based on MLA style

Any time you use ANY information (whether quoted or in your own words) from a source (source=highlighted information or note card information from a book, magazine, the Internet, etc.), you must put a parenthetical citation BEHIND that information in the text of your paper. If you don't, it is plagiarism.

Examples of MLA Parenthetical Citations

• General use citation: (author's last name page number).

  Examples: Public narrative is one type of discourse (Moffett 42-44). James Moffett has identified public narrative as one type of discourse (42-44). Public narrative is one type of discourse which "encourages creative thinking, speaking, and writing" (Moffett 42-44).

  • Notice that there is no punctuation within the parentheses.
  • Notice that the period of the sentence goes after the parentheses.
  • Notice (in example 2) that you do not repeat the author's name in parentheses if you have already put it in the sentence itself.
  • Notice that the quotation marks in example 3 go before the parentheses.
  • For sample works cited entries, click here. You will have to work through this site to find what applies to your particular source.

• Work with more than one author: (author's last name and author's last name page number). Note: If there are 4 or more authors, use the first author's last name and et al.

  Examples: One textbook defines rhetoric as "the art of using language effectively" (Brooks and Warren 5). Brooks and Warren define rhetoric as "the art of using language effectively" (5). Rhetoric is the most important component of language (Smith et al. 75).

   

  • Notice that there is still no punctuation within the parentheses.
  • For a sample works cited entry, click here for two authors. If you have more than two authors, click here.

• Works whose authors have the same last name: (Author's first name middle name/initial author's last name page number ).

  Example: The author of Charlotte's Web stated that "mysticism is inherent in most adolescent fiction" (E.B. White 87), and "mysticism is an integral part of most religious poetry" (Helen C. White 65)

  • For sample works cited entries, click here. You will have to work through this site to find what applies to your particular source.

• Works with a corporate author: (Name of organization--shortened if needed page number).

  Example: (The organization is National Council of Teachers Of English.) The 1950 yearbook emphasized this point (NCTE 34).

  • Note: Use the widely accepted abbreviation/acronym of the organization if there is one (as in the above example).
  • For a sample works cited entry, click here.

• Two or more works by the same author: (Author, Title--shortened if necessary page number)

  Examples: (The two works are Correcting Errors in Student Writing and "Writing to Learn" by William Close) Correcting every error is too time consuming for the teacher and does not teach the student anything (Close, Correcting 4). William Close states that "a student must write often in order to learn" ("Writing" 19).

  • In example 1, notice the comma after the author's name.
  • For sample works cited entries, click here. You will have to work through this site to find what applies to your particular source.

• Works without an author:
  • When there is no author, you must do one of two things:
  1. If there is an editor, but no author, then your citation should read (Editor's last name page number).
  2. If there is no editor and no author, then your citation should read (Title--shortened if needed page number).

  Examples: (No author but editor) Students should write what they know in order to write well (Cooper 24). (No author or editor-book) Writing is just conversation on paper (Writing Well 65). (No author or editor-magazine) Practicing writing is just as important as loving writing ("Write On" 90). (No author or editor, long title How to Succeed in Writing Without Really Trying) "Reading is absolutely crucial to writing well" (How to 83).

  • Notice that you punctuate titles with quotation marks or underlining/italics just as you would anywhere.
  • Notice that you should use the first words of a title when shortening the title (if possible).
  • For sample works cited entries, click here. You will have to work through this site to find what applies to your particular source.

• Multivolume works: (author's last name volume number: page number)

  Example: There is a great controversy surrounding the quality of Mozart's The Magic Flute (Newman 2:104-05).

  • Notice that the volume number comes first followed by a colon and then the page number(s).
  • For a sample works cited entry, click here.

• Material cited/quoted in another source: (qtd. in author's name page number)

  Example: Goethe wrote that "it takes more culture to perceive the virtues of The Magic Flute than to point out its defects" (qtd. in Newman 321).

  • For sample works cited entries, click here. You will have to work through this site to find what applies to your particular source.

• Multiple Citations: (author's name page number; author's name page number)
  • Sometimes you will find important information in several different sources that supports your thesis. It is a great idea to cite all of the sources in parentheses because it bolsters the validity of your claim.

    N.B. If you find the information in almost every source, however, you may be finding information that is "common knowledge" (see What is Common Knowledge?). If so, you do NOT need a citation. If in doubt, ask your teacher.

  Examples: Most scholars agree that The Magic Flute has more virtues than defects (Newman 321; Scott 87; Moore 234). Mozart is one of the most talented, famous composers of all time.

  • For sample works cited entries, click here. You will have to work through this site to find what applies to your particular source.
  • Notice that example 2 is a sentence of common knowledge, so no citation is needed.

• Invisible Citations: (no parenthetical citation needed)
  • When using non-print sources (Internet, oral interviews, etc.), you will often not have page numbers. If this is the case and you have stated the author or title of the source in a sentence in your paper, you do NOT need to repeat yourself in a citation. Most teachers will count this as a parenthetical citation, but you will need to make a note to them about the number of "invisible citations" you have used.

  Examples: [Internet site, no page number] Teachers applaud Shaughnessy's assertion that "teaching writing is challenging work." [Internet site, no author or page number] "The Poetry Web" states that all writers are potential poets; they just have to adjust to writing "in the short line."

  • For sample works cited entries, click here. You will have to work through this site to find what applies to your particular source.