The MLA uses parenthetical citations, not footnotes. When you quote or paraphrase someone else's work, you give the author's name followed by the page number/s in parentheses, generally at the end of the sentence. There is no punctuation between the name and the page number. If you mention the author in the sentence itself, you need only give the page number. You do not need to cite page numbers if you are referring to an entire work, or if the work is only one page long.

Basic Citation

Examples:

The lyric poem is not written to be sung to music but relies on the melodious sound and the rhythm of the language used (Ing 16).

"Money," writes Louis Auchincloss, " … was the preoccupation of [Thackeray's] anxious lifetime and the principle source of his creative impulse" (171).

The ellipsis (…) here indicates that material has been omitted.

If the quotation is long (i.e. more than four of your typed lines) then you indent it, and the parentheses come after the punctuation.

Thackeray explains his logic as he continues his comment on Becky's musings:

If you take temptations into account, who is to say that he is better than his neighbour? A comfortable career of prosperity, if it does not make people honest, at least keeps them so. An alderman coming from a turtle feast will not step out of his carriage to steal a leg of mutton; but put him to starve, and see if he will not purloin a loaf. Becky consoled herself by so balancing the changes and equalizing the distribution of good and evil in the world. (532-33)

Citations when you are using more than one work by the same author

If you are referring to more than one of a particular person's works in your essay, then you will also need to give an abbreviated title in parentheses. A comma comes between the name of the person and the title of the work.

One critic argues that the references to "the stars" in the play do not automatically suggest a fatalistic approach to life (Calderwood, Shakespearean Metadrama 116).

Again, if you mention the critic's name in the sentence, you can leave it out of the parentheses.

James Calderwood argues that the references to "the stars" in the play do not automatically suggest a fatalistic approach to life (Shakespearean Metadrama 116).

If you mention the title of the work in your sentence, you can also leave that out of the parentheses.

James Calderwood, in his Shakespearean Metadrama, argues that the references to "the stars" in the play do not automatically suggest a fatalistic approach to life (116).

Citing more than one author or work

If you want to cite two separate authors in one parenthetical references, do as you would for a single author, but use semicolons to separate the citations: (Leane 54; Johnston 80-83).

Again, you may need to include an abbreviated title if you are using more than one work by the same author: (Leane, “Chromodynamics” 96; Johnston, Missionary Writing 80-83).

Citing a multi-volume work

If you are citing from a multi-volume work, give the volume number as well as the page number, separating these by a colon: (Frederick 2: 33-45).

Citing indirect sources

You should always strive to take quotations from their original sources. Where this is not possible, use the following example as a guide to citation:

Gould has accused Capra of following “the oldest of reductionist strategies” (qtd. in Wilber 28).

Citing online sources

Where there are no page, section or paragraph numbers in an electronic text, you need not provide a parenthetical reference. The following example refers to the article by Gabrielle Dane cited above:

Dane argues that “Ophelia's psychic identity appears externally defined, socially constructed.”

If you were citing more than one article by Dane in your essay, you would need to include the abbreviated title of the text you are referring to:

Dane argues that “Ophelia's psychic identity appears externally defined, socially constructed” (“Reading”).

If you are citing an electronic text which is divided into paragraphs, then indicate this by using the abbreviation ‘par.’ or ‘pars.’ before the relevant number/s:

According to Chan, Confucianism has recently “recaptured some of its lost lustre” (par. 6).

If you the name of the author is cited in the parenthetical reference, put a comma between it and the paragraph reference:

According to one critic, Confucianism has recently “recaptured some of its lost lustre” (Chan, par. 6).

If the text is broken up into other kinds of numbered sections, write out the word for the section in your parenthetical reference before giving the relevant number.

If you cannot find an example for what you are looking for then use the MLA manual.

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