

The APA style calls for three kinds of information to be included in in-text citations. The author’s last name and the work’s date of publication must always appear, and these items must match exactly the corresponding entry in the references list. The third kind of information, the page number, appears only in a citation to a direct quotation.

Additional Information

See the Publication Manual , available for consultation at the UW-Madison Writing Center, in many libraries, and bookstores. You can also visit the APA web site , where you can purchase the Manual online.

If you are a registered UW-Madison student, you can attend the Writing Center class “The Basics of APA Documentation.”

Check the APA website ( http://www.apastyle.org ), where you will find links to the following:

• “Tip of the Week” and archived tips
• Information on bias in language
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• A form for requesting e-mail updates of APA style
• A chapter-by-chapter description of changes made in the 6th edition

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• In-Text Citations

In APA style, you use parenthetical citations within the text of your paper to credit your sources, to show how recently your sources were published, and to refer your reader to a more detailed citation of the source in the reference 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 APA style includes the author's last name as well as the year in which the work was published, with a comma between them. If you are referring directly to a specific page in the source, you should also include the page number in your parenthetical citation. APA requires you to cite page numbers when you are quoting directly from the source. If you are paraphrasing, which is more common in the social sciences, you generally do not need to include a page number. If you have questions about whether you should include page numbers when citing in APA, you should consult your instructor.

If you mention the author's name and/or the year of publication in the sentence preceding the citation, you do not need to include them in the parenthetical citation. When you name the author in the sentence, you should include the publication year in parentheses right after the author’s name—do not wait until the end of the sentence to provide that information.

When you include a parenthetical citation at the end of a sentence, the punctuation for your sentence appears after the citation.

Citing author and date in a parenthetical citation

When you don’t mention either the author or the date of publication in your sentence, you should include both the author and the year, separated by a comma, in the parenthetical citation. 

Colleges and universities need to create policies that foster inclusion for low-income students (Jack, 2019).         

Citing when author’s name is mentioned in body of paper

When you mention the author’s name in your sentence, the year of publication should immediately follow the author’s name.

Anthony Jack’s (2019) study of low-income students on an elite college campus revealed that these schools are often unprepared to support the students they admit.

Jack (2019) studied the ways low-income students experience elite college campuses.

Citing page numbers

When you cite a direct quote from the source or paraphrase a specific point from the source, you should include the page number in the parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence. When you refer to a specific page or pages of the text, first list the year of publication and then list "p." followed by the page number or "pp." followed by the range of pages. If you refer to a specific chapter, indicate that chapter after the year.              

The author contends that “higher education in America is highly unequal and disturbingly stratified” (Jack, 2019, p. 4).

Jack (2019) contends that “higher education in America is highly unequal and disturbingly stratified” (p. 4).

Citing sources with more than one author

When you cite a source that has two authors, you should separate their names with an ampersand in the parenthetical citation.

The authors designed a study to determine if social belonging can be encouraged among college students (Walton & Cohen, 2011). 

If a work has three or more authors , you should only include the first author's name followed by et al. ( Et al. is the shortened form of the Latin et alia , which means “and others.”)

The implementation of postpartum contraceptive programs is both costly and time consuming (Ling et al., 2020).

Attributing a point to more than one source  

To attribute a point or idea to multiple sources, list them in one parenthetical citation, ordered alphabetically by author and separated by semicolons. Works by the same author should be ordered chronologically, from oldest to most recent, with the publication dates separated by commas.

Students who possess cultural capital, measured by proxies like involvement in literature, art, and classical music, tend to perform better in school (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977; Dumais, 2002; Orr, 2003).

Citing multiple works by the same author 

If your reference list includes multiple works by the same author in the same year, identify them in your parenthetical citations and in your reference list by a lowercase letter after the year, assigning each letter in alphabetical order by the title of the work. When establishing the alphabetical order of works in your reference list, do not count the words "A" or "The" when they appear as the first word in a title.

One union-endorsed candidate publicly disagreed with the teachers' union on a number of issues (Borsuk, 1999a).

Citing multiple authors with the same last name        

If your reference list includes sources by multiple authors with the same last name, list each author's initials before their last name, even when the works were published in different years.

The question of whether a computer can be considered an author has been asked for longer than we might expect (B. Sobel, 2017).

Citing when no author is listed           

To refer to a work that is listed in your reference list by title rather than by author, cite the title or the first few words of the title.

The New York Times painted a bleak picture of the climate crisis (“Climate Change Is Not Negotiable,” 2022).

Citing when no date is listed

If the work you are citing has no date listed, you should put “n.d.” for “no date” in the parenthetical citation.

Writing research papers is challenging (Lam, n.d.). 

Citing a specific part of a source that is not a page number

To refer to a specific part of a source other than page number, add that after the author-date part of your citation. If it is not clear whether you are referring to a chapter, a paragraph, a time stamp, or a slide number, or other labeled part of a source, you should indicate the part you are referring to (chapter, para., etc.).

In the Stranger Things official trailer, the audience knows that something unusual is going to happen from the moment the boys get on their bicycles to ride off into the night (Duffer & Duffer, 0:16).

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• Examples of Commonly Cited Sources
• Frequently Asked Questions About Cite Sources in APA Format
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In-Text Citations: An Overview

In-text citations are brief, unobtrusive references that direct readers to the works-cited-list entries for the sources you consulted and, where relevant, to the location in the source being cited.

An in-text citation begins with the shortest piece of information that di­rects your reader to the entry in the works-cited list. Thus, it begins with what ever comes first in the entry: the author’s name or the title (or descrip­tion) of the work. The citation can appear in your prose or in parentheses.

Citation in prose  Naomi Baron broke new ground on the subject. Parenthetical citation At least one researcher has broken new ground on the subject (Baron). Work cited Baron, Naomi S. “Redefining Reading: The Impact of Digital Communication Media.” PMLA , vol. 128, no. 1, Jan. 2013, pp. 193–200. 

When relevant, an in-text citation also has a second component: if a specific part of a work is quoted or paraphrased and the work includes a page number, line number, time stamp, or other way to point readers to the place in the work where the information can be found, that location marker must be included in parentheses.

Parenthetical citation According to Naomi Baron, reading is “just half of literacy. The other half is writing” (194).

The author or title can also appear alongside the page number or other loca­tion marker in parentheses.

Parenthetical citation Reading is “just half of literacy. The other half is writing” (Baron 194).

All in-text references should be concise. Avoid, for instance, providing the author’s name or title of a work in both your prose and parentheses.

Citation (incorrect) According to Naomi Baron, reading is “just half of literacy. The other half is writing” (Baron 194). Citation (correct) According to Naomi Baron, reading is “just half of literacy. The other half is writing” (194).

For more on what to include in an in-text citation and how to style it, see sections 6.3–6.30 of the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook ).

55 Comments

Brandi unruh 10 april 2021 at 11:04 am.

Hello! I am a high school English teacher trying to answer a question that came up during our research unit. I can’t seem to find a definitive answer online. When using a shortened title in an in-text citation, does an ellipsis need to be included? For example, if the title was “The Problem of Poverty in America: A Historical and Cultural Analysis”, would the in-text citation be (“The Problem of Poverty in America...”) or (“The Problem of Poverty in America”)? Thank you for your time and expertise!

Your e-mail address will not be published

Laura Kiernan 12 April 2021 AT 11:04 AM

No, an ellipsis would not be used in an in-text citation. We provide extensive guidance on shortening titles in 6.10 of the new ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .

angel 10 May 2021 AT 02:05 PM

hii How to write an in text citation of an entry from encyclopedia which has an editor but no separate authors for each entry ?

William Feeler 11 May 2021 AT 01:05 PM

I see no mention of paragraph numbers for unpaginated prose or sections/lines for drama. are these practices gone?

Laura Kiernan 18 May 2021 AT 01:05 PM

This post provides a general overview of our approach to in-text citations. The complete guidelines appear in sections 6.1–6.30 of the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .

Vonceil Park 11 May 2021 AT 01:05 PM

Dear MLA Staff, A professor at my College demands students to provide paragraph number in the in-text citation for online articles that have no page number nor paragraph number. Do we just count the paragraph number and put them in the parenthesis, for example: (para. 3)?

Laura Kiernan 18 May 2021 AT 12:05 PM

Thank you for your question. Your approach to modifying our style in accordance with your professor's instructions works, but we would suggest confirming that styling with your professor.

Arathi Babu 17 May 2021 AT 08:05 AM

How to write an in text citation of an unsigned entry from a reference work?

Laura Kiernan 08 June 2021 AT 11:06 AM

If the entry was in a print work, the in-text citation would include the entry’s title or a shortened version of the entry’s title and the page number of the quotation. If the entry was in a reference work without page numbers, the in-text citation should just contain the title or shortened title of the entry.

Sethu 17 May 2021 AT 02:05 PM

For example: Can I give an in-text citation like the following: Shakespeare, in his work Hamlet, quotes: "To be or not to be" (7).

For citing commonly studied verse works, see 6.22 in the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .

Trinity Klein 21 May 2021 AT 11:05 AM

Can you please help with proper in-text citation placement for an embedded quotation? Does the citation come immediately after the quotation or at the very end of the sentence? For example, is this correct: He asks her to take him home “in the voice of a child afraid of the dark” which comes as a shock to Scout because he has so long held a bold and rebellious reputation (372). Or should the (372) come immediately after ...dark"...? Thank you!

For more information about the placement of a parenthetical citations, see 6.43 in the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .

Karima 30 May 2021 AT 05:05 PM

Dear MLA staff, 1) In case i am quoting from multiple sources by the same author, am i required to introduce again the source i am quoting from in the beginning of my sentence? (Quotes are used in multiple paragraphs)

For guidance on citing multiple sources by the same author, see 6.8 in the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .

Yves 23 June 2021 AT 06:06 PM

Hello, is there a specific rule about how to format a range of page numbers in the parenthetical citation? For example, could (Eden 44-45) be written as (Eden 44-5), or is only one example correct?

Laura Kiernan 24 September 2021 AT 02:09 PM

For information about styling number ranges, see section 2.139 of the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .

Faliravo 11 August 2021 AT 05:08 AM

Good morning MLA team, My professor insists that I include the year of publication for in-text citations. Is it going to be okay if I insert the year between the author and the page number?

Thank you very much for your consideration.

