MLA: In-text Citations

If you are writing a paper and you use research from another source/writer, you must let the reader know where you collected your research within your paper. This is called an in-text citation or parenthetical citation. Here are some tips:

Tip 1: Your in-text/parenthetical citation has two parts.

1) author's last name or title if there is no author

2) page number (placed at the end of the sentence)

Tip 2: Your in-text/parenthetical citations should match the Works Cited page

Tip 3: There are different places to cite your source.

You write a direct quote: Place the citation at the end of the sentence.

"President Obama is pushing Congress to increase the federal minimum from $7.25 an hour to $10.10 an hour by 2015" (Smith 10).

You write a quote in your own words (paraphrase): You place the page number at the end of the sentence but you can cite the author within the sentence or at the end of the sentence.

Smith reports that President Obama is encouraging Congress to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 all the way to $10.10 an hour by the year 2015 (10).

President Obama is encouraging Congress to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 all the way to $10.10 an hour by the year 2015 (Smith 10).