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In-Text Citations: The Basics

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Note:  This page reflects the latest version of the APA Publication Manual (i.e., APA 7), which released in October 2019. The equivalent resource for the older APA 6 style  can be found here .

Reference citations in text are covered on pages 261-268 of the Publication Manual. What follows are some general guidelines for referring to the works of others in your essay.

Note:  On pages 117-118, the Publication Manual suggests that authors of research papers should use the past tense or present perfect tense for signal phrases that occur in the literature review and procedure descriptions (for example, Jones (1998)  found  or Jones (1998)  has found ...). Contexts other than traditionally-structured research writing may permit the simple present tense (for example, Jones (1998)  finds ).

APA Citation Basics

When using APA format, follow the author-date method of in-text citation. This means that the author's last name and the year of publication for the source should appear in the text, like, for example, (Jones, 1998). One complete reference for each source should appear in the reference list at the end of the paper.

If you are referring to an idea from another work but  NOT  directly quoting the material, or making reference to an entire book, article or other work, you only have to make reference to the author and year of publication and not the page number in your in-text reference.

On the other hand, if you are directly quoting or borrowing from another work, you should include the page number at the end of the parenthetical citation. Use the abbreviation “p.” (for one page) or “pp.” (for multiple pages) before listing the page number(s). Use an en dash for page ranges. For example, you might write (Jones, 1998, p. 199) or (Jones, 1998, pp. 199–201). This information is reiterated below.

Regardless of how they are referenced, all sources that are cited in the text must appear in the reference list at the end of the paper.

In-text citation capitalization, quotes, and italics/underlining

• Always capitalize proper nouns, including author names and initials: D. Jones.
• If you refer to the title of a source within your paper, capitalize all words that are four letters long or greater within the title of a source:  Permanence and Change . Exceptions apply to short words that are verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs:  Writing New Media ,  There Is Nothing Left to Lose .

( Note:  in your References list, only the first word of a title will be capitalized:  Writing new media .)

• When capitalizing titles, capitalize both words in a hyphenated compound word:  Natural-Born Cyborgs .
• Capitalize the first word after a dash or colon: "Defining Film Rhetoric: The Case of Hitchcock's  Vertigo ."
• If the title of the work is italicized in your reference list, italicize it and use title case capitalization in the text:  The Closing of the American Mind ;  The Wizard of Oz ;  Friends .
• If the title of the work is not italicized in your reference list, use double quotation marks and title case capitalization (even though the reference list uses sentence case): "Multimedia Narration: Constructing Possible Worlds;" "The One Where Chandler Can't Cry."

Short quotations

If you are directly quoting from a work, you will need to include the author, year of publication, and page number for the reference (preceded by "p." for a single page and “pp.” for a span of multiple pages, with the page numbers separated by an en dash).

You can introduce the quotation with a signal phrase that includes the author's last name followed by the date of publication in parentheses.

If you do not include the author’s name in the text of the sentence, place the author's last name, the year of publication, and the page number in parentheses after the quotation.

Long quotations

Place direct quotations that are 40 words or longer in a free-standing block of typewritten lines and omit quotation marks. Start the quotation on a new line, indented 1/2 inch from the left margin, i.e., in the same place you would begin a new paragraph. Type the entire quotation on the new margin, and indent the first line of any subsequent paragraph within the quotation 1/2 inch from the new margin. Maintain double-spacing throughout, but do not add an extra blank line before or after it. The parenthetical citation should come after the closing punctuation mark.

Because block quotation formatting is difficult for us to replicate in the OWL's content management system, we have simply provided a screenshot of a generic example below.

Formatting example for block quotations in APA 7 style.

Quotations from sources without pages

Direct quotations from sources that do not contain pages should not reference a page number. Instead, you may reference another logical identifying element: a paragraph, a chapter number, a section number, a table number, or something else. Older works (like religious texts) can also incorporate special location identifiers like verse numbers. In short: pick a substitute for page numbers that makes sense for your source.

Summary or paraphrase

If you are paraphrasing an idea from another work, you only have to make reference to the author and year of publication in your in-text reference and may omit the page numbers. APA guidelines, however, do encourage including a page range for a summary or paraphrase when it will help the reader find the information in a longer work. 

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MLA Citation Guide (MLA 9th Edition): In-Text Citation

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• Academic Honesty and Citation

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In-text citations are inserted in the body of your research paper to briefly document the source of your information. 

• In-text citations in MLA style follow the general format of author's last name followed by a page number enclosed in parentheses. Here is an example: "Here's a direct quote" (Smith 8).
• If the author's name is not given, use the first word (or words) of the title. Follow the same formatting that is used in the works-cited list, such as quotation marks. Here is an example: This is a paraphrase ("Trouble" 22).
• If the source does not have page numbers (for example, some online articles, websites and e-books), only include the author's name for the in-text citation. Do not estimate or make up page numbers.  
• In-text citations point the reader to the works-cited list, which is located at the end of your paper, for more complete bibliographic information.

Repeated Use of Sources

If you use information from a single source more than once in succession (i.e., no other sources referred to in between), you can use a simplified in-text citation. Here is an example:

Cell biology is an area of science that focuses on the structure and function of cells (Smith 15). It revolves around the idea that the cell is a "fundamental unit of life" (17).

  Note: If using this simplified in-text citation creates ambiguity regarding the source being referred to, use the full in-text citation format.

In-Text Citation Formatting and Examples

Format:  (Author's Last Name Page Number)

Example: (Hunt 358)

Two Authors

Format:  (Author's Last Name and Author's Last Name Page Number)

Example: (Case and Daristotle 57)

Three or More Authors

Format:   (Author's Last Name et al. Page Number)

Example: (Case et al. 57)

Unknown Author

Where you would normally put the author's last name, instead use the first one, two, or three words from the title. Do not use  initial articles such as "A", "An" or "The". Provide enough words to clarify which sources from your works-cited list that you are referencing. 

Follow the formatting of the title. For example, if the title in the works-cited list is in italics, italicize the words from the title in the in-text citation, and if the title in the works-cited list is in quotation marks, put quotation marks around the words from the title in the in-text citation.

Format: (Title Page Number)

Examples : 

( Cell Biology 12)

("Nursing" 12)

Multiple Sources

To cite more than one source when you are paraphrasing, separate the in-text citations with a semi-colon.

Format: (Author's Last Name Page Number; Author's Last Name Page Number).

(Smith 42; Bennett 71). 

( It Takes Two ; Brock 43).

 Note: In MLA style, the sources within the in-text citation do not need to be in alphabetical order.

Works Quoted in Another Source

Sometimes an author of a book, article or website will mention another person's work by using a quotation or paraphrased idea from that source. (This may be a secondary source.) For example, the Kirkey article you are reading includes a quotation by Smith that you would like to include in your essay. The basic rule is that in both your Works-Cited List and in-text citation you will still cite Kirkey. Kirkey will appear in your Works Cited list – NOT Smith. Add the words "qtd. in" to your in-text citation.

Examples of in-text citations:

According to a study by Smith (qtd. in Kirkey) 42% of doctors would refuse to perform legal euthanasia.

Smith (qtd. in Kirkey) states that “even if euthanasia was legal, 42% of doctors would be against this method of assisted dying” (A.10).

Example of Works Cited List citation:

Kirkey, Susan. "Euthanasia."   The Montreal Gazette , 9 Feb. 2013, p. A.10. Canadian Newsstand Major Dailies.

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• Harvard In-Text Citation | A Complete Guide & Examples

Harvard In-Text Citation | A Complete Guide & Examples

Published on 30 April 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on 5 May 2022.

An in-text citation should appear wherever you quote or paraphrase a source in your writing, pointing your reader to the full reference .

In Harvard style , citations appear in brackets in the text. An in-text citation consists of the last name of the author,  the year of publication, and a page number if relevant.

Up to three authors are included in Harvard in-text citations. If there are four or more authors, the citation is shortened with et al .

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Table of contents

Including page numbers in citations, where to place harvard in-text citations, citing sources with missing information, frequently asked questions about harvard in-text citations.

When you quote directly from a source or paraphrase a specific passage, your in-text citation must include a page number to specify where the relevant passage is located.

Use ‘p.’ for a single page and ‘pp.’ for a page range:

• Meanwhile, another commentator asserts that the economy is ‘on the downturn’ (Singh, 2015, p. 13 ).
• Wilson (2015, pp. 12–14 ) makes an argument for the efficacy of the technique.

If you are summarising the general argument of a source or paraphrasing ideas that recur throughout the text, no page number is needed.

Prevent plagiarism, run a free check.

When incorporating citations into your text, you can either name the author directly in the text or only include the author’s name in brackets.

Naming the author in the text

When you name the author in the sentence itself, the year and (if relevant) page number are typically given in brackets straight after the name:

Naming the author directly in your sentence is the best approach when you want to critique or comment on the source.

Naming the author in brackets

When you  you haven’t mentioned the author’s name in your sentence, include it inside the brackets. The citation is generally placed after the relevant quote or paraphrase, or at the end of the sentence, before the full stop:

Multiple citations can be included in one place, listed in order of publication year and separated by semicolons:

This type of citation is useful when you want to support a claim or summarise the overall findings of sources.

Common mistakes with in-text citations

In-text citations in brackets should not appear as the subject of your sentences. Anything that’s essential to the meaning of a sentence should be written outside the brackets:

• (Smith, 2019) argues that…
• Smith (2019) argues that…

Similarly, don’t repeat the author’s name in the bracketed citation and in the sentence itself:

• As Caulfield (Caulfield, 2020) writes…
• As Caulfield (2020) writes…

Sometimes you won’t have access to all the source information you need for an in-text citation. Here’s what to do if you’re missing the publication date, author’s name, or page numbers for a source.

If a source doesn’t list a clear publication date, as is sometimes the case with online sources or historical documents, replace the date with the words ‘no date’:

When it’s not clear who the author of a source is, you’ll sometimes be able to substitute a corporate author – the group or organisation responsible for the publication:

When there’s no corporate author to cite, you can use the title of the source in place of the author’s name:

No page numbers

If you quote from a source without page numbers, such as a website, you can just omit this information if it’s a short text – it should be easy enough to find the quote without it.

If you quote from a longer source without page numbers, it’s best to find an alternate location marker, such as a paragraph number or subheading, and include that:

A Harvard in-text citation should appear in brackets every time you quote, paraphrase, or refer to information from a source.

The citation can appear immediately after the quotation or paraphrase, or at the end of the sentence. If you’re quoting, place the citation outside of the quotation marks but before any other punctuation like a comma or full stop.

In Harvard referencing, up to three author names are included in an in-text citation or reference list entry. When there are four or more authors, include only the first, followed by ‘ et al. ’

In Harvard style , when you quote directly from a source that includes page numbers, your in-text citation must include a page number. For example: (Smith, 2014, p. 33).

You can also include page numbers to point the reader towards a passage that you paraphrased . If you refer to the general ideas or findings of the source as a whole, you don’t need to include a page number.

When you want to use a quote but can’t access the original source, you can cite it indirectly. In the in-text citation , first mention the source you want to refer to, and then the source in which you found it. For example:

It’s advisable to avoid indirect citations wherever possible, because they suggest you don’t have full knowledge of the sources you’re citing. Only use an indirect citation if you can’t reasonably gain access to the original source.

In Harvard style referencing , to distinguish between two sources by the same author that were published in the same year, you add a different letter after the year for each source:

• (Smith, 2019a)
• (Smith, 2019b)

Add ‘a’ to the first one you cite, ‘b’ to the second, and so on. Do the same in your bibliography or reference list .

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the ‘Cite this Scribbr article’ button to automatically add the citation to our free Reference Generator.

Caulfield, J. (2022, May 05). Harvard In-Text Citation | A Complete Guide & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved 29 August 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/referencing/harvard-in-text-citation/

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In-Text Citations: An Overview

In-text citations are brief, unobtrusive references that direct readers to the works-cited-list entries for the sources you consulted and, where relevant, to the location in the source being cited.

An in-text citation begins with the shortest piece of information that di­rects your reader to the entry in the works-cited list. Thus, it begins with what ever comes first in the entry: the author’s name or the title (or descrip­tion) of the work. The citation can appear in your prose or in parentheses.

Citation in prose  Naomi Baron broke new ground on the subject. Parenthetical citation At least one researcher has broken new ground on the subject (Baron). Work cited Baron, Naomi S. “Redefining Reading: The Impact of Digital Communication Media.” PMLA , vol. 128, no. 1, Jan. 2013, pp. 193–200. 

When relevant, an in-text citation also has a second component: if a specific part of a work is quoted or paraphrased and the work includes a page number, line number, time stamp, or other way to point readers to the place in the work where the information can be found, that location marker must be included in parentheses.

Parenthetical citation According to Naomi Baron, reading is “just half of literacy. The other half is writing” (194).

The author or title can also appear alongside the page number or other loca­tion marker in parentheses.

Parenthetical citation Reading is “just half of literacy. The other half is writing” (Baron 194).

All in-text references should be concise. Avoid, for instance, providing the author’s name or title of a work in both your prose and parentheses.

Citation (incorrect) According to Naomi Baron, reading is “just half of literacy. The other half is writing” (Baron 194). Citation (correct) According to Naomi Baron, reading is “just half of literacy. The other half is writing” (194).

For more on what to include in an in-text citation and how to style it, see sections 6.3–6.30 of the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook ).

56 Comments

Brandi unruh 10 april 2021 at 11:04 am.