Laura Kiernan 24 September 2021 AT 01:09 PM

Your approach to modifying our style in accordance with your professor’s instructions works, but we would suggest confirming that styling with your professor.

Pauline 14 September 2021 AT 11:09 PM

How do I cite an entire work. For example, if I want to say Toni Morrison's the "Bluest Eye" has been used as a textbook for many English literature classes, I suppose I shouldn't put any page number in the parenthetical citation. But I can't find any MLA references on this.

See section 4.14 of the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .

myron glassenberg 04 February 2022 AT 01:02 PM

if source is the whole book, how do I cite in text and in works cited pages. e.g. freud (no page number) Freud , ( 1892) The Pleasure Principle.

Rita Rozzi 20 September 2023 AT 07:09 PM

There is no section 4.14 in the ninth edition. Do you have any updated information? Thank you.

Laura Kiernan 21 September 2023 AT 03:09 PM

Section 4.14, which is titled "Passing Mentions," can be found in chapter 4 of the ninth edition of the handbook.

Lauren McFall 13 October 2021 AT 02:10 PM

Students often refer to the same source consecutively across more than one sentence. I'm having a hard time finding information about the preferred approach according to the MLA. As a parallel, APA makes a specific recommendation - "cite the source in the first sentence in which it is relevant and do not repeat the citation in subsequent sentences as long as the source remains clear and unchanged" https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/citations/appropriate-citation

Laura Kiernan 20 October 2021 AT 04:10 PM

See 6.45 of the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .

Ruth Schafer 01 December 2022 AT 07:12 PM

6.45 out of the MLA Handbook's ninth edition does not provide an example of how to cite a multi-sentence paraphrase when using an unpaginated source. Can you give an example of how to cite a multi-sentence paraphrase where the source does not have published page numbering?

Should I introduce the source in my prose and then again at the end of the multi-sentence paraphrase in parentheses when I have finished citing the paraphrase? Example: John Smith from Smith Architecture explains that crawl space foundations are...blah blah blah. These foundations are most commonly used in midwestern constructions where the frost line is...blah, blah, blah. Keep writing the paraphrase and then at the end of the final sentence instead of a page citation write the author's last name (Smith). This way if you switch to a different source, at least the reader knows that you have finished with the Smith source and have moved on to your own commentary or another source's information. Usually, I'd use a page citation at the end of the paraphrase, but when dealing with a source that does not have page numbering, I'm unsure what to do.

Lizzie 18 October 2021 AT 10:10 PM

If I only use textual evidence from the novel I'm examining, do I need to include the authors name with each in text citation? There are no other works cited, so it seems redundant/clutter-y to me

Kayden 29 October 2021 AT 05:10 PM

If I'm trying to cite multiple paragraphs from the same source would it be correct to say (par. 3 and 13) or should it be (par. 3, 13) and is it different if they are next to each other too like (par. 6-7) or (par. 6 and 7).

Laura Kiernan 04 November 2021 AT 11:11 AM

See sections 6.18–6.20 of the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .

Rachel 17 November 2021 AT 01:11 PM

When citing from an online source without pagination, if you include the author's name in the introduction to the quote, do you need to include anything in parentheses like the article title?

Laura Kiernan 22 November 2021 AT 12:11 PM

See section 6.26 of the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .

July 25 November 2021 AT 05:11 PM

When quoting an online source (e.g. a website), do I have to indicate the fact that it's an online source in the in-text-citations as in (Name [online]) or is the author's name enough?

Thank you in advance for your answer.

Laura Kiernan 29 November 2021 AT 10:11 AM

According to MLA style, an in-text citation for an online work should not note that the work is online.

Pinkie 19 March 2022 AT 08:03 PM

If I'm writing a response paper, and I need to summarize the whole article to introduce it, then should I use in-text citation?

Laura Kiernan 25 March 2022 AT 01:03 PM

For guidance on paraphrasing, see sections 4.5–4.8 of the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .

Kay 09 April 2022 AT 06:04 PM

Hi, am I supposed to include the DOI when one is available in the citation? If I cite the print version of a journal article that has a DOI, still include the DOI in the citation? Thank you!

Laura Kiernan 11 April 2022 AT 11:04 AM

Thank you for your questions. For guidance on including a DOI in your works-cited-list entry, see sections 5.84 and 5.93 in the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .

Mike 16 April 2022 AT 05:04 PM

Website in-text Citation...

When I'm writing an in-text citation for a website, I'm seeing all manner of different things to include. Do I need to add the author name and year of publishing for the article?\ Do I just need the website name? I'm not really understanding what I need to add or obtain for such a citation within the text I'm writing.

I'm writing a book on my life, and I'm quoting a particular webpage to show one particular angle of an argument I'm making, and, of course, it's not common knowledge, so I want to make sure that I follow all the rules for this kind of thing, so I don't get in trouble with the author(s) of the sources I have quoted from...

Laura Kiernan 18 April 2022 AT 02:04 PM

Thank you for your questions about MLA style. For guidance on in-text citations for web pages, see section 6.26 of the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .

Cynthia 21 May 2022 AT 10:05 PM

When you're doing an In-text citations do you put the quotations over the chapter title and then quotations over what you get from the text or do you italicize the title?

Laura Kiernan 25 May 2022 AT 03:05 PM

Thank you for your question. For guidance on how to style chapter titles, see 2.109 of the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .

Napatsi 15 August 2022 AT 07:08 PM

I'm trying to find how to put in the in-text citation for a UN declaration article but can only find the "Resolutions of International Governing Bodies" on page 446 of the 9th edition but not how to out it in without an author.

Kim 27 September 2022 AT 12:09 PM

I'm quoting a passage from an unpublished manuscript, and it is not the only work I'm citing by the author, but the only one without a year. So using "Smith 1995, 82" is not possible. What would an in-text citation for this case look like?

Jen 17 November 2022 AT 08:11 PM

How do I cite a news cast for in-text citation like ABC News?

Samantha 04 December 2022 AT 05:12 PM

Hi, For MLA format, should a quote where you need to de-capitalize the first letter be written as "you want" or "(y)ou want". Thanks!

Laura Kiernan 07 December 2022 AT 01:12 PM

Thank you for your question. For guidance on how to indicate that you have lowercased the first letter of a quotation, see 6.56 of the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .

Maria Albeti 07 February 2023 AT 01:02 PM

Stewart, David W. Focus groups. In: Frey, B.B. (ed.) The SAGE Encyclopedia of Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation, vol. 2, pp. 687–692. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications 2018 In this case, how is the correct form to write, because the article is IN the the book?

Eros Karadzhov 15 February 2023 AT 02:02 PM

If we have a sentence that is a statement, but at the end we quote a question, which punctuation mark do we keep, the question mark or the period; maybe both? Example: (1) The author ends his poem with the following question on purpose: "Or does it explode?" (Hughes 11). (2) The author ends his poem with the following question on purpose: "Or does it explode" (Hughes 11)?

Which would be correct, or maybe both are wrong?

Thank you in advance!

Laura Kiernan 16 February 2023 AT 03:02 PM

Thank you for your question. For guidance on quotations ending in a question mark, see section 6.53 of the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .

Anonymous 08 March 2023 AT 05:03 PM

What about online articles with no known author or multiple authors? What should the in-text citation look like?

Maria 25 March 2023 AT 04:03 PM

Please settle a dispute with my colleagues. I encourage composition students to avoid listing the title of journal articles within the essay unless it is especially relevant because it clutters their arguments. I came to this conclusion from my interpretation of this statement from MLA: "All in-text references should be concise. Avoid, for instance, providing the author’s name or title of a work in both your prose and parentheses." Could someone please provide an answer or further clarification?

Erika Suffern 30 March 2023 AT 04:03 PM

You are right to identify a principle of concision in our guidelines. That said, it is not wrong to mention a title in prose, but it should be done, as you note, when relevant–not as a de rigeur practice or for “filler.” As Eric Hayot notes in The Elements of Academic Style: Writing for the Humanities (Columbia UP, 2014), “giving the title” in prose “suggests fuller forthcoming treatment” (159). Another reason for including the title in prose might be to call attention to something about it. Many writers who do mention a title in prose fear having an incomplete citation and are tempted also to include the title in a parenthetical reference, which is unnecessary.

Jay 29 April 2023 AT 12:04 AM

How do I in-text cite a direct quote from the introduction of an ebook with no page numbers? Would I write (Author "Introduction") or just write (Author)?

Kiara 11 February 2024 AT 03:02 PM

Hello! I am a university student who is currently creating works cited entries and in-text citations for a reflection essay. How do I properly cite professor and peer comments?

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• Document Format

Introduction to Parenthetical Citations

Formatting the parenthetical citation, sample parenthetical citations.

• Reference Entries

The function of a parenthetical citation--also known as an in-text citation--is twofold: (1) it unambiguously directs readers to a source listed on the works cited page, and (2) it provides the specific location within the source of the information being cited. In an effort to disrupt reading as little as possible, parenthetical citations are often but not always placed at the end of a sentence.

A typical in-text citation has two components. The first component mirrors the start of a source's entry on the works cited page. It allows readers to move from an in-text citation to a corresponding reference entry, where the source's publication information resides. The first component is usually the author's last name; t he second is usually a page number.

The parenthetical citation in the example above indicates that the quotation comes from page 202 of a work by Cicero. B ecause the first component of a parenthetical citation corresponds to a reference entry, r eaders can easily locate the publication information for the source. In this case, readers will locate Cicero's name in the alphabetical list of works cited at the end of the paper.

Textual integration : Keep in mind that there is always some interplay between the text of a sentence and and its parenthetical citation. Specifically, if an author is mentioned in the body of a sentence, his or her name does not need to be repeated in a parenthetical citation, for it is already clear from what source the borrowed material originates. The examples below show three different ways that an author's name might be integrated into the body of a sentence. Note that p age numbers are still indicated in parenthesis . 

Rhetoric without philosophy, according to Cicero, is but "an empty and ridiculous swirl of verbiage" (202).

In  De Oratore , Cicero says that rhetoric--when not joined by philosophy--is "an empty and ridiculous swirl of verbiage" (202).

Cicero argues that the art of rhetoric, unless reunited with the discipline of philosophy, provides little more than "an empty and ridiculous swirl of verbiage" (202).

