how to quote hamlet in an essay mla

Dr. Mark Womack

How to Quote Shakespeare

Title and reference format.

Richard III or Othello

Twelfth Night (1.5.268–76)

In 3.1, Hamlet delivers his most famous soliloquy.

“Periods and commas,” says Dr. Womack, “ always go inside quotation marks.”

Prose Quotations

The immensely obese Falstaff tells the Prince: “When I was about thy years, Hal, I was not an eagle’s talon in the waist; I could have crept into any alderman’s thumb ring” (2.4.325–27).

In Much Ado About Nothing , Benedick reflects on what he has overheard Don Pedro, Leonato, and Claudio say: This can be no trick. The conference was sadly borne. They have the truth of this from Hero. They seem to pity the lady. It seems her affections have their full bent. Love me? Why, it must be requited. I hear how I am censured. They say I will bear myself proudly if I perceive the love come from her; they say too that she will rather die than give any sign of affection. (2.3.217–24)

Verse Quotations

Berowne’s pyrotechnic line “Light, seeking light, doth light of light beguile” is a text-book example of antanaclasis (1.1.77).

Claudius alludes to the story of Cain and Abel when describing his crime: “It hath the primal eldest curse upon’t, / A brother’s murder” (3.3.37–38).

Jaques begins his famous speech by comparing the world to a theater:                                         All the world’s a stage And all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages. (2.7.138–42)

He then proceeds to enumerate and analyze these ages.

Dialogue Quotations

The Christians in Venice taunt Shylock about his daughter’s elopement: SHYLOCK.  She is damned for it. SALARINO.  That’s certain, if the devil may be her judge. SHYLOCK.  My own flesh and blood to rebel! SOLANIO.  Out upon it, old carrion! Rebels it at these years? SHYLOCK.  I say my daughter is my flesh and my blood. SALARINO.  There is more difference between thy flesh and hers than between jet and ivory, more between your bloods than there is between red wine and Rhenish. (3.1.29–38)

From their first conversation, Lady Macbeth pushes her husband towards murder: MACBETH.                         My dearest love, Duncan comes here tonight. LADY MACBETH.                 And when goes hence? MACBETH. Tomorrow, as he purposes. LADY MACBETH.                                 O, never Shall sun that morrow see. (1.5.57–60)

• PRO Courses Guides New Tech Help Pro Expert Videos About wikiHow Pro Upgrade Sign In
• EDIT Edit this Article
• EXPLORE Tech Help Pro About Us Random Article Quizzes Request a New Article Community Dashboard This Or That Game Happiness Hub Popular Categories Arts and Entertainment Artwork Books Movies Computers and Electronics Computers Phone Skills Technology Hacks Health Men's Health Mental Health Women's Health Relationships Dating Love Relationship Issues Hobbies and Crafts Crafts Drawing Games Education & Communication Communication Skills Personal Development Studying Personal Care and Style Fashion Hair Care Personal Hygiene Youth Personal Care School Stuff Dating All Categories Arts and Entertainment Finance and Business Home and Garden Relationship Quizzes Cars & Other Vehicles Food and Entertaining Personal Care and Style Sports and Fitness Computers and Electronics Health Pets and Animals Travel Education & Communication Hobbies and Crafts Philosophy and Religion Work World Family Life Holidays and Traditions Relationships Youth
• Browse Articles
• Learn Something New
• Quizzes Hot
• Happiness Hub
• This Or That Game
• Train Your Brain
• Explore More
• Support wikiHow
• About wikiHow
• Log in / Sign up
• Education and Communications
• Studying Literature

How to Cite Shakespeare in MLA

Last Updated: April 29, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Marissa Levis . Marissa Levis is an English Teacher in the Morris County Vocational School District. She previously worked as an English director at a tutoring center that caters to students in elementary and middle school. She is an expert in creating a curriculum that helps students advance their skills in secondary-level English, focusing on MLA formatting, reading comprehension, writing skills, editing and proofreading, literary analysis, standardized test preparation, and journalism topics. Marissa received her Master of Arts in Teaching from Fairleigh Dickinson University. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 113,863 times.

Citing Shakespeare in MLA style can be tricky, as you may not be sure how to cite the act, verse, and line numbers, rather than page numbers. To follow MLA style, you will need to properly format any quotes from Shakespeare in the text and use in-text citations accordingly. You should also cite Shakespeare in the bibliography at the end of your paper. Whether you are citing Shakespeare in MLA for a paper for class or an essay for a reading assignment, you can get the citations right with just a few steps.

Formatting Shakespeare Quotes in Text

• For example, you may write, “Prospero feels doomed by his decision, stating: ‘Hell is empty.’”

• For example, you may write, “In the play, Prospero refers to the temporality of life, noting: ‘We are such stuff as dreams are made on/and our little life is rounded with a sleep.’”

Full fathom five thy father lies; Of his bones are coral made; Those are pearls that were his eyes: Nothing of him that doth fade, But doth suffer a sea-change Into something rich and strange. Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell: Ding-dong Hark! now I hear them,—Ding-dong, bell."

ANTONIO. Let's all sink wi' th' king. SEBASTIAN. Let's take leave of him."

Creating an In-Text Citation

• For example, you may write, “Prospero feels doomed by his decision, stating: ‘Hell is empty/and all the devils are here.’ (1.2.15-16.)”

ANTONIO. Let's all sink wi' th' king. SEBASTIAN. Let's take leave of him. (1.1.4-5)"

• You can find a complete list of abbreviations for the titles of Shakespeare’s plays on Internet Shakespeare Editions: http://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca/Foyer/guidelines/abbreviations/ .
• If you are only discussing one play by Shakespeare in your paper and you refer to the play once already in your paper, you do not need to include an abbreviation of the title in subsequent citations.
• For example, you may write a citation from Macbeth as, “A good example of foreshadowing is spoken by the second witch, ‘By the pricking of my thumbs,/Something wicked this way comes.’ ( Mac . 4.1.57-58)”
• Or, if you have already referred to the play once, you leave the “Mac” out of the citation, using just the numbers, “(4.1.57-58).”

• For example, you may write, “A good example of foreshadowing is spoken by the second witch, ‘By the pricking of my thumbs,/Something wicked this way comes.’ (4.1.57-58.)” This means the quotation comes from Act 4, scene 1, lines 57-58.

• For example, you may write, “In 4.1, the second witch provides a few lines of foreshadowing.”

Citing Shakespeare in a Bibliography

• For example, you may write, “Shakespeare, William. The Tempest .”

• For example, you may write, “Ed. Tucker Brooke” or “Ed. John Keene and Lawrence Mason.”

• For example, you may write, “New Haven, Yale University Press, 1947.”

• For example, the complete citation would be: “Shakespeare, William. The Tempest . Ed. Tucker Brooke. New Haven, Yale University Press, 1947. Print.”

• For example, you may write, “Furness, Horace Howard, ed. The Tempest . By William Shakespeare. New York, Dover, 1964. Print.”

• For example, if you were citing an anthology with one volume, you would write, “Shakespeare, William. Macbeth . The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans. Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1974. 1306-42. Print.”
• For an anthology with more than one volume, you would note the volume number you accessed: “Shakespeare, William. As You Like It . The Annotated Shakespeare. Ed. A. L. Rowse. Vol. 1. New York, Clarkson N. Potter, 1978. 334-89. Print.”

Expert Q&A

You Might Also Like

Expert Interview

Thanks for reading our article! If you’d like to learn more about citations, check out our in-depth interview with Marissa Levis .

• ↑ https://www.southplainscollege.edu/exploreprograms/artsandsciences/english/HowtoCiteShakespeareinMLA.pdf
• ↑ http://drmarkwomack.com/mla-style/how-to-quote/quote-shakespeare/
• ↑ https://penandthepad.com/correct-way-cite-shakespearean-works-4219.html
• ↑ https://www.lsue.edu/library/docs/MLA-PLAY.pdf

About This Article

To cite Shakespeare in a bibliography using MLA format, list “Shakespeare, William” as the author and follow with the full title of the play in italics. Include the name of the editor by writing “Ed.” and then the editor’s full name. Write the city where the text was published, the name of the publisher, and the year of publication. Finally, list the medium of the play, such as “Print” or “Web,” depending on how you accessed the play. For more guidance, including how to create an in-text citation and format Shakespeare quotes, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

• Send fan mail to authors

Reader Success Stories

Prince Charles

Oct 22, 2021

Did this article help you?

