MLA Citation Basics
On this page you will learn about in-text and full citation, types of evidence, and author-page style citation in MLA format
Citing in MLA Format
There are two types of citation in MLA, and in most other forms of citation.
If you are citing something in you writing, you use in-text citation at the end of the appropriate sentence.
The in-text citation links to the full citation that appears in the works cited page. This contains all the information about the source.
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There are many different ways to cite something in the academic world. In most High Schools and in the academic study of English, we use the Modern Language Association (MLA) format.
What is Citation?
Citation is the practice of giving credit to the creator of content in another work, generally practiced in academic work. It is an essential skill for students to learn and understand citation in high school, and critical in university studies!
What is MLA Citation?
In MLA Style, referring to the works of others in your text is done using parenthetical citations (like this). This method involves providing relevant source information in parentheses whenever a sentence uses a quotation or paraphrase, called in-text citation. This links the quoted or paraphrased passage to the full citation at the end, where the full information is available for the reader regarding what the source is and how to find it.
When do I need to cite something?
A good rule of thumb, if you are taking the words of another author (such as from a book or news story) or paraphrasing what someone else spoke (such as a speech or interview), you need to cite where that information comes from. This ensures that proper credit is given and also verified by your reader to be genuine.
Two Types of Evidence
Citation is not just for direct quotes, passages taken word-for-word from another source. It is also for any information taken from another source and summarized! There are two types of quotes...
Direct Evidence: Text that appears inside "quotation marks" to signal to the reader that the text inside those marks are the words are transcribed word for word from another author, that has an in-text citation at the end of the sentence.
In-direct Evidence: Text that does not appear inside quotation marks but still contains information that has been paraphrased or summarized from another source, that has an in-text citation at the end of the sentence.