Textual flow : Most  parenthetical citations appear at the end of a sentence. Such placement is ideal because it does not substantially disrupt the flow of reading. Such placement is not always possible, however, without abandoning the precision of a citation. In the following example, two different ideas from two different pages are cited within the same sentence. A single parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence would not be sufficient here, as it would not be absolutely clear which information came from which page.  In  these types of   situations ,  MLA guidelines dictate that parenthetical citations be placed at natural pauses in the sentence and as close to the cited material as possible.  The solution here is to place a parenthetical citation after each idea or point. The citations are not only close to the cited material but also appear at natural pauses (e.g., at a comma, at a period).

In  Gorgias , Plato accuses the sophists of practicing a form of verbal manipulation, one which deliberatively deceives the audiences (69), in an attempt to secure personal advantage (75).

​ Not every source has a single author and numbered pages. Accordingly, not every source can be cited in the exact manner outlined above. The following section will provide sample parenthetical citations for the types of sources that researchers are likely to encounter.

One author : A source by a single author lists the author's surname and the page number(s) of the cited material.

(Cicero 202)          (Quintilian 353-54)

Two or more authors : If a source has two authors, each author's surname is listed in the parenthetical citation, joined by the coordinating conjunction "and." If a source has three or more authors, only the first author's surname is listed, followed by "et al ."  (the abbreviation for  et alia,  Latin for "and others"). Because it is a common Latin abbreviation, "et al." should not be italicized.

(Bizzell and Herzberg 33)            (Losh et al. 7-10)

Multiple authors with same last name : If a writer uses two or more sources by authors with the same surname, parenthetical citations must include the first initials of said authors.

(K. Burke 245-46)          (E. Burke 22)

Multiple works by the same author : If two or more works by the author are used, parenthetical citations must also include a title or shortened title of the work. Note that titles of articles are in quotes and those of books are italicized.

(Richards, "Learning" 251)          (Richards,  Philosophy  3-5)          (Richards, Practical Criticism  174)

Corporate authors : Parenthetical citations for corporate authors simply list the corporation's name. If the corporation has an especially long name, it is acceptable to use the first few words of the name or to use abbreviations.

(Pew Research Center 3-5)          (Washington Institute 12)          (NORML 2)

Government authors : When a government agency is the author, a parenthetical citation will include the name of the government and the name of the agency that produced the work.

(United States, Department of Education 82)          (United States, Center for Disease Control 10)

Works with no author : If a work is not attributed to an author, the parenthetical citation will still list the first element of the works cited entry. Instead of an author, the first element is typically the title of the work. If the title is long, use only the first few words of the title.

( Beowulf  16; XIV)          ("Good Riddance" 16A)

Works of prose with multiple editions : Popular and oft-studied literary works are frequently available in multiple editions. To assist readers in locating cited material, it is customary to include division numbers. Divisions can be books, chapters, sections, etc. For prose works, division numbers are provided in addition to page numbers, which are listed first. The two are separated by a semicolon.

(Vonnegut 109-10; ch. 5)          (Plato, Republic  94-95; 398a)          ( Beowulf  16; XIV)

Works of poetry : For verse, division and/or line numbers replace page numbers. Divisions can be books, chapters, sections, etc.  For a long verse work with multiple divisions, give the division number and line, separated by a period. For shorter verse works, give only line numbers. NB: When citing divisions and lines, the first parenthetical citation for a source should include the name or abbreviation of the division and the word "line" or "lines," separated by a comma. Thus establishing the use of divisions and lines for that source , subsequent citations will only include referenced line numbers. 

(Dickinson, line 6)           (Dickinson 11-12)           (Homer, bk. 9, lines 366-67)          (Homer 9.366)

Works of drama : Parenthetical citations for dramatic works are built the same way as the previous two categories. If the drama is written in prose, it follows the guidelines for works of prose with multiple editions. If the drama is in written in verse, it follows the guideline for poetry.

(McDonagh 84; scene 9)          (Shakespeare, Macbeth  5.11.28-30)

Scriptural works : Parenthetical citations for sacred works use divisions and lines in lieu of page numbers. For the Bible, specifically, give the abbreviated name of the book being cited, followed by appropriate chapter and line number, separated by a period. To establish the use of a specific translation or version of the text, the first reference of the source--and only the first--should echo the first element of its works cited entry.

( New English Bible , Gen. 1.27)          (Gen. 2.22-23) 

Paragraph numbers : If a source has numbered paragraphs, they may be used to identify the location of cited material. Numbered paragraphs are sometimes present when page numbers are not, especially in online sources. Do not count and label paragraphs yourself; only use paragraph numbers when the source explicitly provides them. Writers signify that they are using paragraph numbers with the abbreviation "par." or "pars."

(Center for Academic Integrity, par. 9)          (Straw, pars. 9-10)

No page numbers : When a source has no page numbers--or other such numbers or divisions that identify textual location--simply provide the name of the author.

(Robinson)          (Stefaniak)

Time-based media : Audio and video recordings are cited by time or time range. Use HH:MM:SS format to indicate hour(s), minute(s), and second(s) into the recording.

(Clapton 00:02:32)          (Harrison 00:03:05-22)          (Scorsese 01:22:00-23:15)

Indirect citation :  When a writer is quoting a quotation from another source, he or she should mention the name of the primary author in the body of the text but provide citation information for the secondary source parenthetically. Precede the secondary source with "qtd. in" to indicate that the quote is provided secondhand. 

Léonard Misonne explains the concept: "Light glorifies everything. It transorms and ennobles the most commonplace and ordinary subjects. The object is nothing: light is everything" (qtd. in Sussman 19).

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MLA Citation Guide

• Get Started
• Create a Citation
• Browse Examples

Signal Phrases

How to style it, how to style in special circumstances, block quotations, labeling and captioning an image.

• Format Your Paper

An in-text citation is a brief reference in your essay that leads your reader to a corresponding works cited entry. Think of in-text citation like a flag you plant for your reader. The flag sends your reader to your works cited to find full details about the source you are referencing.

In-text citations are how  we give credit to the original ideas that influenced, inspired, or guided our own work. 

Include  an in-text citation (or flag for your reader) when you:

• directly quote a source
• paraphrase, or put a source into your own words
• include dates, statistics, or other factual information found in a source.   

Remember, you cannot borrow anyone's words, phrases, ideas, arguments, images, or other knowledge product without giving them credit for their work.

Need some help with phrasing your narrative citations? Try these signal phrase explainers and word banks!

Basic Formatting

In-text citations can be either parenthetical (inside parenthesis) or narrative, which MLA calls  in prose . Provide the shortest bit of information you can to lead the reader to the correct entry on the works cited list. This is usually the author's last name. When there is no author, use the Title of Source with the correct formatting, such as inside quotation marks or italicized, whichever is appropriate.

Parenthetical citation means planting the flag for the reader at the end of the sentence by placing the relevant information inside parenthesis. The sentence's period comes after it. It looks like this:

A narrative citation means the flag is contained within the body of the sentence. This is also called a citation in prose . It is usually accomplished by using a signal phrase or lead-in phrase, to alert the reader. The signal phrase might come at the beginning, middle, or end of a sentence.

Examples of signal phrases include the verbs: 

• according to

It looks like this. In our second example, there is a page number we need to include, which is done parenthetically.

What to Include in All In-Text Citations

• Author's name*
• Page number, if any

List the author's last name. See Special Circumstances below for how to handle a source without an author.

Two Authors

List both the last name of both authors. Separate them with the word and .

Three or More Authors

• List only the first author's last name. This author is called the lead author.
• Insert a space followed by the phrase et al.  Notice that al. is an abbreviation so it needs a period after it.

Note: The abbreviation et al. is short for the Latin phrase et alia , which means and others . When we use it, we are telling our reader this source was written by the lead author and others , or by the lead author et al.

Page Numbers

When your source has page numbers, include the specific page number. 

• The page stands alone as a number. It does not need any abbreviations or labels.
• If 2 pages or more need to be cited in the essay, place a hyphen between them. There is no space on either side of the hyphen.
• Use the Title of Source when there is no author.
• Put the Title of Source parenthetically or in prose.
• Shorten a longer title when citing parenthetically to the first noun phrase. If the title is short, you can include it all. For example: "Is Nothing Sacred?" If there is no noun phrase, stop at the first punctuation mark or after the first clause/phrase.
• Include the title up to the subtitle when referring to a source with no article in the body of the essay (include the part before a colon : or dash –).

Corporate Author (An organization or similar)

A corporate author is when an organization and not a person is the creator of the work. A corporate author can be an institution, an association, a government agency, a company, or another kind or organization.

If a corporate author has a very long name or is known by a standard abbreviation, you can use that shortened version after the first reference to it. .

• Write out the corporate author's name completely the first time you reference it.
• Insert a space and put the shortened name or abbreviation inside [square brackets].
• If using a parenthetical citation, close it after the square brackets and punctuation the sentence.

Shortening the Name of a Corporate Author

Abbreviating a corporate author, two or more sources by the same author(s).

Add a title to the in-text citation for clarity. There are three methods to do this when you have two sources by the same author or pair of authors.

1) Author's name and title in parenthetical citation.

2) author's name and title in prose., 3) author's name in prose and title in parenthetical citation., no page numbers.

Include in the text the first item that appears in the Work Cited entry that corresponds to the citation (e.g. author name, article name, website name, film name). If using the website name, use the shortest form of the website, e.g. BBC.com, not the entire URL for the article.

If the original source uses line numbers, the line number may be used instead of a page number.

Include in the text the first item that appears in the Work Cited entry that corresponds to the citation (e.g. author name, article name, website name, film name). If using the website name, use the shortest form of the website, e.g. BBC.com, not the entire URL for the a rticle.

When citing audio or video, include the time range as indicated in the media viewer using this format in place of page numbers. 

Block quotations are used when a direct quotation is longer than four lines of text.

• Made up of 4 or more lines of direct quotation within your essay.
• Set off by indenting all the lines half an inch (½") from the left margin.
• Do not put quotation marks around the block.
• End an introductory sentence to the block with a colon or whatever punctuation mark is most appropriate to introduce the block.
• Punctuate the end of the quotation after the last word.
• Insert a space followed by a parenthetical citation. There is no punctuation after this set of parenthesis

Poetry Sample

The whiskey on your breath Could make a small boy dizzy;  But I hung on like death:  Such waltzing was not easy.  We romped until the pans  Slid from the kitchen shelf;  My mother's countenance  Could not unfrown itself. (Roethke)

Drama/Play/Script Sample

For full information on labeling and captioning visuals and tables, see https://style.mla.org/formatting-papers/#tablesandillustrations

• Label each image with the abbreviation Fig. (for Figure)
• Number each Figure starting with Fig. 1 for the first image. Put a period after the number.
• Follow the figure label and number with a caption.

