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Parenthetical Citation | APA, MLA & Chicago Examples

Published on May 9, 2022 by Eoghan Ryan . Revised on August 23, 2022.

A parenthetical citation gives credit in parentheses to a source that you’re quoting or paraphrasing . It contains information such as the author’s name, the publication date, and the page number(s) if relevant.

Parenthetical citations are used in many citation styles, including MLA , APA , and Chicago .

Parenthetical citations should be placed at the end of the sentence or clause that contains the cited material, and they must always correspond to a full entry in your reference list.

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Table of contents

Parenthetical citations in mla, parenthetical citations in apa, parenthetical citations in chicago, frequently asked questions about parenthetical citations.

MLA in-text citations are described as author-page citations. This means that the parentheses contain the author’s last name and a page number or page range.

When a source has two authors , include both names and put “and” between them. For sources with more than two authors , include only the first author’s name, followed by “ et al. ”

Cite page numbers using a page range if you are citing multiple consecutive pages. If the pages are not consecutive, include all relevant page numbers, separated by commas.

Scribbr Citation Checker New

The AI-powered Citation Checker helps you avoid common mistakes such as:

• Missing commas and periods
• Incorrect usage of “et al.”
• Ampersands (&) in narrative citations
• Missing reference entries

APA in-text citations   are described as author-date citations. This means that parenthetical citations should contain the author’s last name , the publication date , and, if applicable, a page number or page range. These elements should be separated by commas.

When a source has two authors , include both names and separate them using an ampersand (&). When a source has more than two authors , include only the first author’s name, followed by “et al.”

When citing specific pages, write “p.” before a single page number and “pp.” before a page range or series of nonconsecutive pages.

Narrative vs. parenthetical

APA also makes a distinction between parenthetical and narrative citations . You can use a mixture of the two in your text.

In a narrative citation, the author’s name appears as part of your sentence, introducing the cited information with a signal phrase. Only the publication date (and page numbers if included) appears in parentheses.

Both parenthetical and narrative citations are automatically generated when you cite a source using Scribbr’s Citation Generator .

Chicago author-date style (not to be confused with Chicago notes and bibliography ) uses author-date citations.

These are parenthetical citations containing the author’s last name , the publication date , and, if applicable, a page number or page range. Include a comma after the year, but not after the author’s name.

When a source has two or three authors , include each of their names in your in-text citation. For more than four authors , include the name of the first author only, followed by “et al.”

A parenthetical citation gives credit in parentheses to a source that you’re quoting or paraphrasing . It provides relevant information such as the author’s name, the publication date, and the page number(s) cited.

How you use parenthetical citations will depend on your chosen citation style . It will also depend on the type of source you are citing and the number of authors.

In a parenthetical citation in MLA style , include the author’s last name and the relevant page number or range in parentheses .

For example: (Eliot 21)

APA Style distinguishes between parenthetical and narrative citations.

In parenthetical citations , you include all relevant source information in parentheses at the end of the sentence or clause: “Parts of the human body reflect the principles of tensegrity (Levin, 2002).”

In narrative citations , you include the author’s name in the text itself, followed by the publication date in parentheses: “Levin (2002) argues that parts of the human body reflect the principles of tensegrity.”

A parenthetical citation in Chicago author-date style includes the author’s last name, the publication date, and, if applicable, the relevant page number or page range in parentheses . Include a comma after the year, but not after the author’s name.

For example: (Swan 2003, 6)

To automatically generate accurate Chicago references, you can use Scribbr’s free Chicago reference generator .

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 Citation Generator.

Ryan, E. (2022, August 23). Parenthetical Citation | APA, MLA & Chicago Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved April 15, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/citing-sources/parenthetical-citation/

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APA 7th Edition Citation Guide

• General APA Style Guidelines
• Book and eBook Examples
• Article Examples
• Multimedia Examples
• Visual Works Examples
• Social Media Examples
• Personal Communication and Interview Examples
• Artificial Intelligence
• In-Text (Parenthetical) Examples
• Annotated Bibliography
• Other Citation Styles

Good to know

The punctuation at the end of the sentence goes after and outside the parenthesis.

I am paraphrasing (Smith, 2019). 

If you are using a direct quote, there is no comma between the end of the quotation and the in-text citation. 

"this is a quote" (Smith, 2019, p. 263). 

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• Document Format

Introduction to Parenthetical Citations

Formatting the parenthetical citation, sample parenthetical citations.

• Reference Entries

The function of a parenthetical citation--also known as an in-text citation--is twofold: (1) it unambiguously directs readers to a source listed on the works cited page, and (2) it provides the specific location within the source of the information being cited. In an effort to disrupt reading as little as possible, parenthetical citations are often but not always placed at the end of a sentence.

A typical in-text citation has two components. The first component mirrors the start of a source's entry on the works cited page. It allows readers to move from an in-text citation to a corresponding reference entry, where the source's publication information resides. The first component is usually the author's last name; t he second is usually a page number.

The parenthetical citation in the example above indicates that the quotation comes from page 202 of a work by Cicero. B ecause the first component of a parenthetical citation corresponds to a reference entry, r eaders can easily locate the publication information for the source. In this case, readers will locate Cicero's name in the alphabetical list of works cited at the end of the paper.

