Citing Quotations and Paraphrases: MLA

Whether citing a direct quotation from a source or your own paraphrased wording of the text, you must always cite your sources parenthetically. Below are samples of how to cite both direct quotations and paraphrases in the text of the paper.

Direct Quotations

Direct quotations need to be enclosed by quotation marks and cited parenthetically. Include the author’s last name and specific page citation in the parentheses that follow the direct quotation. If you introduce the quotation with the author early on in the sentence, you need only to include the page number in the parentheses that follow. Any punctuation marks (i.e., periods, commas, and semicolons) should follow the parenthetical citation. If question marks and exclamation marks are part of the quoted passage, cite them within the quotation marks; if they are part of your text, cite them after the parenthetical citation. If you are citing from a source that does not have a page number (i.e., a web-based electronic source), include only the author’s last name; if the source has no author, then include the title of the work or website and (if available) a page number in parentheses.

Examples:

Economists explore the idea that, “many parents seem to believe that a child cannot prosper unless it is hitched to the right name; names are seen to carry great aesthetic or even predictive powers” (Levitt and Dubner 181).

Economists Levitt and Dubner explore the idea that, “many parents seem to believe that a child cannot prosper unless it is hitched to the right name; names are seen to carry great aesthetic or even predictive powers” (181).

Is it true that, “names... carry great aesthetic or even predictive powers” (Levitt and Dubner 181)?

Paraphrases

If you reword a quotation, you must provide a citation, even though you do not use quotation marks. Consider the example above, from Levitt and Dubner’s Freakonomics. In that example, the text is quoted directly. We might also paraphrase it.

For example:

The idea that one’s name is a predictor of his or her future success is one that many parents subscribe to (Levitt and Dubner 181).

The above example is written in the student’s ‘own words,’ but it contains the substance of the idea in Levitt and Dubner’s quotation above; therefore, it must be cited.

Additionally, if you include factual information not widely known, or controversial or disputed “facts,” you must cite the source of that information.

For example:

Although Shakespeare’s father was purportedly a Roman Catholic (Ackroyd 24), his own religious sensibilities were by all accounts consistent with the accepted orthodoxy of Elizabethan England.

For texts (including websites) with no author include the title of the work in the citation:

For example:

The theory of supply-side economics grew out of the slow economic growth during the 1970s (“Supply-Side Economics”).

Block Quotations

Quotations that are longer than four lines need to be cited as a free-standing block of text without quotation marks. Never “block” a paraphrase. Begin the quotation on a new line and indent the entire quotation one inch from the left margin (note that this one-inch indentation is an additional half-inch, or “tab” from the left margin, beyond a paragraph indentation). Double-space the block quotation. Cite parenthetically after the closing punctuation mark.

Citing More Than One Work by a Particular Author

If you cite research from more than one source by one author, distinguish each citation by including a shortened title for that particular work. Remember that titles of books need to be italicized while titles of articles are cited with quotation marks. If you do not mention the author’s name in the sentence, include the author’s name followed by a comma, followed by a shortened title, followed by page numbers (if available).

For example:

Arthur Miller portrays tragic heroes in different ways throughout his plays. For instance, Miller demonstrates John Proctor’s strength of character upon his death when Proctor says, “Because it is my name! Because I can never have another in my life...! I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” (Crucible 133). In a different work, Willy Loman takes his life because, as his son Biff laments, “He had all the wrong dreams. All, all wrong” (Miller, Salesman 138). While Proctor of The Crucible is noble and dies with integrity, Loman of Death of a Salesman is weak and dies in vain.

Indirect sources

When quoting a source referenced in another source (known as an indirect source), include the abbreviation qtd. in (“quoted in”) in your parenthetical citation. You should, however, list only the source you actually consulted in your parenthetical citation and on your Works Cited page (or in your Bibliography).

For example:

Hayek said he “never was a social democrat formally, but I would have been what in England would be described as a Fabian socialist” (qtd. in Wapshott 17).

Within the Works Cited, although Hayek is quoted, Wapshott’s work is cited because it is the source where the researcher discovered the quote. Click here for Works Cited Formatting page.

SAMPLE:

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