The caption acts as the in-text citation. It describes and in some cases fully cites the image. If the caption provides complete information about the source and the source is not cited in the text, no entry for the source in the works  cited list is necessary.

However, if you reference the source in your text, you will also create an entry for the image on your works cited list.

Fig. 1. Belle Busy Reading. 

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Home / Guides / Citation Guides / MLA Format / MLA In-text Citations

MLA In-Text Citations

An in-text citation is a reference to a source that is found within the text of a paper ( Handbook 227). This tells a reader that an idea, quote, or paraphrase originated from a source. MLA in-text citations usually include the last name of the author and the location of cited information.

This guide focuses on how to create MLA in-text citations, such as citations in prose and parenthetical citations in the current MLA style, which is in its 9th edition. This style was created by the Modern Language Association . This guide reviews MLA guidelines but is not related directly to the association.

Table of Contents

Here’s a quick rundown of the contents of this guide on how to use in-text citations.

Fundamentals

• Why in-text citations are important
• Prose vs parenthetical in-text citation differences
• Parenthetical citation reference chart

In-text citation examples

• In-text citation with two authors
• In-text citation with 3+ authors
• In-text citation with no authors
• In-text citation with corporate authors
• In-text citation with edited books and anthologies
• In-text citation with no page numbers and online sources
• Citing the same sources multiple times
• Citing 2+ sources in the same in-text citation
• Citing multiple works by the same author in the same in-text citation
• Abbreviating titles
• Citing religious works and scriptures
• Citing long or block quotes

Why are in-text citations important?

In-text citations

• Give full credit to sources that are quoted and paraphrased in a work/paper.
• Help the writer avoid plagiarism.
• Are a signal that the information came from another source.
• Tell the reader where the information came from.

In-text citation vs. in-prose vs. parenthetical

An in-text citation is a general citation of where presented information came from. In MLA, an in-text citation can be displayed in two different ways:

• In the prose
• As a parenthetical citation

While the two ways are similar, there are slight differences. However, for both ways, you’ll need to know how to format page numbers in MLA .

Citation in prose

An MLA citation in prose is when the author’s name is used in the text of the sentence. At the end of the sentence, in parentheses, is the page number where the information was found.

Here is an example

When it comes to technology, King states that we “need to be comfortable enough with technology tools and services that we can help point our patrons in the right direction, even if we aren’t intimately familiar with how the device works” (11).

This MLA citation in prose includes King’s name in the sentence itself, and this specific line of text was taken from page 11 of the journal it was found in.

Parenthetical citation

An MLA parenthetical citation is created when the author’s name is NOT in the sentence. Instead, the author’s name is in parentheses after the sentence, along with the page number.

Here is an MLA parenthetical citation example

When it comes to technology, we “need to be comfortable enough with technology tools and services that we can help point our patrons in the right direction, even if we aren’t intimately familiar with how the device works” (King 11).

In the above example, King’s name is not included in the sentence itself, so his name is in parentheses after the sentence, with 11 for the page number. The 11 indicates that the quote is found on page 11 in the journal.

Full reference

For every source that is cited using an in-text citation, there is a corresponding full reference. This allows readers to track down the original source.

At the end of the assignment, on the MLA works cited page , is the full reference. The full reference includes the full name of the author, the title of the article, the title of the journal, the volume and issue number, the date the journal was published, and the URL where the article was found.

Here is the full reference for King’s quote

King, David Lee. “Why Stay on Top of Technology Trends?” Library Technology Reports , vol. 54, no. 2, Feb.-Mar. 2018, ezproxy.nypl.org/login?url=//search-proquest-com.i.ezproxy.nypl.org/docview/2008817033?accountid=35635.

Readers can locate the article online via the information included above.

Citation overview

The next section of this guide focuses on how to structure an MLA in-text citation and reference in parentheses in various situations.

A narrative APA in-text citation and APA parenthetical citation are somewhat similar but have some minor differences. Check out our helpful guides, and others, on EasyBib.com!

Wondering how to handle these types of references in other styles? Check out our page on APA format , or choose from more styles .

Parenthetical Citation Reference Chart

Sources with two authors.

There are many books, journal articles, magazine articles, reports, and other source types written or created by two authors.

When a source has two authors, place both authors’ last names in the body of your work ( Handbook 232). The last names do not need to be listed in alphabetical order. Instead, follow the same order as shown on the source.

In an MLA in-text citation, separate the two last names with the word “and.” After both authors’ names, add a space and the page number where the original quote or information is found on.

Here is an example of an MLA citation in prose for a book with two authors

Gaiman and Pratchett further elaborate by sharing their creepy reminder that “just because it’s a mild night doesn’t mean that dark forces aren’t abroad. They’re abroad all of the time. They’re everywhere” (15).

Here is an example of an MLA parenthetical citation for a book with two authors

Don’t forget that “just because it’s a mild night doesn’t mean that dark forces aren’t abroad. They’re abroad all of the time. They’re everywhere” (Gaiman and Pratchett 15).

If you’re still confused, check out EasyBib.com’s MLA in-text citation generator, which allows you to create MLA in-text citations and other types of references in just a few clicks!

If it’s an APA book citation you’re looking to create, we have a helpful guide on EasyBib.com. While you’re at it, check out our APA journal guide!

Sources With Three or More Authors

There are a number of sources written or created by three or more authors. Many research studies and reports, scholarly journal articles, and government publications are developed by three or more individuals.

If you included the last names of all individuals in your MLA in-text citations or in parentheses, it would be too distracting to the reader. It may also cause the reader to lose sight of the overall message of the paper or assignment. Instead of including all last names, only include the last name of the first individual shown on the source. Follow the first author’s last name with the Latin phrase, “et al.” This Latin phrase translates to “and others.” Add the page number after et al.

Here’s an example of an MLA parenthetical citation for multiple authors

“School library programs in Croatia and Hong Kong are mainly focused on two major educational tasks. One task is enhancing students’ general literacy and developing reading habits, whereas the other task is developing students’ information literacy and research abilities” (Tam et al. 299).

The example above only includes the first listed author’s last name. All other authors are credited when “et al.” is used. If the reader wants to see the other authors’ full names, the reader can refer to the final references at the end of the assignment or to the full source.

The abbreviation et al. is used with references in parentheses, as well as in full references. To include the authors’ names in prose, you can either write each name out individually or, you can type out the meaning of et al., which is “and others.”

Here is an acceptable MLA citation in prose example for sources with more than three authors

School library programming in Croatia and Hong Kong is somewhat similar to programming in the United States. Tam, Choi, Tkalcevic, Dukic, and Zheng share that “school library programs in Croatia and Hong Kong are mainly focused on two major educational tasks. One task is enhancing students’ general literacy and developing reading habits, whereas the other task is developing students’ information literacy and research abilities” (299).

If your instructor’s examples of how to do MLA in-text citations for three or more authors looks different than the example here, your instructor may be using an older edition of this style. To discover more about previous editions, learn more here .

Need some inspiration for your research project? Trying to figure out the perfect topic? Check out our Dr. Seuss , Marilyn Monroe , and Malcolm X topic guides!

Sources Without an Author

It may seem unlikely, but there are times when an author’s name isn’t included on a source. Many digital images, films and videos, encyclopedia articles, dictionary entries, web pages, and more do not have author names listed.

If the source you’re attempting to cite does not have an author’s name listed, the MLA in-text citation or parenthetical citation should display the title. If the title is rather long, it is acceptable to shorten it in the body of your assignment. If you choose to shorten the title, make sure the first word in the full citation is also the first word used in the citation in prose or parenthetical citation. This is done to allow the reader to easily locate the full citation that corresponds with the reference in the text.

If, in the Works Cited list, the full reference has the title within quotation marks, include those quotation marks in the in-text citation or reference in parentheses. If the title is written in italics in the full reference, use italics for the title in the in-text citation or reference in parentheses as well.

Parenthetical Citations MLA Examples

The example below is from a poem found online, titled “the last time.” the poem’s author is unknown..

“From the moment you hold your baby in your arms you will never be the same. You might long for the person you were before, when you had freedom and time and nothing in particular to worry about” (“The Last Time”).

The example below is from the movie, The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain .

“Perhaps it would have been different if there hadn’t been a war, but this was 1917, and people were exhausted by loss. Those that were allowed to stay manned the pits, mining the coal that would fuel the ships. Twenty-four hours a day they labored” ( Englishman ).

Notice the shortened title in the above reference. This allows the reader to spend more time focusing on the content of your project, rather than the sources.

If you’re looking for an MLA in-text citation website to help you with your references, check out EasyBib Plus on EasyBib.com! EasyBib Plus can help you determine how to do in-text citations MLA and many other types of references!

Corporate Authors

Numerous government publications, research reports, and brochures state the name of the organization as the author responsible for publishing it.

When the author is a corporate entity or organization, this information is included in the MLA citation in prose or parenthetical citation.

“One project became the first to evaluate how e-prescribing standards work in certain long-term care settings and assessed the impact of e-prescribing on the workflow among prescribers, nurses, the pharmacies, and payers” (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality 2).

If the full name of the organization or governmental agency is long in length, it is acceptable to abbreviate some words, as long as they are considered common abbreviations. These abbreviations should only be in the references with parentheses. They should not be used in citations in prose.

Here is a list of words that can be abbreviated in parentheses:

• Department = Dept.
• Government = Govt.
• Corporation = Corp.
• Incorporated = Inc.
• Company = Co.
• United States = US

Example of a shortened corporate author name in an MLA parenthetical citation

“Based on our analysis of available data provided by selected states’ departments of corrections, the most common crimes committed by inmates with serious mental illness varied from state to state” (US Govt. Accountability Office 14).

Here is how the same corporate author name would look in an MLA citation in prose

The United States Government Accountability Office states, “Based on our analysis of available data provided by selected states’ departments of corrections, the most common crimes committed by inmates with serious mental illness varied from state to state” (14).

Remember, citations in prose should not have abbreviations; other types of references can.

