Academy Resource Center

Writing Lab

MLA Examples

These are just a few examples of the many types of in-text citations. Consult a recently published MLA style guide for a more complete and current list of rules for MLA style.

One author from a book or Internet site and the author is not named in the text:
Include the author’s last name and page number/s.

Being accurate and consistent is important when following the rules of style for documentation (Raimes 96-98).

One author from a book or Internet site and the author is named in the text:
Include the page number/s.

Raimes points out that being accurate and consistent is important when following the rules of style for documentation (96-98).

Two authors:
Include the authors’ last names and page number/s.

Learning word suffixes will increase your ability to recognize and create words (Waldhorn and Zeiger 37).

More than two authors:
Include the first author’s last name alphabetically, followed by “et al.” and page number/s.

In the 1990's, citizens in the United States had over 220 million guns (Boyer et al. 1079).

Author not named:
Use the first few words of the title shortened it if it’s too long and the page number/s.

The school's exhibit at the Blackhawk museum got an impressive and positive public response ("Impressive Collection," 5).

An Internet site with no author named and no page numbers:
Use the first few words of the title of the site shortened if it’s too long.

One hundred years ago, advertisers developed a flashy, excessive style ("The American").

Works Cited:
Click here to see example Works Cited list entries.