how to cite a book title in an essay mla

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MLA Style Guide Eighth Edition

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• Title of Container
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Title of Source. The title is usually taken from an authoritative location in the source such as the title page. It is the name of the source you are using. Capitalize the following parts of speech in a title: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, subordinating conjunctions (although, because, unless, after, until, when, where, while, etc.). Do not capitalize articles, prepositions, coordinating conjunctions, the "to" in infinitives if they appear in the middle of the title. A colon separates the title from the subtitle unless it ends in a question mark or exclamation. Titles should be italicized or enclosed in quotation marks. Titles that are independent and self-contained (e.g., books) and titles of containers (e.g., anthologies) should be italicized. Titles that are contained in larger works (e.g., short stories) should be in quotation s. Exceptions to the above rule are: 1) Scripture (Genesis, Bible, Gospels, Upanishads, Old Testament, Talmud, etc.) Titles of individualized scripture writings, however, should be italicized and treated like any other published work.(e.g. The Interlinear Bible) 2) Names of laws, acts and political documents (Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence, Magna Carta, Treaty of Marseilles, etc.) 3) Musical compositions identified by form, number, and key (Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 in A, op. 92) 4) Series titles (Critical American Studies, Bollingen Series, etc.) 5) Conferences, seminars, workshops, and courses (MLA Annual Convention, English 110)

The title of the work follows the author and ends with a period . Mitchell, Margaret. Gone With the Wind . New York: Macmillan, 1961.

A sub-title is included after the main title . Joyce, Michael. Othermindedness: The Emergence of Network Culture. U of Michigan P, 2000. Baron, Sabrina Alcorn et al., editors. Agent of Change: Print Culture Studies after Elizabeth L. Eisenstein. U of               Massachusetts P /Center for the Book, Library of Congress, 2007.

The title of a story, poem or essay in a collection, as part of a larger whole, is placed in quotation marks . Dewar, James A., and Peng Hwa Ang. "The Cultural Consequences of Printing and the Internet." Agent of Change: Print             Culture Studies after Elizabeth L. Eisenstein. U of Massachusetts P /Center for the Book, Library of Congress,             2007, pp. 365-77. 

Independent work in a collection When a work that is normally independent (such as a novel or play) appears in a collection, the work's title remains in italics. Euripides. The Trojan Women . Ten Plays, translated by Paul Roche, New American Library, 1998, pp. 457-512.

The title of a periodical (journal, magazine, or newspaper) is in italics and the title of the article is in quotation marks. Goldman, Anne. "Questions of Transport: Reading Primo Levi Reading Dante." The Georgia Review, vol. 64, no. 1, 2010           pp. 69-88. Note: This rule applies to all media forms such as the title of a television series, an episode in a television series, a song or piece of music in an album, a posting or article on a web page. See examples below. Television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer . Created by Joss Whedon, performance by Sarah Michelle Gellar, Mutant Enemy, 1997-2003. Episode in a television series "Hush." Buffy the Vampire Slayer , created by Joss Whedon, performance by Sarah           Michelle Gellar, season 4, episode 10, Mutant Enemy, 1997-2003. Web site Hollmichel, Stefanie. So Many Books . 2003-13, somanybooksbkog.com Note: When giving a URL, omit http and https. Posting of an article on a web site Hollmichel, Stefanie. "The Reading Brain: Differences Between Digital and Print."           So Many Books, 25 April 2013, somanybooksblog.com/2013/04/25/the-reading-brain-differences-between-digital-           and-print/. A song or piece of music in an album Beyonce. "Pretty Hurts." Beyonce , Parkwood Entertainment, 2013,           www.beyonce.com/album/beyonce/?media_view=songs.

