Whether you directly quote, paraphrase, or summarize an idea, fact, or argument that is not your own, you must always credit your source. There are two parts to crediting a source: an in-text citation (also called a parenthetical reference), and an entry in your Works Cited. This page will discuss how to do parenthetical references in your work. For more about Works Cited entries, see Works cited - Page formatting and creating an entry, and Works cited - examples.
Always begin an in-text citation with the first element in your Works Cited entry for the work you are citing in-text. This is usually the author, but can be a title if no author is known.
Whenever making an in-text citation, you have two options:
In a single work, you can choose to use one or another method at any given point, depending on what best fits your prose. However, MLA recommends including the source directly in your prose whenever possible, to minimize the number and length of parenthetical citations, as they can break up the flow of your text.
Note: When citing an author in-text, whether it is as part of your prose, or in a parenthetical reference, it is important to use the same name that you used in your Works Cited. So, if you name the author under a pseudonym or under their current name if they've changed names in your Works Cited, for example, use that same pseudonym or changed name in your text. The most important part is that you be consistent with the name.
For rules about names changes and pseudonyms, please consult the Authors section of the Works Cited - Page formatting page on this guide.
List the author's full name the first time you reference them (middle initials may be omitted). For subsequent references, you can list just the surname of the author.
example (1st use): Susan Ryan notes that, by linking his work to the memory of the martyred president, Whitman was able to salvage his respectability (61-62).
example (subsequent uses): However, Ryan's main goal is to explore Harriet Beecher Stowe's exposé of Lord Byron's supposed incest (59).
List the author by their surname for all references.
Parenthetical example: By linking his work to the memory of the martyred president, Whitman was able to salvage his respectability (Ryan 61-62).
List both authors' full names the first time you reference your source. After that, you may list just the surnames of both authors.
example (1st use): Laurence Broer and Gloria Holland point out that the study of Hemingway's work became increasingly interesting to women scholars in the 1970s (ix).
example (subsequent uses): As stated in Broer and Holland, the appearance of The Garden of Eden forced a reevaluation of Hemingway's literary output (ix-x).
List the surnames of both authors, with "and" between the names.
example: The study of Hemingway's work became increasing interesting to women scholars in the 1970s (Broer and Holland ix).
The first time you reference the work, choose to list all authors by their full names, or to list just the first author by their full name, followed by "and others" or "and colleagues." In subsequent references, list either all the authors by their surnames, or list just the first author by their surname, followed by "and others" or "and colleagues." Be consistent about which form you choose for your project, both when referencing the work in question, and across different works by three or more authors.
example (1st use - All names): Kristina Kösling, Gero Kunter, Harald Baayen, and Ingo Plag posit an alternative method for "the empirical investigation of compound prominence" (529).
example (subsequent uses - all names): Kösling, Kunter, Baayen, and Plag argue that the "autosegmental-metrical account assumes a particular relation between perceived prominence and notable changes in pitch height" (535).
example (1st use - first author only): Kristina Kösling and colleagues posit an alternative method for "the empirical investigation of compound prominence" (529).
example (subsequent uses - all names): Kösling and colleagues argue that the "autosegmental-metrical account assumes a particular relation between perceived prominence and notable changes in pitch height" (535).
If you a have a source with three or more authors, use only the first author's surname, followed by "et al."
example: It has been argued that the "autosegmental-metrical account assumes a particular relation between perceived prominence and notable changes in pitch height" (Kösling et al. 535).
Some works, such as many government documents or reports from non-governmental organizations, are identified as authored by a named group instead of by individuals. This is called a corporate author. Depending on whether you mention the group in your prose or in a parenthetical citation, you will treat the name slightly differently.
Give the full name of the group. You may abbreviate the group in subsequent mentions. If you choose to use an acronym for subsequent reference (e.g. MLA for Modern Language Association), include the acronym in parentheses immediately after the first reference.
example: According to the Evaluating Services Division of the Canadian Heritage department, the Canadian Book Fund remains relevant today and continues to play an economic and culturally significant role (vi).
Shorten the name to the shortest noun phrase possible. Exclude initial articles (a, an, the). For example, you can shorten Modern Language Association of America to Modern Language Association.
example: It has been found that the Canadian Book Fund remains relevant today and continues to play an economic and culturally significant role (Evaluating Services iv).
If you have more than one entry by different administrative units of the same organization or government author, give as much of the name of each to differentiate them.
If the author(s) is not identified anywhere in your source, identify it by the full title in your text.
example: "Exxon Valdez Oil Spill" goes on to note that "The spill eventually polluted 1,300 miles (2,092 kilometres) of indented shoreline, as well as adjacent waters, as far south as the southern end of Shelikof Strait between Kodiak Island and the Alaska Peninsula."
