English 11 / Unit 8: The Research Paper
8.5 MLA In-Text Citations
Notes
MLA (Modern Language Association) style is used for English papers. In-text citations point to the Works Cited list.
- Format: (Author page), with no comma and no "p.": (Hall 45).
- Two authors: (Hall and Cruz 45). Three or more: (Hall et al. 45).
- Use a signal phrase to name the author in the sentence: According to Hall, "..." (45).
- No author: use a shortened title in quotation marks: ("Teens and Sleep" 3).
- Web page with no page numbers: cite just the author: (Cruz).
- Example: Thoreau urged readers to live "deliberately" (Hall 45).
- Long quotations (more than four lines) are set off as a block quote without quotation marks.
Practice
Which is the correct MLA in-text citation for a quote on page 78 by Marcus Diaz?
MLA uses author and page with no comma or "p."
How do you cite a source by Hall, Cruz and Singh on page 12?
With three or more authors, use the first author and "et al."
You are quoting an online article without page numbers and the author is Rivera. What is the correct citation?
Without page numbers, cite just the author.
Ready for more? Take the Unit 8 test.