Textual integration : Keep in mind that there is always some interplay between the text of a sentence and and its parenthetical citation. Specifically, if an author is mentioned in the body of a sentence, his or her name does not need to be repeated in a parenthetical citation, for it is already clear from what source the borrowed material originates. The examples below show three different ways that an author's name might be integrated into the body of a sentence. Note that p age numbers are still indicated in parenthesis . 

Rhetoric without philosophy, according to Cicero, is but "an empty and ridiculous swirl of verbiage" (202).

In  De Oratore , Cicero says that rhetoric--when not joined by philosophy--is "an empty and ridiculous swirl of verbiage" (202).

Cicero argues that the art of rhetoric, unless reunited with the discipline of philosophy, provides little more than "an empty and ridiculous swirl of verbiage" (202).

Textual flow : Most  parenthetical citations appear at the end of a sentence. Such placement is ideal because it does not substantially disrupt the flow of reading. Such placement is not always possible, however, without abandoning the precision of a citation. In the following example, two different ideas from two different pages are cited within the same sentence. A single parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence would not be sufficient here, as it would not be absolutely clear which information came from which page.  In  these types of   situations ,  MLA guidelines dictate that parenthetical citations be placed at natural pauses in the sentence and as close to the cited material as possible.  The solution here is to place a parenthetical citation after each idea or point. The citations are not only close to the cited material but also appear at natural pauses (e.g., at a comma, at a period).

In  Gorgias , Plato accuses the sophists of practicing a form of verbal manipulation, one which deliberatively deceives the audiences (69), in an attempt to secure personal advantage (75).

​ Not every source has a single author and numbered pages. Accordingly, not every source can be cited in the exact manner outlined above. The following section will provide sample parenthetical citations for the types of sources that researchers are likely to encounter.

One author : A source by a single author lists the author's surname and the page number(s) of the cited material.

(Cicero 202)          (Quintilian 353-54)

Two or more authors : If a source has two authors, each author's surname is listed in the parenthetical citation, joined by the coordinating conjunction "and." If a source has three or more authors, only the first author's surname is listed, followed by "et al ."  (the abbreviation for  et alia,  Latin for "and others"). Because it is a common Latin abbreviation, "et al." should not be italicized.

(Bizzell and Herzberg 33)            (Losh et al. 7-10)

Multiple authors with same last name : If a writer uses two or more sources by authors with the same surname, parenthetical citations must include the first initials of said authors.

(K. Burke 245-46)          (E. Burke 22)

Multiple works by the same author : If two or more works by the author are used, parenthetical citations must also include a title or shortened title of the work. Note that titles of articles are in quotes and those of books are italicized.

(Richards, "Learning" 251)          (Richards,  Philosophy  3-5)          (Richards, Practical Criticism  174)

Corporate authors : Parenthetical citations for corporate authors simply list the corporation's name. If the corporation has an especially long name, it is acceptable to use the first few words of the name or to use abbreviations.

(Pew Research Center 3-5)          (Washington Institute 12)          (NORML 2)

Government authors : When a government agency is the author, a parenthetical citation will include the name of the government and the name of the agency that produced the work.

(United States, Department of Education 82)          (United States, Center for Disease Control 10)

Works with no author : If a work is not attributed to an author, the parenthetical citation will still list the first element of the works cited entry. Instead of an author, the first element is typically the title of the work. If the title is long, use only the first few words of the title.

( Beowulf  16; XIV)          ("Good Riddance" 16A)

Works of prose with multiple editions : Popular and oft-studied literary works are frequently available in multiple editions. To assist readers in locating cited material, it is customary to include division numbers. Divisions can be books, chapters, sections, etc. For prose works, division numbers are provided in addition to page numbers, which are listed first. The two are separated by a semicolon.

(Vonnegut 109-10; ch. 5)          (Plato, Republic  94-95; 398a)          ( Beowulf  16; XIV)

Works of poetry : For verse, division and/or line numbers replace page numbers. Divisions can be books, chapters, sections, etc.  For a long verse work with multiple divisions, give the division number and line, separated by a period. For shorter verse works, give only line numbers. NB: When citing divisions and lines, the first parenthetical citation for a source should include the name or abbreviation of the division and the word "line" or "lines," separated by a comma. Thus establishing the use of divisions and lines for that source , subsequent citations will only include referenced line numbers. 

(Dickinson, line 6)           (Dickinson 11-12)           (Homer, bk. 9, lines 366-67)          (Homer 9.366)

Works of drama : Parenthetical citations for dramatic works are built the same way as the previous two categories. If the drama is written in prose, it follows the guidelines for works of prose with multiple editions. If the drama is in written in verse, it follows the guideline for poetry.

(McDonagh 84; scene 9)          (Shakespeare, Macbeth  5.11.28-30)

Scriptural works : Parenthetical citations for sacred works use divisions and lines in lieu of page numbers. For the Bible, specifically, give the abbreviated name of the book being cited, followed by appropriate chapter and line number, separated by a period. To establish the use of a specific translation or version of the text, the first reference of the source--and only the first--should echo the first element of its works cited entry.

( New English Bible , Gen. 1.27)          (Gen. 2.22-23) 

Paragraph numbers : If a source has numbered paragraphs, they may be used to identify the location of cited material. Numbered paragraphs are sometimes present when page numbers are not, especially in online sources. Do not count and label paragraphs yourself; only use paragraph numbers when the source explicitly provides them. Writers signify that they are using paragraph numbers with the abbreviation "par." or "pars."

