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How to Cite in the Text?

MLA (Modern Language Association) uses the author-page format for in-text citations. After you have quoted or paraphrased the words of an author, put in parenthesis their surname and the number of the page:

According to Smith (134) the planets revolve around the sun

"Planets of our solar system orbit around the sun" (Smith 134)

How Should I Cite This?

Bibliography

Surname, First Name. Book Title in Italics. Place of Publication, Publisher, Year.

Example:

Teitelbaum, Joshua. Political Liberalization in the Persian Gulf. New York, Columbia University Press, 2009.

Bibliography

Surname, First Name. "Article Title: Subtitle." Title of Periodical in Italics, vol. number, issue no., Year, pages.

Example:

Kang, Jaeho. “The Ur -History of Media Space: Walter Benjamin and the Information Industry in Nineteenth-Century Paris.” International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society IJPS, vol. 22, no. 2, 2009, pp. 231–48.

Citing a webpage found in a website
Bibliography:

Surname, Name (if available). "Title of webpage." Title of Website in Italics, Day Month Abbreviated Year, URL. Accessed date.

Example:

 Kephart, Beth. "The Four Times I Became a Writer." Literary Hub, 10 Sept. 2018, https://lithub.com/the-four-times-i-became-a-teacher/. Accessed 11 Sept. 2018.

A primary source can take various forms, it could be an image, a video, or a manuscript. For each form, you need to follow different rules in order to cite it. Here is an example of a document included in a book:

“Notes of Debates on the Articles of Confederation, July 30-August 1, 1776.” Presidents and Black America: A Documentary History, by Stephen A. Jones and Eric Freedman, CQ Press, 2011, p. 18. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/georgetown/detail.action?docID=836186.

 

Check out Purdue OWL MLA Guide to find out more.