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MLA 8th ed. Style Guide

In-Text Citation examples

One author 

When a work has one author, list the author's last name and then the page number where the information is listed. 

(Shuttleworth 149).

Shuttleworth states that "the connection between the rhetoric of unveiling the truth and an overt political movement of insurrection is painfully evident" (149).

 

Two authors 

If an entry in the works cited list has a work with two authors, include both names in the in-text citations.  Use the word "and" between the two names.  

(Tidwell and Ragar 58)

Tidwell and Ragar explain that "Hughes certainly was incapable of supporting them financially" (58).

Three or more authors 

If a work has three or more authors, the in-text citation will include the first author's name followed by "et al" which will match the entry in the works cited list.     

(Grabher et al. 185)

Grabher and others suggests that teachers' efforts at organizing the canon of Emily Dickinson's work for classroom instruction are revealing (185).

Multiple works by the same author 

If more than one work from the same author is listed in the works cited list, use a shortened form of the title to include in the in-text citation after the author's last name.  Use a comma between the author and title of work. 

(Austen, Mansfiled 58)

 

Author with the same last name 

When borrowing from works by two different authors with the same last name, indicate the difference by adding the initial of the author in the in-text citation.  

(J. Hobson 88).

 

Organization as the author (Corporate author)

When a work has an organization or corporation listed as an author, use the corporation or organization in the in-text citation; abbreviate commonly abbreviated terms such as department (dept.).  

(Tennessee Dept. of Health 28)

 

Work with no author

If there is no author for the work being used, the works cited citation will begin with the title of that work.  For the in-text citation, use a shortened phrase or title (often the first word of the title).  Place the word in either italics or quotation marks to match the works cited.  

("Analytics of English Majors" 99)