(Center for Academic Integrity, par. 9)          (Straw, pars. 9-10)

No page numbers : When a source has no page numbers--or other such numbers or divisions that identify textual location--simply provide the name of the author.

(Robinson)          (Stefaniak)

Time-based media : Audio and video recordings are cited by time or time range. Use HH:MM:SS format to indicate hour(s), minute(s), and second(s) into the recording.

(Clapton 00:02:32)          (Harrison 00:03:05-22)          (Scorsese 01:22:00-23:15)

Indirect citation :  When a writer is quoting a quotation from another source, he or she should mention the name of the primary author in the body of the text but provide citation information for the secondary source parenthetically. Precede the secondary source with "qtd. in" to indicate that the quote is provided secondhand. 

Léonard Misonne explains the concept: "Light glorifies everything. It transorms and ennobles the most commonplace and ordinary subjects. The object is nothing: light is everything" (qtd. in Sussman 19).

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APA Citation Guide: In-Text/Parenthetical Citations (7E)

• APA 7th Edition
• References, Templates, and Examples for APA 7E
• In-Text/Parenthetical Citations (7E)
• Paper Formatting 7E: Student Paper
• Paper Formatting 7E: Professional Paper
• Annotated Bibliography 7E
• Difference Between 6th & 7th
• Introduction
• Collecting Citations
• Backing-Up/Syncing
• Placing Citations in a Document

Printable PDF Guide to In-Text Citations

• APA 7E In-Text Citations PDF Two-page, printable PDF of this tab.
• APA 7E In-Text Citations Powerpoint Used the the 25-minute workshop.
• APA 7E In-Text Citations video Edited from a live workshop, this video shows you the basics (19m37s).

APA 7E In-Text/Parenthetical Citations

In-text citations, or parenthetical citations, are those that are inside the running text, or narrative of your text, and act as pointers to the more complete reference list at the end of the paper. In-text citations can follow very different rules than citations found in the reference list, so it’s important to place them in separate mental compartments.

The in-text citation needs the author and the year of the document.  The basic template looks like this:

( Author, year )

(Author, year, p. x)

(Author, year, pp. xx-xx)

Research by Garcia (2017) found blah.

Research found blah (Garcia, 2017).

Two Authors 

Garcia and Bartle (2017) found blah.

Research found blah (Garcia & Bartle, 2017).

Three or More Authors 

Et al. is an abbreviation of a latin phrase that means "and others." it stands in for two or more other names you haven't typed..

Garcia  et al.  (2017) found blah .

Research found  blah (Garcia et al. , 2017).

Garcia et al. (2017) found "blah" (p.25). 

No Author (Not Anonymous, Not Corporate Author) 

Research found blah ( “ Title of A rticle in Q uotation M arks and T itle C ase ,”  2017)

Research found blah ( Title of B ook in I talics and T itle C ase , 2017)

In “ Title of  A rticle in  Q uotation  M arks and  T itle  C ase ” (2017)

In  Title of  B ook in  I talics and  T itle  C ase  (2017) the author states "blah" (p. 45).

Multiple Sources

Several studies (Lowe, 2015 ; Mancha, 2007 ; Smith & Jones ; 1993) have found blah.

In a multiple sources, in-text citation order the different citations alphabetically as they appear in the reference list, so the reader can find them easily. Each is separated by a semi-colon.

Same Author/Same Year/Different Works

Research found (Garcia, 1981a)

In your reference list, these would look like:

Garcia, C. (1981a). Article title.   [other article citation information].

Garcia, C. (1981b). Book title .   [other book citation information].

Citing Someone Who is Being Cited by Someone

Petry (as cited in Quarton, 2017) found that

Some research showed blah (Petry, 1975, as cited in Quarton, 2017).

Big Quotations/Small Quotations

If you have a direct quotation that is less than 40 words, blend the quotation smoothly into your writing and use quotation marks.  If the quotation is 40 words or more, place it in a free-standing, indented text block, do not use quotation marks, and do maintain double spacing. End with a period, then place the in-text citation.

Garcia’s (2017) work found that

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Duis dolor nunc, eleifend nec placerat vel, rhoncus et sem. Fusce ullamcorper scelerisque libero, nec eleifend felis tristique vitae. Fusce varius luctus nisi, ut mattis ligula. Nam a tincidunt magna, vitae volutpat mauris. elit . (p. 215)

Direct Quotation or Paraphrase?

APA 7E makes a strong statement about paraphrasing almost everything. Any text that you are quoting exactly from the original should be enclosed in quotation marks, and the in-text citation should include a page number. As a courtesy, you may include a page number for a paraphrase from a long work, such as a book.

If you are making a very general reference to the overall subject of an article/essay, then you do not need quotation marks and you also do not need a page number. Examples of this are common in the introduction to research articles:

There have been several areas of investigation, including measures of disposition (Zhang, 2000; Garcia & Smith, 2009), measures of decision-making (Lejuez et al., 2004; Macapagal & Janssen, 2011), and measures of impulsivity (Lee, 2014). 

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MLA Style Guide: In-text or Parenthetical References

• Bibliography Basics
• In-text or Parenthetical References
• Long Quotations
• Using Numbers

Why Should I Use a Parenthetical Reference?

In order to avoid plagiarism, all information which you gather from someone else’s research or knowledge needs to be both cited in a Works Cited page as well as through in-text citations. Parenthetical or in-text citations are inserted directly into an essay using parentheses. In-text citations must be used to give credit to the original author for paraphrases, summaries, as well as direct quotes. Generally, they are placed at the end of a sentence. 