Hello! I am a high school English teacher trying to answer a question that came up during our research unit. I can’t seem to find a definitive answer online. When using a shortened title in an in-text citation, does an ellipsis need to be included? For example, if the title was “The Problem of Poverty in America: A Historical and Cultural Analysis”, would the in-text citation be (“The Problem of Poverty in America...”) or (“The Problem of Poverty in America”)? Thank you for your time and expertise!

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Laura Kiernan 12 April 2021 AT 11:04 AM

No, an ellipsis would not be used in an in-text citation. We provide extensive guidance on shortening titles in 6.10 of the new ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .

angel 10 May 2021 AT 02:05 PM

hii How to write an in text citation of an entry from encyclopedia which has an editor but no separate authors for each entry ?

William Feeler 11 May 2021 AT 01:05 PM

I see no mention of paragraph numbers for unpaginated prose or sections/lines for drama. are these practices gone?

Laura Kiernan 18 May 2021 AT 01:05 PM

This post provides a general overview of our approach to in-text citations. The complete guidelines appear in sections 6.1–6.30 of the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .

Vonceil Park 11 May 2021 AT 01:05 PM

Dear MLA Staff, A professor at my College demands students to provide paragraph number in the in-text citation for online articles that have no page number nor paragraph number. Do we just count the paragraph number and put them in the parenthesis, for example: (para. 3)?

Laura Kiernan 18 May 2021 AT 12:05 PM

Thank you for your question. Your approach to modifying our style in accordance with your professor's instructions works, but we would suggest confirming that styling with your professor.

Arathi Babu 17 May 2021 AT 08:05 AM

How to write an in text citation of an unsigned entry from a reference work?

Laura Kiernan 08 June 2021 AT 11:06 AM

If the entry was in a print work, the in-text citation would include the entry’s title or a shortened version of the entry’s title and the page number of the quotation. If the entry was in a reference work without page numbers, the in-text citation should just contain the title or shortened title of the entry.

Sethu 17 May 2021 AT 02:05 PM

For example: Can I give an in-text citation like the following: Shakespeare, in his work Hamlet, quotes: "To be or not to be" (7).

For citing commonly studied verse works, see 6.22 in the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .

Trinity Klein 21 May 2021 AT 11:05 AM

Can you please help with proper in-text citation placement for an embedded quotation? Does the citation come immediately after the quotation or at the very end of the sentence? For example, is this correct: He asks her to take him home “in the voice of a child afraid of the dark” which comes as a shock to Scout because he has so long held a bold and rebellious reputation (372). Or should the (372) come immediately after ...dark"...? Thank you!

For more information about the placement of a parenthetical citations, see 6.43 in the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .

Karima 30 May 2021 AT 05:05 PM

Dear MLA staff, 1) In case i am quoting from multiple sources by the same author, am i required to introduce again the source i am quoting from in the beginning of my sentence? (Quotes are used in multiple paragraphs)

For guidance on citing multiple sources by the same author, see 6.8 in the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .

Yves 23 June 2021 AT 06:06 PM

Hello, is there a specific rule about how to format a range of page numbers in the parenthetical citation? For example, could (Eden 44-45) be written as (Eden 44-5), or is only one example correct?

Laura Kiernan 24 September 2021 AT 02:09 PM

For information about styling number ranges, see section 2.139 of the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .

Faliravo 11 August 2021 AT 05:08 AM

Good morning MLA team, My professor insists that I include the year of publication for in-text citations. Is it going to be okay if I insert the year between the author and the page number?

Thank you very much for your consideration.

Laura Kiernan 24 September 2021 AT 01:09 PM

Your approach to modifying our style in accordance with your professor’s instructions works, but we would suggest confirming that styling with your professor.

Pauline 14 September 2021 AT 11:09 PM

How do I cite an entire work. For example, if I want to say Toni Morrison's the "Bluest Eye" has been used as a textbook for many English literature classes, I suppose I shouldn't put any page number in the parenthetical citation. But I can't find any MLA references on this.

See section 4.14 of the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .

myron glassenberg 04 February 2022 AT 01:02 PM

if source is the whole book, how do I cite in text and in works cited pages. e.g. freud (no page number) Freud , ( 1892) The Pleasure Principle.

Rita Rozzi 20 September 2023 AT 07:09 PM

There is no section 4.14 in the ninth edition. Do you have any updated information? Thank you.

Laura Kiernan 21 September 2023 AT 03:09 PM

Section 4.14, which is titled "Passing Mentions," can be found in chapter 4 of the ninth edition of the handbook.

Lauren McFall 13 October 2021 AT 02:10 PM

Students often refer to the same source consecutively across more than one sentence. I'm having a hard time finding information about the preferred approach according to the MLA. As a parallel, APA makes a specific recommendation - "cite the source in the first sentence in which it is relevant and do not repeat the citation in subsequent sentences as long as the source remains clear and unchanged" https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/citations/appropriate-citation

Laura Kiernan 20 October 2021 AT 04:10 PM

See 6.45 of the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .

Ruth Schafer 01 December 2022 AT 07:12 PM

6.45 out of the MLA Handbook's ninth edition does not provide an example of how to cite a multi-sentence paraphrase when using an unpaginated source. Can you give an example of how to cite a multi-sentence paraphrase where the source does not have published page numbering?

Should I introduce the source in my prose and then again at the end of the multi-sentence paraphrase in parentheses when I have finished citing the paraphrase? Example: John Smith from Smith Architecture explains that crawl space foundations are...blah blah blah. These foundations are most commonly used in midwestern constructions where the frost line is...blah, blah, blah. Keep writing the paraphrase and then at the end of the final sentence instead of a page citation write the author's last name (Smith). This way if you switch to a different source, at least the reader knows that you have finished with the Smith source and have moved on to your own commentary or another source's information. Usually, I'd use a page citation at the end of the paraphrase, but when dealing with a source that does not have page numbering, I'm unsure what to do.

Lizzie 18 October 2021 AT 10:10 PM

If I only use textual evidence from the novel I'm examining, do I need to include the authors name with each in text citation? There are no other works cited, so it seems redundant/clutter-y to me

Kayden 29 October 2021 AT 05:10 PM

If I'm trying to cite multiple paragraphs from the same source would it be correct to say (par. 3 and 13) or should it be (par. 3, 13) and is it different if they are next to each other too like (par. 6-7) or (par. 6 and 7).

Laura Kiernan 04 November 2021 AT 11:11 AM

See sections 6.18–6.20 of the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .

Rachel 17 November 2021 AT 01:11 PM

When citing from an online source without pagination, if you include the author's name in the introduction to the quote, do you need to include anything in parentheses like the article title?

Laura Kiernan 22 November 2021 AT 12:11 PM

See section 6.26 of the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .

July 25 November 2021 AT 05:11 PM

When quoting an online source (e.g. a website), do I have to indicate the fact that it's an online source in the in-text-citations as in (Name [online]) or is the author's name enough?

Thank you in advance for your answer.

Laura Kiernan 29 November 2021 AT 10:11 AM

According to MLA style, an in-text citation for an online work should not note that the work is online.

Pinkie 19 March 2022 AT 08:03 PM

If I'm writing a response paper, and I need to summarize the whole article to introduce it, then should I use in-text citation?

Laura Kiernan 25 March 2022 AT 01:03 PM

For guidance on paraphrasing, see sections 4.5–4.8 of the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .

Kay 09 April 2022 AT 06:04 PM

Hi, am I supposed to include the DOI when one is available in the citation? If I cite the print version of a journal article that has a DOI, still include the DOI in the citation? Thank you!

Laura Kiernan 11 April 2022 AT 11:04 AM

Thank you for your questions. For guidance on including a DOI in your works-cited-list entry, see sections 5.84 and 5.93 in the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .

Mike 16 April 2022 AT 05:04 PM

Website in-text Citation...

When I'm writing an in-text citation for a website, I'm seeing all manner of different things to include. Do I need to add the author name and year of publishing for the article?\ Do I just need the website name? I'm not really understanding what I need to add or obtain for such a citation within the text I'm writing.

I'm writing a book on my life, and I'm quoting a particular webpage to show one particular angle of an argument I'm making, and, of course, it's not common knowledge, so I want to make sure that I follow all the rules for this kind of thing, so I don't get in trouble with the author(s) of the sources I have quoted from...

Laura Kiernan 18 April 2022 AT 02:04 PM

Thank you for your questions about MLA style. For guidance on in-text citations for web pages, see section 6.26 of the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .

Cynthia 21 May 2022 AT 10:05 PM

When you're doing an In-text citations do you put the quotations over the chapter title and then quotations over what you get from the text or do you italicize the title?

Laura Kiernan 25 May 2022 AT 03:05 PM

Thank you for your question. For guidance on how to style chapter titles, see 2.109 of the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .

Napatsi 15 August 2022 AT 07:08 PM

I'm trying to find how to put in the in-text citation for a UN declaration article but can only find the "Resolutions of International Governing Bodies" on page 446 of the 9th edition but not how to out it in without an author.

Kim 27 September 2022 AT 12:09 PM

I'm quoting a passage from an unpublished manuscript, and it is not the only work I'm citing by the author, but the only one without a year. So using "Smith 1995, 82" is not possible. What would an in-text citation for this case look like?

Jen 17 November 2022 AT 08:11 PM

How do I cite a news cast for in-text citation like ABC News?

Samantha 04 December 2022 AT 05:12 PM

Hi, For MLA format, should a quote where you need to de-capitalize the first letter be written as "you want" or "(y)ou want". Thanks!

Laura Kiernan 07 December 2022 AT 01:12 PM

Thank you for your question. For guidance on how to indicate that you have lowercased the first letter of a quotation, see 6.56 of the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .

Maria Albeti 07 February 2023 AT 01:02 PM

Stewart, David W. Focus groups. In: Frey, B.B. (ed.) The SAGE Encyclopedia of Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation, vol. 2, pp. 687–692. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications 2018 In this case, how is the correct form to write, because the article is IN the the book?

Eros Karadzhov 15 February 2023 AT 02:02 PM

If we have a sentence that is a statement, but at the end we quote a question, which punctuation mark do we keep, the question mark or the period; maybe both? Example: (1) The author ends his poem with the following question on purpose: "Or does it explode?" (Hughes 11). (2) The author ends his poem with the following question on purpose: "Or does it explode" (Hughes 11)?

Which would be correct, or maybe both are wrong?

Thank you in advance!

Laura Kiernan 16 February 2023 AT 03:02 PM

Thank you for your question. For guidance on quotations ending in a question mark, see section 6.53 of the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .

Anonymous 08 March 2023 AT 05:03 PM

What about online articles with no known author or multiple authors? What should the in-text citation look like?

Maria 25 March 2023 AT 04:03 PM

Please settle a dispute with my colleagues. I encourage composition students to avoid listing the title of journal articles within the essay unless it is especially relevant because it clutters their arguments. I came to this conclusion from my interpretation of this statement from MLA: "All in-text references should be concise. Avoid, for instance, providing the author’s name or title of a work in both your prose and parentheses." Could someone please provide an answer or further clarification?

Erika Suffern 30 March 2023 AT 04:03 PM

You are right to identify a principle of concision in our guidelines. That said, it is not wrong to mention a title in prose, but it should be done, as you note, when relevant–not as a de rigeur practice or for “filler.” As Eric Hayot notes in The Elements of Academic Style: Writing for the Humanities (Columbia UP, 2014), “giving the title” in prose “suggests fuller forthcoming treatment” (159). Another reason for including the title in prose might be to call attention to something about it. Many writers who do mention a title in prose fear having an incomplete citation and are tempted also to include the title in a parenthetical reference, which is unnecessary.

Jay 29 April 2023 AT 12:04 AM

How do I in-text cite a direct quote from the introduction of an ebook with no page numbers? Would I write (Author "Introduction") or just write (Author)?

Kiara 11 February 2024 AT 03:02 PM

Hello! I am a university student who is currently creating works cited entries and in-text citations for a reflection essay. How do I properly cite professor and peer comments?

Therese Willis 30 July 2024 AT 10:07 PM

What is the proper way to write MLA in-text citattion from a website for this: According to an article titled “Caitlin Clark: Changing the Game” (McCord, 2024), Clark put women’s basketball on the map and taught millions what it meant to love the sport. She has shown off her iconic logo shot and her ability to control the court when needed, all while maintaining a professional image.

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Penn State University Libraries

Apa quick citation guide.

• In-text Citation
• Citing Generative AI
• Citing Web Pages and Social Media
• Citing Articles
• Citing Books
• Citing Business Reports
• Other Formats
• APA Style Quiz

Using In-text Citation

Include an in-text citation when you refer to, summarize, paraphrase, or quote from another source. For every in-text citation in your paper, there must be a corresponding entry in your reference list.

APA in-text citation style uses the author's last name and the year of publication, for example: (Field, 2005). For direct quotations, include the page number as well, for example: (Field, 2005, p. 14). For sources such as websites and e-books that have no page numbers , use a paragraph number, for example: (Field, 2005, para. 1). More information on direct quotation of sources without pagination is given on the APA Style and Grammar Guidelines web page.

Example paragraph with in-text citation

A few researchers in the linguistics field have developed training programs designed to improve native speakers' ability to understand accented speech (Derwing et al., 2002; Thomas, 2004). Their training techniques are based on the research described above indicating that comprehension improves with exposure to non-native speech.   Derwing et al. (2002) conducted their training with students preparing to be social workers, but note that other professionals who work with non-native speakers could benefit from a similar program.

Derwing, T. M., Rossiter, M. J., & Munro, M. J. (2002). Teaching native speakers to listen to foreign-accented speech.  Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development , 23 (4), 245-259.