Untitled Source In the place of the title, provide a generic description of the source without italics or quotation marks. Capitalize the first word in the title and any proper nouns in it. Mackintosh, Charles Rennie. Chair of Stained Oak. 1897-1900, Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Comment or review of a title in an online forum Jeane. Comment on "The Reading Brain: Differences Between Digital and Print." So Many Books, 25 Apr. 2013,            10:30 p.m., somanybooksblog.com/2013/04/25/the-reading-brain-differences-between-digital-and-            print/#comment-83030

Review of a title in an online forum Mackin, Joseph. Review of The Pleasures of Reading of an age of Distraction , by Alan Jacobs. New York Journal of Books, 2 June 2011, www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/            pleasures-reading-age-distraction.

Tweet Reproduce the full text without changing anything and enclose within quotation marks. @persiankiwi."We have report of large street battles in east and west of Tehran now. - #Iranelection." Twitter ,            23 June 2009, 11:15 a.m., twitter.com/persianwiki/status/2298106072.

E-mail message Use subject as the title. Subject is enclosed in quotation marks. Boyle, Anthony T. "Re: Utopia." Received by Daniel J. Cayhill, 21 June 1997.

Introduction, Preface, Foreword, or Afterword Capitalize the term in the works cited list but do not italicize or enclose in quotation marks. The term need not be capitalized in in-text discussion. Felstiner, John. Preface. Selected Poems and Prose of Paul Celan , by Paul Celan, translated by Felstiner              W.W. Norton, 2001, pp.xix-xxxvi.

Translations of Titles Place translations of titles for foreign works in square brackets in the works cited list. The translation appears next to the title.

Shortened titles The first time a title is mentioned in your work, it should appear in full. If the title is repeated in the work, it can be shortened to a familiar one (e.g., Skylark for Ode to a Skylark).

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MLA Style Guide, 8th & 9th Editions: Title of source

• Works Cited entries: What to Include
• Title of source
• Title of container
• Contributors
• Publication date
• Supplemental Elements
• Book with Personal Author(s)
• Book with Organization as Author
• Book with Editor(s)
• Parts of Books
• Government Publication
• Journal Article
• Magazine Article
• Multivolume Works
• Newspaper Article
• Other Formats
• Websites, Social Media, and Email
• About In-text Citations
• In-text Examples
• How to Paraphrase and Quote
• Citing Poetry
• Formatting Your MLA Paper
• Formatting Your Works Cited List
• MLA Annotated Bibliography
• MLA 9th Edition Quick Guide
• Submit Your Paper for MLA Style Review

Title of source (Works Cited)

The title of source is the second core element in the Works Cited entry. In general, the title of a work is taken from the title page of the publication.

• Capitalize all principal words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.). Do not capitalize articles, prepositions, or conjunctions when they fall in the middle of a title.
• Separate a subtitle with a colon and a space.
• Italicize titles if the source is self-contained and independent. Titles of books, plays, films, periodicals, databases, and websites are italicized.
• Place titles in quotation marks if the source is part of a larger work. Articles, essays, chapters, poems, webpages, songs, and speeches are placed in quotation marks.
• Example of a journal article title which includes the title of a book: "Unbearable Weight of Authenticity: Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God and Theory of 'Touristic Reading'."
• Example of a journal article title which includes the title of a short story: "Individualism in O'Connor's 'A Good Man is Hard to Find'."

Danticat, Edwidge.  Brother, I'm Dying.   Knopf , 2007.  

Chapter title in a book or anthology : 

Howard, Rebecca Moore. “Avoiding Sentence Fragments.” Writing Matters: A Handbook for Writing and Research, 2nd ed., McGraw Hill, 2014, pp. 600-10.

Journals, Magazines, and Newspapers:

Houtman, Eveline. “Mind-Blowing: Fostering Self-Regulated Learning in Information Literacy Instruction.” Communications in Information Literacy, vol. 9, no. 1, 2015, pp. 6-18. www.comminfolit.org/index.php?journal=cil&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=v9i1p6&path%5B%5D=203​.

Meade, Rita.  "It's Not Too Late to Advocate."  S crewy Decimal,  1 June 2016, www.screwydecimal.com/2016/06/its-not-too-late-to-advocate.html.

Entire Website:

Meade, Rita. Screwy Decimal .   2010-16, www.screwydecimal.com/.