When the author(s) is not identified anywhere in your source, include an abbreviated version of the title in parentheses. Shorten any title that is longer than a noun phrase. If your title does begin with a noun phrase, abbreviate at the first punctuation mark or at the end of the first phrase or clause. Sometimes, you may need to include a longer title to differentiate it from other works in your Works Cited. You will need to use your judgement. With any shortened title, retain the quotation marks or italics used to identify the title in the Works Cited.
example: The massive oil spill "eventually polluted 1,300 miles (2,092 kilometres) of indented shoreline, as well as adjacent waters, as far south as the southern end of Shelikof Strait between Kodiak Island and the Alaska Peninsula" ("Exxon Valdez").
Sometimes, you might have two sources where the authors share the same surname. In those cases, you will need to include additional information to identify the author.
Continue to use the full name of each author in your text, even after the first reference.
In addition to the surname of the author, include the first initial of each authors' name to differentiate them from each other.
example: (J. Jones 15) and (N. Jones 44).
Occasionally, you might find that you have multiple works by the same author. In this case, you will need to reference the title of an individual work in addition to the author. To do this, you have three possibilities: listing both the author and the title of the work in your prose; listing the author in your prose and the title in a parenthetical reference; and listing both the author and the title of the work in a parenthetical reference.
example: J. K. Rowling writes in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, "Harry did not want to admit that he had not been thinking about the sword at all when he suggested they go to Godric's Hollow. For him, the lure of the village lay in his parents' graves, the house where he had narrowly escaped death, and in the person of Bathilda Bagshot" (261).
When placing the title in the parenthetical reference, shorten any title that is longer than a noun phrase. If your title doesn't begin with a noun phrase, abbreviate at the first punctuation mark or at the end of the first phrase or clause. Sometimes, you many need to include a longer title to differentiate it from other works in your Works Cited. You will need to use your judgment. With any shortened title, retain the quotation marks or italics used to identify the title in the Works Cited.
example: J. K. Rowling writes "Harry did not want to admit that he had not been thinking about the sword at all when he suggested they go to Godric's Hollow. For him, the lure of the village lay in his parents' graves, the house where he had narrowly escaped death, and in the person of Bathilda Bagshot" (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 261).
In the parenthetical citation, list the surname of the author(s) first. Then place a comma and a space, followed by the shortened title. When placing the title in the parenthetical reference, shorten any title that is longer than a noun phrase. If your title doesn't begin with a noun phrase, abbreviate at the first punctuation mark or at the end of the first phrase or clause. Sometimes, you many need to include a longer title to differentiate it from other works in your Works Cited. You will need to use your judgment. With any shortened title, retain the quotation marks or italics used to identify the title in the Works Cited. Finally, after the title, place a space, followed by a page number.
example: "Harry did not want to admit that he had not been thinking about the sword at all when he suggested they go to Godric's Hollow. For him, the lure of the village lay in his parents' graves, the house where he had narrowly escaped death, and in the person of Bathilda Bagshot" (Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 261).
Sometimes, you may need to cite two or more works by different authors in the same sentence. Note that this can be a complex citation and, as with any citation, your first concern should always be clarity of your work to your reader. If you cannot construct your sentence in such a way that makes it clear to your reader what information comes from which source, you are better off splitting the sentence into two sentences, with each sentence referencing a different source. That being said, if splitting your sentence in two is not an option, you have a few different techniques available to you.
You can choose to name all the authors being referenced in the prose of your sentenc. In these cases, place a parenthetical reference at the end of your sentence with the page numbers cited for both sources. Place the page numbers in the same order you used to mention the authors' names in your sentence. Separate each set of page numbers with a semicolon ";".
example: Both Jones and Elliot agree that this was very uncharacteristic of the author's work (55; 60).
Note that, in the above example, the "55" refers to page 55 of the work by Jones, while the "60" refers to page 60 of the work by Elliot.
You may also choose to place the authors' names in the parenthetical reference at the end of your sentence. In these cases, it becomes even more important to word your sentence in such a way that it is clear what information in the sentence is coming from which source, as your reader will not have the author's names to rely on.
example: Multiple sources agree that this was very uncharacteristic of the author's work (Jones 55; Elliot 60).
Note that, in the above example, the "Multiple sources" is referencing the works that you mention in the parenthetical reference.
In these cases you are very likely better off splitting the information into two sentences. However, if the construction of your argument is such that it requires quote from two sources in one sentence, place the parenthetical reference for each quotation directly after the quotation instead of at the end of the sentence.
example: Critics have said that this choice is "uncharacteristic" (Jones 55) and even "bizzare" (Elliot 60).
If you name the authors in your sentence, still place the page numbers for each quotation directly after the quotation.
example: Jones states that the choice is "uncharacteristic" (55), and Elliot goes so far as to say it is "bizzare" (60).
