One of the expectations when writing an academic paper is the need to reference the works of other people, such as findings of a research study or statistics in a report. In an MLA paper, a writer references such sources by including them as in-text citations in the body paragraphs of the essay. In-text citations tell the reader of an MLA paper that the writer relied on other authorities to make or strengthen their argument.

When writing an MLA paper, the writer should consider the source of information that must appear in a parenthetical citation. Standard practice dictates that a writer should consider the source medium, such as print and online, and the source’s listing on the Works Cited page. Any source information that a writer provides in an in-text citation must correspond to the information about the source listed on the Works Cited page. Moreover, the author's name that the writer provides in the text must be in the Works Cited page.

Referencing others' works in an MLA paper is done through parenthetical citations. This is a method where the writer provides relevant source information in parentheses every time they use a quoted or paraphrased idea in a sentence. While the writer can achieve this by putting all of the source information in parentheses at the end of a sentence, there are exemptions when the writer has to put the parenthetical elsewhere in the sentence.

An MLA paper must adhere to the author-page method of in-text citation. What this means is that a writer must capture the last name of the author and the page number from which they have taken the quoted or paraphrased idea in the source text. Additionally, they must include a complete reference of the source in the Works Cited page. MLA standards require the name of the author to appear either in the sentence itself or in parentheses after the quoted or paraphrased idea. However, a writer should include the page number in the parentheses and not in the text of the sentence. For example, when a writer is referencing a print source, such as a book or journal article, they should provide the last name of the author and a page number. If they provide the author’s name in the sentence, they do not need to include it in the parenthetical citation. Where the author of the source is a corporation, the writer should use the corporation’s name, followed by the number of the page in the case of the in-text citation. Where the author of a source is not given, a writer should use a shortened title of the work in the place of the author's name.

Referencing the source after quoting or paraphrasing an idea is an important exercise for writers of academic papers. In an MLA paper, quotations and paraphrases are referenced through in-text citations, where the writer observes the author-page convention.

Source: https://wr1ter.com/mla-format-in-text-citation