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Works-Cited-List Entries

How to cite a book.

To create a basic works-cited-list entry for a book, list the author, the title, the publisher, and the publication date. You may need to include other elements depending on the type of book you are citing (e.g., an edited book, a translation) and how it is published (e.g., in print, as an e-book, online). Below are sample entries for books along with links to posts containing many other examples.

Book by One Author

Mantel, Hilary. Wolf Hall . Picador, 2010.

Book by an Unknown Author

Beowulf . Translated by Alan Sullivan and Timothy Murphy, edited by Sarah Anderson, Pearson, 2004.

An Edited Book

Sánchez Prado, Ignacio M., editor. Mexican Literature in Theory . Bloomsbury, 2018.

More Examples

Anthologies

Books Series

Edited Collections

Multivolume Works

Translations

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MLA Citation Guide (MLA 9th Edition): Books

• Understanding Core Elements
• Formatting Appendices and Works Cited List
• Writing an Annotated Bibliography
• Academic Honesty and Citation
• In-Text Citation
• Charts, Graphs, Images, and Tables
• Class Notes and Presentations
• Encyclopedias and Dictionaries
• Generative AI
• In Digital Assignments
• Interviews and Emails
• Journal and Magazine Articles
• Newspaper Articles
• Social Media
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• When Information Is Missing
• Citation Software

General Guideline

The general MLA 9 formatting for books is:

Work Cited List: Last Name, First Name.  Title of Book.  Publisher, Publication Date. 

In-Text: (Author Last Name page number of quote or idea).

Book with One Author

Last Name, First Name. Title of Book.  Publisher, Publication Date. 

(Author Last Name page number).

Kirsh , Steven J.  Children, Adolescents, and Media Violence: A Critical Look at the Research.  Sage, 2006.

Book with More Than One Author

When a book has two authors , order the authors in the same way they are presented in the book.

Last Name, First Name of First Author, and First Name Last Name of Second Author. Title of Book.  Publisher, Publication Date. 

(First Author Last Name page number).

Wykes , Maggie, and Barrie Gunter.  The Media and Body Image: If Looks Could Kill.  Sage, 2005. 

If there are three or more authors , list only the first author followed by the phrase et al. (Latin for "and others") in place of the subsequent authors' names.

Last Name, First Name of First Author, et al. Title of Book . Publisher, Publication Date.

(First Author Last Name, et al. page number).

Nickels, William, et al. Understanding Canadian Business . McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 2016.

(Nickel, et al)

Book with Editor(s) and No Author

Last Name of Editor, First Name, editor(s). Title of Book . Publisher, Publication Date.

Matuz, Roger, editor. Contemporary Canadian Artists . Gale Canada, 1997.

A Work in an Anthology, Reference, or Collection

 format.

Last Name, First Name. "Title of Essay." Title of Collection, e dited by Editor's Name(s), Publisher, Year, Page range of entry. 

(Last Name page number)

 Example

Ross, Colin. "The Story of Grey Owl."  Fiction/Non-Fiction: A Reader and Rhetoric,  edited by Garry  Engkent  and Lucia  Engkent , Thomson Nelson, 2006, pp. 327-333. 

  Note:  The first author's name listed is the author of the chapter/essay/short story. If there is no editor given you may leave out that part of the citation.

Book by a Group or Corporate Author

Name of Corporate Author. Title of Book.  Publisher, Publication Date.

Calgary Educational Partnership Foundation.  Employability Skills: Creating My Future,  Nelson, 1996.

 Note : When a work is published by an organization that is also its author, begin the entry with the title, skipping the author element. List the organization as publisher.

Self-Published

Last Name, First Name. Title.  Date. 

Hocking, Amanda. Fate.  2010.

(Hocking 10).

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An MLA citation generator is a software tool designed to automatically create academic citations in the Modern Language Association (MLA) citation format. The generator will take information such as document titles, author, and URLs as in input, and output fully formatted citations that can be inserted into the Works Cited page of an MLA-compliant academic paper.