Looking for more information on abbreviations? Check out our page on MLA format.

Edited Books and Anthologies

Edited books and anthologies often include chapters or sections, each written by an individual author or a small group of authors. These compilations are placed together by an editor or a group of editors. There are tons of edited books and anthologies available today, ranging from ones showcasing Black history facts and literature to those focusing on notable individuals such as scientists like Albert Eintein and politicians such as Winston Churchill .

If you’re using information from an edited book or an anthology, include the chapter author’s name in your MLA citation in prose or reference in parentheses. Do not use the name(s) of the editor(s). Remember, the purpose of these references is to provide the reader with some insight as to where the information originated. If, after reading your project, the reader would like more information on the sources used, the reader can use the information provided in the full reference, at the very end of the assignment. With that in mind, since the full reference begins with the author of the individual chapter or section, that same information is what should be included in any citations in prose or references in parentheses.

Here is an example of an MLA citation in prose for a book with an editor

Weinstein further states that “one implication of this widespread adaptation of anthropological methods to historical research was the eclipse of the longstanding concern with “change over time,” and the emergence of a preference for synchronic, rather than diachronic, themes” (195).

Full reference at the end of the assignment

Weinstein, Barbara. “History Without a Cause? Grand Narratives, World History, and the Postcolonial Dilemma.” Postcolonial Studies: An Anthology , edited by Pramod K. Nayar, Wiley-Blackwell, 2015, p. 196. Wiley , www.wiley.com/en-us/Postcolonial+Studies%3A+An+Anthology-p-9781118780985.

Once you’re through with writing and citing, run your paper through our innovative plagiarism checker ! It’s the editor of your dreams and provides suggestions for improvement.

Sources Without Page Numbers and Online Sources

When a source has no page numbers, which is often the case with long web page articles, e-books, and numerous other source types, do not include any page number information in the body of the project. Do not estimate or invent your own page numbering system for the source. If there aren’t any page numbers, omit this information from the MLA in-text citation. There may, however, be paragraph numbers included in some sources. If there are distinct and clear paragraph numbers directly on the source, replace the page number with this information. Make it clear to the reader that the source is organized by paragraphs by using “par.” before the paragraph number, or use “pars.” if the information is from more than one paragraph.

Here is an example of how to create an MLA parenthetical citation for a website

“She ran through the field with the wind blowing in her hair and a song through the breeze” (Jackson par. 5).

Here’s an example of an MLA citation in prose for a website

In Brenner’s meeting notes, he further shared his motivation to actively seek out and secure self help resources when he announced, “When we looked at statistical evidence, the most commonly checked out section of the library was self-help. This proves that patrons consistently seek out help for personal issues and wish to solve them with the help of the community’s resources” (pars. 2-3).

Here’s another MLA in-text citation example for a website

Holson writes about a new mindful app, which provides listeners with the soothing sound of not only Bob Ross’ voice, but also the “soothing swish of his painter’s brush on canvas.”

In above example, the information normally found in the parentheses is omitted since there aren’t any page, parentheses, or chapter numbers on the website article.

Looking for APA citation website examples? We have what you need on EasyBib.com!

Need an in-text or parenthetical citation MLA website? Check out EasyBib Plus on EasyBib.com! Also, check out MLA Citation Website , which explains how to create references for websites.

Citing the Same Source Multiple Times

It may seem redundant to constantly include an author’s name in the body of a research project or paper. If you use an author’s work in one section of your project, and the next piece of information included is by the same individual(s), then it is not necessary to share in-text, whether in prose or in parentheses, that both items are from the same author. It is acceptable to include the last name of the author in the first use, and in the second usage, only a page number needs to be included.

Here is an example of how to cite the same source multiple times

“One of the major tests is the Project for Standardized Assessment of Information Literacy Skills. This measurement was developed over four years as a joint partnership between the Association of Research Libraries and Kent State University” (Tong and Moran 290). This exam is just one of many available to measure students’ information literacy skills. It is fee-based, so it is not free, but the results can provide stakeholders, professors, curriculum developers, and even librarians and library service team members with an understanding of students’ abilities and misconceptions. It is not surprising to read the results, which stated that “upper-level undergraduate students generally lack information literacy skills as evidenced by the results on this specific iteration of the Standardized Assessment of Information Literacy Skills test” (295).

The reader can assume that the information in the second quote is from the same article as the first quote. If, in between the two quotes, a different source is included, Tong and Moran’s names would need to be added again in the last quote.

Here is the full reference at the end of the project:

Tong, Min, and Carrie Moran. “Are Transfer Students Lagging Behind in Information Literacy?” Reference Services Review , vol. 45, no. 2, 2017, pp. 286-297. ProQuest , ezproxy.nypl.org/login?url=//search-proquest-com.i.ezproxy.nypl.org/docview/1917280148?accountid=35635.

Citing Two or More Sources in the Same In-text Citation

According to section 6.30 of the Handbook , parenthetical citations containing multiple sources in a single parenthesis should be separated by semicolons.

(Granger 5; Tsun 77) (Ruiz 212; Diego 149)

Citing Multiple Works by the Same Author in One In-text Citation

Just as you might want to cite two different sources at the same time, it can also be useful to cite different works by the same author all at once.

Section 6.30 of the Handbook specifies that “citations of different locations in a single source are separated by commas” (251).

(Maeda 59, 174-76, 24) (Kauffman 7, 234, 299)

Furthermore, if you are citing multiple works by the same author, the titles should be joined by and if there are only two. Otherwise, use commas and and .

(Murakami, Wild Sheep Chase and Norwegian Wood ) (Murakami, Wild Sheep Chase , Norwegian Wood , and “With the Beatles”)

Abbreviating Titles

When listing the titles, be aware that long titles in parenthetical citations can distract the reader and cause confusion. It will be necessary to shorten the titles appropriately for in-text citations. According to the Handbook , “shorten the title if it is longer than a noun phrase” (237). The abbreviated title should begin with the word by which the title is alphabetized.

Best practice is to give the first word the reference is listed by so the source is easily found in the works cited. Omit articles that start a title: a, an, the. When possible, use the first noun (and any adjectives before it). For more on titles and their abbreviations, head to section 6.10 of the Handbook .

• Full title :  The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time 
• Abbreviated: Curious
• Full title:  The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks 
• Abbreviated:  Disreputable History

Religious Works and Scriptures

There are instances when religious works are italicized in the text of a project, and times when it is not necessary to italicize the title.

If you’re referring to the general religious text, such as the Bible, Torah, or Qur’an, it is not necessary to italicize the name of the scripture in the body of the project. If you’re referring to a specific edition of a religious text, then it is necessary to italicize it, both in text and in the full reference.

Here are some commonly used editions:

• King James Bible
• The Orthodox Jewish Bible
• American Standard Bible
• The Steinsaltz Talmud
• The Babylonian Talmud
• New International Bible

When including a reference, do not use page numbers from the scripture. Instead, use the designated chapter numbers and verse numbers.

MLA example of an in-text citation for a religious scripture

While, unacceptable in today’s society, the Bible is riddled with individuals who have two, three, and sometimes four or more spouses. One example in the King James Bible , states that an individual “had two wives, the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children” (1 Sam. 1.2)

The only religious scripture that is allowed to be in the text of a project, but not in the Works Cited list, is the Qur’an. There is only one version of the Qur’an. It is acceptable to include the name of the Qur’an in the text, along with the specific chapter and verse numbers.

If you’re attempting to create a reference for a religious work, but it’s not considered a “classic” religious book, such as a biography about Mother Teresa , or a book about Muhammed Ali’s conversion, then a reference in the text and also on the final page of the project is necessary.

If you’re creating an APA bibliography , you do not need to create a full reference for classic religious works on an APA reference page .

For another MLA in-text citation website and for more on the Bible and other source types, click here .

Long or Block Quotes

Quotes longer than four lines are called, “block quotes.” Block quotes are sometimes necessary when you’re adding a lengthy piece of information into your project. If you’d like to add a large portion of Martin Luther King ’s “I Have a Dream” speech, a lengthy amount of text from a Mark Twain book, or multiple lines from Abraham Lincoln ’s Gettysburg Address, a block quote is needed.

MLA block quotes are formatted differently than shorter quotes in the body of a project. Why? The unique formatting signals to the reader that they’re about to read a lengthy quote.

Block quotes are called block quotes because they form their own block of text. They are set apart from the body of a project with different spacing and margins.

Begin the block quote on a new line. The body of the full project should run along the one inch margin, but the block quote should be set in an inch and a half. The entire quote should be along the inch and a half margin.

If there aren’t any quotation marks in the text itself, do not include any in the block quote. This is very different than standard reference rules. In most cases, quotation marks are added around quoted material. For block quotes, since the reader can see that the quoted material sits in its own block, it is not necessary to place quotation marks around it.

Here is an MLA citation in prose example of a block quote

Despite Bruchac’s consistent difficult situations at home, basketball kept his mind busy and focused:

When I got off the late bus that afternoon, my grandparents weren’t home. The store was locked and there was a note from Grama on the house door. Doc Magovern had come to the house because Grampa was “having trouble with his blood.” Now they were off to the hospital and I “wasn’t to worry.” This had happened before. Grampa had pernicious anemia and sometimes was very sick. So, naturally, it worried the pants off me. I actually thought about taking my bike down the dreaded 9N the three miles to the Saratoga Hospital. Instead, I did as I knew they wanted. I opened the store and waited for customers. None came, though, and my eye was caught by the basketball stowed away as usual behind the door. I had to do something to take my mind off what was happening to Grampa. I took out the ball and went around the side. (13)

Notice the use of the colon prior to the start of the block quote. Do not use a colon if the block quote is part of the sentence above it.

Here is an example of the same block quote, without the use of the colon:

Despite Bruchac’s consistent difficult situations at home, it was clear that basketball kept his mind busy and focused when he states

When I get off the late bus that afternoon, my grandparents weren’t home…

If two or more paragraphs are included in your block quote, start each paragraph on a new line.

Looking for additional helpful websites? Need another MLA in-text citation website? Check out the style in the news . We also have other handy articles, guides, and posts to help you with your research needs. Here’s one on how to write an MLA annotated bibliography .

Visit our EasyBib Twitter feed to discover more citing tips, fun grammar facts, and the latest product updates.

If you’re looking for information on styling an APA citation , EasyBib.com has the guides you need!

