In writing a paper there are two types of citations you need to use: in-text citations and works cited citations. In-text citations will be in parenthesis throughout the paper anytime you quote or paraphrase a source. The works cited citations come at the end of the paper on a "works cited" page," which can also be called a "reference list" or "bibliography."
Below are examples of works cited citations and in-text citations for commonly cited source types (books, book chapters, and articles). If you are using a type of source not covered here, check out the Purdue Owl. It is a comprehensive guide to creating MLA citations. Also, don't hesitate to ask a librarian. We are happy to help!
Template
Last Name, First Name. Title. Publisher, Publication Year.
Example
Welch, James. Killing Custer: the Battle of the Little Bighorn and the fate of the Plains Indians. W.W. Norton,1994.
Template
Last name, First name. "Title of Chapter." Title of Book, edited by Editor's Name(s), Publisher, Year, Page range of entry.
Example
Wall, Cheryl. "Stranger at Home: James Baldwin on What It Means To Be an American." James Baldwin: America and Beyond, edited by Cora Kaplan and Bill Schwarz, University of Michigan Press, 2011, pp. 33-138.
Template
Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Title of Journal, Volume Number, Issue Number, Year, Page Range. Name of Database, doi/url.
Example
Ngai, Sianne. "Visceral Abstractions." GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies, vol. 21 no. 1, 2015, p. 33-63. Project MUSE, muse.jhu.edu/article/566788.
Template
Last name, First name. "Title of Article." Magazine or Newspaper Title, Date of Publication (include day, month, and year if possible), URL. Date of Access
Example
Garza, Cristina Rivera. "Sonar Wildly: On the Trail of Gloria Anzaldúa." The Baffler, March 2021, https://thebaffler.com/salvos/sonar-wildly-rivera-garza. Accessed 20 October 2021.
Every in-text citation requires two pieces of information: an author's name and a page number. Whether you are directly quoting from a source or simply summarizing the main argument of a source you need to include the author of the source and the page the information you are quoting/paraphrasing comes from.
The author's name can either be in the body of your paper such as:
The Cold War, Wall writes of Baldwin's career "necessarily shaped the reception of his work" (36).
Or the author's name can appear in the parenthesis after the quote such as:
The Cold War "necessarily shaped the reception" of Baldwin's work (Wall 36).
The rules for in-text citations are the same for paraphrasing as they are for quoting.
With the author's name in the body of the text:
Wall suggests that the Cold War played a big part in the reception Baldwin's writing received (36).
With the author's name in the parenthetical:
The Cold War played a big part in the reception Baldwin's writing received (Wall 36).