What's the point?

Parenthetical or “in-text” citations:  

• allows your reader to know which source each idea/fact came from
• gives you credibility as a writer
• protects you from plagiarism
• points your reader to the proper entry in your Works Cited.

When Should I Use a Parenthetical Reference?

• When you use an original idea from one of your sources, whether you quote, summarize or paraphrase it.
• When you use factual information that is not common knowledge (cite to be safe).
• When you use a date or fact.

What Does a Parenthetical Reference Look Like?

"It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends" (Rowling 306).

Works Cited

Parenthetical Reference PowerPoint

• Parenthetical References PowerPoint

Need help in how to use parenthetical or in-text citations?  Remind yourself by looking through this PowerPoint presentation.

When Should I Cite?

When to Cite:

• Quoting directly from a source
• Using an original idea from one of your sources, whether you decide to quote, summarize or  paraphrase it
• Using factual information that is not common knowledge (cite to be safe).
• Using a date or fact that might be challenged.

There is no need to cite when:

• You have created knowledge and are writing about YOUR OWN analysis, experiences, observations, or reactions
• You are reporting YOUR OWN original research, for example, from a science experiment, etc.
• You are using common knowledge
• Don’t use diagrams, music, code, photos, or other images without citing the source both parenthetically and within a works cited document.
• Don’t take a block of text and change only a few key words and think you are paraphrasing. You’re not.  You're plagiarizing. (Even if you cite it).

Parenthetical References or In-Text Citations

When should I use a parenthetical reference?

• When you quote directly from a source
• When you use an original idea from one of your sources, whether you decide to quote, summarize or  paraphrase it
• When you use a date or fact that might be disputed

Easy Bib has an excellent publication that describes how to cite in-text.  NoodleTools will create your in-text citations for you, and the OWL at Purdue website has a good guide: MLA In-Text Citations.    See the box at the right for an example of what a parenthetical reference looks like.

General Guidelines

In-text citations or parenthetical references must match the entry on your Works Cited page. Whatever word or phrase you provide in your Works Cited entry must also be the first word or phrase in your parenthetical reference.  Remember to include a page number if you are using a print source.

You have two choices as to how you credit an author in the body of your essay.

1.     The author's name may be introduced in the beginning of the quotation or paraphrase, but the page number(s) should always appear in parentheses at the end of the sentence, not within the text of your sentence.   Notice that the period follows the parenthesis because the in-text citation is considered part of the sentence.

EXAMPLE:  As McDonald-Gibson, journalist and author, noted, “It was only when there was nothing else left—when there was no income, education, shelter, food, or safety—that people put themselves and their families in a boat and took that last gamble" (3).

The author's name and page number may be included in parentheses following the quotation or paraphrase.

EXAMPLE:  Those who can no longer earn a living and cannot provide food, shelter, safety, or education for their children, find themselves having to make the difficult choice to leave the familiar and set out in a boat to travel to a new country where they hope they will have better opportunities (McDonald-Gibson 3).

If readers want more information about this source, they can turn to the Works Cited page and under the name McDonald-Gibson, your reader would find the following information: 

McDonald-Gibson, Charlotte . Cast Away: True Stories of Survival from Europe’s Refugee Crisis . New Press, 2016..

Exceptions to the Rules: Double punctuation with In-text citations

If a quotation ends with a question mark or exclamation point, leave the original punctuation inside the quotation mark but put a period at the end of the parenthetical reference.

EXAMPLE: “Have you felt so proud to get at the meaning of poems?” (Whitman 26).

In-text Citations for Sources with No Author

When there is no author, use a shortened title instead of the author’s name. Place the title in quotation marks if it's a short work (such as an article) or italicize it if it's a longer work (e.g. plays, books, television shows, entire Web sites) and provide a page number if available.

EXAMPLE: Why should people consider becoming vegetarians? Perhaps they want to do what they can to help the environment and save valuable resources, like water. “It takes 25 gallons of water to grow one serving of rice, 63 gallons of water to produce one egg, and 625 gallons of water to make one quarter-pound hamburger. It takes up to 100 times more water to produce one pound of beef than one pound of wheat” (“Wet”).

"Wet” Your Appetite!" SF Environment , http://sfenvironmentkids.org/teacher/lesson_plans/wet_appetite6-12.pdf

Citing a Work by Multiple Authors

For sources with two authors, list the last names of both authors in the parenthetical citation. 

For sources with more than two authors, only list the first author’s last name followed by et. al., just as you would in the Works Cited entry.

             EXAMPLE of a paraphrase:

Nickerson et. al. explain that the influence of peer dynamics may be one reason why bystanders rarely choose to step up and stop bullying (372).

EXAMPLE of a direct quotation:

In bullying situations, “peers play a potential role in exacerbating or abating the bullying. Bystanders witness more than 80% of bullying episodes but intervene less than 20% of the time” (Nickerson et. al. 372).

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Introduction to parenthetical citations

Use the menu at the right to review more specific guidelines.

Definition of parenthetical citations

This section provides guidelines on how to use parenthetical citations to cite original sources in the text of your paper. These guidelines will help you learn the essential information needed in parenthetical citations, and teach you how to format them correctly.

Parenthetical citations are citations to original sources that appear in the text of your paper. This allows the reader to see immediately where your information comes from, and it saves you the trouble of having to make footnotes or endnotes.

