Parenthetical Citation
Woodruff High School
Compiled from MLA Handbook 8th edition: last updated 2/9/17
· Anytime another’s words, facts or ideas are used there must be an in-text (parenthetical) acknowledgement of it and it should directly correspond to the Works Cited entry at the end of your paper. Remember this not only includes direct quotes but also facts and ideas that you have borrowed. The only exception is common knowledge.
· The citations in the text must clearly point to the specific sources in the list of works cited.
· The parenthetical citation comes before the punctuation mark that ends the sentence, clause or phrase. If it is a direct quotation it follows the quotation mark but comes before the punctuation mark. The only exception to this rule is for a long quotation of more than 4 lines of prose or three lines of verse that is set off from the text by a one inch indentation from the left margin. In this case leave one space after the ending punctuation mark then add the parenthetical reference.
· If citing an entire work in print or a non-print source like a film or web publication that has no reference markers or pagination it is often easier to reference it within the text rather than using a parenthetical citation. Remember to reference it with the name that begins the citation on the Works Cited list. If you are citing a whole piece of work and use parenthetical citation rather than referencing it in the text, the page numbers are left off.
Citing a source with an author (most common):
This includes the author and the page(s), if available, that the quotation or information was taken from.
(Author pg.#)
It may be true that “in the appreciation of medieval art the attitude of the observer is of primary importance…” (Robertson 136).
If two, three or more authors begin the citation the way it appears on the Works Cited list:
2 authors - (Dorris and Erdrich 23)
3 or more - (Burdick et al. 42)
If the author’s name is referenced in the text you only need to include the page(s) in the parenthetical citation.
Others, like Jakobson and Waugh (210-15), hold the opposite point of view.
If more than one volume is cited in the Works Cited list include volume and page number in parenthetical citation.
(Author vol.#: pg.#) (Wellek 2: 1-10)
Citing a source with no known author:
If the work doesn’t have an author use the first word in the works cited entry to identify the work followed by the page(s) or other reference marks, if available. This is usually the title of work and if it is long it may be shortened.
(Title pg. or reference# if available)
International espionage was as prevalent as ever in the 1990’s (“Decade”).
Works Cited entry
“Decade of the Spy.” Newsweek 7 Mar. 1994: 26-27. Print.
Citing indirect sources:
When at all possible try to use original sources. If you are quoting another quote found in a source put the abbreviation qtd. in before the indirect source in your parenthetical citation.
(qtd. in Author pg#)
Samuel Johnson admitted that Edmund Burke was an “extraordinary man” (qtd. in Boswell 2: 450).
Citing a commonly studied or unpaginated source:
If citing a commonly studied source that is available in many editions or an unpaginated source it is helpful to also cite chapters.
(Author pg.#; chapter)
Or if the author is mentioned within the text, cite the page number and chapter.
In A Vindication of the Rights of Women, Mary Wollstonecraft recollects many “women who, not led by degrees to proper studies, and not permitted to choose for themselves, have indeed been overgrown children” (185; ch. 13)
Citing plays and poems:
If citing commonly studied verse plays and poems omit page numbers and cite by division (act, scene, canto, book, part) and line with periods separating the various numbers. Use Arabic numerals rather than roman numerals for division and page numbers (unless otherwise directed by your instructor).
(King Lear 4.1.5-12) refers to King Lear Act 4, Scene 1, lines 5-12.
If citing poetry include stanza number and lines if applicable after page number.
Citing an author with more than one work on the Works Cited list:
If you are citing an author that has more than one work on the Works Cited list add a shortened version of the title after the author’s name or if the author is mentioned in the text the parenthetical citation can begin with the title.
(Frye, Double Vision 85)