Aria Lenany

Jul 20, 2020

Featured Articles

Trending Articles

Watch Articles

• Terms of Use
• Privacy Policy
• Do Not Sell or Share My Info
• Not Selling Info

wikiHow Tech Help Pro:

Level up your tech skills and stay ahead of the curve

ENGL 263 - Shakespeare

• Sources for Your Papers

Formatting a Paper for MLA Style in Word or Google Docs

Citing shakespeare's plays in mla.

• Need More Help?

Want to go more in-depth? Check out these guides

• Guide to MLA In-text Citations (Scribbr) A guide to using in-text citations in MLA style. This will be helpful for other sources you will cite beyond Shakespeare's work.
• Guide to MLA Works Cited Pages (Scribbr) A comprehensive guide to preparing the works cited page for an MLA paper (also known as a reference list or bibliography).
• MLA Style (Purdue Online Writing Lab) An extensive guide to MLA style covering both formatting and citations.
• ZoteroBib (aka zbib) A fast, free bibliography generator, powered by the same parser used for Zotero. This tool is more reliable than other bibliography generators. Remember to change the bibliography style from 'American Psychological Association 7th edition' (the default) to 'Modern Language Association 9th edition'. You are responsible however for double-checking the accuracy of citation outputs. You can always ask a librarian for assistance with citations!

The works of Shakespeare, like many plays, have consistently numbered acts, scenes, and lines. These numbers should be used in your  MLA  in-text citations, separated by periods, instead of page numbers.

The Works Cited entry follows the format for a book, but varies depending on whether you cite from a standalone edition or a collection. The example below is for a standalone edition of  Hamlet .

If you cite multiple Shakespeare plays in your paper, replace the author’s name with an abbreviation of the play title in your in-text citation.

Citing a play from a collection

If you use a collection of all or several of Shakespeare’s works, include a Works Cited entry for each work you cite from it, providing the title of the individual work, followed by information about the collection.

Note that play titles remain italicized here, since these are works that would usually stand alone.

If you cite several works by Shakespeare, order them alphabetically by title, and replace “Shakespeare, William” with a series of three em dashes after the first one.

Citing multiple Shakespeare plays

If you cite more than one Shakespeare play in your paper, MLA recommends starting each in-text citation with an abbreviated version of the play title, in italics. A list of the standard abbreviations can be found  here ; don’t make up your own abbreviations.

Introduce each abbreviation the first time you mention the play’s title, then use it in all subsequent citations of that play.

Don’t use these abbreviations outside of parentheses. If you frequently mention a multi-word title in your text, you can instead shorten it to a recognizable keyword (e.g.  Midsummer  for  A Midsummer Night’s Dream ) after the first mention.

Quoting Shakespeare in MLA

Shakespeare quotations generally take the form of verse or dialogue.

Quoting verse

To quote up to three lines of verse from a play or poem, just treat it like a normal quotation. Use a forward slash (/) with spaces around it to indicate a new line.

If there’s a stanza break within the quotation, indicate it with a double forward slash (//).

If you are quoting more than three lines of verse, format it as a block quote (indented on a new line with no quotation marks).

Quoting dialogue

Dialogue from two or more characters should be presented as a block quote.

Include the characters’ names in block capitals, followed by a period, and use a hanging indent for subsequent lines in a single character’s speech. Place the citation after the closing punctuation.

Oberon berates Robin Goodfellow for his mistake:

Frequently asked questions about MLA citations

No, do not use page numbers in your MLA in-text citations of Shakespeare plays. Instead, specify the act, scene, and line numbers of the quoted material, separated by periods, e.g. (Shakespeare 3.2.20–25).

This makes it easier for the reader to find the relevant passage in any edition of the text.

How do I cite multiple Shakespeare plays in an MLA paper?

If you cite multiple Shakespeare plays throughout your paper, the MLA in-text citation begins with an abbreviated version of the title (as shown here), e.g. ( Oth.  1.2.4). Each play should have its own Works Cited entry (even if they all come from the same collection).

If you cite only one Shakespeare play in your paper, you should include a Works Cited entry for that play, and your in-text citations should start with the author’s name, e.g. (Shakespeare 1.1.4).

Adapted from:

Caulfield, Jack. “How to Cite Shakespeare in MLA.”  Scribbr , June 2022, www.scribbr.com/mla/shakespeare-citation.

• << Previous: Sources for Your Papers
• Next: Need More Help? >>
• Last Updated: Sep 4, 2023 6:23 PM
• URL: https://libguides.potomacstatecollege.edu/c.php?g=1344971

Citing Sources: Shakespeare and MLA

• Understanding Citations
• In-Text Citations- MLA
• Articles - MLA
• Books - MLA
• Internet Sources - MLA
• Reference Sources- MLA
• Audiovisual/Images - MLA
• Shakespeare and MLA
• PowerPoint and MLA
• Works Cited page - Quick Guide
• In-text Citations - APA
• Articles - APA
• Books - APA
• Reference Sources- APA
• Internet Sources - APA
• Audiovisual/Images - APA
• Reference page
• Footnotes - Chicago
• Citing Religious Texts
• Tutorials to help you use NoodleTools effectively.
• NoodleTools - Using Notecards
• Research Process This link opens in a new window
• Paraphrasing This link opens in a new window

General information about MLA and Shakespeare

Italicize the titles of the plays – Macbeth (for the play), Macbeth (for the character)

You may abbreviate the title of the play in the parenthetical citation ( check with your teacher first )

• Macbeth – Mac.
• Hamlet – Ham.
• Usually use Arabic numbers (1.5.4-5) or (2.1.110-13)
• Some teachers still prefer Roman numerals (II.iv.4-6)
• If author’s name mentioned in the text, only put the page number in parentheses, otherwise (author’s last name #).
• If there are no different sources between quotes – can use  (#) 

In-text citations - short quotes

Quotes longer than three lines should begin on a new line.

• if one line, put it in quotation marks within your text:

• If two or three lines, include the quote within your text but use the forward slash to indicate the separate verses:

One Shakespearean protagonist seems resolute at first when he asserts, “Haste me to know’t, that I, with wings as swift / As meditation … / May sweep to my revenge” ( Hamlet 1.5.35-37).  

(notice the forward slash is separated from the text by spaces. the ellipsis ... is used to indicate that some of the text was not included)

In-text citations - long quotes or dialogue

Direct quotes (long quotes or dialogue) – Quotations four lines or more or dialogue are formatted with  a block quote. Set the quotation off from your text. Indent one inch (2.54 cm.) for left margin. Capitalize the character’s name, followed by a period. Indent all subsequent lines an addition ¼ inch (.64 cm):

POLONIUS. Well be with you, gentlemen!

HAMLET. Hark you, Guildenstern, and you too! At each ear a hearer. That great

baby you see there is not yet out of his swaddling-clouts. ( Ham. 2.2.383-386)

In-text Citation: Citing an Indirect Source (Quoting a Source in a Source)

If there are no page numbers on the electronic source, use only the author name or the first main word of the title. However, you can indicate where the material came from in your text.

There are occasions where you may find a source that quotes another source that you want to use in your paper. Ideally, you would find the original source to ensure you understand the context of the quote. If you do decide to use the quote from the source you are using, however, you must recognize both sources . For example, in the Critical Insights series, we have a popular book of critical analysis called Things for Apart. One of the chapters, written by Amy Sickels, is entitled "The Critical Reception of  Things Fall Apart."  In her essay, she quotes Keith M. Booker. This is the quote you decide you want to use:

Booker makes the point that the "African novel is always a complex hybrid cultural phenomenon that combines Western and African cultural perspectives" (qtd. in Sickels 43).

The citation in the Works Cited page (remember you need a hanging indent):

Sickels, Amy. “The Critical Reception of Things Fall Apar t." Things Fall Apart ,  edited by M. Keith Booker, Salem Press, 2011, pp.  33-52.

MLA Checklist - Shakespeare - Quick Guide for Printing

• MLA and Shakespeare

MLA Videos created by Memorial Univeristy

• Citing Sources in MLA: A Basic Introduction
• How to Cite Poetry, Song Lyrics, & Plays in MLA Style
• What to do with a "Citation Within a Citation" in MLA Style
• MLA Style Works Cited List: Citing Journal Articles
• MLA Style Works Cited List: Citing Newspapers & Magazines

Used with permission.

Quick Links for Citing with MLA

• Reference Sources - MLA
• In-text Citations - MLA
• General formatting - MLA
• << Previous: Audiovisual/Images - MLA
• Next: PowerPoint and MLA >>
• Last Updated: Nov 14, 2023 9:43 AM
• URL: https://stpauls-mb.libguides.com/citations

• Walsh University

Q. When citing a line from Shakespeare in an essay, I note the reference following the quotation. Do I include a bibliography with the cite, too?