The APA style calls for three kinds of information to be included in in-text citations. The author’s last name and the work’s date of publication must always appear, and these items must match exactly the corresponding entry in the references list. The third kind of information, the page number, appears only in a citation to a direct quotation.

Additional Information

See the Publication Manual , available for consultation at the UW-Madison Writing Center, in many libraries, and bookstores. You can also visit the APA web site , where you can purchase the Manual online.

If you are a registered UW-Madison student, you can attend the Writing Center class “The Basics of APA Documentation.”

Check the APA website ( http://www.apastyle.org ), where you will find links to the following:

• “Tip of the Week” and archived tips
• Information on bias in language
• “Ask the Expert”–an e-mail form that allows you to ask questions about APA style
• A form for requesting e-mail updates of APA style
• A chapter-by-chapter description of changes made in the 6th edition

American Psychological Association Documentation

This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.

APA Table of Contents

• Orientation to APA
• Where to place citations
• One or two authors
• Three or more authors
• Multiple sources in one reference
• Electronic sources
• Dissertation
• Government report
• Journal article
• Magazine or newspaper article
• Publication, private organization
• Conference paper or poster session
• Electronic source
• Format the references list
• Page numbering and page header
• Usage and Style

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).

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In-Text Citations

The first step is to correctly cite each source you will use in your paper in your list of sources. Then, when you include a quote or a reference from a source, be sure to correctly cite the source in an in-text citation.

• Introduce your quote with a signal phrase (don’t just copy and paste something from your source!).
• Make sure the quote is in quotation marks.
• Properly cite the quote with an in-text citation. Before the end mark, in parenthesis, type the first word/words of the source listing (this will match your Reference list).
• Wrap up your quote by reiterating for readers what point the quote makes (analysis/evaluation).

The in-text citation must match the first word in the list of sources. So, if your source has an author, you would put the author’s name in the in-text citation and also at the end in the Works Cited. See the following example from a paper formatted using APA documentation style:

Signal Phrases (also known as transitions )

When you use others’ ideas, you have a variety of options for integrating these sources into your text. The main requirement is that you make it clear within your in-text reference that the information is not yours and that you clearly indicate where you got the idea. The following box shows some alternate phrases for signaling that the ideas you are using belong to another writer. Using a variety of wording makes writing more interesting.

Note: APA uses past tense for the signal phrase (“wrote” “argued” etc.), or past perfect tense (“has written”).

Phrases That Signal an Idea Belongs to Another Writer ( APA style includes the date of publication in parenthesis ):

• According to Starr (2010)…
• Acknowledging that…
• Starr (2010) stated…
• As Starr (2010) noted…
• In 2010, Starr reported…
• In the words of Starr (2010)…
• It is obvious, according to Starr (2010), that…
• Starr (2010) argued that…
• Starr (2010) disagreed when she said…
• Starr (2010) emphasized the importance of…
• Starr (2010) suggested…
• Starr observed in 2010 that…
• Technology specialist, Linda Starr, claimed that…(2010).
• …indicated Starr (2010).
• …wrote Starr (2010)

Integrating Sources (Using Direct Quotations):

The tables below shows some actual examples of integrating sources within the guidelines of APA. Note how the cited details are woven in with the author’s ideas.

Long quotations

In APA, a quotation longer than 40 words should be in block form, like this:

Examples 1:

Author’s Name Not in the Sentence:

If you don’t say the author’s name in the sentence, then the author’s name needs to go in the in-text citation. Remember that direct quotes require page numbers (except websites).

The author writes, “Not mine, not mine, not mine, but Mrs. Price is already turning to page thirty-two, and math problem number four” (Cisneros, 1991, p. 1).

Author’s Name in the Sentence:

If you do say the author’s name in the sentence (usually in the transition or signal phrase), then the author’s name doesn’t need to go in the in-text citation.

Cisneros (1991) writes, “Not mine, not mine, not mine, but Mrs. Price is already turning to page thirty-two, and math problem number four” (p. 1).

Since websites don’t have page numbers, you may manually count the paragraph numbers.

The author writes, “Not mine, not mine, not mine, but Mrs. Price is already turning to page thirty-two, and math problem number four” (Cisneros, 1991, para. 4).

There are other options for websites in the APA Manual. For example, you can provide a heading or section name, or abbreviate headings.

The author says that “masks provide protection from Covid-19” (Smith, 2020, “What You Can Do” section).

The author says that “masks provide protection from Covid-19” (Smith, 2020,  Further Information section).

 Integrating Sources (Summarized or Paraphrased Ideas):

Two authors:,  multiple authors:, personal communication:.

Examples with No Authors:

It is recommended that you always choose sources that have an author so that you can determine the author’s credibility; however, if your instructor allows you to use sources (usually websites) with no authors, then follow the formatting rules below.

If a source doesn’t have an author, use the title of the source (such as the title of the web page), or the name of the organization.

APA Summary or Paraphrase:

A dry desert is different from a coastal desert in several ways (Deserts, 2018).

According to Center for Disease Control (2020), wearing a mask helps to prevent one from getting Covid-19.

APA Direct Quote (use paragraph numbers (para.) for websites):

A dry desert “has specific characteristics that differentiate” it from a coastal desert (Deserts, 2018, para. 5).

According to Center for Disease Control (2020), the best way to “prevent transmission of Covid-19 is to wear a mask” (para. 4).

