MLA Style: Citations

*Not all source types may be given in this post--if you need more help, please email us at writingcenter@delta.edu and we will be sure to assist you. Remember, you can also submit your papers for a consultant to assist you at www.delta.edu/writingcenter.aspx.

Why Source?
Citing sources correctly allows you to give proper credit to the person who originally gave ideas or facts that are used in your paper and allows the reader to assess the validity of the sources that you use and can further expand on the subject by looking at the sources for themselves.

Cite information, facts, and ideas that are not common knowledge. Use citations in direct quotes or when paraphrasing.


In Text Citations

• Use author if given. If no author, use title or the beginning of the title for a reference point.
• Main thing is to make your in-text citation the first word or phrase that will occur in your Works Cited page (to simplify referencing for the reader.)
• Use parenthetical referencing at pause of sentence, or at the end if possible.
• Block quotes can be placed either before or after the source quotation (preferably before--see examples below.)
• The number in the reference is the page number.
• No punctuation is between the name and the author.
• Use direct quotations sparingly to enhance meaning of a subject. Use your voice more, summarizing or paraphrasing sources.
• One Author-last name of the author
• In-sentence:
• Jane Hopkins calls the Western the "only true American entertainment form" (67).
• Parenthetical:
• The Western is the only American entertainment that belongs to us (Tompkins 67).
• Two or three authors:
• Rico and Mano point out a number of books that are appropriate for quality multicultural education (83-90).
• The authors point out a number of books that are appropriate for quality multicultural education (Rico and Mano 83-90).
• Four or More Authors:
• use the first named author, then the phrase et al.
• Medhurst et al. describe the relationship between Brezhnev and Nixon as "heated" (137).
• The authors describe the relationship between Brezhnev and Nixon as "heated" (Medhurst et al. 137).
• Corporation or organization:
• For long names, try to use the name in the text and only the page number in the parentheses, so reading is not interrupted by long parenthetical references:
• According to a study performed by the National Research Council, the population of China in 1900 was increasing by more than 15 million annually (15).
• In parenthetical referencing, shorten the terms commonly abbreviated:
• The population of China was increasing by more than 15 million annually (Natl. Research Council 15).
• Pre-retirement planning also has a measurable effect on stress levels (NIMH 22).
• No Author:
• Use first few words of the title of the source. Italicize if book title or use quotations if an article.
• Croatians are unhappy about the time when their country was part of the former Republic of Yugoslavia ("Croatia in Crisis" 26).
• The filmmakers, on the other hand, clearly presented Mozart's deaath as murder (Amadeus).
• If you are quoting or paraphrasing something that is a quotation itself, use the term "qtd. in" (quoted in):
• Samuel Johnson admitted that Edmund Burke was an "extraordinary man" (qtd. in Boswell 450.)
• For electronic citations where the page numbers may not be apparent, use only the author's name. For pdf files, use the page numbers:
• The Western is the only American entertainment that belongs to us (Tompkins).

Taken from "Citing Your Sources-MLA Format" by the Delta College Library