• 103 About the Library
• 59 About Walsh University
• 12 Archives
• 30 Business Resources
• 25 Checking out Items
• 204 Citing Sources
• 49 Copyright
• 53 Finding articles
• 34 Microsoft Office
• 10 Miscellaneous
• 3 Nurse Theorists
• 3 Nursing Theory
• 3 Practice Tests
• 184 Research
• 42 Tech Questions
• 32 Technology Tools
• 10 Textbooks
• 93 Using Databases
• Share on Facebook

Was this helpful? Yes 21 No 12

Answered By: Katie Hutchison Last Updated: Dec 04, 2018     Views: 52154

Yes, you should do a bibliographic entry for the work as well.

Shakespearean citations look a little different than a typical in-text citation. Follow the below guidelines:

1. List the abbreviation for the title of the play you are citing. The MLA lists abbreviations for all plays; see the reference list of this article for more information. The abbreviation for the title of the play should appear in italics.

2. List the act, scene and lines that you are referring to. These should be separated by periods. Enclose your citation in parentheses. For example: (Mac. 1.3.14-17) refers to Act 1, Scene 3, Lines 14 to 17 of "Macbeth."

3. Omit the abbreviation for the title if the play you are referring to is clear from the context of your paper. In this case, the citation would simply appear as follows: (1.3.14-17)

4. Format your reference list entry in the following format: Author. Title of Play. Name of Editor. City of Publication, Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication. For example: Shakespeare, William. Macbeth . Ed. James Smith. Boston, English Play Press, 2010. Print. Be sure to italicize the name of the play.

1. List "Shakespeare" as the author's name, followed by a comma.

2. List the year of translation, followed by a comma, if translated. For example: trans. 2010,

3. List the act, scene, and lines you are citing, separated by periods. For example: 1.3.14-17

4. Enclose the entire citation within parentheses. For example: (Shakespeare, trans. 2010, 1.3.14-17). Only use this if the play you are citing is obvious and has been mentioned in your paper. If the play appears in the original Shakespearean English, you need only give the year of publication. In this case, omit "trans." from your citation. For example: (Shakespeare, 2010, 1.3.14-17).

5. Format your reference list entry in the following format: Author. (Year). Title. (Translator.). City, State of Publication: Publisher. (Original work published year). For example: Shakespeare, W. (2010). Macbeth. (B. Smith, Trans.). Boston, MA: English Play Press. (Original work published 1699). Be sure to italicize the name of the play. If the publication appears in the original Shakespearean, omit translation information from your citation. For example: Shakespeare, W. (2010). Macbeth. Boston, MA: English Play Press. (Original work published 1699).

Links & Files

• The Correct Way to Cite Shakespearean Works
• Writing and Citing

Comments (2)

• What should I do if I have multiple lines that are separate? For example, all in one sentence, I used a quote from act 1, scene 2, lines 67-68 and another from act 1, scene 2, lines 98-99. What would my in-text citation look like? by ai on May 11, 2022
• I think it should look like this: (1.2. 67-68, 98,99). Don’t quote me on this, I’m not too sure. by Helper on May 09, 2024

Contact Us!

Questions? Ask Us!

Related topics.

• Citing Sources

Shakespeare and the Renaissance: MLA Citation Help

• Start with Library Resources
• Books/ebooks
• Life During Shakespeare's Time
• Format in a Flash
• MLA Citation Help
• Research Process

Citing Different Sources in MLA

• AI (Artificial Intelligence like ChatGPT)
• Art (Displayed piece of art)
• Article in a Reference Book
• Bible (Scripture)
• Book with One Author
• Book with Two Authors
• Book with Three or more Authors
• Book with an edition
• Chapter in an Edited Book
• Class Readings from Questia/Cengage
• Course/Assignment information from Blackboard
• Films - Two Options
• Government Documents
• Image from Website
• Journal article, Library Database
• Music, Album or CD
• Music, Song on an Album
• Newspaper Article from the Web
• PDF or Report
• PDF or Report accessed from a website
• Primary Source from a Website
• Primary Source in a Textbook
• Religious Works with Version
• Short Story or Poem
• TV Show Episode
• TV show, Streaming Service
• Webpage with an Author AND a pub date
• Webpage with No Author, contains publication date
• Webpage with NO Author, NO pub date
• Webpage with an Author, no publication date
• Webpage with a Group Author and a pub date

Works Cited

“Explain the green light in the book  The Great Gatsby  by F. Scott Fitzgerald” prompt.  ChatGPT , 13 Feb. version, OpenAI, 8 Mar. 2023, chat.openai.com/chat.

In-text citation

("Explain the green light")

Klee, Paul.  Twittering Machine.  1922. Museum of Modern Art, New York.  The Artchive,  www . artchive.com/artchive/K/Klee/twittering_machine.jpg.html. Accessed May 2006.

Intext would be (Klee).

"Ideology."  The American Heritage Dictionary.  3rd ed., 1997, pp 44-45.

To cite this source, page 44, for example: ("Ideology" 44)

The New Jerusalem Bible.  Henry Wansbrough, general editor, Doubleday, 1985.

In one of the most vivid prophetic visions in the Bible, Ezekial saw "what seems to be four living creatures" ( New Jerusalem Bible,  Ezek. 1.5). John of Patmos echoes this passage when describing his vision (Rev. 4.6-8).

**If you are only using one Bible, then you don't have to refer to the Bible's name except in the first intext citation. The rest of the intext citations can be the (Book, verse). 

***MLA Handbook, 2021, p. 247

Choi, Susan. Trust Exercise. Holt, 2019.

To cite entire book: (Choi)

To cite page 25, for example: (Choi 25)

Gillespie, Paula, and Neal Lerner. The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Peer Tutoring . Allyn and Bacon, 2000. 

If citing the entire book (Gillespie and Lerner)

If citing pages 210-225 (Gillespie and Lerner 210-225)

Wysocki, Anne Frances, et al.  Writing New Media: Theory and Applications for Expanding the Teaching of Composition . Utah State UP, 2004.

If citing page 167, for example: (Wysocki et al. 167)

Crowley, Sharon, and Debra Hawhee.  Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Students . 3rd ed., Pearson, 2004.

If citing entire book: (Crowley and Hawhee)

If citing page 202, for example (Crowley and Hawkee 202)

Harris, Muriel. "Talk to Me: Engaging Reluctant Writers."  A Tutor's Guide: Helping Writers One to One,  edited by Ben Rafoth, Henemann, 2000, pp. 24-34.

If citing page 34 for example: (Harris 34)

If the original publication date is important for the reader to understand the context of the source, include it.

Franklin, Benjamin. "Emigration to America." 1782.  The Faber Book of America,  edited by Christopher Ricks and William L. Vance, Faber and Faber, 1992, pp. 24-26.

Intext would be (Franklin 24-26). 

Dickinson, Emily. “Because I Could Not Stop for Death.”  The Oxford Book of American Verse , edited by F. O. Matthiessen, Oxford UP, 1950, p. 439.  Questia .

This reading is located in the Questia/Cengage compilation but was published in  The Oxford Book of American Verse.  The publishing information  is all located in the copyright box at the bottom of the reading.

The intext citation would still be 

(Dickinson 439)

Plott, Cassie. English 111. Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, April 2020, https://rccc.blackboard.com/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_51000_1&content_id=_4450030_1.

Washington, Durthy. CliffsNotes on Jacobs’ Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl . Cliffs Notes, 2000. EBSCOhost , search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=67062&site=ehost-live.

In-text citation is (Washington)

or in-text citation for page 33 is

(Washington 33)

Author. Title of ebook . Publisher, date. Name of database where you found the book , URL.

Blade Runner.  1982. Directed by Ridley Scott, performance by Harrison Ford, director's cut, Warner Bros., 1992.

Scott, Ridley, director.  Blade Runner.  1982. Performance by Harrison Ford, director's cut, Warner Bros., 1992.

For films, citations begin with the title unless you want to highlight some other aspect, such as the direction. In the first example, Ridley Scott and Harrison Ford are considered "Other contributors". The second example treats Ridley Scott as an "author" with Harrison Ford as another contributor. The Publisher is Warner Bros.

Highlights from the Competition Bureau’s Workshop on Emerging Competition Issues.  Competition Bureau of Canada, 4 Mar. 2016, www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/vwapj/cb-Workshop-Summary-Report-e.pdf/$FILE/cb-Workshop-Summary-Report-e.pdf.  Accessed 6 July 2016

In-text citation is (name of document, can be shortened)

( HIghlights from the Competition Bureau's Workshop)

In-text citation if a direct quote from page 2, for example

( Highlights from the Competition Bureau's Workshop 2)

Doest, Jasper. "Japanese macaques take a hot bath during winter in Jigokudani."  National Geographic,  15 Sept. 2016, nationalgeographic.com/photography/proof/2016/09/snow-macaque-nice-shot. Accessed 17 Mar 2020.