Thomas, H. K. (2004).  Training strategies for improving listeners' comprehension of foreign-accented speech  (Doctoral dissertation). University of Colorado, Boulder.

Citing Web Pages In Text

Cite web pages in text as you would any other source, using the author and date if known. Keep in mind that the author may be an organization rather than a person. For sources with no author, use the title in place of an author.

For sources with no date use n.d. (for no date) in place of the year: (Smith, n.d.). For more information on citations for sources with no date or other missing information see the page on missing reference information on the APA Style and Grammar Guidelines web page. 

Below are examples of using in-text citation with web pages.

Web page with author:

In-text citation

Heavy social media use can be linked to depression and other mental disorders in teens (Asmelash, 2019).

Reference entry

Asmelash, L. (2019, August 14). Social media use may harm teens' mental health by disrupting positive activities, study says . CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/13/health/social-media-mental-health-trnd/index.html

Web page with organizational author:

More than 300 million people worldwide are affected by depression (World Health Organization, 2018).

World Health Organization. (2018, March 22).  Depression . https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/depression

Web page with no date:

Establishing regular routines, such as exercise, can help survivors of disasters recover from trauma (American Psychological Association [APA], n.d.).

American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Recovering emotionally from disaste r. http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/recovering-disasters.aspx

General Guidelines

In-text references should immediately follow the title, word, or phrase to which they are directly relevant, rather than appearing at the end of long clauses or sentences. In-text references should always precede punctuation marks. Below are examples of using in-text citation.

Author's name in parentheses:

One study found that the most important element in comprehending non-native speech is familiarity with the topic (Gass & Varonis, 1984).

Author's name part of narrative:

Gass and Varonis (1984) found that the most important element in comprehending non-native speech is familiarity with the topic.

Group as author: First citation: (American Psychological Association [APA], 2015) Subsequent citation: (APA, 2015)

Multiple works: (separate each work with semi-colons)

Research shows that listening to a particular accent improves comprehension of accented speech in general (Gass & Varonis, 1984; Krech Thomas, 2004).

Direct quote: (include page number and place quotation marks around the direct quote)

One study found that “the listener's familiarity with the topic of discourse greatly facilitates the interpretation of the entire message” (Gass & Varonis, 1984, p. 85).

Gass and Varonis (1984) found that “the listener’s familiarity with the topic of discourse greatly facilitates the interpretation of the entire message” (p. 85).

Note:  For direct quotations of more than 40 words , display the quote as an indented block of text without quotation marks and include the authors’ names, year, and page number in parentheses at the end of the quote. For example:

This suggests that familiarity with nonnative speech in general, although it is clearly not as important a variable as topic familiarity, may indeed have some effect. That is, prior experience with nonnative speech, such as that gained by listening to the reading, facilitates comprehension. (Gass & Varonis, 1984, p. 77)

Works by Multiple Authors

APA style has specific rules for citing works by multiple authors. Use the following guidelines to determine how to correctly cite works by multiple authors in text. For more information on citing works by multiple authors see the APA Style and Grammar Guidelines page on in-text citation .

Note: When using multiple authors' names as part of your narrative, rather than in parentheses, always spell out the word and. For multiple authors' names within a parenthetic citation, use &.

One author: (Field, 2005)

Two authors: (Gass & Varonis, 1984)

Three or more authors:   (Tremblay et al., 2010)

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MLA In-text Citations and Sample Essay 9th Edition

Listing your sources at the end of your essay in the Works Cited is only the first step in complete and effective documentation. Proper citation of sources is a two-part process . You must also cite, in the body of your essay, the source your paraphrased information or where directly quoted material came from. These citations within the essay are called in-text citations . You must cite all quoted, paraphrased, or summarized words, ideas, and facts from sources. Without in-text citations, you are in danger of plagiarism , even if you have listed your sources at the end of the essay. In-text citations point the reader to the sources’ information in the works cited page, so the in-text citation should be the first item listed in the source’s citation on the works cited page, which is usually the author’s last name (or the title if there is no author) and the page number, if provided.

Two Ways to Cite Your Sources In-text

Parenthetical citation.

Cite your source in parentheses at the end of quoted or paraphrased material.

Example with a page number: In regards to paraphrasing, "It is important to remember to use in-text citations for your paraphrased information, as well as your directly quoted material" (Habib 7).

Example without a page number : Paraphrasing is "often the best choice because direct quotes should be reserved for source material that is especially well-written in style and/or clarity" (Ruiz).

Signal Phrase

Within the sentence, through the use of a "signal phrase" which signals to the reader the specific source the idea or quote came from. Include the page number(s) in parentheses at the end of the sentence, if provided.

Example with a page number: According to Habib, "It is important to remember to use in-text citations for your paraphrased information, as well as your directly quoted material" (7).

Example without a page number: According to Ruiz, paraphrasing is "often the best choice because direct quotes should be reserved for source material that is especially well-written in style and/or clarity."

*See our handout "Signal Phrases" for more examples and information on effective ways to use signal phrases for in-text citations.

Do you need to include a page number in your in-text citation?

Printed materials such as books, magazines, journals, or internet and digital sources with PDF files that show an actual printed page number need to have a page number in the citation.

Internet and digital sources with a continuously scrolling page without a page number do not need a page number in the citation.

Commonly used in-text citations in parentheses

Notes on Quotes

Block quotation format.

When using long quotations that are over four lines of prose or over three lines of poetry in length, you will need to use block quotation format. Block format is indented one inch from the margin (you can hit the "tab" button twice to move it one inch). Additionally, block quotes do not use quotation marks, and the parenthetical citation comes after the period of the last sentence. Please see the following sample essay for an example block quote.

Signal Phrase Examples and Ideas

Please see the following sample essay for different kinds of signal phrases and parenthetical in-text citations, which correspond with the sample Works Cited page at the end. The Writing Center also has a handout on signal phrases with many different verb options.

Learn more about the MLA Works Cited page by reviewing this handout .

For information on STLCC's academic integrity policy, check out this website .

Home / Guides / Citation Guides / MLA Format / MLA In-text Citations

MLA In-Text Citations

An in-text citation is a reference to a source that is found within the text of a paper ( Handbook 227). This tells a reader that an idea, quote, or paraphrase originated from a source. MLA in-text citations usually include the last name of the author and the location of cited information.

This guide focuses on how to create MLA in-text citations, such as citations in prose and parenthetical citations in the current MLA style, which is in its 9th edition. This style was created by the Modern Language Association . This guide reviews MLA guidelines but is not related directly to the association.

Table of Contents

Here’s a quick rundown of the contents of this guide on how to use in-text citations.

Fundamentals

• Why in-text citations are important
• Prose vs parenthetical in-text citation differences
• Parenthetical citation reference chart

In-text citation examples

• In-text citation with two authors
• In-text citation with 3+ authors
• In-text citation with no authors
• In-text citation with corporate authors
• In-text citation with edited books and anthologies
• In-text citation with no page numbers and online sources
• Citing the same sources multiple times
• Citing 2+ sources in the same in-text citation
• Citing multiple works by the same author in the same in-text citation
• Abbreviating titles
• Citing religious works and scriptures
• Citing long or block quotes

Why are in-text citations important?

In-text citations

• Give full credit to sources that are quoted and paraphrased in a work/paper.
• Help the writer avoid plagiarism.
• Are a signal that the information came from another source.
• Tell the reader where the information came from.

In-text citation vs. in-prose vs. parenthetical

An in-text citation is a general citation of where presented information came from. In MLA, an in-text citation can be displayed in two different ways:

• In the prose
• As a parenthetical citation

While the two ways are similar, there are slight differences. However, for both ways, you’ll need to know how to format page numbers in MLA .

Citation in prose

An MLA citation in prose is when the author’s name is used in the text of the sentence. At the end of the sentence, in parentheses, is the page number where the information was found.

Here is an example

When it comes to technology, King states that we “need to be comfortable enough with technology tools and services that we can help point our patrons in the right direction, even if we aren’t intimately familiar with how the device works” (11).

This MLA citation in prose includes King’s name in the sentence itself, and this specific line of text was taken from page 11 of the journal it was found in.

Parenthetical citation

An MLA parenthetical citation is created when the author’s name is NOT in the sentence. Instead, the author’s name is in parentheses after the sentence, along with the page number.

Here is an MLA parenthetical citation example

When it comes to technology, we “need to be comfortable enough with technology tools and services that we can help point our patrons in the right direction, even if we aren’t intimately familiar with how the device works” (King 11).

In the above example, King’s name is not included in the sentence itself, so his name is in parentheses after the sentence, with 11 for the page number. The 11 indicates that the quote is found on page 11 in the journal.

Full reference

For every source that is cited using an in-text citation, there is a corresponding full reference. This allows readers to track down the original source.

At the end of the assignment, on the MLA works cited page , is the full reference. The full reference includes the full name of the author, the title of the article, the title of the journal, the volume and issue number, the date the journal was published, and the URL where the article was found.

Here is the full reference for King’s quote

King, David Lee. “Why Stay on Top of Technology Trends?” Library Technology Reports , vol. 54, no. 2, Feb.-Mar. 2018, ezproxy.nypl.org/login?url=//search-proquest-com.i.ezproxy.nypl.org/docview/2008817033?accountid=35635.

Readers can locate the article online via the information included above.

Citation overview

The next section of this guide focuses on how to structure an MLA in-text citation and reference in parentheses in various situations.

A narrative APA in-text citation and APA parenthetical citation are somewhat similar but have some minor differences. Check out our helpful guides, and others, on EasyBib.com!

Wondering how to handle these types of references in other styles? Check out our page on APA format , or choose from more styles .

Parenthetical Citation Reference Chart

Sources with Two Authors

There are many books, journal articles, magazine articles, reports, and other source types written or created by two authors.

When a source has two authors, place both authors’ last names in the body of your work ( Handbook 232). The last names do not need to be listed in alphabetical order. Instead, follow the same order as shown on the source.

In an MLA in-text citation, separate the two last names with the word “and.” After both authors’ names, add a space and the page number where the original quote or information is found on.

Here is an example of an MLA citation in prose for a book with two authors

Gaiman and Pratchett further elaborate by sharing their creepy reminder that “just because it’s a mild night doesn’t mean that dark forces aren’t abroad. They’re abroad all of the time. They’re everywhere” (15).

Here is an example of an MLA parenthetical citation for a book with two authors

Don’t forget that “just because it’s a mild night doesn’t mean that dark forces aren’t abroad. They’re abroad all of the time. They’re everywhere” (Gaiman and Pratchett 15).

If you’re still confused, check out EasyBib.com’s MLA in-text citation generator, which allows you to create MLA in-text citations and other types of references in just a few clicks!

If it’s an APA book citation you’re looking to create, we have a helpful guide on EasyBib.com. While you’re at it, check out our APA journal guide!

Sources With Three or More Authors

There are a number of sources written or created by three or more authors. Many research studies and reports, scholarly journal articles, and government publications are developed by three or more individuals.

If you included the last names of all individuals in your MLA in-text citations or in parentheses, it would be too distracting to the reader. It may also cause the reader to lose sight of the overall message of the paper or assignment. Instead of including all last names, only include the last name of the first individual shown on the source. Follow the first author’s last name with the Latin phrase, “et al.” This Latin phrase translates to “and others.” Add the page number after et al.

Here’s an example of an MLA parenthetical citation for multiple authors

“School library programs in Croatia and Hong Kong are mainly focused on two major educational tasks. One task is enhancing students’ general literacy and developing reading habits, whereas the other task is developing students’ information literacy and research abilities” (Tam et al. 299).

The example above only includes the first listed author’s last name. All other authors are credited when “et al.” is used. If the reader wants to see the other authors’ full names, the reader can refer to the final references at the end of the assignment or to the full source.

The abbreviation et al. is used with references in parentheses, as well as in full references. To include the authors’ names in prose, you can either write each name out individually or, you can type out the meaning of et al., which is “and others.”

Here is an acceptable MLA citation in prose example for sources with more than three authors

School library programming in Croatia and Hong Kong is somewhat similar to programming in the United States. Tam, Choi, Tkalcevic, Dukic, and Zheng share that “school library programs in Croatia and Hong Kong are mainly focused on two major educational tasks. One task is enhancing students’ general literacy and developing reading habits, whereas the other task is developing students’ information literacy and research abilities” (299).

If your instructor’s examples of how to do MLA in-text citations for three or more authors looks different than the example here, your instructor may be using an older edition of this style. To discover more about previous editions, learn more here .

Need some inspiration for your research project? Trying to figure out the perfect topic? Check out our Dr. Seuss , Marilyn Monroe , and Malcolm X topic guides!

Sources Without an Author

It may seem unlikely, but there are times when an author’s name isn’t included on a source. Many digital images, films and videos, encyclopedia articles, dictionary entries, web pages, and more do not have author names listed.

If the source you’re attempting to cite does not have an author’s name listed, the MLA in-text citation or parenthetical citation should display the title. If the title is rather long, it is acceptable to shorten it in the body of your assignment. If you choose to shorten the title, make sure the first word in the full citation is also the first word used in the citation in prose or parenthetical citation. This is done to allow the reader to easily locate the full citation that corresponds with the reference in the text.

If, in the Works Cited list, the full reference has the title within quotation marks, include those quotation marks in the in-text citation or reference in parentheses. If the title is written in italics in the full reference, use italics for the title in the in-text citation or reference in parentheses as well.

Parenthetical Citations MLA Examples

The example below is from a poem found online, titled “the last time.” the poem’s author is unknown..