The citations on a Works Cited page show the external sources that were used to write the main body of the academic paper, either directly as references and quotes, or indirectly as ideas.

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MLA style is most often used by middle school and high school students in preparation for transition to college and further education. Ironically, MLA style is not actually used all that often beyond middle and high school, with APA (American Psychological Association) style being the favored style at colleges across the country.

It is also important at this level to learn why it's critical to cite sources, not just how to cite them.

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Writing citations manually is time consuming and error prone. Automating this process with a citation generator is easy, straightforward, and gives accurate results. It's also easier to keep citations organized and in the correct order.

The Works Cited page contributes to the overall grade of a paper, so it is important to produce accurately formatted citations that follow the guidelines in the official MLA Handbook .

⚙️ How do I use MyBib's MLA Citation Generator?

It's super easy to create MLA style citations with our MLA Citation Generator. Scroll back up to the generator at the top of the page and select the type of source you're citing. Books, journal articles, and webpages are all examples of the types of sources our generator can cite automatically. Then either search for the source, or enter the details manually in the citation form.

The generator will produce a formatted MLA citation that can be copied and pasted directly into your document, or saved to MyBib as part of your overall Works Cited page (which can be downloaded fully later!).

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Daniel is a qualified librarian, former teacher, and citation expert. He has been contributing to MyBib since 2018.

Home / Guides / Citation Guides / MLA Format / How to Cite a Book Chapter in MLA

How to Cite a Book Chapter in MLA

This page is a how-to guide for using individual book chapters as sources and citing them correctly in your papers. This guide will help you determine when to cite a chapter separately and teach you how to cite a chapter both in the text of your paper and in the Works Cited page.

The information below follows the guidelines of the MLA Handbook , 9th Edition, but it is not associated with the Modern Language Association.

Table of Contents

Why you need to cite sources.

• When to Cite a Chapter

In-text citations

Works cited citations/references.

• Core elements of MLA citations
• Note on containers

Chapter/Article in an Edited Book

Chapter in an anthology/compilation/reference.

• Chapter in an Encyclopedia or Multi-volume set

Introduction/Preface/Foreword/Afterword

To write successful papers, you need to do research on your topic, and you include that research in your papers using citations. Citing a source in your paper means that you are using other people’s expertise to support your ideas. You “borrow” the credibility of these experts to increase your own credibility as a researcher. According to the Modern Language Association’s Handbook , “By giving credit to the precursors whose ideas they work with, scholars allow future researchers interested in the history of a conversation to trace the line of inquiry back to its beginning” (95).

In other words, when you cite sources properly, you are establishing and demonstrating your credibility as a researcher, and you ensure that you are not plagiarizing the material. This improves your writing and makes it more persuasive. The citations also allow readers to distinguish the information found in sources from your original thoughts on the topic.

When to Cite a Chapter 

The main reason writers will cite a chapter of a book instead of the whole book is when the chapter is written by an author(s) different from the book’s editor(s). An editor compiles a selection of articles written by other experts in the field.

If the author of the book wrote all of the chapters, you do not need to cite the chapters separately even if the chapters have names, and can instead use the standard format for citing a book in MLA . You should, however, include page numbers.

How to Cite a Chapter in a Paper

You can use information from your research in three ways:

• Paraphrase – Take the information from a specific sentence, paragraph, or section of the chapter and rewrite it in your own words.
• Summarize – Take a larger view of the section or the chapter and rewrite it in your own words.
• Quote – Use the exact words written  by the author and enclose the words in quotation marks.

With all the above methods of citing research in your paper, you need to follow that information with an in-text citation and create a corresponding reference for the source on the Works Cited page.  

Creating correct in-text citations within your text are important. Each in-text citation

• Alerts your reader that you are using information from an outside source.
• Usually appears in parentheses at the end of a sentence.
• Is short and only has enough information to help the reader find the complete reference listed in the Works Cited page at the end of the paper.