According to one organization, the best way to “prevent transmission of Covid-19 is to wear a mask” (Center for Disease Control, 2020, para. 4).

Video Overview

Apa citation.

1. Go through your essay rough draft and make sure that each in-text citation directly matches the Works Cited or Reference page. For example, if my in-text citation says this–

(Smith, 2019, p. 54)

–then “Smith” must be the first word in my Works Cited:

Smith, J. (2019). Staying safe during Covid-19….

Especially watch that your websites match as well. For example, in my in-text citation says this–

(Center for Disease Control, 2020).

–then “Center for Disease Control” must be the first word in my Works Cited:

Center for Disease Control. (2020). Staying safe during Covid-19….

The same goes for websites without authors. My in-text citation:

(Owl and Mouse Education Software, 2020, “Castles” heading).

My corresponding Reference page:

Owl and Mouse Educational Software. (2000). Castles in medieval times ….

1. Go through your essay and check all of your in-text citations that they are in the correct format.

Additional Resource:

The OWL at Purdue is one of the best websites you can use for how to do proper in-text citations. There are several rules about sources such as quoting a source within a source, citing multiple authors, and more. Because of this, it’s important you use this website to determine how to probably use the in-text citations. Also, check the appendix of this textbook for the MLA/APA guides.

APA: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/in_text_citations_the_basics.html

Attribution

• Content created by Dr. Sandi Van Lieu and Dr. Karen Palmer and licensed CC BY NC SA .

The RoughWriter's Guide Copyright © 2020 by Dr. Karen Palmer and Dr. Sandi Van Lieu is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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APA 7th Edition

• Sample Papers & How to Videos
• Reference Components
• Evaluating a Website
• Scholarly Articles
• Book with an editor
• Chapter in an edited book
• Anthologies
• Reference book
• Foreign language books
• Illustrated book
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Parenthetical citations

• Narrative citations
• Combining citations
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• Online Videos (e.g. YouTube, TED)
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• Music Recordings
• Additional APA Resources
• Annotated Bibliography

A parenthetical citation encompasses the components of the in-text citation in parentheses at the end of the sentence, prior to the closing period. This should mostly be used for paraphrasing, and typically not for direct quotes alone.

Recall that a page number is not necessary for paraphrasing, but is encouraged.

(Author Last Name, Date, p. X)

If the quote comes from a source without pages, either count paragraphs (Author's Last Name, date, para. x) or find some other way to let your reader know where it is in the text (Author's Last Name, date, section header x)

Example: (Highlighted and bold here for attention only. Do not bold or highlight in your paper)

Single author example - Most college students are limited in their research experience to using Google and struggle to learn how to effectively navigate and use the wide variety of resources available to them  (Head, 2013).

Two authors & Three or more author examples - Researchers have cautioned that flipped instruction needs to be carefully designed, both in overall pedagogical design  (Banks & Henderson, 2019)  and in the design of instructional videos  (Obradovich et al., 2015).

Direct quote example - Moreover, Standard II.5.2 explains that school psychologists "do not promote or condone the use of restricted psychological and educational tests…by individuals who are not qualified to use them"  (NASP, 2010, p. 9).

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Focused inquiry, apa parenthetical citations.

The purpose of in-text citations is to provide your audience with a clear and accurate indication of which ideas come from other sources, so that they can distinguish between your ideas and those you are sharing from research. This not only demonstrates integrity and respect for the ideas and work of others, it also demonstrates the way your ideas fit into a larger conversation on the topic you are discussing.

It is important to remember that your in-text citations work like a “road map” to your end citations (References). In other words, the information (author names, titles of works) you provide your reader with your in-text citations should match exactly with the full citations in your References list. All sources that appear in the body of your essay or presentation should be listed in your end citation list, and vice versa.

Source titles and author names mentioned in your writing should also be formatted according to APA guidelines to help your audience identify the source type. In APA, including the year of publication is also expected. See the APA Overview page for more info on basic document format guidelines.

Finally, keep in mind that one of the main ways novice writers commit plagiarism in their work is by not citing (or incorrectly/incompletely citing) their sources. For this reason, it is always better to use the rule of thumb, “when in doubt, cite.” (For more information on plagiarism and how to avoid it, see the Academic Integrity page .)

Note: This page reflects the latest version of the APA Publication Manual (APA 7), which released in October 2019.

For the drop-down menus below, click on the plus (+) sign to open the example; click on the arrow to obtain a link for each specific item that you can copy or email to yourself.

General Guidelines

There are two ways to cite material in the body of your writing:

1. Include the author(s) name in a signal phrase, followed by the year of publication in parentheses . At the end of the cited material, include the page number (if available) in parentheses :

Sexton (2005) argued that all magicians are keenly alive to the effects of mise-en-scène          as spectacle during a necromantic exhibition (p. 24).

2. At the end of the cited material, include the author(s) name, year of publication and page number in parentheses :

It has been argued that all magicians are keenly alive to the effects of mise-en-scène as              spectacle during a necromantic exhibition ( Sexton, 2005, p. 24 ).

Further note on including the year : Within a paragraph, when the name of the author(s) appears multiple times in signal phrases, do not include the year in subsequent references to the author:

When discussing the quality of contemporary magic, Sexton (2005) argued that all            magicians are keenly alive to the effects of mise-en-scène as spectacle during a          necromantic exhibition (p. 24). Sexton also noted that the elements of the mise-en-scène, the sets and the costumes, are foregrounded and the narrative largely acts as a pretext for introducing marvellous effects, distinct from live performances.

