MLA In-Text Citation Helper
WHEN SHOULD I CITE MY SOURCES IN MY PAPER?
You MUST ALWAYS CITE text that is quoted, paraphrased, or summarized – or any
information taken from another sources (like statistics or numerical data). Usually this is
information that is not common knowledge that you learned from your source.
WHAT DOES AN IN TEXT CITATION LOOK LIKE?
One researcher has found that dreams move backward in time as the night progresses
(Dement 71).
Martin Luther King stated "I have a dream” (184).
A new study finds that most teenagers and adults are reading less than ever (New York
Times 3).
HOW DO I KNOW WHAT MY IN TEXT CITATION SHOULD LOOK LIKE?
Example
In text citation
Author’s last name & page # are known
(Author’s last name page #).
Author’s last name is mentioned in sentence
(Page #).
No author
(Title of book/”article”/website etc & page # if listed).
More than one work by the same author
(Author’s Last Name, Shortened Title Page #).
Work has two or three authors
(Author’s Last Name and Other Author’s Last Name
Page #).