An in-text citation in the Modern Language Association (MLA) style has two parts (227-228):

• Name of the author or authors
• While many online sources do not have a page number, academic journals almost always do, even when they are available online.

In most cases, the in-text citation is at the end of the sentence in parentheses. When you cite the author’s name in your text, you don’t have to repeat it in the parentheses at the end. Do not separate the author’s name and the page number with a comma. See below for examples.

In-text citations are helpful, but they do not give a lot of information on the source. That’s where your works cited citations come in handy. The works cited citations are designed to provide enough information so that your reader can find the original source, if needed. Every full citation follows the core elements outlined below.

Core Elements of MLA Citations

The outline for any MLA citation follows this format. Please note the punctuation at the end of each section.

Note on Containers

The 9th edition of the official Handbook uses a term for citing references that was first introduced in the 8th edition: c ontainers .

In books that have individual chapters written by different authors, the book is considered the container because it contains parts of a larger whole. The title of the first container, the book name, is printed in italics and follows the chapter name.

When accessing book chapters through a database, the database is considered the second container. This title is also printed in italics.

Below, let’s look at how to cite different types of chapters.

An edited book contains chapters that are written by authors different from the editor. When citing from a book that has been edited by someone other than the writer of the chapter, the chapter writer’s name is cited first, followed by the title of the chapter. The chapter is the source article, and the book is the first container. The editor’s name follows the name of the book.

Example citations for a chapter in an edited print book

Cite your source

Example citations for the same chapter accessed through an online source/database

Anthologies or compilations are collected works of literature such as poems or stories. An anthology can contain a selection of work from one author or from many authors. The editor of the book chooses the pieces to include and usually writes a foreword or introduction. When citing work from an anthology or compilation, the original creator of the work is listed first, followed by the title of the piece. The anthology is the first container and is listed in italics after the name of the individual piece. The editor’s name follows the name of the book.

Example of citations from a chapter in an anthology

Chapter in an Encyclopedia or Multivolume Set 

Encyclopedias are reference works that provide summaries of information from all branches of knowledge or all branches of knowledge in a particular field. Entries in an encyclopedia often have a title, but no author listed. When citing a section of an encyclopedia, the section or chapter name is listed first. The name of the encyclopedia is the first container. The publisher of the encyclopedia follows its name.

Encyclopedia sections often do not have author names. If no author is listed, start the citation with the section name. Online sources will also not have page numbers, so omit them as well.

Examples of citations from an encyclopedia

Multivolume sets can have one title for the entire set and may have individual titles for each volume. When citing these sources, cite the title of the entire multi-volume set followed by the volume number.

Example of citations from a multivolume work

Books that are edited or are part of an anthology or compilation often have additional sections that are written by the book’s editor or another writer. These pieces can be an introduction, a preface, or a foreword, which is at the beginning of the book, or an afterword, which is at the end. When citing information from one of these sections, the writer of that section is listed first, followed by the name of the section (Introduction, Preface, etc.). This section name is not enclosed in quotation marks. The title of the book is the first container, and it is listed in italics after the section name. The editor’s name follows the name of the book.

Examples of Citations from an Introduction/Preface/Foreword/Afterword

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

Published October 31, 2011. Updated June 19, 2021.

Written by Catherine Sigler . Catherine has a Ph.D. in English Education and has taught college-level writing for 15 years.

MLA Formatting Guide

MLA Formatting

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

Citation Examples

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No matter what citation style you’re using (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.) the EasyBib Citation Generator can help you create the right bibliography quickly.

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.

Creating an account is not a requirement for generating MLA citations. However, registering for an EasyBib account is free and an account is how you can save all the citation you create. This can help make it easier to manage your citations and bibliographies.

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.

If any important information is missing (e.g., author’s name, title, publishing date, URL, etc.), first see if you can find it in the source yourself. If you cannot, leave the information blank and continue creating your citation.

It supports MLA, APA, Chicago, Harvard, and over 7,000 total citation styles.