“From the moment you hold your baby in your arms you will never be the same. You might long for the person you were before, when you had freedom and time and nothing in particular to worry about” (“The Last Time”).

The example below is from the movie, The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain .

“Perhaps it would have been different if there hadn’t been a war, but this was 1917, and people were exhausted by loss. Those that were allowed to stay manned the pits, mining the coal that would fuel the ships. Twenty-four hours a day they labored” ( Englishman ).

Notice the shortened title in the above reference. This allows the reader to spend more time focusing on the content of your project, rather than the sources.

If you’re looking for an MLA in-text citation website to help you with your references, check out EasyBib Plus on EasyBib.com! EasyBib Plus can help you determine how to do in-text citations MLA and many other types of references!

Corporate Authors

Numerous government publications, research reports, and brochures state the name of the organization as the author responsible for publishing it.

When the author is a corporate entity or organization, this information is included in the MLA citation in prose or parenthetical citation.

“One project became the first to evaluate how e-prescribing standards work in certain long-term care settings and assessed the impact of e-prescribing on the workflow among prescribers, nurses, the pharmacies, and payers” (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality 2).

If the full name of the organization or governmental agency is long in length, it is acceptable to abbreviate some words, as long as they are considered common abbreviations. These abbreviations should only be in the references with parentheses. They should not be used in citations in prose.

Here is a list of words that can be abbreviated in parentheses:

• Department = Dept.
• Government = Govt.
• Corporation = Corp.
• Incorporated = Inc.
• Company = Co.
• United States = US

Example of a shortened corporate author name in an MLA parenthetical citation

“Based on our analysis of available data provided by selected states’ departments of corrections, the most common crimes committed by inmates with serious mental illness varied from state to state” (US Govt. Accountability Office 14).

Here is how the same corporate author name would look in an MLA citation in prose

The United States Government Accountability Office states, “Based on our analysis of available data provided by selected states’ departments of corrections, the most common crimes committed by inmates with serious mental illness varied from state to state” (14).

Remember, citations in prose should not have abbreviations; other types of references can.

Looking for more information on abbreviations? Check out our page on MLA format.

Edited Books and Anthologies

Edited books and anthologies often include chapters or sections, each written by an individual author or a small group of authors. These compilations are placed together by an editor or a group of editors. There are tons of edited books and anthologies available today, ranging from ones showcasing Black history facts and literature to those focusing on notable individuals such as scientists like Albert Eintein and politicians such as Winston Churchill .

If you’re using information from an edited book or an anthology, include the chapter author’s name in your MLA citation in prose or reference in parentheses. Do not use the name(s) of the editor(s). Remember, the purpose of these references is to provide the reader with some insight as to where the information originated. If, after reading your project, the reader would like more information on the sources used, the reader can use the information provided in the full reference, at the very end of the assignment. With that in mind, since the full reference begins with the author of the individual chapter or section, that same information is what should be included in any citations in prose or references in parentheses.

Here is an example of an MLA citation in prose for a book with an editor

Weinstein further states that “one implication of this widespread adaptation of anthropological methods to historical research was the eclipse of the longstanding concern with “change over time,” and the emergence of a preference for synchronic, rather than diachronic, themes” (195).

Full reference at the end of the assignment

Weinstein, Barbara. “History Without a Cause? Grand Narratives, World History, and the Postcolonial Dilemma.” Postcolonial Studies: An Anthology , edited by Pramod K. Nayar, Wiley-Blackwell, 2015, p. 196. Wiley , www.wiley.com/en-us/Postcolonial+Studies%3A+An+Anthology-p-9781118780985.

Once you’re through with writing and citing, run your paper through our innovative plagiarism checker ! It’s the editor of your dreams and provides suggestions for improvement.

Sources Without Page Numbers and Online Sources

When a source has no page numbers, which is often the case with long web page articles, e-books, and numerous other source types, do not include any page number information in the body of the project. Do not estimate or invent your own page numbering system for the source. If there aren’t any page numbers, omit this information from the MLA in-text citation. There may, however, be paragraph numbers included in some sources. If there are distinct and clear paragraph numbers directly on the source, replace the page number with this information. Make it clear to the reader that the source is organized by paragraphs by using “par.” before the paragraph number, or use “pars.” if the information is from more than one paragraph.

Here is an example of how to create an MLA parenthetical citation for a website

“She ran through the field with the wind blowing in her hair and a song through the breeze” (Jackson par. 5).

Here’s an example of an MLA citation in prose for a website

In Brenner’s meeting notes, he further shared his motivation to actively seek out and secure self help resources when he announced, “When we looked at statistical evidence, the most commonly checked out section of the library was self-help. This proves that patrons consistently seek out help for personal issues and wish to solve them with the help of the community’s resources” (pars. 2-3).

Here’s another MLA in-text citation example for a website

Holson writes about a new mindful app, which provides listeners with the soothing sound of not only Bob Ross’ voice, but also the “soothing swish of his painter’s brush on canvas.”

In above example, the information normally found in the parentheses is omitted since there aren’t any page, parentheses, or chapter numbers on the website article.

Looking for APA citation website examples? We have what you need on EasyBib.com!

Need an in-text or parenthetical citation MLA website? Check out EasyBib Plus on EasyBib.com! Also, check out MLA Citation Website , which explains how to create references for websites.

Citing the Same Source Multiple Times

It may seem redundant to constantly include an author’s name in the body of a research project or paper. If you use an author’s work in one section of your project, and the next piece of information included is by the same individual(s), then it is not necessary to share in-text, whether in prose or in parentheses, that both items are from the same author. It is acceptable to include the last name of the author in the first use, and in the second usage, only a page number needs to be included.

Here is an example of how to cite the same source multiple times

“One of the major tests is the Project for Standardized Assessment of Information Literacy Skills. This measurement was developed over four years as a joint partnership between the Association of Research Libraries and Kent State University” (Tong and Moran 290). This exam is just one of many available to measure students’ information literacy skills. It is fee-based, so it is not free, but the results can provide stakeholders, professors, curriculum developers, and even librarians and library service team members with an understanding of students’ abilities and misconceptions. It is not surprising to read the results, which stated that “upper-level undergraduate students generally lack information literacy skills as evidenced by the results on this specific iteration of the Standardized Assessment of Information Literacy Skills test” (295).

The reader can assume that the information in the second quote is from the same article as the first quote. If, in between the two quotes, a different source is included, Tong and Moran’s names would need to be added again in the last quote.

Here is the full reference at the end of the project:

Tong, Min, and Carrie Moran. “Are Transfer Students Lagging Behind in Information Literacy?” Reference Services Review , vol. 45, no. 2, 2017, pp. 286-297. ProQuest , ezproxy.nypl.org/login?url=//search-proquest-com.i.ezproxy.nypl.org/docview/1917280148?accountid=35635.

Citing Two or More Sources in the Same In-text Citation

According to section 6.30 of the Handbook , parenthetical citations containing multiple sources in a single parenthesis should be separated by semicolons.

(Granger 5; Tsun 77) (Ruiz 212; Diego 149)

Citing Multiple Works by the Same Author in One In-text Citation

Just as you might want to cite two different sources at the same time, it can also be useful to cite different works by the same author all at once.

Section 6.30 of the Handbook specifies that “citations of different locations in a single source are separated by commas” (251).

(Maeda 59, 174-76, 24) (Kauffman 7, 234, 299)

Furthermore, if you are citing multiple works by the same author, the titles should be joined by and if there are only two. Otherwise, use commas and and .

(Murakami, Wild Sheep Chase and Norwegian Wood ) (Murakami, Wild Sheep Chase , Norwegian Wood , and “With the Beatles”)

Abbreviating Titles

When listing the titles, be aware that long titles in parenthetical citations can distract the reader and cause confusion. It will be necessary to shorten the titles appropriately for in-text citations. According to the Handbook , “shorten the title if it is longer than a noun phrase” (237). The abbreviated title should begin with the word by which the title is alphabetized.

Best practice is to give the first word the reference is listed by so the source is easily found in the works cited. Omit articles that start a title: a, an, the. When possible, use the first noun (and any adjectives before it). For more on titles and their abbreviations, head to section 6.10 of the Handbook .

• Full title :  The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time 
• Abbreviated: Curious
• Full title:  The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks 
• Abbreviated:  Disreputable History

Religious Works and Scriptures

There are instances when religious works are italicized in the text of a project, and times when it is not necessary to italicize the title.

If you’re referring to the general religious text, such as the Bible, Torah, or Qur’an, it is not necessary to italicize the name of the scripture in the body of the project. If you’re referring to a specific edition of a religious text, then it is necessary to italicize it, both in text and in the full reference.

Here are some commonly used editions:

• King James Bible
• The Orthodox Jewish Bible
• American Standard Bible
• The Steinsaltz Talmud
• The Babylonian Talmud
• New International Bible

When including a reference, do not use page numbers from the scripture. Instead, use the designated chapter numbers and verse numbers.

MLA example of an in-text citation for a religious scripture

While, unacceptable in today’s society, the Bible is riddled with individuals who have two, three, and sometimes four or more spouses. One example in the King James Bible , states that an individual “had two wives, the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children” (1 Sam. 1.2)

The only religious scripture that is allowed to be in the text of a project, but not in the Works Cited list, is the Qur’an. There is only one version of the Qur’an. It is acceptable to include the name of the Qur’an in the text, along with the specific chapter and verse numbers.

If you’re attempting to create a reference for a religious work, but it’s not considered a “classic” religious book, such as a biography about Mother Teresa , or a book about Muhammed Ali’s conversion, then a reference in the text and also on the final page of the project is necessary.

If you’re creating an APA bibliography , you do not need to create a full reference for classic religious works on an APA reference page .

For another MLA in-text citation website and for more on the Bible and other source types, click here .

Long or Block Quotes

Quotes longer than four lines are called, “block quotes.” Block quotes are sometimes necessary when you’re adding a lengthy piece of information into your project. If you’d like to add a large portion of Martin Luther King ’s “I Have a Dream” speech, a lengthy amount of text from a Mark Twain book, or multiple lines from Abraham Lincoln ’s Gettysburg Address, a block quote is needed.

MLA block quotes are formatted differently than shorter quotes in the body of a project. Why? The unique formatting signals to the reader that they’re about to read a lengthy quote.

Block quotes are called block quotes because they form their own block of text. They are set apart from the body of a project with different spacing and margins.

Begin the block quote on a new line. The body of the full project should run along the one inch margin, but the block quote should be set in an inch and a half. The entire quote should be along the inch and a half margin.

If there aren’t any quotation marks in the text itself, do not include any in the block quote. This is very different than standard reference rules. In most cases, quotation marks are added around quoted material. For block quotes, since the reader can see that the quoted material sits in its own block, it is not necessary to place quotation marks around it.

Here is an MLA citation in prose example of a block quote

Despite Bruchac’s consistent difficult situations at home, basketball kept his mind busy and focused:

When I got off the late bus that afternoon, my grandparents weren’t home. The store was locked and there was a note from Grama on the house door. Doc Magovern had come to the house because Grampa was “having trouble with his blood.” Now they were off to the hospital and I “wasn’t to worry.” This had happened before. Grampa had pernicious anemia and sometimes was very sick. So, naturally, it worried the pants off me. I actually thought about taking my bike down the dreaded 9N the three miles to the Saratoga Hospital. Instead, I did as I knew they wanted. I opened the store and waited for customers. None came, though, and my eye was caught by the basketball stowed away as usual behind the door. I had to do something to take my mind off what was happening to Grampa. I took out the ball and went around the side. (13)

Notice the use of the colon prior to the start of the block quote. Do not use a colon if the block quote is part of the sentence above it.

Here is an example of the same block quote, without the use of the colon:

Despite Bruchac’s consistent difficult situations at home, it was clear that basketball kept his mind busy and focused when he states

When I get off the late bus that afternoon, my grandparents weren’t home…

If two or more paragraphs are included in your block quote, start each paragraph on a new line.

Looking for additional helpful websites? Need another MLA in-text citation website? Check out the style in the news . We also have other handy articles, guides, and posts to help you with your research needs. Here’s one on how to write an MLA annotated bibliography .

Visit our EasyBib Twitter feed to discover more citing tips, fun grammar facts, and the latest product updates.

If you’re looking for information on styling an APA citation , EasyBib.com has the guides you need!

MLA Handbook . 9th ed., Modern Language Association of America, 2021.

Published October 31, 2011. Updated July 5, 2021.

Written and edited by Michele Kirschenbaum and Elise Barbeau. Michele Kirschenbaum is a school library media specialist and the in-house librarian at EasyBib.com. Elise Barbeau is the Citation Specialist at Chegg. She has worked in digital marketing, libraries, and publishing.

MLA Formatting Guide

MLA Formatting

• Annotated Bibliography
• Bibliography
• Block Quotes
• et al Usage
• In-text Citations
• Paraphrasing
• Page Numbers
• Sample Paper
• Works Cited
• MLA 8 Updates
• MLA 9 Updates
• View MLA Guide

Citation Examples

• Book Chapter
• Journal Article
• Magazine Article
• Newspaper Article
• Website (no author)
• View all MLA Examples

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In MLA style, if multiple sources have the same author , the titles should be joined by and if there are only two. Otherwise, use commas and and .

• In-text citation: (Austen Emma and Mansfield Park )
• Structure: (Last name 1st Source’s title and 2nd Source’s title )
• In-text citation: (Leung et al. 58)

If the author is a corporate entity or organization, included the name of the corporate entity or organization in the in-text citation.