In certain instances, you do not need to cite information. This is called the “common knowledge rule.” If a fact is widely and generally known (e.g., the sun rises in the east and sets in the west), you do not need to cite. Similarly, familiar sayings or oft-repeated quotations (e.g., “a penny saved is a penny earned”) do not need citations.

Common knowledge can in some cases be audience-specific; research scientists writing to their peers can assume a different level of common knowledge on their subject than when writing to a younger, less educated audience, for example. If you are ever in doubt as to whether you should cite a piece of information, ask your professor or a Writing Center consultant.

Common Variations on In-Text Citations

If you are directly quoting an author, the in-text citation should include the last name of the author and the year of the source’s publication immediately following the name. The page number in parentheses should directly follow the end quotation mark (See “Work without page numbers” below for an exception to this rule):

Based on the findings, Sommerfeldt (2011) argued that “the normative role of public relations in democracy is best perceived as creating the social capital that facilitates access to spheres of public discussion” (p. 664) .

• If a work has two authors, cite each author’s name every time you reference the source.
• If a work has three or more authors, cite the first author followed by “et al.” the first time you reference the source and every time thereafter.

Note: “et al.” should not be in quotation marks in the citation, and “al” should be followed by a period.

The in-text citation should include the first few words of the full title . If the work is an individual article, chapter, or web page, place the title of the work it in quotation marks. If the work is an entire magazine, newspaper, book, brochure, or report, italicize the title of the work.

If a work is by an author identified as Anonymous , the in-text citation should include the word, “Anonymous,” followed by a comma, the year, and the page number if available:

(“Top 5,” 2016)

(“Apple Movies,” 2016)

(Anonymous, 2012)

If one author has written multiple works that support the same point you are making, cite the author followed by each year of publication in chronological order :

Multimodal composition is a semiotic approach to communicating (Kress, 2001, 2006, 2009) .

If two works have the same author and same publication year, indicate this by placing the suffixes a, b, c and so forth directly after the year :

In 2014, Nora Roberts’ romance novels were a robust representation of these authors’ prolific nature (Roberts, 2014a, 2014b, 2014c) .

If there is no pagination on an online source and paragraph numbers are present for the reader, use them in place of page numbers using the abbreviation “para.” :

Saadia (2016) asserted that the original series of Star Trek was “at its best when its cast engaged in good, old-fashioned time travel” (para. 3).

If the source includes headings and paragraphs but page numbers are not visible, cite the heading and the number of the paragraph . Abbreviate the heading if it is too long:

Attrill and Jalil (2009) found that “whether self-disclosure online follows such a progression through categorical self-memories is, however, difficult to assess given the limited research carried out thus far on self-disclosure online” (Theoretical Considerations section, para 3) .

If the material you are quoting contains citations, keep these citations embedded within the original source you are quoting :

Belief in total control of one’s actions is sometimes false; “[p]eople can feel control without having it, such as when subtle situational factors heavily influence decisions (Olson, Amlani, Raz, & Rensink, 2015; Thaler & Sunstein, 2008)” (Olsen et al., 1995, p. 11) .

In the above example, the citations inside the quotation marks are from the original source; the citations outside the end quotation mark are the new citation in the author’s essay. Your reference list does not need to include the source(s) in the embedded quotation. If the source you are quoting is important to your research, you are encouraged to find and read the source in full.

If the author of the source you are using cites another person, and you want to quote that other person, attribute the quotation to the original author and use “as cited in original author’s last name, year, page number” in the parenthetical at the end of the quotation :

According to Benjamin Weiss, a book dealer and art collector was “obliged to take refuge in Holland on the revocation of the Edict of Nantes” (as cited in Jay, 2016, p. 108) . 

If the source you are quoting is important to your research, you are encouraged to find and read the source in full.

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• Citation Styles

What is a parenthetical citation

Knowing how to handle parenthetical citations is a key skill that students and researchers need to master. This citation format, also sometimes referred to as an in-text citation, comes into play whenever you need to directly quote or paraphrase someone’s work in your essay or research paper.

In parenthetical citations, the original author or speaker’s words need to be given proper importance through referencing. The reader needs to be able to tell whose work it is, when it was created, and where it was sourced from. 

By placing the reference directly into the text itself, the reader is also spared the effort of having to check the footnotes at the end of the paper while reading it.

This guide will be taking a closer look at the best practices for parenthetical citations that you need to know about before you tackle your next paper. The guidelines laid out below will give you all the information and examples you need to use and format a parenthetical reference the right way:

What does a parenthetical citation look like in APA format?

A typical parenthetical citation is made up of a few different parts, including:

• The author’s name
• The year of publication
• The page number

In practice, this will look a little something like this in-text citation example:

Modern architecture systems still rely on dynamic principles (Moseley, 2016) .

An alternative way to structure your parenthetical citation, in this case, would be to state it as:

Elhai et al. (2017) found that smartphone use could lead to depression based on current consumption levels (p.75).

There are a few things to be aware of when using parenthetical citations. If there is no known author, for example, does the method of citation need to be adjusted?

The answer is that the basic structure will remain largely the same. When no author can be found, the title of the work and year of publication needs to be included following the format shown above. If the title within the quotation marks is exceptionally long, it can be shortened for the purpose of being an in-text citation.