Smith, Jane. Personal interview. 22 April 2020.

Intext citation is (Smith)

​ Zumla, Alimuddin, et al. "Vaccine Against Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus."  The Lancet Infectious Diseases,  vol. 19, no. 10, 2019, pp. 1054-1055.  ProQuest,  https://proxy154.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/2297096029? accountid=13601, doi:https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(19)30477-3.

To cite this article, page 1054, for example: (Zumla et al. 1054)

Chevelle. Wonder What's Next . Epic, 2002.

Intext would be (Chevelle)

Nirvana. "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Nevermind , Geffen, 1991.

Intext is (Nirvana)

Tavernise, Sabrina. "Disparity of Life Spans of the Rich and the Poor is Growing."  The New York Times,  12 Feb. 2016,  https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/13/health/disparity-in-life-spans-of-the-rich-and-the-poor-is-growing.html . 

(Tavernise)

Note that the URL is linked. This is an option in MLA 8th Edition. Your teacher may choose to allow this or not.

This format should be used for pdfs that you receive electronically but not via accessing a website. Even though you may have received this independently, you still need to find the URL that will lead your reader to the source.

Social, Humanitarian, & Cultural Committee (SOCHUM) Background Guide, 31st Annual Carolinas Conference, 2020, https://static1.squarespace.com/static/58d5280103596edcfc032057/t/5f5937c0642457206e8c3057/1599682499567/SOCHUM+Background+Guide.pdf.

In-text citation is

( Social, Humanitarian, & Cultural Committee)

If a direct quote or statistic is used, from page 3 for example

( Social, Humanitarian, & Cultural Committee 3)

To cite a pdf from a website, you first cite the pdf with author, title, publisher and date and then cite the website with the URL.

For example, the following report doesn't have an author so you start with title, the publisher and date. Then you cite the website Duke Energy and that site's date.End with the URL.

Duke Energy 2019 Annual Report and Form 10-K, Duke Energy, 2019. Duke Energy, 2020, https://www.duke-energy.com/annual-report/_/media/pdfs/our-company/investors/de-annual-reports/2019/2019-duke-energy-annual-report.pdf?la=en.

( Duke Energy 2019 Annual Report)

If direct quote or statistic used, for example from page 4

( Duke Energy 2019 Annual Report 4)

Adams, John. "John Adams to Thomas Jefferson, 3 February 1812." 1812.  Founders Online,  National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-04-02-036. Accessed 1 February 2023

___________

*This website didn't have a publication date. Accessed dates are recommended for websites especially when there is no publication date.

Recomended formatting for primary sources on webpages.

Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Primary Source Document: Subtitle." Year of creation. Title of Website,  Publisher of Website, Publication Date, URL. Accessed Day Month Year site was visited.

Jackson, Andrew. "First Inaugural Address." 1829. Out of Many: A History of the American People . John Faragher et al., Pearson, 2020, p. 56. 

Intext is (author's last name page#)

(Jackson 56)

The Bible.  Authorized King James Version, Oxford UP, 1998.

Intext citation is ( The Bible,  John 3:16)

Kincaid, Jamaica. "Girl."  The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Short Stories , edited by Tobias Wolff, Vintage, 1994, pp. 306-07.

(Kincaid 306)

If all poems or stories are by the same author, there is typically not an editor-

Carter, Angela. "The Tiger's Bride."  Burning Your Boats: The Collected Stories,  Penguin, 1995, pp. 154-69.

(Carter 157)

"Hush." 1999.  Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Complete Fourth Season,  created by Joss Whedon, performance by Sarah Michelle Gellar, episode 10, Twentieth Century Fox, 2003, disc 3. 

"Chapter Six: The Monster."  Stranger Things,  season 1, episode 6, Netflix, 15 July 2016.  Netflix,  netflix.com/watch/80077373?trackld=13752289@tctx=0%2C%2Ca7112b65-16b2-46a38b1c-310fcb259da1-8921805

Chappelow, James. "Conflict Theory." Investopedia , 19 May 2019, www.investopedia.com/terms/c/conflict-theory.asp

(Chappelow) is the intext citation

Webpage with Access date

Wise, DeWanda. "Why TV Shows Make me Feel less Alone."  NAMI,  31 May 2019, https://www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/May-2019/How-TV-Shows-Make-Me-Feel-Less-Alone . Accessed 10 June 2020. 

"Athlete's Foot - Topic Overview."  WebMD,  25 Sept. 2014, www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/tc/athletes-foot-topic-overview.

("Athlete's")

September 25, 2014 is the publication date. There are no page numbers. The access date is optional. It is ok to shorten the title of the website; keep it in quotation marks.

"The Impact of Global Warming in North America."  Global Warming: Early Signs.  1999. www.climatehotmap.org/. Accessed 23 Mar. 2009.

Intext citation is ("Impact of Global Warming")

*The access date is optional. You can shorten the title of long sources. Keep the webpage title in quotation marks.

"Majors and Concentrations." UNC Greensboro, https://admissions.uncg.edu/academics/majors-concentrations/. Accessed 22 April 2020.

* Access date is recommended for sites with no publication date.

("Majors and Concentrations")

Lundman, Susan. "How to Make Vegetarian Chili."   eHow,  www.ehow.com/how_10727_make-vegetarian-chili.html.

To cite the webpage (Lundman)

There are no page numbers. Access date is optional but recommended if the webpage is one that updates regularly.

U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Statistics. "Librarians." Occupational Outlook Handbook , 20 Dec 2019, https://www.bls.gov/ooh/education-training-and-library/librarians.htm. Accessed 10 June 2020.  

To intext cite

(U.S. Dept of Labor)

*Group authors can be abbreviated. The access date is recommended for webpages that update regularly.

If author is different from uploader

McGonigal, Jane. "Gaming and Productivity." YouTube, uploaded by Big Think, 3 July 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKdzy9bWW3E.

Intext is (McGonigal)

If uploader is same as author

"8 Hot Dog Gadgets put to the Test." YouTube, uploaded by Crazy Russian Hacker, 6 June 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBlpjSEtELs.

Intext is ("8 Hot Dog Gadgets")

MLA Tutorial

Order of core elements.

These are the elements or pieces of information for MLA citations.

•  Author. 
• Title of source. (Books are italicized, Webpages are in quotes, Article names are in quotes, Songs are in quotes)
• Title of container, (Journal names are in italics, websites are in italics, album names are in italics)
• Other contributors, (sometimes used for movies, books with translators, books with introductions, etc.)
• Version, (usually for items that have been updated or in different versions)
• Number,  (usually for items in a numbered series, ie Journal articles, multi-volume book series, TV series, etc.)
• Publisher, (publisher produces the items so is commonly available on books, webpages unless title is same as publisher, production companies for movies, etc. Websites that make things available but don't publish aren't included here, ie Youtube, Wordpress, Proquest .)
• Publication date, (if more than one, go with date that is more relevant)
• Location. (page numbers, URL, doi is recommended if available, physical location of art)
• Date of access. (Recommended for online sources especially if they can change. Your instructor may ask you not to do this however.) I ​​​ f you include an access date it is in this format: Accessed 10 June 2020.

What elements do you see here?

Wise, dewanda. "why tv shows make me feel less alone." nami ,  31 may 2019, http://www.nami.org/blogs/nami-blog/may-2019/how-tv-shows-make-me-feel-less-alone. accessed 10 june 2020. , author - dewanda wise, title of source - "why tv shows make me feel less alone", title of container - nami, publication date - 31 may 2019, location -  http://www.nami.org/blogs/nami-blog/may-2019/how-tv-shows-make-me-feel-less-alone., access date - 10 june 2020, direct quotes.

• APA Block, Long Direct Quotes
• MLA Block, Long Direct Quotes

Guidelines for Direct Quotes

A direct quote uses the exact words of a source. .

Think of the quote as a rare and precious jewel. 

Quotes can be super-effective in getting your point across to the reader. Just be sure you’re not stringing a bunch of quotes together – you want your voice to be stronger than the voice of your sources. You always need to interpret, analyze, add to and explain more about the quote to your reader.  

Here are some guidelines to help you decide when to use quotes:

• Wording that is so memorable, unforgettable or powerful, or expresses a point so perfectly, that you cannot change it without weakening the meaning.
• An important passage is so dense or rich that it requires you to analyze it closely. This requires that the passage be quoted so the reader can follow your analysis.
• A claim you are making is such that the doubting reader will want to hear exactly what the source said. This is mostly when you criticize or disagree with a source. You want your reader to know you aren't misrepresenting the source.
• Your attempts to paraphrase or summarize are awkward or much longer than the source material.

