A Guide for Parenthetical Citation in MLA Style

Researchers in Liberal art and Humanities most commonly use MLA (Modern Language Association) style citations in their research works. The practice is done to acknowledge the sources that researchers are referring to, in a specific part of the research. Following are the basic formats through which works are cited.

1.  Author Name: Generally the researcher provides last name of the author and page number that is being quoted. In example one the author name is given in single phrase so the parenthetical citation doesn’t repeat the information. However, in example two author’s name is mentioned in citation.

Example 1: Wilson wrote, ‘’due to the increase in poverty, crime rate has also increased over the years’’ (243). 

Example 2: ‘’Due to the increase in poverty, crime rate has also increased over the years’’ (Wilson 243).

In the above mentioned case, if anyone wants more information about the referenced source, they can find it on referencing page researcher has given in the end.

2.    Unknown Author: In a scenario where the author is unknown, the name of the book, article, journal or any other source can be cited along with the page number.

For example: ‘’Due to the increase in poverty, crime rate has also increased over the years’’ (‘’Relation of crime to the society’’ 243)

3.    Multiple Authors: When citing a work that has more than one author, MLA style uses last names of all the authors either in a single phrase or in parenthetical citation.

For example: Wilson, Murray & Spector stated, ‘’due to the increase in poverty, crime rate has also increased over the years’’ (243). 

‘’Due to the increase in poverty, crime rate has also increased over the years’’ (Wilson, Murray & Spector 243).

4.    Multivolume Work: You may come across information that has been given in multiple volumes of publication. In that case you can cite the source according to the following examples.

‘’Due to the increase in poverty, crime rate has also increased over the years’’ (Wilson 3:243).  Or ‘’Crime & poverty are two inseparable phenomenon’’ (Wilson 4:14)

5.   Indirect Sources: While researching you may find important information with no source mentioned. In such case, use the secondhand source and mention its author’s name followed by the page number.

For Example: Wilson claims that ‘’due to the increase in poverty, crime rate has also increased over the years’’ (qtd. in Ross 266).