MLA Handbook . 9th ed., Modern Language Association of America, 2021.

Published October 31, 2011. Updated July 5, 2021.

Written and edited by Michele Kirschenbaum and Elise Barbeau. Michele Kirschenbaum is a school library media specialist and the in-house librarian at EasyBib.com. Elise Barbeau is the Citation Specialist at Chegg. She has worked in digital marketing, libraries, and publishing.

MLA Formatting Guide

MLA Formatting

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• et al Usage
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• Page Numbers
• Sample Paper
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In MLA style, if multiple sources have the same author , the titles should be joined by and if there are only two. Otherwise, use commas and and .

• In-text citation: (Austen Emma and Mansfield Park )
• Structure: (Last name 1st Source’s title and 2nd Source’s title )
• In-text citation: (Leung et al. 58)

If the author is a corporate entity or organization, included the name of the corporate entity or organization in the in-text citation.

• In-text citation: (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality 2)

Yes, there’s an option to download source citations as a Word Doc or a Google Doc. You may also copy citations from the EasyBib Citation Generator and paste them into your paper.

Yes! Whether you’d like to learn how to construct citations on your own, our Autocite tool isn’t able to gather the metadata you need, or anything in between, manual citations are always an option. Click here for directions on using creating manual citations.

An in-text citation is a shortened version of the source being referred to in the paper. As the name implies, it appears in the text of the paper. A works cited list entry, on the other hand, details the complete information of the source being cited and is listed within the works cited list at the end of the paper after the main text. The in-text citation is designed to direct the reader to the full works cited list entry. An example of an in-text citation and the corresponding works cited list entry for a journal article with one author is listed below:

In-text citation template and example:

Only the author surname (or the title of the work if there is no author) is used in in-text citations to direct the reader to the corresponding reference list entry. For citations in prose, use the first name and surname of the author for the first occurrence. In subsequent citations, use only the surname. In parenthetical citations, always use only the surname of the author. If you are directly quoting the source, the page number should also be included in the in-text citation.

Citation in prose:

First mention: Christopher Collins ….

Subsequent occurrences: Collins ….

Parenthetical:

….(Collins)

….(Collins 5)

Works cited list entry template and example:

The title of the article is in plain text and title case and is placed inside quotation marks. The title of the journal is set in italics.

Surname, F. “Title of the Article.” Journal Title , vol. #, no. #, Publication Date, page range.

Collins, Christopher. “On Posthuman Materiality: Art-Making as Rhizomatic Rehearsal.” Text and Performance Quarterly , vol. 39, no. 2, 2019, pp. 153–59.

Note that because the author’s surname (Collins) was included in the in-text citation, the reader would then be able to easily locate the works cited list entry since the entry begins with the author’s surname.

An in-text citation is a short citation that is placed next to the text being cited. The basic element needed for an in-text citation is the author’s name . The publication year is not required in in-text citations. Sometimes, page numbers or line numbers are also included, especially when text is quoted from the source being cited. In-text citations are mentioned in the text in two ways: as a citation in prose or a parenthetical citation.

Citations in prose are incorporated into the text and act as a part of the sentence. Usually, citations in prose use the author’s full name when cited the first time in the text. Thereafter, only the surname is used. Avoid including the middle initial even if it is present in the works-cited-list entry.

Parenthetical

Parenthetical citations add only the author’s surname at the end of the sentence in parentheses.

Examples of in-text citations

Here are a few tips to create in-text citations for sources with various numbers and types of authors:

Use both the first name and surname of the author if you are mentioning the author for the first time in the prose. In subsequent occurrences, use only the author’s surname. Always use only the surname of the author in parenthetical citations.

First mention: Sheele John asserts …. (7).

Subsequent occurrences: John argues …. (7).

…. (John 7).

Two authors

Use the first name and surname of both authors if you are mentioning the work for the first time in the prose. In subsequent occurrences, use only the surnames of the two authors. Always use only the authors’ surnames in parenthetical citations. Use “and” to separate the two authors in parenthetical citations.

First mention: Katie Longman and Clara Sullivan ….

Subsequent occurrences: Longman and Sullivan ….

…. ( Longman and Sullivan).

Three or more authors

For citations in prose, use the first name and surname of the first author followed by “and others” or “and colleagues.” For parenthetical citations, use only the surname of the first author followed by “et al.”

Lincy Mathew and colleagues…. or Lincy Mathew and others ….

…. (Mathew et al.).

Corporate author

For citations in prose, treat the corporate author like you would treat the author’s name. For parenthetical citations, shorten the organization name to the shortest noun phrase. For example, shorten the Modern Language Association of America to Modern Language Association.

The Literary Society of Malaysia….

…. (Literary Society).

If there is no author for the source, use the source’s title in place of the author’s name for both citations in prose and parenthetical citations.

When you add such in-text citations, italicize the text of the title. If the source title is longer than a noun phrase, use a shortened version of the title. For example, shorten the title Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them to Fantastic Beasts .

Knowing Body of Work explains …. (102).

….( Knowing Body 102).

MLA Citation Examples

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Citations: Narrative and Parenthetical Citations

Basics of citations.

The information in citations appears either in the sentence (narratively) or parenthetically:

In the sentence (narratively): According to Kokkinos (2007), employers cause burnout when employees are stressed by too much work.

Parenthetically: Employers cause burnout when employees are stressed by too much work (Kokkinos, 2007).

For quotations of a source, the page or paragraph numbers also is included parenthetically:

Quote:  Kokkinos (2007) described burnout as "a negative affective response occurring as result of chronic work stress" (p. 2).

As you can see, the information APA requires for citations helps direct the reader to that particular source in the reference list . Note, then, that is probably a good idea to construct your reference list as you write, allowing you to know what information will appear in all of your citations.

Start with these elements for each citation and you will be headed in the right direction. Check out the other information listed on this site, and if you still have questions, Ask OASIS .

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• Citation Styles

What is a parenthetical citation

Knowing how to handle parenthetical citations is a key skill that students and researchers need to master. This citation format, also sometimes referred to as an in-text citation, comes into play whenever you need to directly quote or paraphrase someone’s work in your essay or research paper.

In parenthetical citations, the original author or speaker’s words need to be given proper importance through referencing. The reader needs to be able to tell whose work it is, when it was created, and where it was sourced from. 

By placing the reference directly into the text itself, the reader is also spared the effort of having to check the footnotes at the end of the paper while reading it.

This guide will be taking a closer look at the best practices for parenthetical citations that you need to know about before you tackle your next paper. The guidelines laid out below will give you all the information and examples you need to use and format a parenthetical reference the right way:

What does a parenthetical citation look like in APA format?

A typical parenthetical citation is made up of a few different parts, including:

• The author’s name
• The year of publication
• The page number

In practice, this will look a little something like this in-text citation example:

Modern architecture systems still rely on dynamic principles (Moseley, 2016) .

An alternative way to structure your parenthetical citation, in this case, would be to state it as:

Elhai et al. (2017) found that smartphone use could lead to depression based on current consumption levels (p.75).

There are a few things to be aware of when using parenthetical citations. If there is no known author, for example, does the method of citation need to be adjusted?

The answer is that the basic structure will remain largely the same. When no author can be found, the title of the work and year of publication needs to be included following the format shown above. If the title within the quotation marks is exceptionally long, it can be shortened for the purpose of being an in-text citation.

Check out these APA style resources

🌐 Official APA style guidelines

🗂 APA style guide

📝 APA citation generator

What does a parenthetical citation look like in MLA format?

The MLA style of parenthetical citation has many parallel elements to the APA format. The only major difference to be aware of is that the page number is cited rather than the date of publishing, and there is no comma separating the pages from the author's last name.

In practice, this would look like the in-text citation example below:

Running regularly can have significant health benefits (Lee et al. 45) .

Again if there is no author to be found, a shortened version of the original title or source can be used as a placeholder instead.

Check out these MLA style resources

🌐 Official MLA style guidelines

🗂 MLA style guide

📝 MLA citation generator

This table summarizes the main differences between parenthetical citations in APA and MLA:

Where are parenthetical citations used?

We’ve already mentioned that parenthetical references are sometimes known as in-text citations, which tells you exactly where you’ll need to add your sources. No matter which citation style you are using, these rules will apply.

The majority of parenthetical citations are placed within the paragraph that contains the direct quote, but this is not the only place that they need to be noted down. Your in-text citations will still need to be added to the final Reference list found at the end of your essay or paper as a bibliographical citation.

The state of paraphrasing

Let’s talk about what happens when you’ve taken information from a source and rephrased it in your own words instead of using a direct quote. How do parenthetical citations apply in this situation and what guidelines should you be aware of?

To start with, it’s important to bear in mind that the original author or source still needs to be cited even if you use a paraphrased version of their work. Taking the examples from the MLA section above, let’s see how this would look in action:

Incorrect running technique has been linked to lower back injuries (Greco et al. 1796) .

Be sure not to skip this step if you are paraphrasing. Giving fitting credit to your sources when using a direct quotation is one of the backbones of academic writing and honesty, and not doing so hurts both the author and you as the writer of the paper. After all, citing correctly only adds more strength and credibility to your argument or thesis.

What about online sources?

With the academic world becoming increasingly connected to technology, many research journals are now being published exclusively on online platforms. Scholarly journal articles, magazine articles, E-books, and other sources have all gone digital to huge benefit - increased accessibility.

Using an online source can have an impact on how in-text citations are written. Not all of these journals or online articles come with clear page numbers, for example. At the same time, it’s unrealistic to expect the reader to go through the entire source looking for the one point you have referenced.

So what do you do in this situation? You make use of the paragraphs instead. When you’re referencing an electronic source, you can use an abbreviation to highlight the paragraph that you are referring to. Take a look at this example:

The New York Times explored the performance of Amanda Gorman at the inauguration and how she started out in poetry ("Amanda Gorman Captures The Moment, In Verse" par. 10) .

Frequently Asked Questions about Parenthetical citations

The difference is that the parenthetical citation will feature the author's name and the date of publication in brackets at the end of the sentence. An in-text citation can, on the other hand, use the author's name in the sentence and only add the date of publication in brackets at the end of the sentence.

The parenthetical citation always corresponds to a full citation in the 'References' or 'Works Cited' section at the end of the paper. These references are cited in alphabetical order, using the author's last name.