You may choose to quote an entire passage from a source or just words or phrases. Make sure to use signal words (see below) to move between your ideas and the words of your source. Also, always cite your work. 

Direct Quotes (MLA format):

As one of Obama's deputy assistants Yohannes Abraham explains, "It's really important to remember to just be a good person" (Scherer, Miller, and Elliott 36). 

As William Kneale suggests, some humans have a "moral deafness" which is never punctured no matter what the moral treatment (93).

For Charles Dickens, the eighteenth century was both "the best of times" and "the worst of times" (35). 

Direct Quotes (APA format)

As Ali Akbar Hamemi remarked, "There is no doubt that America is a super-power in the world and we cannot ignore them" (Vick, 2017, p. 13). 

Sometimes it may be necessary to include long direct quotes (of over 40 words) in your work if you are unable to paraphrase or summarize. A long quote is treated differently as a block quotation with a .5 inch margin from the left but still double-spaced.  Notice that there are no quotation marks around the block quotations even though these are direct quotes.  Here are two examples:

Block quotation with parenthetical citation:

Researchers found when studying gray wolves that coloring around eyes may change over the lifespan:

Facial color patterns change with growth in many American  canid  species, although no studies have directly examined such developmental changes. For example, all newborn gray wolves observed in the present study had dark-colored bodies and C-type faces with dark-colored irises. (Ueda et al., 2014, p. 4)

Ueda, S., Kumagai, G., Otaki, Y., Yamaguchi, S., & Kohshima, S. (2014). A comparison of facial color pattern and gazing behavior in canid species suggests gaze communication in gray wolves (canis lupus).  PLoS One,  9 (6) doi:https://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0098217

Block quotation with narrative citation:

Manning and Kaler (2011) describe the difficulties of using survey methods when observing owls:

Survey  methods with observers outside the vehicle were 3 times more likely to displace an owl than a single vehicle stop where observers remained inside the vehicle. Owls were displaced farther distances by all survey methods compared to control trials, but distances and time displaced did not differ among survey methods.

Manning, J. A., & Kaler, R. S. A. (2011). Effects of survey methods on burrowing owl behaviors.  Journal of Wildlife Management,  75 (3), 525-530. Retrieved from https://proxy154.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/925615280?accountid=13601

For more information, see page 272 of the   Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association , 7 th  ed.

If a quote runs more than four lines long, you must block the quote with a .5 margin on the left. Do not use quotation marks even though it's a direct quote.

At the conclusion of  Lord of the Flies,  Ralph, realizing the horror of his actions, is overcome by

great, shuddering spasms of grief that seemed to wrench his whole body. his voice rose under the black smoke before the burning wreckage of the island; and infected by that emotion, the other little boys began to shake and sob too. (Golding 186)

So, when using quotes:

• Always have a good reason  for using a direct quote. Otherwise, paraphrase or summarize.
• Do not allow quotes to speak for themselves . Your research paper is about communicating YOUR IDEAS.  Your research simply helps prove or support those ideas.
• Always make sure you  provide an analysis of the quote .  Show your readers that you understand how the quote relates to your ideas by analyzing its significance.
• Do not use quotes as padding . If quotes do not have adequate analysis, readers will feel that you don’t have a grasp on what that quote means, and they also might feel that you are using quotes as “filler” to take up space.
• Use no more than 2 direct quotes per paragraph .
• Carefully integrate quotations into your text so that they flow smoothly and clearly into the surrounding sentences. Use a signal phrase or signal verb, such as those in the following example:

As Thompson (2020) makes clear, Youtube's  algorithms "can’t distinguish between true and false data, except in the most crude way" (para. 5).  

Peas and Carrots

Whenever you have a reference at the end of your paper, you need at least one intext citation to go with it. Every intext citation should point to a reference at the end of your paper.

References and Intext Citations Go Together Like Peas and Carrots.

Your intext citation contains the first word(s) of your reference so the reader can find it easily.

For optimal decomposition, experts believe you should aim for a carbon to nitrogen ratio of 30:1 ( Johnson  29).

Johnson , Lorraine. "Compost Happens: The Secret to Making Quick Gardener's Gold Instead of a Slow, Stinking Mess Requires, Like Everything Else, Balance." Canadian Gardening, vol. 12, no. 1, Feb, 2001, pp. 28-33. ProQuest, https://proxy154.nclive.org/login?

How to Use Titles of Your Sources in the Text (Prose) of Your Paper

If you use the title of a book, play, article, song, or other source in your paper, use the same formatting that you use in the works cited page (list of references)., here are some examples of when to italicize..

​​​​​​ Here are some examples of when to use quotes.

Some sources get no special formatting. 

Examples from MLA Handbook, 9th Edition, 2021. pages 68-73.

Source within a Source, Indirect Source, Secondary Source

I am reading about John Reith in the  Humanities, Society and Technology  textbook by Satterwhite and other authors.

I paraphrased what I read and I wrote this.

John Reith lead the BBC as its first General Manager and wanted to keep the BBC "free from political interference and commercial pleasure" (qtd. in Satterwhite et al. 145). 

Here's what goes in the Works Cited because this is the source I read.

Satterwhite, Robin, et al.  Humanities, Society and Technology . Kendall Hunt, 2015.

*The qtd. in the intext citation shows that the information in the Humanities book was originally somewhere else. 

Maybe this will make it more clear for you.

You are reading about Smith in an article by Kirkey.

Examples of in-text citations:

According to a study by Smith (qtd. in Kirkey) 42% of doctors would refuse to perform legal euthanasia.

Smith (qtd. in Kirkey) states that “even if euthanasia was legal, 42% of doctors would be against this method of assisted dying” (A.10).

Example of Reference list citation:

Kirkey, Susan. "Euthanasia."   The Montreal Gazette , 9 Feb. 2013, p. A.10.  Canadian Newsstand Major Dailies.

MLA Sample Paper and Citation Guides (Updated June 2021, MLA 9)

• MLA Sample Paper - STUDENT USE
• MLA9 Citation Guide
• Social Media Citations MLA

• Running Header, right aligned, Student's Last Name and page number.
• 1" margins for the paper - on all sides
• Left aligned for paragraphs
• Paragraph indentions are .5"
• Most teachers require Times New Roman 12 pt
• No title page
• No bold print in text
• Student's Name
• Instructor's Name
• Class name and number
• Date in format date Month year (ie 11 June 2020) 

Intext Citations

MLA uses Author-page Style for parenthetical intext citations (at the end of the sentence) or the page number goes in the parenthesis at the end of the sentence for narrative intext citations (where the author's name is in the sentence).

• Romantic poetry is characterized by the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (Wordsworth 263).
• Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by a "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (263).
• Wordsworth extensively explored the role of emotion in the creative process (263).
• Wordsworth, William.  Lyrical Ballads. O xford UP, 1967.

Other things to know:

• For sources like webpages with no page numbers, do NOT include page numbers or paragraph numbers , even for direct quotes  (MLA Handbook, Ninth Edition, page 248) . 
• It's recommended to abbreviate long names of corporate or group authors in the intext. For example, Centers for Disease Control can be CDC in the intext citation.
• Page numbers are required for all citations; not just direct quotes.
• Purdue Owl says not to number paragraphs on webpages for the intext citations. 

Personal Interview MLA Style

References for personal interview in mla style follow this format:,      last, first name of interviewed. personal interview. date of interview.,      smith, jane. personal interview. 19 may 2014., intext citations follow this format:,      (last name),      (smith), long block quotes (mla).

great, shuddering spasms of grief that seemed to wrench his whole body. his voice rose under the black smoke before the burning wreckage of the island; and infected by that emotion, the other little boys began to shake and sob too. (186)

Paraphrasing/Summarizing

• APA Long Paraphrase
• MLA Long Paraphrase

Guidelines for Paraphrasing and Summarizing

Think of Paraphrases and Summaries as your foundations

Paraphrase and summarize long passages where the main point is important to the point you are making, but the details are not . You should use paraphrasing and summarizing much more often than direct quotes. A good balance would be 75% paraphrasing and summarizing and 25% direct quotes.

Paraphrase:  You are paraphrasing when you take someone else’s words and rewrite them in your own words without altering the meaning or providing interpretation. Paraphrases are about the same length as the original. Always cite your paraphrase. Summarize: You are summarizing  when you condense the author's words or ideas without altering the meaning or providing interpretation using your own words -- basically, you’re presenting the original information in a nutshell. Always cite it.