• In-text citation: (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality 2)

Yes, there’s an option to download source citations as a Word Doc or a Google Doc. You may also copy citations from the EasyBib Citation Generator and paste them into your paper.

Yes! Whether you’d like to learn how to construct citations on your own, our Autocite tool isn’t able to gather the metadata you need, or anything in between, manual citations are always an option. Click here for directions on using creating manual citations.

An in-text citation is a shortened version of the source being referred to in the paper. As the name implies, it appears in the text of the paper. A works cited list entry, on the other hand, details the complete information of the source being cited and is listed within the works cited list at the end of the paper after the main text. The in-text citation is designed to direct the reader to the full works cited list entry. An example of an in-text citation and the corresponding works cited list entry for a journal article with one author is listed below:

In-text citation template and example:

Only the author surname (or the title of the work if there is no author) is used in in-text citations to direct the reader to the corresponding reference list entry. For citations in prose, use the first name and surname of the author for the first occurrence. In subsequent citations, use only the surname. In parenthetical citations, always use only the surname of the author. If you are directly quoting the source, the page number should also be included in the in-text citation.

Citation in prose:

First mention: Christopher Collins ….

Subsequent occurrences: Collins ….

Parenthetical:

….(Collins)

….(Collins 5)

Works cited list entry template and example:

The title of the article is in plain text and title case and is placed inside quotation marks. The title of the journal is set in italics.

Surname, F. “Title of the Article.” Journal Title , vol. #, no. #, Publication Date, page range.

Collins, Christopher. “On Posthuman Materiality: Art-Making as Rhizomatic Rehearsal.” Text and Performance Quarterly , vol. 39, no. 2, 2019, pp. 153–59.

Note that because the author’s surname (Collins) was included in the in-text citation, the reader would then be able to easily locate the works cited list entry since the entry begins with the author’s surname.

An in-text citation is a short citation that is placed next to the text being cited. The basic element needed for an in-text citation is the author’s name . The publication year is not required in in-text citations. Sometimes, page numbers or line numbers are also included, especially when text is quoted from the source being cited. In-text citations are mentioned in the text in two ways: as a citation in prose or a parenthetical citation.

Citations in prose are incorporated into the text and act as a part of the sentence. Usually, citations in prose use the author’s full name when cited the first time in the text. Thereafter, only the surname is used. Avoid including the middle initial even if it is present in the works-cited-list entry.

Parenthetical

Parenthetical citations add only the author’s surname at the end of the sentence in parentheses.

Examples of in-text citations

Here are a few tips to create in-text citations for sources with various numbers and types of authors:

Use both the first name and surname of the author if you are mentioning the author for the first time in the prose. In subsequent occurrences, use only the author’s surname. Always use only the surname of the author in parenthetical citations.

First mention: Sheele John asserts …. (7).

Subsequent occurrences: John argues …. (7).

…. (John 7).

Two authors

Use the first name and surname of both authors if you are mentioning the work for the first time in the prose. In subsequent occurrences, use only the surnames of the two authors. Always use only the authors’ surnames in parenthetical citations. Use “and” to separate the two authors in parenthetical citations.

First mention: Katie Longman and Clara Sullivan ….

Subsequent occurrences: Longman and Sullivan ….

…. ( Longman and Sullivan).

Three or more authors

For citations in prose, use the first name and surname of the first author followed by “and others” or “and colleagues.” For parenthetical citations, use only the surname of the first author followed by “et al.”

Lincy Mathew and colleagues…. or Lincy Mathew and others ….

…. (Mathew et al.).

Corporate author

For citations in prose, treat the corporate author like you would treat the author’s name. For parenthetical citations, shorten the organization name to the shortest noun phrase. For example, shorten the Modern Language Association of America to Modern Language Association.

The Literary Society of Malaysia….

…. (Literary Society).

If there is no author for the source, use the source’s title in place of the author’s name for both citations in prose and parenthetical citations.

When you add such in-text citations, italicize the text of the title. If the source title is longer than a noun phrase, use a shortened version of the title. For example, shorten the title Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them to Fantastic Beasts .

Knowing Body of Work explains …. (102).

….( Knowing Body 102).

MLA Citation Examples

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Essay Writing: In-Text Citations

• Essay Writing Basics
• Purdue OWL Page on Writing Your Thesis This link opens in a new window
• Paragraphs and Transitions
• How to Tell if a Website is Legitimate This link opens in a new window
• Formatting Your References Page
• Cite a Website
• Common Grammatical and Mechanical Errors
• Additional Resources
• Proofread Before You Submit Your Paper
• Structuring the 5-Paragraph Essay

In-text Citations

What are In-Text Citations?

You must cite (give credit) all information sources used in your essay or research paper whenever and wherever you use them.

When citing sources in the text of your paper, you must list:

● The author’s last name

● The year  the information was published.

Types of In-Text Citations: Narrative vs Parenthetical

A  narrative citation gives the author's name as part of the sentence .

• Example of a Narrative Citation: According to Edwards (2017) , a lthough Smith and Carlos's protest at the 1968 Olympics initially drew widespread criticism, it also led to fundamental reforms in the organizational structure of American amateur athletics.

A  parenthetical citation puts the source information in parentheses—first or last—but does not include it in  the narrative  flow.

• Example of a Parenthetical Citation:  Although Tommie Smith and John Carlos paid a heavy price in the immediate aftermath of the protests, they were later vindicated by society at large (Edwards, 2017) .

Full citation for this source (this belongs on the Reference Page of your research paper or essay):

Edwards, H. (2017).  The Revolt of the Black Athlete: 50th Anniversary Edition.  University of Illinois Press.

Sample In-text Citations

Note: This example is a  direct quote. It is an exact quotation directly from the text of the article. All direct quotes should appear in quotation marks: "...."

Try keeping direct quotes to a minimum in your writing. You need to show your understanding of the source material by being able to paraphrase or summarize it. 

List the author’s last name only (no initials) and the year the information was published, like this:

(Dodge, 2008 ). ( Author , Date).

IF you use a direct quote, add the page number to your citation, like this: 

( Dodge , 2008 , p. 125 ).

( Author , Date , page number )

What information should I cite in my paper/essay?

Credit these sources when you mention their information in any way: direct quotation, paraphrase, or summarize.

What should you credit?

Any information that you learned from another source, including:

● statistics

EXCEPTION: Information that is common knowledge: e.g., The Bronx is a borough of New York City.

Quick Sheet: APA 7 Citations

Quick help with apa 7 citations.

• Quick Sheet - Citing Journal Articles, Websites & Videos, and Creating In-Text Citations A quick guide to the most frequently-used types of APA 7 citations.

In-text Citation Tutorial

• Formatting In-text Citations, Full Citations, and Block Quotes In APA 7 Style This presentation will help you understand when, why, and how to use in-text citations in your APA style paper.

Download the In-text Citations presentation  (above)  for an in-depth look at how to correctly cite your sources in the text of your paper.

SIgnal Phrase Activity

Paraphrasing activity from the excelsior owl, in-text citation quiz.

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How to Write an Academic Essay with References and Citations

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Written by  Scribendi

If you're wondering how to write an academic essay with references, look no further. In this article, we'll discuss how to use in-text citations and references, including how to cite a website, how to cite a book, and how to cite a Tweet, according to various style guides.

You might need to cite sources when writing a paper that references other sources. For example, when writing an essay, you may use information from other works, such as books, articles, or websites. You must then inform readers where this information came from. Failure to do so, even accidentally, is plagiarism—passing off another person's work as your own.

You can avoid plagiarism and show readers where to find information by using citations and references. 

Citations tell readers where a piece of information came from. They take the form of footnotes, endnotes, or parenthetical elements, depending on your style guide. In-text citations are usually placed at the end of a sentence containing the relevant information. 

A reference list , bibliography, or works cited list at the end of a text provides additional details about these cited sources. This list includes enough publication information allowing readers to look up these sources themselves.

Referencing is important for more than simply avoiding plagiarism. Referring to a trustworthy source shows that the information is reliable. Referring to reliable information can also support your major points and back up your argument. 

Learning how to write an academic essay with references and how to use in-text citations will allow you to cite authors who have made similar arguments. This helps show that your argument is objective and not entirely based on personal biases.

How Do You Determine Which Style Guide to Use?

Often, a professor will assign a style guide. The purpose of a style guide is to provide writers with formatting instructions. If your professor has not assigned a style guide, they should still be able to recommend one. 

If you are entirely free to choose, pick one that aligns with your field (for example, APA is frequently used for scientific writing). 

Some of the most common style guides are as follows:

AP style for journalism

Chicago style for publishing

APA style for scholarly writing (commonly used in scientific fields)

MLA style for scholarly citations (commonly used in English literature fields)

Some journals have their own style guides, so if you plan to publish, check which guide your target journal uses. You can do this by locating your target journal's website and searching for author guidelines.

How Do You Pick Your Sources?

When learning how to write an academic essay with references, you must identify reliable sources that support your argument. 

As you read, think critically and evaluate sources for:

Objectivity

Keep detailed notes on the sources so that you can easily find them again, if needed.

Tip: Record these notes in the format of your style guide—your reference list will then be ready to go.

How to Use In-Text Citations in MLA

An in-text citation in MLA includes the author's last name and the relevant page number: 

(Author 123)

How to Cite a Website in MLA

Here's how to cite a website in MLA:

Author's last name, First name. "Title of page."

Website. Website Publisher, date. Web. Date

retrieved. <URL>

With information from a real website, this looks like:

Morris, Nancy. "How to Cite a Tweet in APA,

Chicago, and MLA." Scribendi. Scribendi

Inc., n.d. Web. 22 Dec. 2021.

<https://www.scribendi.com/academy/articles/how_to_cite_a_website.en.html>

How Do You Cite a Tweet in MLA ?

MLA uses the full text of a short Tweet (under 140 characters) as its title. Longer Tweets can be shortened using ellipses. 

MLA Tweet references should be formatted as follows:

@twitterhandle (Author Name). "Text of Tweet." Twitter, Date Month, Year, time of

publication, URL.

With information from an actual Tweet, this looks like:

@neiltyson (Neil deGrasse Tyson). "You can't use reason to convince anyone out of an

argument that they didn't use reason to get into." Twitter, 29 Sept. 2020, 10:15 p.m.,

https://twitter.com/neiltyson/status/1311127369785192449 .

How to Cite a Book in MLA

Here's how to cite a book in MLA:

Author's last name, First name. Book Title. Publisher, Year.

With publication information from a real book, this looks like:

Montgomery, L.M. Rainbow Valley. Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1919.

How to Cite a Chapter in a Book in MLA

Author's last name, First name. "Title of Chapter." Book Title , edited by Editor Name,

Publisher, Year, pp. page range.

With publication information from an actual book, this looks like:

Ezell, Margaret J.M. "The Social Author: Manuscript Culture, Writers, and Readers." The

Broadview Reader in Book History , edited by Michelle Levy and Tom Mole, Broadview

Press, 2015,pp. 375–394.

How to  Cite a Paraphrase in MLA

You can cite a paraphrase in MLA exactly the same way as you would cite a direct quotation. 

Make sure to include the author's name (either in the text or in the parenthetical citation) and the relevant page number.

How to Use In-Text Citations in APA

In APA, in-text citations include the author's last name and the year of publication; a page number is included only if a direct quotation is used: 

(Author, 2021, p. 123)

How to Cite a Website in APA

Here's how to cite a website in APA:

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year, Month. date of publication). Title of page. https://URL

Morris, N. (n.d.). How to cite a Tweet in APA, Chicago, and MLA. 

https://www.scribendi.com/academy/articles/how_to_cite_a_website.en.html       

Tip: Learn more about how to write an academic essay with  references to websites .

How Do You  Cite a Tweet in APA ?

APA refers to Tweets using their first 20 words. 

Tweet references should be formatted as follows:

Author, A. A. [@twitterhandle). (Year, Month. date of publication). First 20 words of the

Tweet. [Tweet] Twitter. URL

When we input information from a real Tweet, this looks like:

deGrasse Tyson, N. [@neiltyson]. (2020, Sept. 29). You can't use reason to convince anyone

out of an argument that they didn't use reason to get into. [Tweet] Twitter.

https://twitter.com/neiltyson/status/1311127369785192449

How to Cite a Book in APA

Here's how to cite a book in APA:   

Author, A. A. (Year). Book title. Publisher.

For a real book, this looks like:

Montgomery, L. M. (1919). Rainbow valley.

Frederick A. Stokes Company.

How to Cite a Chapter in a Book in APA

Author, A. A. (Year). Chapter title. In Editor Name (Ed.), Book Title (pp. page range).

With information from a real book, this looks like:

Ezell, M. J. M. (2014). The social author: Manuscript culture, writers, and readers. In

Michelle Levy and Tom Mole (Eds.), The Broadview Reader in Book History (pp. 375–

394). Broadview Press.

Knowing how to cite a book and how to cite a chapter in a book correctly will take you a long way in creating an effective reference list.

How to Cite a Paraphrase in APA

You can cite a paraphrase in APA the same way as you would cite a direct quotation, including the author's name and year of publication. 

In APA, you may also choose to pinpoint the page from which the information is taken.

Referencing is an essential part of academic integrity. Learning how to write an academic essay with references and how to use in-text citations shows readers that you did your research and helps them locate your sources.

Learning how to cite a website, how to cite a book, and how to cite a paraphrase can also help you avoid plagiarism —an academic offense with serious consequences for your education or professional reputation.

Scribendi can help format your citations or review your whole paper with our Academic Editing services .

