Listing your sources in a Works Cited page is only one part of the citation process; the other part is making references to your sources in the body of your paper. The purpose of the in-text citation is to inform your audience when you are making a reference to someone else's ideas, words, works, or other information you used to support your writing. According to the MLA Handbook: "References in the text must clearly point to specific sources in the list of works cited" (214). This means that for every reference you make in your paper there should be a corresponding citation in your Works Cited page, and vice versa. MLA formatting uses the author-page style when producing in-text citations, meaning that you should have information about the author and the page number when making reference in your paper. Here are several examples of the author-page style, followed by the citation as it would appear in your Works Cited:

1. In-Text Citations in MLA 8th Edition
In-Text citations are brief citations found after a direct quote or a
paraphrase. Theyare located in the body of your work.
In-Text citations are placedin parentheses,and have two components
 The first word found in the full citation on the Works Cited page (usually
the last name of the author)
 The location of the direct quote or paraphrase (usuallya page number)
In-Text citations should be placed directlyafter the direct quote or
paraphrase, or in a place that is a natural pause and does not cause the
reader to become distractedwhile readingthe body of your work.
Example:
In order to prevent starvation, Watney knew exactly what he needed to
do. “My best bet for making calories is potatoes” (Weir 17).
When using the author’s name in the sentence, only include the page
number in the parentheses.
Example:
Seuss’s use of words such as, “lurk” and “dank” help students understand
the type of character that the Once-ler is (6).
 If the author's name is not given, then use the first word or words
of the title. Follow the same formatting that was used in the works
cited list, such as quotation marks. This is a paraphrase ("Trouble"
22).
Note: The periodgoes outside the brackets, at the end of your in-text
citation.

2. Quoting Directly
When you quote directlyfrom a source, enclose the quoted section in
quotation marks. Add an in-textcitation at the end of the quote with the
author name and page number:
Mother-infantattachment has been a leadingtopic of developmental
research since John Bowlbyfound that "children raisedin institutions
were deficientin emotional and personalitydevelopment" (Hunt 358).
No Page Numbers
When you quote from electronic sources that do not provide page
numbers (like Web pages), cite the author name only.
"Three phases of the separation response: protest, despair, and
detachment" (Garelli).
Paraphrasing
When you write information or ideas from a source in your own words,
cite the source by addingan in-textcitation at the end of the
paraphrasedportion.
Paraphrasing from One Page
Include a full in-text citation with the author name and page number (if
there is one). For example:
Mother-infantattachment became a leadingtopic of developmental
research followingthe publication of John Bowlby's studies (Hunt 65).
Paraphrasing from Multiple Pages

3. If the paraphrasedinformation/idea is from several pages, include them.
For example:
Mother-infantattachment became a leadingtopic of developmental
research followingthe publication of John Bowlby's studies (Hunt 50, 55,
65-71).
Indirect Sources
Sources that are paraphrased or quoted in other sources arecalled indirect
sources. MLA recommends you take information from the original source
whenever possible.
If you mustcite information from an indirect source, name the original source
in the body of your text and cite the sourceyou actually consulted in your in-
text citation. Proceed the in-text citation with 'qtd. in.'
Example:
Kumashiro notes that lesbian and bisexual women of colour are often excluded
fromboth queer communities and communities of colour (qtd. in Dua 188).
In this case, you would also need to cite Dua in your works cited list.
Unknown Author
Where you'd normally put the author's last name, instead usethe firstone,
two, or three words fromthe title. Don't count initial articles like "A", "An" or
"The". You should provideenough words to make it clear which work you're
referring to fromyour Works Cited list.
If the title in the Works Cited list is in italics, italicize the words from the title in
the in-text citation
If the title in the Works Cited list is in quotation marks, putquotation marks
around the words fromthetitle in the in-text citation.

4. Examples:
(Cell Biology 12)
("Nursing" 12)
RepeatedUse of Sources
If you'reusing information froma single sourcemore than once in succession
(i.e., no other sources referred to in between), you can use a simplified in-text
citation.
Example:
Cell biology is an area of science that focuses on the structureand function of
cells (Smith 15). Itrevolves around the idea that the cell is a "fundamentalunit
of life" (17). Many important scientists havecontributed to the evolution of
cell biology. Mattias Jakob Schleiden and Theodor Schwann, for example, were
scientists who formulated cell theory in 1838 (20).
Note: If using this simplified in-text citation creates ambiguity regarding the
sourcebeing referred to, use the full in-text citation format.
In-Text CitationFor More Than One Source
If you would like to cite more than one sourcewithin the samein-text citation,
simply record the in-text citations as normal and separatethem with a semi-
colon.
Examples:
(Smith 42; Bennett 71).
(ItTakes Two; Brock 43).
Note: The sources within the in-text citation do not need to be in alphabetical
order for MLA style.
In-TextCitation For Two or More Authors/Editors
Number of
Authors/Editors
In-Text CitationExample