Examples of Paraphrases

Introduce paraphrases clearly in your text, usually with a signal phrase that includes the author of the source. Here is original text and paraphrased text.

Volunteers feel more socially connected, they're less lonely, and suffer from depression less, studies show. Volunteering creates physical benefits too: Regular volunteers are less likely to develop  high blood pressure  and live longer, some studies show. (text is from "Dalai Lama: 5 Things to Keep in Mind for the Next Four Years" from CNN.com, written by Jen Christensen)

Paraphrased text in APA style:

Volunteering has psychological and physical benefits, according to studies. Along with being less depressed and lonely, volunteers also live longer and are less likely to have high blood pressure (Christensen, 2017).

Paraphrased text in MLA style:

Volunteering has psychological and physical benefits, according to studies. Along with being less depressed and lonely, volunteers also live longer and are less likely to have high blood pressure (Christensen).

Examples of Summaries

Summaries, too, need to be carefully integrated into your text.   Make sure to signal the reader that you are summarizing and include the correct citation.

Here is an example of a summary in APA format:

In Christensen's article, she explores Dalai Lama's advice to people who want to find happiness in an uncertain world. His Holiness believes that people should focus on developing compassion, letting go of anger, self-reflecting, helping others, and being playful like children (Christensen, 2017). 

Here's the summary in MLA format:

In Christensen's article, she explores Dalai Lama's advice to people who want to find happiness in an uncertain world. His Holiness believes that people should focus on developing compassion, letting go of anger, self-reflecting, helping others, and being playful like children (Christensen). 

Whenever you include summaries, paraphrases, or quotations in your own writing, it is important that you identify the sources of the material; even unintentional failure to cite material is plagiarism. Be especially careful with paraphrases and summaries, where there are no quotation marks to remind you that the material is not your own.

Often, long paraphrases continue for multiple sentences. Usually you'll intext cite the source in the first sentence. It is not necessary to cite every single sentence IF you've made it clear in the narrative that the information discussed is from the before-mentioned source.

*Note that the bold words show where the information is coming from . Students should NOT bold the words.

Here's an example:

Tucker and Maddey (2020) found that predatory behavior in dogs is due to many different factors. One of the factors is the physical territory of the alleged threat. The research found that "dogs are more willing to attack or defend territory that is considered to be their own" (Tucker & Maddey, 2020, p. 81) . Another factor they discovered is that dogs are more willing to prey on a threat if their human owners are nearby. In an experiment conducted over multiple days using cameras, Tucker and Maddey  discovered that dogs were shown to be much more protective with predatory behavior when their owners were in the vicinity they when the owners were away. In conclusion, the research shows that dogs have innate predatory behavior traits which are enhanced by the dogs' desires to protect their human owners (Tucker & Maddey, 2020) .   

If you're using information from a source more than once in a row (with no other sources referred to in between), you can use a simplified in-text citation. The first time you use information from the source, use a full in-text citation. The second time, you only need to give the page number.

Cell biology is an area of science that focuses on the structure and function of cells (Smith 15). It revolves around the idea that the cell is a "fundamental unit of life" (17). Many important scientists have contributed to the evolution of cell biology. Mattias Jakob Schleiden and Theodor Schwann, for example, were scientists who formulated cell theory in 1838 (20). 

*Thank you to the Library at Columbia College for this example.

Reasons why you would want to paraphrase from a source:

• To change the organization of ideas for emphasis.  You may have to change the organization of ideas in the passages you pull from your sources so that you can emphasize the points  most related to your paper.  Be sure to restate in your own words, but don’t change the meaning.
• To simplify the material.  You may have to simplify complex arguments, sentences, or vocabulary.
• To clarify the material.  You may have rewrite to clarify technical passages or put specialized information into language your audience will be better able to understand.

Paraphrasing is a valuable skill because:

• It is better than quoting information from a passage that doesn't have memorable or important words or phrases
• It helps you control the temptation to quote too much
• It allows the writer to put the idea of a source into their own voice (but always cite it to show it is someone else's idea).

Tips on Summarizing:

A summary is a  condensed  version of someone else’s writing. Like paraphrasing, summarizing involves using your own words and writing style to express another author’s ideas. Unlike the paraphrase, which presents important details, the summary presents only the most important ideas of the passage. For example, you could summarize a book in a sentence, or in several paragraphs, depending on your writing situation and audience. You may use the summary often for the following reasons:

• To condense the material. You may have to condense or reduce the source material to pull out the  points that relate to your paper.
• To omit extras from the material. You may have to leave out extra information from the source material so you can focus on the author’s main points.
• To simplify the material.  You may have to simply the most important complex arguments, sentences or vocabulary in the source material.

When you decide to  summarize or paraphrase, avoid the following:

• keeping the same structure of ideas and/or sentence structure
• just changing some of the words
• adding your ideas into the summary - be faithful to the meaning of the source material.
• forgetting to cite your sources and use signal words.

Abbreviations for Months for Works Cited List

Citing More Than One Source By Same Author

If you have more than one work by the same author, use the title or beginning of the title in the intext citation and a page number if available . The sources are both by Maddey Tucker. 

For some dogs, food is a motivator but for other dogs, this isn't true ("Art of a Dog"). Having multiple dogs living together domestically is also a factor in feeding and food motivation ("Food and Your Dog" 45). 

Notice in the Works Cited page, you don't repeat the name of the author but instead use three hyphens (---) to indicate the same author on all the sources after the first one . Both of these sources are by Maddey Tucker.

Tucker, Maddey. "Art of a Dog."  Dog's Life, 4 Aug 2019,    www.dogslife.com/tuck/art

---. "Food and Your Dog." Animals Monthly,  2 Mar 2018, pp. 44-47. 

Citing an Illustration, Figure, or Drawing

Fig. 1. Bill Bamberger.  Deandry , 2001; printed 2005, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC.

Bamberger, Bill.  Deandry , 2001; printed 2005, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC.

Other Resources

Dealing with Numbers in MLA

When there are few numbers in your text, spell out numbers that can be written in a word or two.

Use numerals when the number requires more than two words

Use numerals when using numbers in text with units behind the numbers. For example, 60 inches or 8 kilograms would be in numerals. 

Abbreviations for Bible Verses

• << Previous: Format in a Flash
• Next: Research Process >>
• Last Updated: Aug 14, 2024 11:17 AM
• URL: https://libguides.rccc.edu/shakespeare

Hamlet Analysis Research and Essay: MLA 8

When formatting your Works Cited, remember T.A.D.I.

T: Times New Roman, 12 point font (the entire page) A: Alphabetical order D: Double spaced throughout I: Indent after the first line.

Quoting a Play or Literary Criticism

When you are citing a play in-text , you want to enter (Act. Scene. Line(s)). Ex: (1.3.14-17) refers to Act 1, Scene 3, Lines 14 to 17.  

Literary criticism and other indirect sources. Citing a source found in another source will require you to either find and cite the original source in your paper or use the following:   For  indirect quotations, use "qtd. in" to indicate the source you actually consulted . Introduce the quotation with the original author. For example:

Ravitch argues that high schools are pressured to act as "social service centers, and they don't do that well" (qtd. in Weisman 259).

Template for MLA 8

Instructions for citing in mla 8, use this template for all citations . if the item is absent, leave it out :  .

1. Author .

2. “ Title of article, photo, video, or chapter .”

3. Title of the website, magazine, or book ,

4. C ontributor ,

5. Version numbers listed: ed. vol. or no. ,

6. Publisher name ,

7. Publication date ,

8 . Page numbers: p. or pp .

9. Title of database or other larger container ,

10 . Publisher of database or larger container ,

11. URL or DOI ( for databases if available ) .

12. Accessed day month year .

Parenthetical Citations

Please use a citation after all direct quotes and after paraphrased information. Use a signal phrase before direct quotes. 

Example : According to Simon Parker "Shakespeare continues to amaze us after centuries" (Parker).

Works with author and page numbers: (Popoff 10).

Works with an author and no page numbers: (Parker).

Works without  an author or page number. Enter a shortened title in quotes: ("Seasonal").

Sample Works Cited

      Works Cited

Bentley, Evie. "Seasonal Affective Disorder." Psychology Review, Sept. 1999, p. 18. General OneFile,  http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A79381597/GPS?u=mlin_c_montytech&sid=GPS&xid=20e557aa. Accessed 27 Nov. 2018.

Bradbury, Ray. The Illustrated Man . Simon & Schuster, 2012.

“Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).” Mayo Clinic, 25 Oct. 2016, https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/seasonal-affective-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20364651. Accessed 27 Nov. 2018.

