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MLA Citation Style Guide II: Parenthetical References

This guide provides guidelines and examples for citing sources in your essay using parenthetical references.

To find out how to create a list of works cited, please see MLA Citation Style Guide I: Preparing a List of Works Cited

BASIC GUIDELINES

In addition to providing a list of Works Cited ( see MLA Citation Style Guide I ), you must also indicate exactly what information you derived from each source and exactly where in the work this information can be found.

MLA recommends inserting a parenthetical acknowledgement in the text of your paper "wherever you incorporate another's words, facts, or ideas" (Gibaldi 204).

Parenthetical references should be brief. Providing the author's last name and a page reference is generally sufficient to identify both the source and the specific location where the material was found. The parenthetical reference refers the reader to the Works Cited where complete publication information is provided.

Examples:

(Osteen 107)
(Bentley 48)

Examples refer to sources listed in MLA Citation Style Guide I: Preparing a list of Works Cited)

The preferred location for the parenthetical reference is at the end of the sentence (preceding the period) containing the material documented. If the parenthetical reference follows a quotation, place it after the closing quotation.

Example: Delillo's work, Osteen writes, "explores the myriad magical antidotes to postmodern dread" (2).

As the example above illustrates, it is not necessary to repeat information. If you mention the author's name in a sentence, there is no need to repeat the name in the parenthetical reference.

Other general guidelines:

Do not use abbreviations such as ed., or trans., after the name.
If two or more authors listed in your Works Cited share the same last name, include the first initial in the parenthetical reference: (M. Osteen 88). If the initial is also shared, use the full first name: (Mark Osteen 88).
If the work is listed by Title, use the title in the parenthetical reference. A shortened version of the title may be used for longer titles (see MLA Handbook section 5.4.4).
If your Works Cited contains more than one work by the same author, place a comma after the author's last name and add the title or shortened version of the title: (Osteen, American Magic 88).

Printed Sources

Provide the page number(s) in the parenthetical reference. If citing from a multivolume work, provide the volume and page number.

For a literary work or the Bible, the chapter, book or stanza number, or the numbers of the act, scene and line may also be helpful (see MLA Handbook section 5.4.8 for further explanation).

You may omit page numbers when citing a complete work (see MLA Handbook section 5.4.1.) or when articles in a work are arranged alphabetically (for example, an encyclopedia).

Non-Print Sources

Films, television programs, recordings, performances and electronic sources without pagination or other reference markers do not require page numbers.

Works on the Web

Works on the Web are cited in the same way as printed works. However, since Websites rarely provide page or paragraph numbers, numbers are omitted from the parenthetical reference (unless these are provided in the work, see below).

For electronic sources that include paragraph numbers, provide the relevant paragraph number(s) preceded by par. or pars. If another kind of section is numbered (for example, screens) write out the word for the section or use a standard abbreviation.

Examples

With paragraph numbers:

Without paragraph numbers:

Works Cited

Miller, Laura, and Maria Russo. "It's a Plot: Salon's Book Editors Pick the 10 Most
Paranoid Tomes of All Time." Salon 13 Feb. 2001. 21 Feb. 2001. <http://www.salon.com/people/feature/2001/02/13/books_list/index.html>.

Schütz, Chantal. "Music at the New Globe." Early Modern Literary Studies 7.1/Special Issue 8 (May 2001): 36 pars. 12 September 2001 <http://www.shu.ac.uk/emls/07-1/schumusi.htm>.

This guide is based on the MLA Handbook. For more detailed information, or for examples not included here, SEE:

Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 5th ed. New York:
Modern Languages Association of America, 1999. LB 2369 .G53 1999 REF

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