Take Your Essay from Good to Great

Hire an expert academic editor , or get a free sample, about the author.

Scribendi's in-house editors work with writers from all over the globe to perfect their writing. They know that no piece of writing is complete without a professional edit, and they love to see a good piece of writing transformed into a great one. Scribendi's in-house editors are unrivaled in both experience and education, having collectively edited millions of words and obtained numerous degrees. They love consuming caffeinated beverages, reading books of various genres, and relaxing in quiet, dimly lit spaces.

Have You Read?

"The Complete Beginner's Guide to Academic Writing"

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• In-Text Citation and Notes

Citing Sources in the Text of your Paper

When writers use an outside source, they must give credit to the original writer or creator of that source. This also allows a reader to easily make note of the source’s bibliographic entry. Just as each style guide has rules for creating a citation in a bibliography at the end of a text, each guide also has certain rules for citing the use of sources within the text of the essay.

The following are basic guidelines for citing sources in the text of your paper when using the MLA, APA, Chicago, ASA, or Turabian style guides. These guidelines may not account for every citation situation. Since citing sources is not a creative enterprise, you should consult the appropriate print version of the style guide when you have questions about citation.

MLA: In-Text Citations

MLA citation style requires that writers cite a source within the text of their essay at the end of the sentence in which the source is used.

General Guidance on in-text citations (or reference to your source) The parenthetical reference should be inserted after the last quotation mark but before the period at the end of the sentence.

General Form: (Author Last Name Page #)

Example: (Smith 42)

If two quotations from different sources are used in the same sentence The in-text citation associated with a particular quote should be placed as close to the quotation as possible without interrupting the flow of the sentence.

Example for two sources in one sentence: According to one researcher, “the design thinking process is not meant to be a formula,” (Spencer 58) whereas others might argue that steps and formulas are in fact important like Walker suggests: “following a specific path towards design success is necessary for achieving outlined goals,” (21).

If a paragraph includes several quotations from a single source A single in-text citation may be placed at the end of the paragraph. Page numbers should be included for each quotation organized by placement in the paragraph. In the following example, the first quotation from Smith appeared on page 43 of the text. The second quotation used in the paragraph came from page 12.

Example: (Smith 43, 12)

If the author is included more than once on the Works Cited page The following form should be used. Note that the format of the title on the Works Cited sheet should be mirrored in the in-text citation.

General Form: (Author Last, “Title Fragment” Page #) or (Author Last,  Title Fragment Page #)

Examples: (Smith, “Who Moved” 42) or (Smith, Big Changes 172)

If you have more than one author:

Two: (Brown and Sullivan 42)

Three: (Brown, Sullivan, and Grayson 158)

Four or more: (Brown, et al. 38)

If there is no author A title fragment should be used to make a connection between the use of the source and the citation for the source on the Works Cited page.

General Form: (“Title Fragment” Page #) or ( Title Fragment  Page #)

Examples: (“Library Links” 13) or ( Building a Bookshelf  42)

For more information related to MLA in-text citations, see the MLA Handbook , 8th ed. (pages 54-58). This title is on reserve at the circulation desk at the front of the library on the 3rd floor near the main entrance.

APA: Parenthetical In-Text Citations

To cite a source in the text of an essay, APA advocates two methods: in-text citations and attribution within the essay’s content. in-text citations should be included immediately after the quotation marks used in direct quotations or immediately after the use of the source, even if this means including the parenthetical reference in the middle of the sentence.

The following is the general form for parenthetical citations in APA style:

In-text citation: (Author Last Name, Year of Publication) Example: (Smith, 1988)

To make the citation of the source less distracting The APA also suggests mentioning the author in the essay’s content so that only the year of publication and page number may be required in the parenthetical reference.

Attribution in text: Author Last Name (Year of Publication) has argued this point. Example: Smith (1988) has argued this point.

Page numbers are not required in APA in-text citations. However, it is highly suggested that these be included. To include references to a specific part of the text, add the page number or chapter number after the year.

Examples: Smith (1988, p. 244) has written that… or Smith (1988, chap. 5) has written that…

When a work has two authors Both names should be cited every time the reference is required. Use an ampersand (&) to separate the names of authors. If a text has been authored by more than five individuals, the full listing of authors is not required in the first reference or any subsequent in-text references.

The first mention of the reference: Johnson, Smith, and Brown (1999) agree that… Subsequent mention: Johnson et al. (1999) agree that…

If a group or corporation is the author The full name of the group or corporation should be included in place of the author’s name. If an organization has a recognizable abbreviation, this may be used in subsequent references.

The first mention of the reference: (American Medical Association, 2002) Subsequent mention: (AMA, 2002)

If no author is given for a specific text Use the first couple of words of the title in place of the author’s last name. Title fragments should be formatted using the same punctuation as titles on the References page.

Examples of attribution in the text:

The recent publication  Plagiarism and You  (2002) offers some explanation…

In “Five Ways to Protect Yourself” (2000) one can find…

Examples of attribution at the end of the sentence: ( Plagiarism and You , 2002) or (“Five Ways to Protect Yourself,” 2000)

When no date is given for the publication of a text (as is the case with many websites) Include the abbreviation “n.d.” (which stands for “no date”) in place of the year of publication.

Example: In the article “Five Ways to Protect Yourself” (n.d.) one can find…

For more information related to in-text citations (or in-text referencing) using the APA format, see the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association , 7th ed. pages 261-269. A copy of this manual is available on the 3rd floor of the library at the circulation desk.

Chicago: Notes Style

In Chicago’s Documentation Style 1, also known as notes form, the use of research sources is indicated in the text with a numerical subscript that corresponds to an entry at the end of the paper. These are called endnotes. Although footnotes (or notes at the bottom of the page) are sometimes required, endnotes have become the predominant form of notes citations.

When using endnotes to indicate the use of research sources, writers must also include a bibliography at the end of the essay. The note and the bibliographic entry include almost identical information but in a different format.

As the formats for notes are contingent on the format of the source for which the note is written, examples of note formats are included with the bibliographic examples available through the  Citing Sources  link. The B: entry would be included in the Bibliography at the end of the paper, while the N: entry gives examples to be used in footnotes or endnotes.

For further information on note format or other issues related to citing sources using the Chicago style, see  The Chicago Manual of Style , 16th ed.

Chicago: Author/Date Style

Documentation 2, also called the Author-Date style, requires the use of parenthetical references in the text of the essay as well as a list of References.

Parenthetical references should be placed at the end of the sentence, before the period, when a resource has been used. If the sentence is either long enough or complex enough so that the cited portion of the sentence is not obvious, the parenthetical reference may instead be inserted immediately after the use of information from the source. Page numbers should be included whenever possible.

General Form:  (Author Last Name Year of Publication, Page #)

Example:  (Smith 1992, 142)

The following examples illustrate parenthetical reference formats for works with more than one author.

(Smith and Johnson 1998, 14)

(Smith, Johnson, and White 2001, 42)

(Smith et al. 1998, 203)

(National Alliance for Social Consideration 1932, 11)

When organizations or corporate authors are the author of a text, the name of the organization may be shortened to its most basic title. Abbreviations for the organization are not encouraged.

In the Chicago style, daily newspapers are rarely included in a list of References. Instead, attribution may be given to information from a daily newspaper in a parenthetical reference.

General Form:  ( Newspaper Name , Day Month Year of Publication, Section and Page #)

Examples:  ( San Antonio Express-News , 2 June 2005, B2)

( New York Times , 2 June 2005, A2)

( Durant Daily Democrat , 2 June 2005, 3)

The Chicago style guide does not offer examples for creating parenthetical references when there is no given author. Standard practice has been to include the title of the work in place of the author. The title should be formatted in the same manner as the formatting in the References list entry.

( Plagiarism and You  2002, 142)

(“Five Ways to Protect Yourself” 2000, 33)

Electronic sources commonly lack a date of publication, as do other sources. When there is no date of publication listed for a source, include the abbreviation “n.d.” in place of the date.

(Statistics for Water Rights n.d.)

For further information on citing sources using the Chicago style, see The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th ed.

If the author’s name is mentioned in the text, use a parenthetical reference to show the year of publication at the end of the sentence.

…Welch contends that this is not the case (1991).

If the author’s name is not mentioned in the text, it should be included with the year of publication within parentheses.

…but it has been argued that this was not the case (Welch 1991).

Page numbers should be included within parentheses after the year of publication. These are separated by a colon and no spaces.

…but it has been argued that this was not the case (Welch 1991:136).

The following forms should be used for multiple authors:

A recent study confirmed her belief (Johnson and Smith 1995:34).

This was reinforced by recent research on the topic (Johnson, Smith, and Marcus 1999)

If a text has more than three authors, the term “et al.” with no additional punctuation marks may be used after the first author listed in the publication credits.

This was not accurate according to a recent study (Johnson et al. 2003).

If multiple sources are cited for the same statement, the author and publication year should be distinguished from other texts with a colon. Cited texts should be arranged by author name or by date; arrangement should be consistent throughout the paper.

Some studies have refuted these arguments (Benson 1993; Nguyen 1999; Brown and Goggans 2000).

For additional information on in-text citation using the ASA style, see the  American Sociological Association Style Guide , Third ed., pp. 45-47.

In the Turabian citation style, writers may use one of two forms in citing their resources: endnotes or author/date parenthetical references. Writers using the Turabian style may use the Chicago formats for both endnotes as references and for parenthetical references. Refer to Kate L. Turabian’s  A Manual for Writers , 7th ed., pp. 143-145 (notes style) and pp. 217-220 (author-date style) for more information.

Citation Sources

• MLA Style, 9th ed.
• APA Style, 7th ed.
• Chicago (Notes-Bibliography Style), 17th ed.
• Chicago (Author-Date Style), 17th ed.
•      See also the online version of the  Chicago Manual of Style
• Turabian (Notes-Bibliography Style), 9th ed.
• Turabian (Author-Date Style), 9th ed.
• ASA Style, 6th ed.

Citing Sources in the Text of a Paper

Including a list of Works Cited at the end of an essay is not enough. Learn how to cite the use of a source in the text of your paper.

Using Information from Sources in the Text of a Paper

Review five different methods for including the words of another writer or information from a research resource into the text of your paper.

Citing Creative Commons Materials

Find models and suggestions for citing Creative Commons images, video clips, music, or other materials.

Suggested Readings on Academic Integrity

Find books, articles and websites which deal with academic integrity issues.

Creating an Annotated Bibliography

Learn how to create an annotated bibliography for a class assignment or for your own use as a researcher and writer.

Learn more about Zotero – a citation management tool to help you keep track of and organize various references for papers and projects.

Avoiding Plagiarism

See Trinity University’s definitions of plagiarism and consider how to avoid these situations.

Detecting Plagiarized Material

Information and links for faculty members and others to use in detecting plagiarized materials.

Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide

Chicago-style source citations come in two varieties: (1) notes and bibliography and (2) author-date. If you already know which system to use, follow one of the links above to see sample citations for a variety of common sources. If you are unsure about which system to use, or how the two systems are related, read on.

Notes and Bibliography or Author-Date?

In the notes and bibliography system, sources are cited in numbered footnotes or endnotes. Each note corresponds to a raised (superscript) number in the text. Sources are also usually listed in a separate bibliography. The notes and bibliography system, Chicago’s oldest and most flexible, can accommodate a wide variety of sources, including unusual ones that don’t fit neatly into the author-date system. For this reason, it is preferred by many working in the humanities, including literature, history, and the arts.

In the author-date system, sources are briefly cited in the text, usually in parentheses, by author’s last name and year of publication. Each in-text citation matches up with an entry in a reference list, where full bibliographic information is provided. Because it credits researchers by name directly in the text while at the same time emphasizing the date of each source, the author-date system is preferred by many in the sciences and social sciences.

Aside from the use of numbered notes versus parenthetical references in the text, the two systems share the same style for authors’ names, titles of works, and other cited components. Follow the links at the top of this page to see examples of some of the more common source types cited in both systems.

Most authors choose the system used by others in their field or required by their publisher. Students should check with their instructor before deciding which system to use.

For a more comprehensive overview of Chicago’s two systems of source citation, see chapter 13 of The Chicago Manual of Style . For many more examples organized by type of source, consult chapter 14 .

How to Cite in APA Format (7th edition): Citation Style Guide

Table of Contents

What is APA 7th Edition ?    

The American Psychological Association (APA) introduced the latest edition of the APA Style Manual (i.e., APA 7 th edition ) in 2019. APA Style has its origins in 1929 , when a group of academics and professionals decided to develop a set of guidelines that would standardize scientific writing. The earliest form was a seven-page guide published in the Psychological Bulletin . The first formal edition of the APA Publication Manual was published in 1952, with subsequent editions appearing in 1974, 1983, 1994, 2001, 2009, and most recently, in 2019.  

Over the years, the APA style guide has evolved considerably to meet the changing needs of a wide range of disciplines, from social and behavioral sciences to health care, natural sciences, and humanities. APA Style is widely used by academic journals and books.  

As APA 7 th edition is the current and most updated version, students and researchers should familiarize themselves with the style guidelines, including the reference and citation styles.  

Who Should Use APA 7th Edition ?    

The aim of style guides such as the APA Style Guide is to simplify the work of editors and make it easier for readers to understand a text by ensuring a uniform format for a given publication. For example, the APA Style Guide will contain guidelines that lay down the APA reference format and APA style citation for authors to follow.  

