MLA In-text Citations

The purpose of MLA in-text citations is to identify which information in a paper comes from outside sources. This is done by identifying, or "citing," the information with the author's name at the end of the sentence. Tagged information includes quotes, paraphrases, and summaries.

For example: Dr. Tito stated, "School-age children see an average of 700 violent acts on television every week" (Tito 35).

If the quote, paraphrase, or summary comes from a source that has no author, the title of the article or page is used.

Studies have shown that 73% of alligators in Florida killed contain at least one dog collar ("Dog Soup").

Remember:

• Closing quotes, citation, then final period
• Use the title only if there is no author
• Web sources normally do not have page numbers, so use the author even if the author is mentioned in the sentence
• If you use a long quote, indent to set it off from your essay. The citation then is also set off from the last sentence. (like this)