To cite a book chapter in MLA style with an editor and/or a translator, you need to have basic information including the authors, chapter title, editors and/or translators, publication year, book title, publisher, and page numbers. The templates for in-text citations and a works-cited-list entry of a book chapter (edited and translated) and examples are given below:

In-text citation template and example:

For citations in prose, use the first name and surname of the author on the first occurrence. For subsequent citations, use only the surname. In parenthetical citations, always use only the surname of the author(s).

Citation in prose:

First mention: Chris Rojek states that ….

Subsequent occurrences: Rojek confirms ….

Parenthetical:

Works-cited-list entry template and example:

Enclose the chapter title in double quotation marks and use title case. The title of the book is given in italics and title case.

Surname, First Name. “Title of the Chapter.” Title of the Book , edited and translated by Name of the Editor(s)/Translator(s), Publisher, Publication Date, page range.

Rojek, Chris. “Indexing, Dragging and the Social Construction of Tourist Sights.” Touring Cultures: Transformations of Travel and Theory , edited and translated by Chris Rojek and John Urry, Routledge, 1997, pp. 52–74.

To cite a chapter in an edited book in MLA style, you need to have basic information including the authors, chapter title (unique title and/or generic label), editors, publication year, book title, publisher, and page numbers. The templates for in-text citations and works-cited-list entries for a chapter in an edited book written by a single author and some examples are given below:

First mention: Gayatri Gopinath ….

Subsequent occurrences: Gopinath ….

….(Gopinath).

Include the unique chapter title in title case and enclose it in double quotation marks. If the chapter does not have a unique title and instead uses a generic label, do not enclose it in quotation marks.

Include the book title in title case and in italics.

Surname, First Name. Generic Label. Title of the Book , edited by Editor(s) Name, Publisher, Publication Date, page range.

Surname, First Name. “Unique Chapter Title.” Title of the Book , edited by Editor(s) Name, Publisher, Publication Date, page range.

Surname, First Name. “Unique Chapter Title.” Generic Label. Title of the Book , edited by Editor(s) Name, Publisher, Publication Date, page range.

Notice that the last template uses a chapter with both a unique chapter title and a generic label. In this case, use the unique chapter title first and enclose it in double quotation marks and follow it with the generic label (as shown in the third example below).

Gopinath, Gayatri. Introduction. Political Emotions , edited by Ann Cvetkovich et al., Routledge, 2010, pp. 167–92.

Gopinath, Gayatri. “Archive, Affect, and the Everyday: Queer Diasporic Re-Visions.” Political Emotions , edited by Ann Cvetkovich et al., Routledge, 2010, pp. 167–92.

Gopinath, Gayatri. “Archive, Affect, and the Everyday: Queer Diasporic Re-Visions.” Introduction. Political Emotions , edited by Ann Cvetkovich et al., Routledge, 2010, pp. 167–92.

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MLA Formatting Quotations

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When you directly quote the works of others in your paper, you will format quotations differently depending on their length. Below are some basic guidelines for incorporating quotations into your paper. Please note that all pages in MLA should be double-spaced .

Short quotations

To indicate short quotations (four typed lines or fewer of prose or three lines of verse) in your text, enclose the quotation within double quotation marks. Provide the author and specific page number (in the case of verse, provide line numbers) in the in-text citation, and include a complete reference on the Works Cited page. Punctuation marks such as periods, commas, and semicolons should appear after the parenthetical citation.

Question marks and exclamation points should appear within the quotation marks if they are a part of the quoted passage, but after the parenthetical citation if they are a part of your text.

For example, when quoting short passages of prose, use the following examples:

When using short (fewer than three lines of verse) quotations from poetry, mark breaks in verse with a slash, ( / ), at the end of each line of verse (a space should precede and follow the slash). If a stanza break occurs during the quotation, use a double slash ( // ).

Long quotations

For quotations that are more than four lines of prose or three lines of verse, place quotations in a free-standing block of text and omit quotation marks. Start the quotation on a new line, with the entire quote indented 1/2   inch  from the left margin while maintaining double-spacing. Your parenthetical citation should come  after the closing punctuation mark . When quoting verse, maintain original line breaks. (You should maintain double-spacing throughout your essay.)