It's best to use page numbers when you are making use of a direct quote, with a dash being used for page ranges. If you are paraphrasing the wording, you can add the parenthetical citation without page numbers.

Parenthetical notes indicate to the reader what the original source of the content is when citing research in your paper. This allows them to quickly check the citation and get further background about the point you are making.

Put the parenthetical citation immediately after the quote or at the end of the sentence that contains it. You should not put the parenthetical citation inside the quote, or use it to divide two lines of quotations.

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APA 7th Edition Citation Guide

• General APA Style Guidelines
• Book and eBook Examples
• Article Examples
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• Personal Communication and Interview Examples
• Artificial Intelligence
• In-Text (Parenthetical) Examples
• Annotated Bibliography
• Other Citation Styles

Good to know

The punctuation at the end of the sentence goes after and outside the parenthesis.

I am paraphrasing (Smith, 2019). 

If you are using a direct quote, there is no comma between the end of the quotation and the in-text citation. 

"this is a quote" (Smith, 2019, p. 263). 

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• In-Text Citation and Notes

Citing Sources in the Text of your Paper

When writers use an outside source, they must give credit to the original writer or creator of that source. This also allows a reader to easily make note of the source’s bibliographic entry. Just as each style guide has rules for creating a citation in a bibliography at the end of a text, each guide also has certain rules for citing the use of sources within the text of the essay.

The following are basic guidelines for citing sources in the text of your paper when using the MLA, APA, Chicago, ASA, or Turabian style guides. These guidelines may not account for every citation situation. Since citing sources is not a creative enterprise, you should consult the appropriate print version of the style guide when you have questions about citation.

MLA: In-Text Citations

MLA citation style requires that writers cite a source within the text of their essay at the end of the sentence in which the source is used.

General Guidance on in-text citations (or reference to your source) The parenthetical reference should be inserted after the last quotation mark but before the period at the end of the sentence.

General Form: (Author Last Name Page #)

Example: (Smith 42)

If two quotations from different sources are used in the same sentence The in-text citation associated with a particular quote should be placed as close to the quotation as possible without interrupting the flow of the sentence.

Example for two sources in one sentence: According to one researcher, “the design thinking process is not meant to be a formula,” (Spencer 58) whereas others might argue that steps and formulas are in fact important like Walker suggests: “following a specific path towards design success is necessary for achieving outlined goals,” (21).

If a paragraph includes several quotations from a single source A single in-text citation may be placed at the end of the paragraph. Page numbers should be included for each quotation organized by placement in the paragraph. In the following example, the first quotation from Smith appeared on page 43 of the text. The second quotation used in the paragraph came from page 12.

Example: (Smith 43, 12)

If the author is included more than once on the Works Cited page The following form should be used. Note that the format of the title on the Works Cited sheet should be mirrored in the in-text citation.

General Form: (Author Last, “Title Fragment” Page #) or (Author Last,  Title Fragment Page #)

Examples: (Smith, “Who Moved” 42) or (Smith, Big Changes 172)

If you have more than one author:

Two: (Brown and Sullivan 42)

Three: (Brown, Sullivan, and Grayson 158)

Four or more: (Brown, et al. 38)

If there is no author A title fragment should be used to make a connection between the use of the source and the citation for the source on the Works Cited page.

General Form: (“Title Fragment” Page #) or ( Title Fragment  Page #)

Examples: (“Library Links” 13) or ( Building a Bookshelf  42)

For more information related to MLA in-text citations, see the MLA Handbook , 8th ed. (pages 54-58). This title is on reserve at the circulation desk at the front of the library on the 3rd floor near the main entrance.

APA: Parenthetical In-Text Citations

To cite a source in the text of an essay, APA advocates two methods: in-text citations and attribution within the essay’s content. in-text citations should be included immediately after the quotation marks used in direct quotations or immediately after the use of the source, even if this means including the parenthetical reference in the middle of the sentence.

The following is the general form for parenthetical citations in APA style:

In-text citation: (Author Last Name, Year of Publication) Example: (Smith, 1988)

To make the citation of the source less distracting The APA also suggests mentioning the author in the essay’s content so that only the year of publication and page number may be required in the parenthetical reference.

Attribution in text: Author Last Name (Year of Publication) has argued this point. Example: Smith (1988) has argued this point.

Page numbers are not required in APA in-text citations. However, it is highly suggested that these be included. To include references to a specific part of the text, add the page number or chapter number after the year.

Examples: Smith (1988, p. 244) has written that… or Smith (1988, chap. 5) has written that…

When a work has two authors Both names should be cited every time the reference is required. Use an ampersand (&) to separate the names of authors. If a text has been authored by more than five individuals, the full listing of authors is not required in the first reference or any subsequent in-text references.

The first mention of the reference: Johnson, Smith, and Brown (1999) agree that… Subsequent mention: Johnson et al. (1999) agree that…

If a group or corporation is the author The full name of the group or corporation should be included in place of the author’s name. If an organization has a recognizable abbreviation, this may be used in subsequent references.

The first mention of the reference: (American Medical Association, 2002) Subsequent mention: (AMA, 2002)

If no author is given for a specific text Use the first couple of words of the title in place of the author’s last name. Title fragments should be formatted using the same punctuation as titles on the References page.

Examples of attribution in the text:

The recent publication  Plagiarism and You  (2002) offers some explanation…

In “Five Ways to Protect Yourself” (2000) one can find…

Examples of attribution at the end of the sentence: ( Plagiarism and You , 2002) or (“Five Ways to Protect Yourself,” 2000)

When no date is given for the publication of a text (as is the case with many websites) Include the abbreviation “n.d.” (which stands for “no date”) in place of the year of publication.

Example: In the article “Five Ways to Protect Yourself” (n.d.) one can find…

For more information related to in-text citations (or in-text referencing) using the APA format, see the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association , 7th ed. pages 261-269. A copy of this manual is available on the 3rd floor of the library at the circulation desk.

Chicago: Notes Style

In Chicago’s Documentation Style 1, also known as notes form, the use of research sources is indicated in the text with a numerical subscript that corresponds to an entry at the end of the paper. These are called endnotes. Although footnotes (or notes at the bottom of the page) are sometimes required, endnotes have become the predominant form of notes citations.

When using endnotes to indicate the use of research sources, writers must also include a bibliography at the end of the essay. The note and the bibliographic entry include almost identical information but in a different format.

As the formats for notes are contingent on the format of the source for which the note is written, examples of note formats are included with the bibliographic examples available through the  Citing Sources  link. The B: entry would be included in the Bibliography at the end of the paper, while the N: entry gives examples to be used in footnotes or endnotes.

For further information on note format or other issues related to citing sources using the Chicago style, see  The Chicago Manual of Style , 16th ed.

Chicago: Author/Date Style

Documentation 2, also called the Author-Date style, requires the use of parenthetical references in the text of the essay as well as a list of References.

Parenthetical references should be placed at the end of the sentence, before the period, when a resource has been used. If the sentence is either long enough or complex enough so that the cited portion of the sentence is not obvious, the parenthetical reference may instead be inserted immediately after the use of information from the source. Page numbers should be included whenever possible.

General Form:  (Author Last Name Year of Publication, Page #)

Example:  (Smith 1992, 142)

The following examples illustrate parenthetical reference formats for works with more than one author.

(Smith and Johnson 1998, 14)

(Smith, Johnson, and White 2001, 42)

(Smith et al. 1998, 203)

(National Alliance for Social Consideration 1932, 11)

When organizations or corporate authors are the author of a text, the name of the organization may be shortened to its most basic title. Abbreviations for the organization are not encouraged.

In the Chicago style, daily newspapers are rarely included in a list of References. Instead, attribution may be given to information from a daily newspaper in a parenthetical reference.

General Form:  ( Newspaper Name , Day Month Year of Publication, Section and Page #)

Examples:  ( San Antonio Express-News , 2 June 2005, B2)

( New York Times , 2 June 2005, A2)

( Durant Daily Democrat , 2 June 2005, 3)

The Chicago style guide does not offer examples for creating parenthetical references when there is no given author. Standard practice has been to include the title of the work in place of the author. The title should be formatted in the same manner as the formatting in the References list entry.

( Plagiarism and You  2002, 142)

(“Five Ways to Protect Yourself” 2000, 33)

Electronic sources commonly lack a date of publication, as do other sources. When there is no date of publication listed for a source, include the abbreviation “n.d.” in place of the date.

(Statistics for Water Rights n.d.)

For further information on citing sources using the Chicago style, see The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th ed.

If the author’s name is mentioned in the text, use a parenthetical reference to show the year of publication at the end of the sentence.

…Welch contends that this is not the case (1991).

If the author’s name is not mentioned in the text, it should be included with the year of publication within parentheses.

…but it has been argued that this was not the case (Welch 1991).

Page numbers should be included within parentheses after the year of publication. These are separated by a colon and no spaces.

…but it has been argued that this was not the case (Welch 1991:136).

The following forms should be used for multiple authors:

A recent study confirmed her belief (Johnson and Smith 1995:34).

This was reinforced by recent research on the topic (Johnson, Smith, and Marcus 1999)

If a text has more than three authors, the term “et al.” with no additional punctuation marks may be used after the first author listed in the publication credits.

This was not accurate according to a recent study (Johnson et al. 2003).

If multiple sources are cited for the same statement, the author and publication year should be distinguished from other texts with a colon. Cited texts should be arranged by author name or by date; arrangement should be consistent throughout the paper.

Some studies have refuted these arguments (Benson 1993; Nguyen 1999; Brown and Goggans 2000).

For additional information on in-text citation using the ASA style, see the  American Sociological Association Style Guide , Third ed., pp. 45-47.

In the Turabian citation style, writers may use one of two forms in citing their resources: endnotes or author/date parenthetical references. Writers using the Turabian style may use the Chicago formats for both endnotes as references and for parenthetical references. Refer to Kate L. Turabian’s  A Manual for Writers , 7th ed., pp. 143-145 (notes style) and pp. 217-220 (author-date style) for more information.

Citation Sources

• MLA Style, 9th ed.
• APA Style, 7th ed.
• Chicago (Notes-Bibliography Style), 17th ed.
• Chicago (Author-Date Style), 17th ed.
•      See also the online version of the  Chicago Manual of Style
• Turabian (Notes-Bibliography Style), 9th ed.
• Turabian (Author-Date Style), 9th ed.
• ASA Style, 6th ed.