5. Two
(Author's Last Name and Author's Last Name
Page Number)
Example: (Case and Daristotle 57)
Three or more
(Author's Last Name et al. Page Number)
Example: (Case et al. 57)
Long Quotations
What Is a Long Quotation?
If your quotation extends to more than four lines as you're typing your
essay, it is a long quotation.
Rules for Long Quotations
There are 4 rules that apply to long quotations that are differentfrom
regular quotations:
1. The line before your long quotation, when you're introducing the
quote, usually ends with a colon.
2. The long quotation is indented half an inch from the rest of the text,
so it looks like a block of text.
3. There are no quotation marks around the quotation.
4. The period at the end of the quotation comes before your in-text
citation as opposedto after, as it does with regular quotations.
Example of a Long Quotation
At the end of Lord of the Flies the boys are struck with the realization of their
behaviour:
The tears began to flow and sobs shookhim. He gave himself up to them
now for the first time on the island; great, shuddering spasms of grief that
seemed to wrench his whole body. His voice roseunder the black smoke
before the burning wreckage of the island; and infected by that emotion,
the other little boys began to shake and sob too. (Golding 186)
In-text Citations
Listing your sources in a Works Cited page is only one part of the
citation process;the other part is making references to your sources in

6. the body of your paper. The purpose of the in-text citation is to inform
your audience when you are making a reference to someone else's
ideas, words, works, or other information you used to support your
writing.
According to the MLA Handbook:"References inthe text must clearly
point to specific sourcesin the list of works cited" (214). This means that
for every reference you make in your paper there should be a
corresponding citation in your Works Cited page, and vice versa.
MLA formatting uses the author-page style when producing in-text
citations, meaning that you should have information about the author
and the page number when making reference in your paper. Here are
seveal examples of the author-page style, followed by the citation as it
would appear in your Works Cited:
 According to Harold Bloom, "there is no single way to read well"
(19).
 Crane's ability to hold the reader's attention is "one of the
indubitable powers of poetry" (Bloom 141).
 Harold Bloom's interpretation of Shakespeare's Hamletfocuseson
the father-son struggle and how this recurring theme influences the
entire plot of the play (201).
Citation listed in Works Cited:
Bloom,Harold. How to Read and Why. Scribner, 2000.
For non-print sources,such as movies, music, or web-based sources
that do not have page numbers, you do not need to include page or
paragraph information. Instead, include the author's name when
available, or the source's title as listed in the Works Cited. If you include
the author's name and the title in your reference,you do not need to
include any parenthetical information:

7.  After the Indonesianearthquake of 2009,Oxfam International
worked to bring 2400 sheets to individuals effected bythe disaster
("Asia-Pacific").
 Some believe that pressure from an increasingly environmentally
aware public forced George W.Bush's administration to cave to
pressure and declare the polar bear an endangered species
(Kluger).
 Carol Reed's The Third Mancontains some of the rarest post-war
images of Vienna ever captured on film.
Citations listed in Works Cited:
“Nourish South Asia.” Oxfam International,26 Sept.
2011.www.oxfam.org/en/research/nourish-south-asia.
Kluger, Jeffrey."A Big Win for Polar Bears?" Time,
2006,content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1572970,00.html.
More Examplesof In-text Citations
Sources withknown
author
According to Harold Bloom, "there is no
single way to read well" (19).
OR
Crane's ability to hold the reader's
attention is "one of the indubitable
powers of poetry" (Bloom 141).
OR
Harold Bloom's interpretation of
Shakespeare's Hamletfocuses on the
father-son struggle and how this recurring
theme influences the entire plot of the
play (201).

8. As listed in WorksCited: Bloom, Harold. How to Read and Why.
Scribner, 2000.
Sources withtwoto
three authors
Many experts believe that developing a
medical management plan can help
patients controltheir asthmatic symptoms
(Pottel and Feldman 2).
OR
Pottel and Feldman belive that developing
a medical management plan can help
patients controltheir asthmatic symptoms
(2).
As listed in WorksCited: Pottel, Claudia, and B. Robert
Feldman. 100 Questions and Answers
About Your Child's Asthma. Jones &
Bartlett, 2008. Ebook Central.
Sources withmore
than three authors
Folse, et al. believe that sentence structure
is one of the most important elements of
composition (121).
OR
Sentence structure is one of the
"foundations" of composition writing
(Folse et al. 121)
As listed in WorksCited: Folse, Keith S. et al. Blueprints:
Composition Skills for Academic
Writing. Houghton Mifflin, 2003.
Sources with no
author
After the Indonesian earthquake of 2009,
Oxfam International worked to bring 2400

