An MLA in-text citation example shows how to credit a source inside the body of a paper, briefly enough that the prose keeps moving and precisely enough that a reader can find the matching entry on the works cited page. The standard format is a parenthetical citation containing the author's last name and the page number where the borrowed material appears, placed at the end of the sentence before the period. This page collects worked examples for every common case students hit (one author, two authors, three or more, no author, no page, indirect quotation, electronic source, repeat citations) so the right pattern is visible at a glance. Read on for the full picture of mla in text citation example, including format requirements, common mistakes, and worked examples.
The Standard MLA In-Text Citation Pattern
MLA in-text citations follow an author-page format. The simplest case looks like this:
Education without literacy is "the lever that makes self-emancipation thinkable" (Douglass 24).
Three things are happening in that example. The author's last name appears in the parentheses, the page number follows without a comma, and the period closes the sentence after the closing parenthesis. The works cited page, at the end of the paper, contains a full entry for the Douglass source. The job of the in-text citation is to point at that entry; the job of the entry is to give the reader the information needed to locate the source.
If the author's name appears in the prose itself, do not repeat it in the parentheses:
Douglass writes that literacy is "the lever that makes self-emancipation thinkable" (24).
Both versions are correct MLA. The parenthetical-only version reads as more compressed; the signal-phrase version reads as more conversational and is preferred when the writer wants to foreground the source.
Worked Examples by Source Type
One author
The author-page pattern handles most cases. Place the citation at the end of the borrowed material, before the period:
The novel resists this reading at every turn (Morrison 142).
For paraphrased material that runs across two consecutive pages, use a hyphen between the page numbers: (Morrison 142-43).
Two authors
Connect the two surnames with "and" inside the parentheses:
The data shift markedly when household income is controlled (Putnam and Garrett 88).
If both authors are introduced by the prose, drop them from the parentheses:
Putnam and Garrett report that the data shift markedly when household income is controlled (88).
Three or more authors
Use the first author's last name followed by "et al." (set in roman, not italics, with a period after "al"):
The replication failed across all four study sites (Henderson et al. 211).
The works cited entry lists all authors or the first author plus "et al." according to current MLA guidance.
No named author
When a source has no author (a news brief, an institutional report, a film), use a shortened form of the title in the parentheses. Italicize titles of long works and use quotation marks for titles of short works:
Hospital readmission rates climbed seven percent over the survey period ("National Quality Report" 12).
The shortened title must begin with the same word the works cited entry begins with so the reader can locate the matching entry alphabetically.
No page numbers
Many digital sources, including most web articles, have no fixed page numbers. Cite the author alone:
The investigation took eighteen months to clear (Mendez).
Do not invent page numbers from a printed PDF unless the printed page numbers appear on the document itself. If the source uses paragraph numbers, section headings, or timestamps, those can substitute for page numbers using the abbreviations "par.", "sec.", "ch.", or "00:14:32" for video timestamps:
The narrator's uncertainty surfaces midway through the chapter (Le Guin, ch. 6).
Indirect or secondary sources
When a source quotes another source and the original is unavailable, use "qtd. in" (quoted in) inside the parentheses:
The committee opposed the bill at every reading (qtd. in Sandoval 47).
The works cited entry is for Sandoval, not for the original speaker. MLA discourages secondary citation when the original is accessible; track down the primary source whenever possible.
Multiple works in one citation
When a sentence draws on more than one source, separate the entries with a semicolon:
Several recent studies find the same trend (Park 14; Ahmadi and Rourke 88; "WHO Briefing" 4).
Two works by the same author
When the works cited page lists two or more works by the same author, include a shortened title in the parenthetical citation so the reader knows which work is being cited:
The early novels handle this contrast by indirection (Morrison, Beloved 142); the later essays handle it as direct argument (Morrison, "Site of Memory" 11).
Authors with the same last name
When two authors in the works cited page share a last name, include the first initial:
The findings diverge sharply (J. Lopez 22; M. Lopez 14).