Check out these APA style resources

🌐 Official APA style guidelines

🗂 APA style guide

📝 APA citation generator

What does a parenthetical citation look like in MLA format?

The MLA style of parenthetical citation has many parallel elements to the APA format. The only major difference to be aware of is that the page number is cited rather than the date of publishing, and there is no comma separating the pages from the author's last name.

In practice, this would look like the in-text citation example below:

Running regularly can have significant health benefits (Lee et al. 45) .

Again if there is no author to be found, a shortened version of the original title or source can be used as a placeholder instead.

Check out these MLA style resources

🌐 Official MLA style guidelines

🗂 MLA style guide

📝 MLA citation generator

This table summarizes the main differences between parenthetical citations in APA and MLA:

Where are parenthetical citations used?

We’ve already mentioned that parenthetical references are sometimes known as in-text citations, which tells you exactly where you’ll need to add your sources. No matter which citation style you are using, these rules will apply.

The majority of parenthetical citations are placed within the paragraph that contains the direct quote, but this is not the only place that they need to be noted down. Your in-text citations will still need to be added to the final Reference list found at the end of your essay or paper as a bibliographical citation.

The state of paraphrasing

Let’s talk about what happens when you’ve taken information from a source and rephrased it in your own words instead of using a direct quote. How do parenthetical citations apply in this situation and what guidelines should you be aware of?

To start with, it’s important to bear in mind that the original author or source still needs to be cited even if you use a paraphrased version of their work. Taking the examples from the MLA section above, let’s see how this would look in action:

Incorrect running technique has been linked to lower back injuries (Greco et al. 1796) .

Be sure not to skip this step if you are paraphrasing. Giving fitting credit to your sources when using a direct quotation is one of the backbones of academic writing and honesty, and not doing so hurts both the author and you as the writer of the paper. After all, citing correctly only adds more strength and credibility to your argument or thesis.

What about online sources?

With the academic world becoming increasingly connected to technology, many research journals are now being published exclusively on online platforms. Scholarly journal articles, magazine articles, E-books, and other sources have all gone digital to huge benefit - increased accessibility.

Using an online source can have an impact on how in-text citations are written. Not all of these journals or online articles come with clear page numbers, for example. At the same time, it’s unrealistic to expect the reader to go through the entire source looking for the one point you have referenced.

So what do you do in this situation? You make use of the paragraphs instead. When you’re referencing an electronic source, you can use an abbreviation to highlight the paragraph that you are referring to. Take a look at this example:

The New York Times explored the performance of Amanda Gorman at the inauguration and how she started out in poetry ("Amanda Gorman Captures The Moment, In Verse" par. 10) .

Frequently Asked Questions about Parenthetical citations

The difference is that the parenthetical citation will feature the author's name and the date of publication in brackets at the end of the sentence. An in-text citation can, on the other hand, use the author's name in the sentence and only add the date of publication in brackets at the end of the sentence.

The parenthetical citation always corresponds to a full citation in the 'References' or 'Works Cited' section at the end of the paper. These references are cited in alphabetical order, using the author's last name.

It's best to use page numbers when you are making use of a direct quote, with a dash being used for page ranges. If you are paraphrasing the wording, you can add the parenthetical citation without page numbers.

Parenthetical notes indicate to the reader what the original source of the content is when citing research in your paper. This allows them to quickly check the citation and get further background about the point you are making.

Put the parenthetical citation immediately after the quote or at the end of the sentence that contains it. You should not put the parenthetical citation inside the quote, or use it to divide two lines of quotations.

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In-Text Citations: The Basics

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

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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How to Format Parenthetical or In-Text Citations

An in-text citation provides your reader with two pieces of information:

• The first element from the corresponding works-cited list entry, usually the author's last name
• The location of the cited information in the work, usually a page number

Standard Formatting of the In-Text Citation

• Put the page number in parentheses
• Include the author's name ( or the title for works with no author ) in the sentence or in the parentheses before the page number.

Smyth makes a similar argument (3-4).

This point has been argued previously (Smyth 3-4).

The article "Black Workers Matter" links racism and union representation (18).

The link between racism and union representation is important ("Black Workers Matter" 18).

• If it is clear from the context which work you are citing, use only the page number .

Later, the protagonist of Jane Eyre proclaims, "I would always rather be happy than dignified" (413).  

• Multiple authors : 2-3 authors use the last names of each. For more than 3 authors, use the first author's last name and et al.

(Smith, Jones, and Brown 323)

(Bia et al. 161)

• For authors with the same last name , include their first initial .

(K. Shepard 36)

(J. Shepard 212)

• For works with no page numbers , use explicitly numbered parts of the work (paragraphs, sections, chapters). Use author (or title) alone if there are no numbered parts.

(Pushkin, ch. 5)

For more detailed information see MLA Handbook , 54-58, 116-128.

Additional MLA Style Guide Websites

• Purdue OWL: MLA Formatting & Style Guide ...updated to reflect the MLA Handbook (8th ed.)
• Government & Legal Documents MLA Style (8th/9th Edition) Citation Guide (Portland State)
• Seneca Libraries - MLA Citation Guide (MLA 8th Ed.) Quote vs paraphrase, plagiarism tutorials, ask a citation expert, and more
• The MLA Handbook 8th Edition (2016) This is a print reference volume which is available in the Ely Library Reference Collection (REF LB 2369 .M53 2016).
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