Cite Sources: MLA Style

Quoting Sources

When you quote a source, you include the author's exact words in your text. Use "quotation marks" around the author's words. Include signal phrases and an in-text citation to show where the quote is from.

Paraphrasing & Summarizing Sources

When you paraphrase or summarize a source, you restate the source's ideas in your own words and sentence structure. Select what is relevant to your topic, and restate only that. Changing only a few words is not sufficient in paraphrasing/ summarizing. Instead, you need to completely rephrase the author's ideas in your own words. You do not need to use quotation marks.

Always use in-text citations when you paraphrase or summarize, to let the reader know that the information comes from another source. Continue to use signal phrases as well.

Signal phrases let your reader know that you are quoting or summarizing from another source.

Examples:

• In the words of researchers Redelmeier and Tibshirani, "..."
• As Matt Sundeen has noted, "..."
• Patti Pena, mother of a child killed by a driver distracted by a cell phone, points out that "..."
• "...," writes Christine Haughtney.
• "...," claims wireless spokesperson Annette Jacobs.
• from Bedford Handbook (583)

One or two authors:
Signal phrase, "quote" (Author page).

More than two authors:
Signal phrase, "quote" (Author et al. page).

If the source has no named author, use the first main word in the title. If it is a very short title, you may use the whole thing. Put the title in quotation marks if it's a short source (e.g., an article) or italicize it if it's a longer source, like a book.

You may also name the title in your text and provide the page number in parentheses:
Signal phrase, "quote" (Shortened Title page).
Signal phrase with title, "quote" (page).

If there are no page numbers on the electronic source, use only the author name or the first main word of the title:

Signal phrase, "quote" (Author).
Signal phrase, "quote" (Shortened Title).

Books with two authors:

Last Name, First Name and First Name Last Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Year.

Books with more than two authors:

Last Name, First Name et al. Title of Book. Publisher, Year.

Entire book:
You may cite an essay from a book with an editor and multiple authors, or cite the whole book. This will depend on what you have quoted within your paper.

Last Name, First Name, editor. Title of Book. Publisher, Year.

Essay from an edited book:

Last Name, First Name. "Essay Title." Title of Book, edited by (Editor) First Name Last Name, Publisher, Year, p(p). Page(s).

An e-book citation follows the same rules as a print book citation. E-books may have been published in different file formats (e.g., EPUB or Kindle). If you have that information you can list the file format as a supplemental element at the end of the entry.

Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Year. Title of database or website, DOI or Permalink or shortened Database URL.

If you can't tell the specific file format, use "E-book" as a description:

A book published in audiobook format:

Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Narrated by Narrator Name, edition. Publisher, Publication Date.

Magazine article online from a database:

Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Title of Magazine, Day Month Year, p(p). Page(s). Database Name, URL.

Magazine article free from web:

Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Title of Magazine, Day Month Year, URL. 

If a newspaper article is several pages long but the pages are not continuous, use the first page number followed by a + sign (e.g., pp. 14+).

Online newspaper article from database:

Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Newspaper Title, Day Month Year, Edition (if available), Page(s). Name of Database, DOI or Permalink or shortened Database URL.

Online newspaper article from the web:

Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Newspaper Title, Day Month Year, URL.

Twitter:

Twitter Handle [Full User Name if available]. "The entire tweet word-for-word." Twitter,  Day Month Year, time, URL. 

Instagram:

User Name. "The entire post word-for-word." Instagram,  Day Month Year, URL. 

Blog post:

Author Last Name, First Name. "Title." Blog Name,  Day Month Year, URL. 

Note: MLA recommends starting with the title of the video since it is often hard to tell if the user who uploaded the video is also the creator.

"Title." Platform, uploaded by username, Day Month Year, URL.

Note: The publication date for the audio recording in a physical format is generally on the album or CD, or the accompanying booklet.

An entire audio CD:

Artist Name. Title. Publisher, Year. Format.

A song streamed from an app:

Artist Name. "Song Title." Album Title. Publisher, Date. Streaming platform.