Block quotations
Quotations of four or more lines of prose, or three or more lines of poetry, are formatted as block quotations: indented one inch from the left margin, no quotation marks, and the parenthetical citation appears AFTER the closing punctuation rather than before it:
The narrator names the source of the unease directly: Every house had its own quiet, but this one's quiet was different. The walls listened. The floors remembered. (Carter 47)
This is the only context in MLA where the citation falls outside the closing punctuation.
Electronic sources without an author
For electronic sources without an author and without page numbers, use a shortened title:
The legislation passed by a two-vote margin ("State Senate Roll Call").
For broadcast and audiovisual sources, the works cited entry typically begins with the title; the in-text citation matches.
Lecture, interview, or personal communication
Cite the speaker's last name. If the source is unpublished and not retrievable by the reader, the works cited entry will note the form (Personal interview, Lecture, Email):
The grant priorities have shifted twice in the past decade (Patel).
Sentences that Combine Multiple Citation Patterns
Real academic writing rarely confines a citation to a single tidy pattern. The examples below show how the patterns combine in a working paragraph.
The campaign's pivot in late 1968 has been read in two ways. Edsall argues that the candidate "abandoned the New Deal coalition under direct pressure from polling data" (88), while McGirr counters that the polling data merely confirmed a strategic decision the campaign had already made (142-43; see also Phillips 211). What both accounts agree on is the timing: the pivot took place "in the three weeks after the convention" (qtd. in Sandoval 47).
That paragraph uses a signal phrase, a parenthetical-only citation, a multi-page citation, a "see also" cross-reference, and a "qtd. in" indirect citation, all in standard MLA form. For the matching works cited entries that those in-text citations point to, see our MLA paper formatting guide, which covers full citation construction.
Common Mistakes in MLA In-Text Citation
Adding "p." or "pg." before the page number
MLA does not use "p." or "pg." in the in-text citation. The page number stands alone. Write (Morrison 142), not (Morrison, p. 142). The "p." abbreviation belongs to APA, not MLA.
Putting a comma between author and page
The author and page number are separated by a space, not a comma. (Morrison 142) is correct; (Morrison, 142) is not. The comma reappears only when a shortened title is added between the two: (Morrison, Beloved 142).
Citing the same source after every sentence
When several consecutive sentences draw on the same source and no other source intrudes, MLA permits a single parenthetical citation at the end of the borrowed material rather than one citation per sentence. The reader will understand that all the borrowed material in the run-on belongs to the cited source. Three citations in a row pointing to the same author and page read as anxious rather than thorough.
Placing the period inside the parentheses
Standard placement is sentence text closing-quote (Author Page) period. The period falls outside the parentheses. Block quotations are the exception, where the period falls before the parenthetical citation.
Forgetting to include the citation when paraphrasing
Paraphrased material requires an in-text citation just as direct quotation does. The most common form of accidental plagiarism in undergraduate writing is paraphrased borrowing without citation, and graders treat it the same way they treat unquoted lifted text. When in doubt, cite.
Citing a source the writer did not actually read
If a quotation reaches the writer through a secondary source, the citation must use "qtd. in" and the works cited entry must be for the secondary source, not the original. Citing the original directly is a misrepresentation that surfaces fast in oral examinations and graduate review.
Quick Reference: MLA In-Text Citation Patterns
- One author: (Author 12)
- Author named in prose: (12)
- Two authors: (Author and Author 12)
- Three or more: (Author et al. 12)
- No author: ("Shortened Title" 12) or (Shortened Title 12)
- No page number: (Author)
- Paragraph or section: (Author, par. 4) or (Author, ch. 6)
- Indirect citation: (qtd. in Author 12)
- Two works in one citation: (Author 12; Author 24)
- Two works by same author: (Author, Title 12)
- Same last name: (J. Author 12)
- Block quotation: citation falls AFTER the closing period
Where the In-Text Citation Connects to the Works Cited Page
Every in-text citation must match exactly one entry on the works cited page. The first word of the works cited entry (usually the author's last name, or the first significant word of the title when no author exists) must match the first word of the in-text citation. This is the link the reader uses to locate the full source. Mismatches between in-text citations and works cited entries are the most common deduction on annotated assignments. For practical guidance on building MLA papers from start to finish, including the works cited page, see our MLA paper formatting guide, our MLA citation overview, and our citation styles comparison.
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