For example, when citing more than four lines of prose, use the following examples :

Nelly Dean treats Heathcliff poorly and dehumanizes him throughout her narration: They entirely refused to have it in bed with them, or even in their room, and I had no more sense, so, I put it on the landing of the stairs, hoping it would be gone on the morrow. By chance, or else attracted by hearing his voice, it crept to Mr. Earnshaw's door, and there he found it on quitting his chamber. Inquiries were made as to how it got there; I was obliged to confess, and in recompense for my cowardice and inhumanity was sent out of the house. (Bronte 78)

When citing long sections of poetry (four lines of verse or more), keep formatting as close to the original as possible.

In his poem "My Papa's Waltz," Theodore Roethke explores his childhood with his father:

The whiskey on your breath Could make a small boy dizzy; But I hung on like death: Such waltzing was not easy. We Romped until the pans Slid from the kitchen shelf; My mother's countenance Could not unfrown itself. (qtd. in Shrodes, Finestone, Shugrue 202)

When citing two or more paragraphs, use block quotation format, even if the passage from the paragraphs is less than four lines. If you cite more than one paragraph, the first line of the second paragraph should be indented an extra 1/4 inch to denote a new paragraph:

In "American Origins of the Writing-across-the-Curriculum Movement," David Russell argues,

Writing has been an issue in American secondary and higher education since papers and examinations came into wide use in the 1870s, eventually driving out formal recitation and oral examination. . . .

From its birth in the late nineteenth century, progressive education has wrestled with the conflict within industrial society between pressure to increase specialization of knowledge and of professional work (upholding disciplinary standards) and pressure to integrate more fully an ever-widening number of citizens into intellectually meaningful activity within mass society (promoting social equity). . . . (3)

Adding or omitting words in quotations

If you add a word or words in a quotation, you should put brackets around the words to indicate that they are not part of the original text:

If you omit a word or words from a quotation, you should indicate the deleted word or words by using ellipses, which are three periods ( . . . ) preceded and followed by a space. For example:

Please note that brackets are not needed around ellipses unless they would add clarity.

When omitting words from poetry quotations, use a standard three-period ellipses; however, when omitting one or more full lines of poetry, space several periods to about the length of a complete line in the poem:

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• A complete guide to MLA in-text citations

MLA In-text Citations | A Complete Guide (9th Edition)

Published on July 9, 2019 by Shona McCombes . Revised on March 5, 2024.

An MLA in-text citation provides the author’s last name and a page number in parentheses.

If a source has two authors, name both. If a source has more than two authors, name only the first author, followed by “ et al. ”

If the part you’re citing spans multiple pages, include the full page range. If you want to cite multiple non-consecutive pages at the same time, separate the page numbers with commas.

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Table of contents

Where to include an mla in-text citation, citing sources with no author, citing sources with no page numbers, citing different sources with the same author name, citing sources indirectly, frequently asked questions about mla in-text citations.

Place the parenthetical citation directly after the relevant quote or paraphrase , and before the period or other punctuation mark (except with  block quotes , where the citation comes after the period).

If you have already named the author in the sentence, add only the page number in parentheses. When mentioning a source with three or more authors outside of parentheses, use “and others” or “and colleagues” in place of “et al.”

• MLA is the second most popular citation style (Smith and Morrison 17–19) .
• According to Smith and Morrison , MLA is the second most popular citation style (17–19) .
• APA is by far “the most used citation style in the US” (Moore et al. 74) , but it is less dominant in the UK (Smith 16) .
• Moore and colleagues state that APA is more popular in the US than elsewhere (74) .

Combining citations

If a sentence is supported by more than one source, you can combine the citations in a single set of parentheses. Separate the two sources with a semicolon .

Livestock farming is one of the biggest global contributors to climate change (Garcia 64; Davies 14) .

