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
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