The APA Style Guide can be a valuable reference when writing and formatting academic papers, irrespective of discipline. However, this style is primarily used by professionals, researchers, and students in the social sciences (e.g., sociology, psychology, anthropology), behavioral sciences, education, business, and nursing.  

If you are a student, you may consult with an instructor to check what style your discipline uses before using APA Style in your work. Most importantly, be sure to check the guidelines of your university or the journal you plan to publish in to ensure APA 7 th edition is the correct style to use.   

APA In-text Citations    

Researchers rely on citations and references to give credit to original sources, support their arguments, and guide readers to additional information for further study. Let us now look at how to cite sources in APA format. The formatting requirements of APA 7th edition citation for referring to secondary sources in your text are as follows.  

The APA citation format includes the author’s last name and the year of publication. When referring to a particular part of a source, the page number may be included, e.g., “(Rawat et al., 2018, p. 115).”  

APA style citation in the text may be parenthetical or narrative.  

In parenthetical citation, the author’s name and the year of publication are placed in parentheses within the text. This style is used at the end of a sentence. See below for an example:  

• Gender, age, education, and income determine a person’s risk and adaptive capacities (Birkmann et al., 2022).  

In narrative citation, the author’s name appears as a part of the sentence, followed by the publication year in parentheses. See below for an example:  

• Birkman et al. (2022) note that gender, age, education, and income determine a person’s risk and adaptive capacities.

Table 1: How to cite sources in APA format when there are multiple authors and organizations as authors  

*First time with an abbreviation: (World Health Organization [WHO], 2016); all subsequent citations: (WHO, 2016)  

Table 2: How to cite sources in APA format when some information is missing  

  APA Reference Format    

After APA citations , let us now look at the APA reference format. As an academic, you might use a wide array of source types. According to the APA style guide , each type is formatted in a certain manner. The most commonly used sources are journal articles, books, and dissertations. However, you occasionally might need to cite webpages, podcasts, and news article. How would all these appear in an APA 7 reference page ? You will find your answers in Table 3!  

Table 3: How to format various sources in the APA reference list  

Formatting the APA Paper    

Papers formatted according to APA 7th edition typically contain the following elements:  

Title page with the title (bold, centered), running head and page number in the header, author names and affiliations, and author notes (ORCID ID, conflicts of interest, etc.); see below:  

Next comes the abstract . It should be double spaced and use consistent font. The keywords appear below the abstract, with an indent.  

For the main text, margins are 1 inch on all four side s. T he text is double spaced . T he font used should be consistent . H eadings are used to separate sections , and d etails on heading levels are as follows:  

Source: https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/paper-format/headings

Finally, the APA 7 reference page contains the references to all sources used in the paper. References are double-spaced and use hanging indents :  

Style guides in academic writing serve to standardize formatting, citations, and language use across scholarly works. They provide readers with cues they can use to follow the text more efficiently and to locate information of interest to them. In other words, it avoids distraction of unfamiliar or non-uniform formatting.  

In this piece about APA 7th edition , we have explained in detail the nuances of APA citations , including how to cite in APA format and how to format the APA 7 reference page . A brief primer on formatting a manuscript in line with APA 7th edition is also provided.  

Frequently Asked Questions    

• What are the major changes from APA 6th to APA 7th Edition ?  

The updates from APA 6th to APA 7th Edition reflect a commitment to improving clarity, inclusivity, and usability in scholarly writing. The salient differences from APA 6 th edition are as follows:  

• Title page format: The title page has been updated for professionals. The author note includes information such as ORCID IDs and conflict of interest disclosures.
• Running head: The running head format has been simplified for professional authors.
• Font flexibility : There is greater flexibility in font specifications to enhance accessibility.
• Bias-free language guidelines: The guidelines for bias-free language have been updated to promote inclusivity and respect when writing about various identities.  
• Reference formatting: In APA 7th edition , the number of authors included in a reference entry has changed to allow up to 20 authors before using an ellipsis. The presentation of DOIs and URLs has been standardized.  
• In-text citations: In-text citations for works with three or more authors have been simplified to include only the first author’s name followed by “et al.”
• Accessibility: APA 7th edition emphasizes accessibility for users with disabilities, ensuring that guidelines support various modalities, including screen readers.  
• How do I cite a journal article in APA 7th Edition ?  

According to APA 7 th edition , a reference would appear as below:  

Author, A. A. (Year of Publication). Title of the article. Title of the Journal, volume number (issue number), pages. https://doi.org/xx.xxx/yyyy .  

The in-text citation would include the author name(s) and year of publication, e.g., (Andriolatou, 2007).   

• How should multiple authors be cited in APA 7th Edition?  

APA 7 citation style would vary depending on the number of authors and whether you are citing the source parenthetically or narratively:  

Single author, parenthetical: (Bik, 2020)  

Single author, narrative: Bik (2020) reported that…  

Two authors, parenthetical: (Bik & Urs, 2019)  

Two authors, narrative: As demonstrated by Bik and Urs (2019), …  

Three or more authors, parenthetical: (Bik et al., 2023)  

Three or more authors, narrative: Bik et al. (2023) have published…  

• How do I format in-text citations for a direct quote?  

When someone else’s words are copied verbatim in your paper, it refers to a direct quote.   

For APA 7 citation of short direct quotes (<40 words), use quotation marks around the quote and cite the author, year, and page number:  

Another way to look at it is how people “get a broader range of experience than they would on a feature” (Catmull, 2014, p. 209).  

For APA 7 citation of longer quotes, or block quotes, the sentence preceding the quote ends in a colon and is followed by the quoted text. No quotation marks are used. The quote is indented and cited without a period at the end (see the figure below).   

Figure: How to cite block quotes in APA citations

To conclude  

Over the years, the APA style guide has evolved significantly. The current version, APA 7th edition , has expanded in both scope and size to accommodate the needs of wide-ranging fields and to address changing times. Despite these changes, the core intention—to provide clear, consistent guidelines for effective communication—remains at the heart of APA Style .   

For busy researchers, not only is it difficult to remember the different elements of citations and references and the subtle differences in formatting, but it also a tedious task to manually format in-text citations and reference lists and ensure consistency between them. In addition, you might need to format (and even re-format) your manuscript according to different journals, which might follow styles different from APA 7th edition (MLA, Chicago, AMA, etc.)! But there is no need to worry…help is at hand!

Citation generators are online tools that format references in different styles. There are a number of citation generators available, and Paperpal has launched its new citation generator , which stands out from the others in many ways. As a part of Paperpal’s writing workflow, you can easily find and cite sources accurately in a matter of seconds.

This free citation generator supports the updated recent versions of 10,000+ styles, including APA 7th edition . Therefore, it can serve as an APA 7th edition citation generator if you need one! What’s more, you don’t need to switch between multiple tools to search, save, or format your citations. You can rely Paperpal’s citation generation feature for help with citing sources accurately and consistently in your writing. Explore Paperpal for free now!  

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• 7 Best Referencing Tools and Citation Management Software for Academic Writing
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Academic Referencing: How to Cite a Research Paper

Learning how to conduct accurate, discipline-specific academic research can feel daunting at first. But, with a solid understanding of the reasoning behind why we use academic citations coupled with knowledge of the basics, you’ll learn how to cite sources with accuracy and confidence.

When it comes to academic research, citing sources correctly is arguably as important as the research itself. "Your instructors are expecting your work to adhere to these professional standards," said Amanda Girard , research support manager of Shapiro Library at Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU).

With Shapiro Library for the past three years, Girard manages the library’s research support services, which includes SNHU’s 24/7 library chat and email support. She holds an undergraduate degree in professional writing and a graduate degree in library and information science. She said that accurate citations show that you have done your research on a topic and are knowledgeable about current ideas from those actively working in the field.

In other words, when you cite sources according to the academic style of your discipline, you’re giving credit where credit is due.

Why Cite Sources?

Citing sources properly ensures you’re following high academic and professional standards for integrity and ethics.

“When you cite a source, you can ethically use others’ research. If you are not adequately citing the information you claim in your work, it would be considered plagiarism ,” said Shannon Geary '16 , peer tutor at SNHU.

Geary has an undergraduate degree in communication  from SNHU and has served on the academic support team for close to 2 years. Her job includes helping students learn how to conduct research  and write academically.

“In academic writing, it is crucial to state where you are receiving your information from,” she said. “Citing your sources ensures that you are following academic integrity standards.”

According to Geary and Girard, several key reasons for citing sources are:

• Access. Citing sources points readers to original sources. If anyone wants to read more on your topic, they can use your citations as a roadmap to access the original sources.
• Attribution. Crediting the original authors, researchers and experts  shows that you’re knowledgeable about current ideas from those actively working in the field and adhering to high ethical standards, said Girard.
• Clarity. “By citing your sources correctly, your reader can follow along with your research,” Girard said.
• Consistency. Adhering to a citation style provides a framework for presenting ideas within similar academic fields. “Consistent formatting makes accessing, understanding and evaluating an author's findings easier for others in related fields of study,” Geary said.
• Credibility. Proper citation not only builds a writer's authority but also ensures the reliability of the work, according to Geary.

Ultimately, citing sources is a formalized way for you to share ideas as part of a bigger conversation among others in your field. It’s a way to build off of and reference one another’s ideas, Girard said.

How Do You Cite an Academic Research Paper?

Any time you use an original quote or paraphrase someone else’s ideas, you need to cite that material, according to Geary.

“The only time we do not need to cite is when presenting an original thought or general knowledge,” she said.

While the specific format for citing sources can vary based on the style used, several key elements are always included, according to Girard. Those are:

• Title of source
• Type of source, such as a journal, book, website or periodical

By giving credit to the authors, researchers and experts you cite, you’re building credibility. You’re showing that your argument is built on solid research.

“Proper citation not only builds a writer's authority but also ensures the reliability of the work,” Geary said. “Properly formatted citations are a roadmap for instructors and other readers to verify the information we present in our work.”

Common Citation Styles in Academic Research

Certain disciplines adhere to specific citation standards because different disciplines prioritize certain information and research styles . The most common citation styles used in academic research, according to Geary, are:

• American Psychological Association, known as APA . This style is standard in the social sciences such as psychology, education and communication. “In these fields, research happens rapidly, which makes it exceptionally important to use current research,” Geary said.
• Modern Language Association, known as MLA . This style is typically used in literature and humanities because of the emphasis on literature analysis. “When citing in MLA, there is an emphasis on the author and page number, allowing the audience to locate the original text that is being analyzed easily,” Geary said.
• Chicago Manual of Style, known as Chicago . This style is typically used in history, business and sometimes humanities. “(Chicago) offers flexibility because of the use of footnotes, which can be seen as less distracting than an in-text citation,” Geary said.

The benefit of using the same format as other researchers within a discipline is that the framework of presenting ideas allows you to “speak the same language,” according to Girard.

APA Citation for College: A Brief Overview

Are you writing a paper that needs to use APA citation, but don’t know what that means? No worries. You’ve come to the right place.

How to Use MLA Formatting: A Brief Overview

Are you writing a paper for which you need to know how to use MLA formatting, but don’t know what that means? No worries. You’ve come to the right place.

How to Ensure Proper Citations

Keeping track of your research as you go is one of the best ways to ensure you’re citing appropriately and correctly based on the style that your academic discipline uses.

“Through careful citation, authors ensure their audience can distinguish between borrowed material and original thoughts, safeguarding their academic reputation and following academic honesty policies,” Geary said.

Some tips that she and Girard shared to ensure you’re citing sources correctly include:

• Keep track of sources as you work. Writers should keep track of their sources every time an idea is not theirs, according to Geary. “You don’t want to find the perfect research study and misplace its source information, meaning you’d have to omit it from your paper,” she said.
• Practice. Even experienced writers need to check their citations before submitting their work. “Citing requires us to pay close attention to detail, so always start your citation process early and go slow to ensure you don’t make mistakes,” said Geary. In time, citing sources properly becomes faster and easier.
• Use an Online Tool . Geary recommends the Shapiro Library citation guide . You can find sample papers, examples of how to cite in the different academic styles and up-to-date citation requirements, along with information and examples for APA, MLA and Chicago style citations.
• Work with a Tutor. A tutor can offer support along with tips to help you learn the process of academic research. Students at SNHU can connect with free peer tutoring through the Academic Support tab in their online courses, though many colleges and universities offer peer tutoring.

Find Your Program

How to cite a reference in academic writing.

A citation consists of two pieces: an in-text citation that is typically short and a longer list of references or works cited (depending on the style used) at the end of the paper.

“In-text citations immediately acknowledge the use of external source information and its exact location,” Geary said. While each style uses a slightly different format for in-text citations that reference the research, you may expect to need the page number, author’s name and possibly date of publication in parentheses at the end of a sentence or passage, according to Geary.

A longer entry listing the complete details of the resource you referenced should also be included on the references or works cited page at the end of the paper. The full citation is provided with complete details of the source, such as author, title, publication date and more, Geary said.

The two-part aspect of citations is because of readability. “You can imagine how putting the full citation would break up the flow of a paper,” Girard said. “So, a shortened version is used (in the text).”

“For example, if an in-text citation reads (Jones, 2024), the reader immediately knows that the ideas presented are coming from Jones’s work, and they can explore the comprehensive citation on the final page,” she said.

The in-text citation and full citation together provide a transparent trail of the author's process of engaging with research.

“Their combined use also facilitates further research by following a standardized style (APA, MLA, Chicago), guaranteeing that other scholars can easily connect and build upon their work in the future,” Geary said.

Developing and demonstrating your research skills, enhancing your work’s credibility and engaging ethically with the intellectual contributions of others are at the core of the citation process no matter which style you use.