9. sheets to individuals effected by the
disaster ("Nourish South Asia").
As listed in Works
Cited:
“Nourish South Asia.” Oxfam
International, 26 Sept.
2011.www.oxfam.org/en/research/nourish-
south-asia.
Add first initials for authors with the same last name. Particularly if
you have authors with relatively commonnames, it's likely you'll have
multiple sources with authors who have the same last name. Use first
initials to differentiate them so your in-text citation will point your readers
to the correctentry on your Works Cited page.[3]
 For example: Record deals are typically negotiated by lawyers and
studio executives, not by the artists themselves (R. Stewart 17).
Include the first item that appears in your Works Cited entry.
If a non-print source has an author, you would include their last name in
your parenthetical in-text citation. However, many non-print sources
don't have authors the same way books and journal articles do. In these
cases,use the first item in your Works Cited entry to point your readers
to the correctfull citation.[7]
 If you're citing a movie, the first item in your Works Cited entry may be
the director of the movie or it may be the title of the movie itself.For
example, suppose you want to cite the movie Raidersof the Lost
Ark, directed by Steven Spielberg.If the first item is the name of the
director, your in-text citation might be "(Spielberg)." If the first item is the
name of the movie, your in-text citation might be "(Raiders)."
Incorporate citation informationinto the body of your paper.
If you include this information in the body of your paper, you don't need a
parenthetical in-text citation at all – your reader will be able to find the
correctWorks Cited entry from the information you've already
provided. [9]

10.  For example, the sentence "In Spielberg's movie Raiders of the Lost Ark,
a humble professorreveals a taste for adventure" would not need a
parenthetical citation at the end.
Tip: If you'reciting a website, don't include URLs in the body of your paper. If
you have to reference the website specifically, use an abbreviation of the
name of the website, such as CNN.com.
Use runtime ranges for media sources.
If you want to cite specific scenesin a media source,rather than the
source as a whole, the range of hours, minutes, and seconds you
reference takes the place of page numbers. Separate the beginning and
end of the range with a hyphen.[10]
 For example: As adventurous as he was, snakes were Indiana Jones's
Achilles heel – so of course he would fall into a tomb covered in snakes
(Spielberg 01:18:43-01:27:32).
Provide edition or chapter numbers for classic works.
If you're citing a classic or literary work with many differenteditions, add
information to help your readers locate the specificpassage you're
referencing – even if they're looking at a differentedition of the work. List
the author if necessary,then the page number followed by a semi-colon.
Then include your specific editionor chapter number after the
appropriate abbreviation.[11]
 For example: Marx and Engels viewed history as a series of class
struggles (79; ch. 1).
Add a shortened title when citing 2 works by the same author.
If an author is particularly prolific or a leader in the field, you may have
more than one work written by them. List the author's name unless it is
included in the bodyof your paper, then type a shortened version of the
title – typically the first 2 or 3 words.[12]
 For example: Developmentalpsychologists originally believed small
children would not benefitfrom computer usage (Murray "Too Soon" 38).

11. However, later studies showed playing video games led to better small
motor skill development(Murray "Hand-Eye Development" 17).

Tip: Format titles the same way they are formatted in your Works Cited
entry. Generally, titles of books are italicized, while titles of shorter
articles are placed in double quotation marks.
Separate multiple sources in the same citation with a semi-colon.
If you have a sentence that synthesizes information or ideas contained
in multiple sources,your parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence
should include both of them. Type the first one followed by a semi-colon,
then add the second one.[13]
 For example: Small children can interact with tablets or touch-screen
devices betterthan with desktop computers that require the use of a
keyboard and a mouse (Murray 17; Smith 37).
Simplify recurring citations from the same source,if appropriate.
If you're citing the same source several times in a row, with no
intervening sources,you may be able to simplify subsequentcitations.[14]
 For example, if you included the author's last name and page number in
the first citation, you could use page numbers only in recurring citations.
 If the source is not paginated, you may not be able to simplify the
citation any further.
Alter your formatwhen citing the Bible.
You don't normally have an entry for the Bible on your Works Cited
page. Therefore,include the title of the version of the Bible you're using
in your in-text citation, followed by the book,chapter, and verse.[15]
 For example: Ezekiel described fourcreatures, each with the faces of a
man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle (New Jerusalem Bible,Ezek. 1.5-10).
Use the abbreviation "qtd. in" to cite an indirectsource.
If the source you used included a quote or a paraphrase from another
work, try to find the original source. If the original source is unavailable,
use the indirect source as a last resort. Indicate in your in-text citation

12. that the words you referencedare not those of the author. Include the
source you used in your Works Cited, not the original source.[16]
 For example: Lennon argued that all problems of the world could be
solved if they were approached with love (qtd. in Starr 22).