Consecutive citations of the same source

If you cite the same source repeatedly within a paragraph, you can include the full citation the first time you cite it, then just the page number for subsequent citations.

MLA is the second most popular citation style (Smith and Morrison 17–19) . It is more popular than Chicago style, but less popular than APA (21) .

You can do this as long as it remains clear what source you’re citing. If you cite something else in between or start a new paragraph, reintroduce the full citation again to avoid ambiguity.

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For sources with no named author , the in-text citation must match the first element of the Works Cited entry. This may be the name of an organization, or the title of the source.

If the source title or organization name is longer than four words, shorten it to the first word or phrase in the in-text citation, excluding any articles ( a, an, and the ). The shortened title or organization name should begin with the word the source is alphabetized by in the Works Cited.

Follow the general MLA rules for formatting titles : If the source is a self-contained work (e.g. a whole website or an entire book ), put the title in italics; if the source is contained within a larger whole (e.g. a page on a website or a chapter of a book), put the title in quotation marks.

If a source does not have page numbers but is divided into numbered parts (e.g. chapters, sections, scenes, Bible books and verses, Articles of the Constitution , or timestamps), use these numbers to locate the relevant passage.

If the source does not use any numbering system, include only the author’s name in the in-text citation. Don’t include paragraph numbers unless they are explicitly numbered in the source.

Note that if there are no numbered divisions and you have already named the author in your sentence, then no parenthetical citation is necessary.

If your Works Cited page includes more than one entry under the same last name, you need to distinguish between these sources in your in-text citations.

Multiple sources by the same author

If you cite more than one work by the same author, add a shortened title to signal which source you are referring to.

In this example, the first source is a whole book, so the title appears in italics; the second is an article published in a journal, so the title appears in quotation marks.

Different authors with the same last name

To distinguish between different authors with the same last name, use the authors’ initials (or, if the initials are the same, full first names) in your in-text citations:

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Sometimes you might want to cite something that you found quoted in a secondary source . If possible, always seek out the original source and cite it directly.

If you can’t access the original source, make sure to name both the original author and the author of the source that you accessed . Use the abbreviation “qtd. in” (short for “quoted in”) to indicate where you found the quotation.

In these cases, only the source you accessed directly is included in the Works Cited list.

You must include an MLA in-text citation every time you quote or paraphrase from a source (e.g. a book , movie , website , or article ).

Some source types, such as books and journal articles , may contain footnotes (or endnotes) with additional information. The following rules apply when citing information from a note in an MLA in-text citation :

• To cite information from a single numbered note, write “n” after the page number, and then write the note number, e.g. (Smith 105n2)
• To cite information from multiple numbered notes, write “nn” and include a range, e.g. (Smith 77nn1–2)
• To cite information from an unnumbered note, write “un” after the page number, with a space in between, e.g. (Jones 250 un)

If a source has two authors, name both authors in your MLA in-text citation and Works Cited entry. If there are three or more authors, name only the first author, followed by et al.

If a source has no author, start the MLA Works Cited entry with the source title . Use a shortened version of the title in your MLA in-text citation .

If a source has no page numbers, you can use an alternative locator (e.g. a chapter number, or a timestamp for a video or audio source) to identify the relevant passage in your in-text citation. If the source has no numbered divisions, cite only the author’s name (or the title).

If you already named the author or title in your sentence, and there is no locator available, you don’t need a parenthetical citation:

• Rajaram  argues that representations of migration are shaped by “cultural, political, and ideological interests.”
• The homepage of The Correspondent describes it as “a movement for radically different news.”

Yes. MLA style uses title case, which means that all principal words (nouns, pronouns , verbs, adjectives , adverbs , and some conjunctions ) are capitalized.

This applies to titles of sources as well as the title of, and subheadings in, your paper. Use MLA capitalization style even when the original source title uses different capitalization .

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McCombes, S. (2024, March 05). MLA In-text Citations | A Complete Guide (9th Edition). Scribbr. Retrieved September 6, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/mla/in-text-citations/

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