Whenever you reference a specific piece of information from a specific part of a work, even if you name the source in your prose, you will need to include a page number as a parenthetical reference at the end of the sentence. For this, just include the page number or equivalent in parentheses before the period at the end of the sentence. If you are using a parenthetical citation to name the source, place a space after the author(s) name(s), then include the page number or equivalent before closing the parentheses. Do not add "p." or "pp." before the page numbers. Retain the numbering style of the source.
If your in-text citation starts on one page of a work and ends on another, list the first and last page number, with an en dash between them (e.g. 44-45).
If your in-text citation uses information from multiple, non-consecutive pages, list each page referenced, with a comma and a space between each page (e.g. 44, 75, 99).
Do not give a page number in an in-text citation for a one-page work, even if the work has a page number on it.
Some sources will not have page numbers, but may have paragraph numbers, numbered chapters, numbered acts, numbered scenes, or other numbered sections instead. In these cases, use the most specific numbered section of the work that you can to identify where your information can be found in the work. Add a label preceding the numbers according to the type of part used, such as sections (sec., secs.), chapters (ch., chs.), or lines (line, lines).
example: According to Jansen, the introduction of the character of Dawn has a lasting impact on the show's overarching narrative (ch. 4).
In parenthetical references that include the author's name, place a comma after the author's name and before the label.
example: It should be noted that the introduction of the character of Dawn has a lasting impact on the show's overarching narrative (Jansen, ch. 4).
For sources that do not have numbered pages, paragraphs, or line numbers, Do Not attempt to count the numbering manually. Instead, just reference the author(s).
example: Fekete notes that "There have been at least three attempts over many decades to have the sun-splashed British overseas territory officially join Canada."
example: "There have been at least three attempts over many decades to have the sun-splashed British overseas territory officially join Canada" (Fekete).
Many eBooks will have a numbering system that tells readers their location in the work, but this numbering system will change from device to device. As a result, do not use the page numbering in an eBook unless you are certain that the numbering appears consistently across devices. Instead, use any other stable numbered sections present in the work, such as chapters, sections, etc.
example: Dumas writes "M. de Troisville .. had really commenced life as d’Artagnan now did; that is to say, without a sou in his pocket, but with a fund of audacity, shrewdness, and intelligence which makes the poorest Gascon gentleman often derive more in his hope from the paternal inheritance than the richest Perigordian or Berrichan gentleman derives in reality from his" (ch. 2).
It's noted that Troisville "had really commenced life as d’Artagnan now did; that is to say, without a sou in his pocket, but with a fund of audacity, shrewdness, and intelligence which makes the poorest Gascon gentleman often derive more in his hope from the paternal inheritance than the richest Perigordian or Berrichan gentleman derives in reality from his" (Dumas, ch. 2).
Note: Like any other unnumbered source, if the eBook does not have stable numbered sections, do not try to create them for the citation. In these cases, just use the author's name for your citations.
Verse works will often include line numbers in the margins of the text. In these cases, use the line numbers instead of page numbers in your in-text citation, even if the work also includes page numbers. Include a label "line" or "lines" before the line numbers.
example: Yeats' poem opens with "Turning and turning in the widening gyre / The falcon cannot hear the falconer;" asserting that the inevitable result is that "Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;" (lines 1-3).
example: The poem opens with "Turning and turning in the widening gyre / The falcon cannot hear the falconer;" asserting that the inevitable result is that "Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;" (Yeats, lines 1-3).
If the work also includes numbered acts, scenes, books, cantos, or other number sections, provide the number for each section starting from the largest to the smallest nested section, dividing each number with a period. Do not label the different parts.
example: Instead of accepting his fate, Milton's Satan defiantly exclaims "Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heav'n" (1.263).
In this case, the "1" refers to the first book of the work, and "263" indicates the line.
As there is no label to the different parts of the work, do not place a comma after the author's name.
example: Defiantly, Satan exclaims "Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heav'n" (Milton 1.263)
If the line numbers are not included in the version of the works you are using, Do Not count lines in verse works manually.
Audiovisual sources such as films, podcasts, audiobooks and songs will usually have an option to pick a specific time or time span in the source. This specific time is called a "timestamp." To include the timestamp, include the hour, minute, and second of the timestamp in the following format: 00:00:00. The first hour of any source is indicated as a "00." For a range of time, use an en dash between the first and last second of the timestamp, abbreviating the end time to just the value that differs from the starting time. Do not label the timestamp.
example: In The Lego Batman Movie, Batman responds: "Batman's life lesson number two: vigilantes don't have bedtimes" (00:48:44-45).
example: Batman responds: "Batman's life lesson number two: vigilantes don't have bedtimes" (The Lego Batman Movie 00:48:44-45).