MLA 8 Examples

EXAMPLES OF COMMON MLA STYLE CITATIONS:

Print Book by a Single Author :

Benson, Jackson J.   The True Adventures of John Steinbeck, Writer: a Biography . Viking, 1984.

Parenthetical citation :  (Benson 203).

Print Book by two or more authors:

Gielgud, John, and John Miller.  Acting Shakespeare . Scribner, 1992.

Parenthetical citation :  (Gielgud and Miller 54).

Print Magazine Article:

LaRoe, Lisa M. "LaSalle's Last Voyage."  National Geographic  May 1997: 72-83.

Parenthetical citation :  (LaRoe 82).

Print Encyclopedia:

"Adams, Abigail Smith."  Notable American Women, 1607-1950 . Vol.1. Belknap, 6-9.

Parenthetical citation :  ("Adams, Abigail Smith" 9).

Personal Interview:

Slater, Barbara. "Interview with Mrs. Ross." Telephone interview. 13 Nov. 2009.

Parenthetical citation:  (Slater).

Databases often provide the citation for you, but double-check for accuracy. If there is no author or date listed, leave it out.  The example “date of download” below is September 30, 2011 .

Database Article (originally a book source):

Kordich, Catherine J.   Bloom's How to Write about John Steinbeck.  Chelsea House, 2007.  Bloom's Literary Reference Online . www.fofweb.com.

Accessed 30 Sept. 2011.

Parenthetical citation :  (Kordich).

Database Article (directly written for the database-no author):

 "Congo Republic." World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2013. Web. 30 Sept. 2011. worldhistory.abc-clio.com. Accessed 30 Sept. 2011.

Parenthetical citation :  ("Congo Republic").

Webpage with Author :

Landow, George P. "Wages and the Costs of Living."  The Victorian Web: An Overview . 12 Dec. 2003. www.victorianweb.org. Accessed 30 Sept.

Parenthetical citation:  (Landow).

Webpage with No Author, Month, or Day:

"In Search of Shakespeare."  PBS . 2003. www.pbs.org/shakespeare. Accessed 30 Sept. 2011.

Parenthetical citation:  (“In Search of Shakespeare”).

Image Found Online - If no artist or title listed, omit artist & describe work for a title:

Klee, Paul.  Twittering Machine . 1922. Museum of Modern Art, New York.   The Artchive .  artchive.com/artchive/K/klee/twittering_machine.jpg.html.

Accessed 30 Sept. 2011.

Parenthetical citation :  (Klee).

Online Video Clip:

Skitzles Commercial . Dir. Brendokeelo. 3 Dec. 2007. youtube.com/watch?v=2XXAQxpvHUc. Accessed 30 Sept. 2011.

Parenthetical citation :  (“Skitzles Commercial”).

Crafting Parenthetical Citations and Signal Phrases

• Parenthetical Citations refer to the source where you found the information.   Everything that comes before the citation is assumed to have come from that source.
• They match sources in the Works Cited (MLA).
• They go after direct quotations, paraphrases, and summaries.
• They always go at the end of the sentence and the period goes  after  them.
• These are also called "in-text" citations.
• With a direct quote, the parenthetical citation goes between the end quote and the period.

Examples in MLA Style :

Paraphrase:  Because children were usually baptised soon after birth, we celebrate Shakespeare's birthday as April 23, 1564 ("William Shakespeare").

Quotation:  Shakespeare only mentions his wife once in his will, leaving her his "second best bed" ("William Shakespeare").

The parenthetical citations above relate to this citation from the Works Cited:

"William Shakespeare."  Britannica School , Encyclopædia Britannica, 30 Sep. 2016.   school.eb.com/levels/high/article/109536 . Accessed 27 Nov. 2016.

A "signal phrase" is used to introduce a quotation or paraphrased information. The following contains the signal phrase "According to." If the source material stated is from a database or the web and doesn't have page numbers, do not put anything in parenthesis afterwards.  If the source  has  page numbers, put the page number in parenthesis afterward the paraphrase.

Example :  According to Salisbury and Morris, the entertainment industry was created during the English Renaissance.

This is from the Works Cited:

Salisbury, Joyce and Lawrence Morris. "Theater in England: 15th and 16th Centuries."  Daily Life through History .  ABC-CLIO,  2015. http://abc-clio.com/worldhistory Accessed 27 Nov. 2016.

• << Previous: Home
• Last Updated: Jan 30, 2024 1:24 PM
• URL: https://montytech.libguides.com/hamletanalysis

Hamlet & Shakespeare: MLA Format Help

• Websites and Media
• MLA Format Help

Citing Shakespeare

• Shakespeare Citations in MLA
• How To Cite Shakespeare

MLA 8th Edition Examples

How do I cite...

Book: Author.  Title goes in italics. Publisher, Year. 

Fredrickson, George M. White Supremacy: A Comparative Study in American and South African History . Oxford UP, 1982.

Website/Webpage: Site/article author. "Title of article goes in quotes."  Creator/sponsor/name of site.  Date of publication, full URL. Access date.

Deresiewicz, William. “The Death of the Artist- and the Birth of the Creative Entrepreneur.” The Atlantic, 28 Dec. 2014, www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/01/the-death-of-the-artist-and-the-birth-of-the-creative-entrepreneur/383497/. Accessed 28 November 2016.

Video: Creator's name (only include if different from uploader name.) "Title of video in quotes."  Source of video,  uploader name if known, upload date, full URL. 

McGonigal, Jane. “Gaming and Productivity.”  YouTube,   uploaded by Big Think, 3 July 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkdzy9bWW3E.

Remember, any content you find in a database will have an MLA citation already prepared for you! If you can't locate a citation within a database, see Ms. Forfa for help.

For more help and examples, see the Purdue OWL MLA page.

Helpful Resources

• Sample Page from an MLA Essay Refer to this document for correct page formatting, in-text citations, and more
• Sample MLA Works Cited Page Easy reference for formatting, indenting, and citations

Core Elements of an MLA Citation

• << Previous: Websites and Media
• Last Updated: May 8, 2023 10:13 AM
• URL: https://shhs-southhadleyschools.libguides.com/hamlet

English IV : Hamlet Literary Criticism Essay: MLA Citation

• MLA Citation

How to Create a Works Cited List

NoodleTools can assist in creating Works Cited lists in the MLA citation style. To do this, create a New Project  in NoodleTools and select MLA and Advanced .

NoodleTools Tutorials

NoodleTools has changed its look! Use this video about creating a new project and other tutorials if you need help using NoodleTools.

What is the MLA Citation Style?

Each citation consists of two parts:

In-Text citation (also known as the parenthetical reference) - provides brief identifying information within the text.

Works Cited list  - provides full bibliographic information at the end of a paper.

This guide will go over how to create MLA citations, in particular in-text citations. For more information about MLA citations, please refer to the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7th Edition , located at the Upper School Library Reference Desk, or the Purdue Online Writing Lab .

How to Create In-text Citations

• Author or work mentioned in sentence
• Citing more than one work by the same author
• Group or corporate authors
• Unknown author
• Two or three authors
• More than three authors
• No page numbers
• Two or more authors with the same last name
• Exact quotation
• Citations taken from a secondary source

In MLA, in-text citations are called parenthetical references. They use the author's last name followed by the page number referenced in the work. The reference is placed in parentheses usually at the end of the sentence and before the period.  Each source in the Works Cited list (found at the end of the paper)  corresponds to an in-text citation in the body of the text .

Sample in-text citation --> This point has been argued previously (Said 3-4).

Corresponding Works Cited list source -->  Said, Edward. Orientalism . New York: Vintage Books, 1994. Print.

If the context makes it clear what work is being cited, only the page number need appear in the parentheses . For example, if the sentence already includes the author's name, or you are citing the work again and it is obvious which work you are citing, only the page number is needed.

Said makes a similar argument (3-4).

Later, the protagonist of Jane Eyre proclaims, "I would always rather be happy than dignified" (413).

If citing more than one work by the same author in a paper, then the in-text citation should contain the author's name, a comma,  the title of the work (if brief) or a shortened version italicized, and the page numbers.

We should all try to "live in the Past, the Present, and the Future" (Dickens, A Christmas Carol 95).

If the author's name is already in the sentence, just the title of the work (italicized) and the page number are needed.

We should all take Dickens' advice to "live in the Past, the Present, and the Future" ( A Christmas Carol 95).

When an author is an organization, use the full name of the group or a shortened form in the in-text citation.

(National Institutes of Health 115)

When the reference in the Works Cited list does not have an author, use a few words of the title in place of the author in the in-text citation.

