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MLA Style: Writing & Citation

In MLA style, in-text citations are inserted in the body of your research paper to briefly document the source of your information. In-text citations point the reader to more complete information in the works cited list at the end of the paper.

  • In-text citations include the last name of the author followed by a page number enclosed in parentheses. "Here's a direct quote" (Smith 8).
  • If the author's name is not given, then use the first word or words of the title. Follow the same formatting that was used in the works cited list, such as quotation marks. This is a paraphrase ("Trouble" 22).

*Note: The period goes outside the parentheses at the end of your in-text citation.

Signal Phrases

If you refer to the author's name in a sentence you do not have to include the name again as part of your in-text citation, instead include the page number (if there is one) at the end of the quotation or paraphrased section. For example:

Hunt explains that mother-infant attachment has been a leading topic of developmental research since John Bowlby found that "children raised in institutions were deficient in emotional and personality development" (358).

 

Quoting Directly

When you quote directly from a source, enclose the quoted section in quotation marks. Add an in-text citation at the end of the quote with the author name and page number:

Ex.: Mother-infant attachment has been a leading topic of developmental research since John Bowlby found that "children raised in institutions were deficient in emotional and personality development" (Hunt 358).

 

Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing is putting a direct quote by another person into your own words. Paraphrases don't need quotation marks, however just because you are re-wording the quote, the idea still belongs to someone else, so always cite the author in the body of your paper. 

Example direct quote:

"Mother-infant attachment has been a leading topic of developmental research since John Bowlby found that 'children raised in institutions were deficient in emotional and personality development'" (Hunt 358).

Paraphrase: 

 Mother-infant attachment has always been on the forefront of child development research from the time that Bowlby discovered that personality development in kids is lacking when they are brought up in children's homes (Hunt 358).

 

Block Quotations

If your quotation extends to more than four lines as you're typing your essay, it should be put into a 'block' format. 

There are 4 rules that apply to long quotations that are different from regular quotations:

  1. The line before your block quotation, when you're introducing the quote, ends with a colon.
  2. The bock quotation is indented half an inch from the rest of the text, so it looks like a block of text.
  3. There are no quotation marks needed when using block quotes.
  4. The period at the end of the quotation comes before your in-text citation as opposed to after, as it does with regular quotations.

Example:

At the end of Lord of the Flies the boys are struck with the realization of their behavior:

The tears began to flow and sobs shook him. He gave himself up to them now for the first time on the island; great, shuddering spasms of grief that seemed to wrench his whole body. His voice rose under the black smoke before the burning wreckage of the island; and infected by that emotion, the other little boys began to shake and sob too. (Golding 186)

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