A degree can change your life. Choose your program  from 200+ SNHU degrees that can take you where you want to go.

A former higher education administrator, Dr. Marie Morganelli is a career educator and writer. She has taught and tutored composition, literature, and writing at all levels from middle school through graduate school. With two graduate degrees in English language and literature, her focus — whether teaching or writing — is in helping to raise the voices of others through the power of storytelling. Connect with her on LinkedIn .

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Generate formatted bibliographies, citations, and works cited automatically

What is mybib.

MyBib is a free bibliography and citation generator that makes accurate citations for you to copy straight into your academic assignments and papers.

If you're a student, academic, or teacher, and you're tired of the other bibliography and citation tools out there, then you're going to love MyBib. MyBib creates accurate citations automatically for books, journals, websites, and videos just by searching for a title or identifier (such as a URL or ISBN).

Plus, we're using the same citation formatting engine as professional-grade reference managers such as Zotero and Mendeley, so you can be sure our bibliographies are perfectly accurate in over 9,000 styles -- including APA 6 & 7, Chicago, Harvard, and MLA 7 & 8.

Quick features:

ENGL 101 - Koger - Fall 2024: Cite Sources in MLA

• Cite Sources in MLA
• Evaluating Sources
• Library Databases & Scholarly Articles
• Find Books & Ebooks

MLA 9 Handbook in the Library

The Library has several copies of the MLA handbook 8th Edition to help you cite your sources.

Helpful Websites

The below sites provide tools for MLA and APA styles:

• OWL Purdue MLA Formatting and Style Guide Learn how to create citations for your Works Cited page in MLA 8 format.
• OWL Purdue MLA In-Text Citations Learn the basics of MLA in-text citations.
• EasyBib Guide to MLA 8 Format Learn the basics of MLA 8 formatting.
• EasyBib MLA 8 Citation Builder Need help creating a citation? Use this citation builder to create one with just the click of your mouse.
• ZoteroBib Quickly create citations for online/web resources by pasting in a URL

Citations from Databases

Many databases that the Library subscribes to can show you automated citations for the article you found.

This is a great shortcut but be aware that the citation is not always correct (i.e. wrong capitalization, incorrect punctuation, missing elements, etc.). Be sure to check the citation and verify that it follows the format of MLA 9.

Google Slides

Mla 9 quick guide (updated 11/22), mla essay format (9th edition).

(See video for instructions on MLA Essay Formatting, including title and works cited pages.)

MLA Format Guidelines:

1. Double-space your paper and use a clear font (like Times New Roman) size 12;

2. Include your last name and page number in the header aligned right;

3. Include your name, professor's name, course, and date (in that order) on the first page aligned left; and

4. Center your title; do not bolden, enlarge, italicize, or underline the title.

Click here to view an example of a MLA Formatted Essay.

MLA Citation Syle 9th Edition (Video)

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• Last Updated: Aug 27, 2024 10:16 AM
• URL: https://libguides.riohondo.edu/engl101_koger_fall2024

Journal Article References

This page contains reference examples for journal articles, including the following:

• Journal article
• Journal article with an article number
• Journal article with missing information
• Retracted journal article
• Retraction notice for a journal article
• Abstract of a journal article from an abstract indexing database
• Monograph as part of a journal issue
• Online-only supplemental material to a journal article

1. Journal article

Grady, J. S., Her, M., Moreno, G., Perez, C., & Yelinek, J. (2019). Emotions in storybooks: A comparison of storybooks that represent ethnic and racial groups in the United States. Psychology of Popular Media Culture , 8 (3), 207–217. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000185

• Parenthetical citation : (Grady et al., 2019)
• Narrative citation : Grady et al. (2019)
• If a journal article has a DOI, include the DOI in the reference.
• Always include the issue number for a journal article.
• If the journal article does not have a DOI and is from an academic research database, end the reference after the page range (for an explanation of why, see the database information page ). The reference in this case is the same as for a print journal article.
• Do not include database information in the reference unless the journal article comes from a database that publishes works of limited circulation or original, proprietary content, such as UpToDate .
• If the journal article does not have a DOI but does have a URL that will resolve for readers (e.g., it is from an online journal that is not part of a database), include the URL of the article at the end of the reference.

2. Journal article with an article number

Jerrentrup, A., Mueller, T., Glowalla, U., Herder, M., Henrichs, N., Neubauer, A., & Schaefer, J. R. (2018). Teaching medicine with the help of “Dr. House.” PLoS ONE , 13 (3), Article e0193972. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0193972

• Parenthetical citation : (Jerrentrup et al., 2018)
• Narrative citation : Jerrentrup et al. (2018)
• If the journal article has an article number instead of a page range, include the word “Article” and then the article number instead of the page range.

3. Journal article with missing information

Missing volume number.

Lipscomb, A. Y. (2021, Winter). Addressing trauma in the college essay writing process. The Journal of College Admission , (249), 30–33. https://www.catholiccollegesonline.org/pdf/national_ccaa_in_the_news_-_nacac_journal_of_college_admission_winter_2021.pdf

Missing issue number

Sanchiz, M., Chevalier, A., & Amadieu, F. (2017). How do older and young adults start searching for information? Impact of age, domain knowledge and problem complexity on the different steps of information searching. Computers in Human Behavior , 72 , 67–78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.02.038

Missing page or article number

Butler, J. (2017). Where access meets multimodality: The case of ASL music videos. Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy , 21 (1). http://technorhetoric.net/21.1/topoi/butler/index.html

• Parenthetical citations : (Butler, 2017; Lipscomb, 2021; Sanchiz et al., 2017)
• Narrative citations : Butler (2017), Lipscomb (2021), and Sanchiz et al. (2017)
• If the journal does not use volume, issue, and/or article or page numbers, omit the missing element(s) from the reference.
• If the journal is published quarterly and the month or season (Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer) is noted, include that with the date element; see the Lipscomb example.
• If the volume, issue, and/or article or page numbers have simply not yet been assigned, use the format for an advance online publication (see Example 7 in the Publication Manual ) or an in-press article (see Example 8 in the Publication Manual ).

4. Retracted journal article

Joly, J. F., Stapel, D. A., & Lindenberg, S. M. (2008). Silence and table manners: When environments activate norms. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin , 34 (8), 1047–1056. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167208318401 (Retraction published 2012, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38 [10], 1378)

• Parenthetical citation : (Joly et al., 2008)
• Narrative citation : Joly et al. (2008)
• Use this format to cite the retracted article itself, for example, to discuss the contents of the retracted article.
• First provide publication details of the original article. Then provide information about the retraction in parentheses, including its year, journal, volume, issue, and page number(s).

5. Retraction notice for a journal article

de la Fuente, R., Bernad, A., Garcia-Castro, J., Martin, M. C., & Cigudosa, J. C. (2010). Retraction: Spontaneous human adult stem cell transformation. Cancer Research , 70 (16), 6682. https://doi.org/10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-10-2451

The Editors of the Lancet. (2010). Retraction—Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children. The Lancet , 375 (9713), 445. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(10)60175-4

• Parenthetical citations : (de la Fuente et al., 2010; The Editors of the Lancet, 2010)
• Narrative citations : de la Fuente et al. (2010) and The Editors of the Lancet (2010)
• Use this format to cite a retraction notice rather than a retracted article, for example, to provide information on why an article was retracted.
• The author of the retraction notice may be an editor, editorial board, or some or all authors of the article. Examine the retraction notice to determine who to credit as the author.
• Reproduce the title of the retraction notice as shown on the work. Note that the title may include the words “retraction,” “retraction notice,” or “retraction note” as well as the title of the original article.

6. Abstract of a journal article from an abstract indexing database

Hare, L. R., & O'Neill, K. (2000). Effectiveness and efficiency in small academic peer groups: A case study (Accession No. 200010185) [Abstract from Sociological Abstracts]. Small Group Research , 31 (1), 24–53. https://doi.org/10.1177/104649640003100102

• Parenthetical citation : (Hare & O’Neill, 2000)
• Narrative citation : Hare and O’Neill (2000)
• Although it is preferable to cite the whole article, the abstract can be cited if that is your only available source.
• The foundation of the reference is the same as for a journal article.
• If the abstract has a database accession number, place it in parentheses after the title.
• Note that you retrieved only the abstract by putting the words “Abstract from” and then the name of the abstract indexing database in square brackets. Place this bracketed description after the title and any accession number.
• Accession numbers are sometimes referred to as unique identifiers or as publication numbers (e.g., as PubMed IDs); use the term provided by the database in your reference.

7. Monograph as part of a journal issue

Ganster, D. C., Schaubroeck, J., Sime, W. E., & Mayes, B. T. (1991). The nomological validity of the Type A personality among employed adults [Monograph]. Journal of Applied Psychology , 76 (1), 143–168. http://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.76.1.143

• Parenthetical citation : (Ganster et al., 1991)
• Narrative citation : Ganster et al. (1991)
• For a monograph with an issue (or whole) number, include the issue number in parentheses followed by the serial number, for example, 58 (1, Serial No. 231).
• For a monograph bound separately as a supplement to a journal, give the issue number and supplement or part number in parentheses after the volume number, for example, 80 (3, Pt. 2).

8. Online-only supplemental material to a journal article

Freeberg, T. M. (2019). From simple rules of individual proximity, complex and coordinated collective movement [Supplemental material]. Journal of Comparative Psychology , 133 (2), 141–142. https://doi.org/10.1037/com0000181

• Parenthetical citation : (Freeberg, 2019)
• Narrative citation : Freeberg (2019)
• Include the description “[Supplemental material]” in square brackets after the article title.
• If you cite both the main article and the supplemental material, provide only a reference for the article.

Journal article references are covered in the seventh edition APA Style manuals in the Publication Manual Section 10.1 and the Concise Guide Section 10.1

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Organizing and Managing Citations

Citation management software can help you manage your research and easily organize and format your citations in a wide variety of citation styles. Check out the links below for more information about these useful programs. 

• Citation Management Basics This guide provides an overview of citation management software options, including basic functions and the differences between the various options available, including EndNote, EndNote Web, and Zotero. Also provided is contact information for Purdue librarians available to provide citation management support for Purdue faculty, students, and staff.
• EndNote at Purdue This guide provides detailed how-to and FAQ for EndNote citation management software, the desktop version.
• EndNote Basic EndNote Basic is an online citation management program that is freely available for all Purdue users. This guide highlights how-to, key functions, and FAQ, as well as differences between the desktop and online versions of this product.
• Zotero Zotero is a free and open, web-based citation management program. This guide provides info on getting started and carrying out key functions, for students and instructors. It also includes video tutorials.

Avoid Plagiarism

• Types of Plagiarism Plagiarism.org presents Plagiarism 101: What is Plagiarism?
• Citing Sources Plagiarism.org's useful guide to everything about citing sources.
• Avoiding Plagiarism Tips on how to summarize, paraphrase, and quote sources without plagiarizing from the Purdue OWL. Use the links on the left to navigate.
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• Last Edited: Aug 26, 2024 4:29 PM
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Citation Examples | Books, Articles, Websites & More

Published on April 9, 2021 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on January 17, 2024.

The most common citation styles are APA and MLA . To cite a source in these styles, you need a brief in-text citation and a full reference.

Use the interactive tool to understand how a citation is structured and see examples for common source types .

As well as switching between styles and sources, you can explore how a citation looks when there are multiple authors, different editions, no publication date, and other common scenarios.

If you’re still not sure how to cite your source correctly, dive into our comprehensive articles. For each source type, we provide a range of examples in APA , MLA , and Chicago style .

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If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Caulfield, J. (2024, January 17). Citation Examples | Books, Articles, Websites & More. Scribbr. Retrieved August 29, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/citing-sources/citation-example/

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Introducing Grammarly’s translation feature

Who has access: Members of any paid plan

The translation feature allows you to translate text directly within Grammarly. This way, you can stay focused on your current work and minimize the need to switch to external translation tools.

Requirements 

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• If you are a member of a Grammarly Business, Enterprise, or Grammarly for Education license, the license admin must first enable generative AI to access the translation feature. You can ask your admin to turn on generative AI by following the steps from this article: Enable generative AI for your team
• If you are the admin of a Grammarly license, once generative AI is turned on, you can can turn on the translation feature for your team members by opening the Organization tab in the admin panel, selecting App actions , and turning on the switch next to Translate with Grammarly .
• The translation feature is currently supported in Grammarly for Windows and Mac, in Grammarly for Chrome, and in the Grammarly Figma plugin .

How to use the translation feature

To translate text as you write with Grammarly, follow these steps:

• In the assistant that opens, start typing “translate,” and click Translate with Grammarly once this option appears.
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• Select the language you’d like to translate your text into. The language of your original text will be detected automatically.
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What languages can I translate from and into?

You can translate your text from and to these languages: Chinese (Simplified), Dutch, English (British), English (American), French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Spanish (Argentina), Spanish (Mexico), Polish, Portuguese, Portuguese (Brazil), Swedish, Turkish, and Ukrainian.

Is there a limit on the number of characters that can be translated at once?

Currently, it is possible to translate a maximum of 4,000 characters at once.

Is it possible to receive several translation options?

At this time, alternative translation options can be available for text under 10 words.

Is it possible to translate static text?

Translate with Grammarly is designed to work with text that you’ve written or are writing. It doesn’t currently work with static text, such as text on a web page or the text from an email you received, but it can translate text that you write as a reply.

How to submit feedback or a feature request?

Please use the Give feedback form directly within the app, message your Customer Success Manager, or contact Support .