If a timestamp is not available in the source that you used, Do Not try to estimate the time.
When citing a commonly studied work that appears in multiple editions, it can be useful to include additional information, such as the book, chapter, or other division. Include this information after the page number, using appropriate abbreviations to label each division. Separate the page number from the other information with a semicolon. If you have more than one division, place a comma between each one.
example: In Bronte's work, Jane notes that "For several subsequent days I saw little of Mr. Rochester" (128; bk. I, ch. XIV).
example: Jane notes that "For several subsequent days I saw little of Mr. Rochester" (Bronte 128; bk. I, ch. XIV).
When citing commonly studies verse works (poems and plays), omit page numbers altogether and cite by division (act, scene, canto, book, part, etc. . .) and line. Separate each division with a period. Divisions must be included if the line numbers restart with each division. Otherwise you can use just line numbers. Include the title of the work if there are several known works by the same author, even if you are only referencing the single work.
If you reference both the author and the title of the work in your prose, include only the division(s) and line(s) in a parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence.
example: Near the end of Hamlet, Shakespeare writes Horatio's powerful lament of Hamlet's death. As he cradles the body, he says: "Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet prince, / And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest" (5.2.397-398).
If you reference only the author in your prose, include the title of the work, the division(s) and line(s) in a parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence.
example: As Shakespeare writes, Horatio laments, as he cradles Hamlet's body, "Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet prince, / And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest" (Hamlet 5.2.397-398).
If you don't reference the author or the title of the work in your prose, list both in the parenthetical reference. Separate the author and the title with a comma.
example: Horatio laments, as he cradles Hamlet's body, "Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet prince, / And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest" (Shakespeare, Hamlet 5.2.397-398).
If you do not have numbered divisions or line numbers in your text, Do Not count them manually.
MLA citation does not provide guidance for citing Indigenous Elders or Knowledge Keepers. As they hold a significant role as carriers of knowledge and history for their respective Nations or Communities, they should not be treated in the same fashion as most personal communications. In the spirit of reconciliation, NorQuest College Library has developed the following template.
Unlike most personal communications, Indigenous Elders or Knowledge Keepers should be cited both in-text and in your Works Cited. For the Works Cited formatting, see our examples page.
Delores Cardinal described the nature of the...
The nature of the place was... (Cardinal).
When citing from the Bible (including the Torah and the Christian Bible), the Qu'ran, or the Talmud in-text, include the title of the version of the text you are using (e.g. Authorized King James Edition) the first time it is referenced your work. In a parenthetical reference, give the abbreviated version of the book title, if there is one. You can find a full list of standardize abbreviations for the Hebrew and Christian Bibles in Appendix 1 of the MLA Handbook, 9th edition. You can borrow a copy from the Circulation Desk. After the book title, include the numbers for the chapter and verse, separated by a period.
example: In the New Jerusalem Bible translation, Ezekiel experiences a vivid prophetic vision, where he sees "what seemed to be four living creatures," each with the faces of a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle (Ezek. 1.5-10).
example: Ezekiel experiences a vivid prophetic vision, where he sees "what seemed to be four living creatures," each with the faces of a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle (New Jerusalem Bible, Ezek. 1.5-10).
For subsequent references, use the above format, but you do not need to include the specific edition you used, unless you are referencing multiple editions of the scriptural work in question.
Whenever possible, always use the original source for any information you use in your essay. However, sometimes it isn't possible to find the original source (e.g. the source is out of print, unavailable through the Library, or not available in a language you can read). In those cases, MLA allows you to cite the information from what it calls an indirect source. An indirect source is a book, article, etc, that quotes or references a piece of information, but is not the original source of that information. Using an indirect source citation in your essay acknowledges that you know that the source you're using is not the original source of that information.
Make the original source clear in your text. Include specific page numbers in a parenthetical reference at the end of the sentence.
example: Feldstein cites that the October 1959 issue of Drum magazine named Miriam Makeba the "Star of Venice" (56).
Add qtd. in (an abbreviation for "quoted in") at the beginning of the parenthetical reference, followed by the author of the work where you found the information, followed by the page number.
example: In October 1959, Drum magazine named Miriam Makeba the "Star of Venice" (qtd. in Feldstein 56).
In both of the above examples, the October 1959 issue of Drum magazine is the original source of the quote about Miriam Makeba. Since we couldn't find a copy of Drum, we used a book by Ruth Feldstein, which is where we first found the quote.
MLA Handbook, Ninth edition by The MLA Handbook, 9th Edition, published by the Modern Language Association, is the definitive guide on MLA citation style. It was last updated in 2021. Copies of the Handbook are available at the Reserve Desk in the Library.
Additional information on MLA style may be found on the following websites:
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