Internal Citations MLA Format

Placement and Punctuation Place a citation at a natural pause– the end of a sentence or after a phrase or clause. In fact, “the fate of man hinges on the willingness to communicate” (“Showdown”). “A full scale blockade generally has been interpreted as an act of war,” the Miami Herald reported (“Blockade”), and everyone feared what might happen.

More… Place a citation at the end of a text sentence BEFORE the end punctuation mark. WRONG: Fearing nuclear attack, people stocked up on groceries. (Grunwald 12) RIGHT: Fearing nuclear attack, people stocked up on groceries (Grunwald 12).

Sentences ending in quotes Place the citation AFTER the quotation marks, but BEFORE the end punctuation. “I’ll not vote for him,” a New York salesman commented, “but I’ll support him. His reaction was long overdue” (Robertson).

Long Quotes A long quote takes up more than THREE lines when typed. Introduce the quote with a colon. Indent the entire long quote 10 spaces. The citation appears AFTER the period. EXAMPLE: Finkelstein notes that there were secret government plans: At the White House, plans were finalized for an evacuation of key governmental personnel and their families if Washington came under attack. Special passes were distributed and an assembly area was designated at the Reno Reservoir in northwest Washington, where a motorcade would be formed to transport people to the relocation areas. (85)

General Rules Citations include the first item in the Works Cited citation and the page number. Do NOT include a comma or pg. WRONG: (Finkelstein, pg. 85) (“Cesar Millan”, no page) RIGHT: (Finkelstein 85) (“Cesar Millan” n.p.) If the source information appears in the text, write only the page number in parentheses. According to Finkelstein, the President was alarmed by the crowd’s reaction (87). An article titled, “Cesar Millan”, refers to Millan’s training methods as “calm and assertive” (n.p.).

Signal Phrase Key Words notes observes points out reasons refutes rejects reports responds suggests thinks writes acknowledges adds admits agrees argues asserts believes claims comments compares confirms contends declares denies disputes emphasizes endorses grants illustrates implies insists

More… If you refer to a complete work, omit page numbers. In 1990, a series of documents were distributed to officials (Security Checklist). If there are two authors, cite both author’s last names. (Cragen and Smith 89) If there are three authors, include all three last names. (Bullock, Smith, and Trombley 608) If there are more than three authors, use et al. (Brown et al.) NOTE: Use the format you used on your Source Card.

Need More Help? Check the links on the Wiki Go to www.mla.org for more specific rules