Citing Sources in the Text of a Paper

Including a list of Works Cited at the end of an essay is not enough. Learn how to cite the use of a source in the text of your paper.

Using Information from Sources in the Text of a Paper

Review five different methods for including the words of another writer or information from a research resource into the text of your paper.

Citing Creative Commons Materials

Find models and suggestions for citing Creative Commons images, video clips, music, or other materials.

Suggested Readings on Academic Integrity

Find books, articles and websites which deal with academic integrity issues.

Creating an Annotated Bibliography

Learn how to create an annotated bibliography for a class assignment or for your own use as a researcher and writer.

Learn more about Zotero – a citation management tool to help you keep track of and organize various references for papers and projects.

Avoiding Plagiarism

See Trinity University’s definitions of plagiarism and consider how to avoid these situations.

Detecting Plagiarized Material

Information and links for faculty members and others to use in detecting plagiarized materials.

MLA In-text Citations and Sample Essay 9th Edition

Listing your sources at the end of your essay in the Works Cited is only the first step in complete and effective documentation. Proper citation of sources is a two-part process . You must also cite, in the body of your essay, the source your paraphrased information or where directly quoted material came from. These citations within the essay are called in-text citations . You must cite all quoted, paraphrased, or summarized words, ideas, and facts from sources. Without in-text citations, you are in danger of plagiarism , even if you have listed your sources at the end of the essay. In-text citations point the reader to the sources’ information in the works cited page, so the in-text citation should be the first item listed in the source’s citation on the works cited page, which is usually the author’s last name (or the title if there is no author) and the page number, if provided.

Two Ways to Cite Your Sources In-text

Parenthetical citation.

Cite your source in parentheses at the end of quoted or paraphrased material.

Example with a page number: In regards to paraphrasing, "It is important to remember to use in-text citations for your paraphrased information, as well as your directly quoted material" (Habib 7).

Example without a page number : Paraphrasing is "often the best choice because direct quotes should be reserved for source material that is especially well-written in style and/or clarity" (Ruiz).

Signal Phrase

Within the sentence, through the use of a "signal phrase" which signals to the reader the specific source the idea or quote came from. Include the page number(s) in parentheses at the end of the sentence, if provided.

Example with a page number: According to Habib, "It is important to remember to use in-text citations for your paraphrased information, as well as your directly quoted material" (7).

Example without a page number: According to Ruiz, paraphrasing is "often the best choice because direct quotes should be reserved for source material that is especially well-written in style and/or clarity."

*See our handout "Signal Phrases" for more examples and information on effective ways to use signal phrases for in-text citations.

Do you need to include a page number in your in-text citation?

Printed materials such as books, magazines, journals, or internet and digital sources with PDF files that show an actual printed page number need to have a page number in the citation.

Internet and digital sources with a continuously scrolling page without a page number do not need a page number in the citation.

Commonly used in-text citations in parentheses

Notes on quotes, block quotation format.

When using long quotations that are over four lines of prose or over three lines of poetry in length, you will need to use block quotation format. Block format is indented one inch from the margin (you can hit the "tab" button twice to move it one inch). Additionally, block quotes do not use quotation marks, and the parenthetical citation comes after the period of the last sentence. Please see the following sample essay for an example block quote.

Signal Phrase Examples and Ideas

Please see the following sample essay for different kinds of signal phrases and parenthetical in-text citations, which correspond with the sample Works Cited page at the end. The Writing Center also has a handout on signal phrases with many different verb options.

Learn more about the MLA Works Cited page by reviewing this handout .

For information on STLCC's academic integrity policy, check out this website .

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

General Format

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

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Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

Since The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) is primarily intended as a style guide for published works rather than class papers, these guidelines will be supplemented with information from, Kate L. Turabian’s Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (8th ed.), which is largely based on CMOS with some slight alterations.

To see a side-by-side comparison of the three most widely used citation styles, including a chart of all CMOS citation guidelines, see the Citation Style Chart.

Please use the example at the bottom of this page to cite the Purdue OWL in CMOS.

A Note on Citations

Unlike many citation styles, CMOS gives writers two different methods for documenting sources: the Author-Date System and the Notes-Bibliography (NB) System.  As its name suggests, Author-Date uses parenthetical citations in the text to reference the source's author's last name and the year of publication. Each parenthetical citation corresponds to an entry on a References page that concludes the document. In these regards, Author-Date is very similar to, for instance, APA style.

By contrast, NB uses numbered footnotes in the text to direct the reader to a shortened citation at the bottom of the page. This corresponds to a fuller citation on a Bibliography page that concludes the document. Though the general principles of citation are the same here, the citations themselves are formatted differently from the way they appear in Author-Date.

If you are using CMOS for school or work, don't forget to ensure that you're using your organization's preferred citation method. For examples of these two different styles in action, see our CMOS sample papers:

Author-Date Sample Paper

NB Sample Paper

General CMOS Guidelines

• Text should be consistently double-spaced, except for block quotations, notes, bibliography entries, table titles, and figure captions.
• A prose quotation of five or more lines, or more than 100 words, should be blocked.
• CMOS recommends blocking two or more lines of poetry.
• A blocked quotation does not get enclosed in quotation marks.
• A blocked quotation must always begin a new line.
• Blocked quotations should be indented with the word processor’s indention tool.
• Page numbers begin in the header of the first page of text with Arabic number 1.
• For CMOS and Turabian’s recommendations, see “Headings,” below.

Supplemental Turabian Style Guidelines

• Margins should be set at no less than 1”.
• Typeface should be something readable, such as Times New Roman or Courier.
• Font size should be no less than 10 pt. (preferably, 12 pt.).

Major Paper Sections

• The title should be centered a third of the way down the page.
• Your name, class information, and the date should follow several lines later.
• For subtitles, end the title line with a colon and place the subtitle on the line below the title.
• Double-space each line of the title page.

CMOS Title Page

• Different practices apply for theses and dissertations (see Kate L. Turabian’s A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, ad Dissertations [8 th ed.].
• Titles mentioned in the text, notes, or bibliography are capitalized “headline-style,” meaning first words of titles and subtitles and any important words thereafter should be capitalized.
• Book and periodical titles (titles of larger works) should be italicized.
• Article and chapter titles (titles of shorter works) should be enclosed in double quotation marks.
• The titles of most poems should be enclosed in double quotation marks, but the titles of very long poems should be italicized.
• Titles of plays should be italicized.
• For example, use lowercase terms to describe periods, except in the case of proper nouns (e.g., “the colonial period,” vs. “the Victorian era”).
• A prose quotation of five or more lines should be “blocked.” The block quotation should match the surrounding text, and it takes no quotation marks. To offset the block quote from surrounding text, indent the entire quotation using the word processor’s indentation tool. It is also possible to offset the block quotation by using a different or smaller font than the surrounding text.
• Label the first page of your back matter, your comprehensive list of sources, “Bibliography” (for Notes and Bibliography style) or “References” (for Author-Date style).
• Leave two blank lines between “Bibliography” or “References” and your first entry.
• Leave one blank line between remaining entries.
• List entries in letter-by-letter alphabetical order according to the first word in each entry, be that the author's name or the title of the piece..
• For two to three authors, write out all names.
• For four to ten authors, write out all names in the bibliography but only the first author’s name plus “et al.” in notes and parenthetical citations.
• When a source has no identifiable author, cite it by its title, both on the references page and in shortened form (up to four keywords from that title) in parenthetical citations throughout the text.
• Write out publishers’ names in full.
• Do not use access dates unless publication dates are unavailable.
• If you cannot ascertain the publication date of a printed work, use the abbreviation “n.d.”
• Provide DOIs instead of URLs whenever possible.
• If no DOI is available, provide a URL.
• If you cannot name a specific page number when called for, you have other options: section (sec.), equation (eq.), volume (vol.), or note (n.).

CMOS Bibliography Page

• Note numbers should begin with “1” and follow consecutively throughout a given paper.
• Note numbers are superscripted.
• Note numbers should be placed at the end of the clause or sentence to which they refer and should be placed after all punctuation, except for the dash.
• Note numbers are full-sized, not raised, and followed by a period (superscripting note numbers in the notes themselves is also acceptable).
• In parenthetical citation, separate documentation from brief commentary with a semicolon.
• Do not repeat the hundreds digit in a page range if it does not change from the beginning to the end of the range.

For more information on footnotes, please see CMOS NB Sample Paper .

While  The Chicago Manual of Style does not include a prescribed system for formatting headings and subheads, it makes several recommendations.

• Maintain consistency and parallel structure in headings and subheads.
• Use headline-style for purposes of capitalization.
• Subheadings should begin on a new line.
• Subheadings can be distinguished by font-size.
• Ensure that each level of hierarchy is clear and consistent.
• Levels of subheads can be differentiated by type style, use of boldface or italics, and placement on the page, usually either centered or flush left.
• Use no more than three levels of hierarchy.
• Avoid ending subheadings with periods.

Turabian has an optional system of five heading levels.

Turabian Subheading Plan

Here is an example of the five-level heading system:

CMOS Headings

Tables and Figures

• Position tables and figures as soon as possible after they are first referenced. If necessary, present them after the paragraph in which they are described.
• For figures, include a caption, or short explanation of the figure or illustration, directly after the figure number.
• Cite a source as you would for parenthetical citation, and include full information in an entry on your Bibliography or References page.
• Acknowledge reproduced or adapted sources appropriately (i.e., photo by; data adapted from; map by...).
• If a table includes data not acquired by the author of the text, include an unnumbered footnote. Introduce the note by the word Source(s) followed by a colon, then include the full source information, and end the note with a period.

How to Cite the Purdue OWL in CMOS

On the new OWL site, contributors’ names and the last edited date are no longer listed at the top of every page. This means that most citations will now begin with the title of the resource, rather than the contributors' names.

Footnote or Endnote (N):

Corresponding Bibliographical Entry (B):

“Title of Resource.” List the OWL as Publishing Organization/Web Site Name . http://Web address for OWL resource.

“General Format.” The Purdue OWL. https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/717/02/.

Author Date In-text Citation:

("General Format" 2017).

Author Date References Page Citation:

Year of Publication. “Title of Resource.” List the OWL as Publishing Organization/Web Site Name . http://Web address for OWL resource.

2017. “General Format.” The Purdue OWL . https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/717/02.