("Recent innovations" 231)

When the reference in the Works Cited list has two or three authors, use the last name of each in the in-text citation.

(Smith, Jones, and Brown 323)

When the reference in the Works Cited list has more than three authors, give all the authors' last names OR just use the first and "et al." for the rest. Make sure that your in-text citation matches the entry in your Works Cited list.

(Bia, Pedreno, Small, Finch, Patterson 161)

(Bia et al. 161)

When the reference in the Works Cited list does not have page numbers, use paragraph numbers, if available.

If the work does not have page numbers or paragraph numbers, include the name of the author in the sentence  instead of using a parenthetical reference . To learn more, refer to the MLA Handbook, sections 6.4.1 and 6.4.2.

When paragraph numbers are available --> (Smith para 17)

When no page numbers or paragraph numbers are available --> As Smith points out...

If the Works Cited list contains two or more authors with the same last name, include the first initial of the author in the in-text citation.

(A. DeCarrera 213)

If the initial is also the same, use the whole first name.

(Annette DeCarrera 213)

If the reference is to an exact quotation, the in-text citation is placed after the quote.

It may be true that "the attitude of the observer is of primary importance" (Robertson 136).

Citations taken from a secondary source should generally be avoided; consult the original work whenever possible.

If only an indirect source is available, put the abbreviation qtd. in (quoted in) before the indirect source in the in-text citation and include the indirect source in the Works Cited list. To learn more, please refer to section 6.4.7 of the MLA manual.

In-text citation --> In a May 1800 letter to Watt, Creighton wrote, "The excellent Satanism reflects immortal honour on the club" (qtd. in Hunt and Jacob 493).

Works Cited list entry --> Hunt, Lynn, and Margaret Jacob. "The Affective Revolution in 1790s Britain." Eighteenth-Century Studies 34.4 (2001): 491-521. Print.

• << Previous: On the Web
• Last Updated: Aug 26, 2022 11:49 AM
• URL: https://bullis.libguides.com/English_Hamlet

Encyclopedia

Writing with artificial intelligence, quoting plays and poetry in mla.

• © 2023 by Angela Eward-Mangione - Hillsborough Community College

Table of Contents

The rules for quoting drama and/or poetry in Modern Language Association (MLA) Style differ from those for quoting the genre of prose. This article discusses rules for using MLA style to format quotes from drama and poetry. Consult the MLA Handbook to learn more.

Quoting Poetry

The MLA Handbook offers specific guidelines for quoting poetry.

In addition to the amount quoted and line breaks, other factors that matter include stanza breaks, and unusual layouts.

Special Issues: Stanza Breaks, Unusual Layouts

Stanza Breaks: Mark stanza breaks that occur in a quotation with two forward slashes, with a space before and after them ( / / ) (78).

William Carlos Williams depicts a vivid image in “The Red Wheelbarrow”: “so much depends / / upon / / a red wheel / / barrow / / glazed with rain / / water / / beside the white / / chickens” (“Williams”).

Unusual Layouts: If the layout of the lines in the original text is unusual, reproduce it as accurately as you can (79).

The English metaphysical John Donne uses indentation in some of his poems to create unusual layouts, as the first stanza of including “A Valediction: of Weeping” demonstrates:

Let me pour forth My tears before they face, whilst I stay here, For thy face coins them, and thy stamp they bear, And by this mintage they are something worth, For thus they be Pregnant of thee; Fruits of much grief they are, emblems of more, When a tear falls, that thou falls which it bore, So thou and I are nothing then, when on a divers shore. (lines 1-9)

Quoting Plays

When you must quote dialogue from a play, adhere to these rules:

• Set the quotation off from your text.
• Indent each name half an inch from the left margin and write it in all capital letters.
• Follow the name with a period and then start the quotation.
• Indent all other lines in the character’s speech an additional amount.
• When the dialogue shifts to another character, start a new line indented half an inch.
• Maintain this pattern throughout the quotation (80).

Example: One of the flashbacks in Margaret Edson’s Wit suggests Vivian Bearing’s illness causes her to question some of her previous interactions with students:

STUDENT 1. Professor Bearing? Can I talk to you for a minute?

VIVIAN: You may.

STUDENT 1: I need to ask for an extension on my paper. I’m really sorry, and I know your policy, but see—

VIVIAN: Don’t tell me. Your grandmother died.

STUDENT 1: You knew.

VIVIAN: It was a guess.

STUDENT 1: I have to go home.

VIVIAN: Do what you will, but the paper is due when it is due. (63)

Special Issues

Omissions: Follow the rules for omissions in quotations of prose (83).

Although some of the rules for quoting plays and poetry in MLA differ than those for quoting prose, understanding the guidelines will help you apply them in any scenario.

Donne, John. “The Bait.” The Complete English Poems . Penguin Books, 1971, pp. 43-4.

—. “The Break of Day.” The Complete English Poems . Penguin Books, 1971, pp. 45-6. Edson, Margaret. Wit. Faber and Faber, 1993.

Shakespeare, William. Sonnet 39. The Pelican Shakespeare: The Sonnets . Penguin Books, 1970, p. 59.

Williams, William Carlos: “The Red Wheelbarrow.” Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/resources/learning/core-poems/detail/45502 .

Yeats, William. “A Prayer for My Daughter.” The Collected Poems . Ed. Richard Finneran. Scribner, 1983, pp. 188-190.

Brevity - Say More with Less

Clarity (in Speech and Writing)

Coherence - How to Achieve Coherence in Writing

Flow - How to Create Flow in Writing

Inclusivity - Inclusive Language

The Elements of Style - The DNA of Powerful Writing

Recommended

Academic Writing – How to Write for the Academic Community

Structured Revision – How to Revise Your Work

Professional Writing – How to Write for the Professional World

Credibility & Authority – How to Be Credible & Authoritative in Research, Speech & Writing

Citation Guide – Learn How to Cite Sources in Academic and Professional Writing

Page Design – How to Design Messages for Maximum Impact

Suggested edits.

• Please select the purpose of your message. * - Corrections, Typos, or Edits Technical Support/Problems using the site Advertising with Writing Commons Copyright Issues I am contacting you about something else
• Your full name
• Your email address *
• Page URL needing edits *
• Phone This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Other Topics:

Citation - Definition - Introduction to Citation in Academic & Professional Writing

• Joseph M. Moxley

Explore the different ways to cite sources in academic and professional writing, including in-text (Parenthetical), numerical, and note citations.

Collaboration - What is the Role of Collaboration in Academic & Professional Writing?

Collaboration refers to the act of working with others or AI to solve problems, coauthor texts, and develop products and services. Collaboration is a highly prized workplace competency in academic...

Genre may reference a type of writing, art, or musical composition; socially-agreed upon expectations about how writers and speakers should respond to particular rhetorical situations; the cultural values; the epistemological assumptions...

Grammar refers to the rules that inform how people and discourse communities use language (e.g., written or spoken English, body language, or visual language) to communicate. Learn about the rhetorical...

Information Literacy - Discerning Quality Information from Noise

Information Literacy refers to the competencies associated with locating, evaluating, using, and archiving information. In order to thrive, much less survive in a global information economy — an economy where information functions as a...

Mindset refers to a person or community’s way of feeling, thinking, and acting about a topic. The mindsets you hold, consciously or subconsciously, shape how you feel, think, and act–and...

Rhetoric: Exploring Its Definition and Impact on Modern Communication

Learn about rhetoric and rhetorical practices (e.g., rhetorical analysis, rhetorical reasoning,  rhetorical situation, and rhetorical stance) so that you can strategically manage how you compose and subsequently produce a text...

Style, most simply, refers to how you say something as opposed to what you say. The style of your writing matters because audiences are unlikely to read your work or...

The Writing Process - Research on Composing

The writing process refers to everything you do in order to complete a writing project. Over the last six decades, researchers have studied and theorized about how writers go about...

Writing Studies

Writing studies refers to an interdisciplinary community of scholars and researchers who study writing. Writing studies also refers to an academic, interdisciplinary discipline – a subject of study. Students in...

Featured Articles

• Ask LitCharts AI
• Discussion Question Generator
• Essay Prompt Generator
• Quiz Question Generator

• Literature Guides
• Poetry Guides
• Shakespeare Translations
• Literary Terms

William Shakespeare

Ask LitCharts AI: The answer to your questions

It's easy to cite LitCharts for use in academic papers and reports.

Tanner, Alexandra. "Hamlet." LitCharts. LitCharts LLC, 22 Jul 2013. Web. 26 Aug 2024.

Tanner, Alexandra. " Hamlet ." LitCharts LLC, July 22, 2013. Retrieved August 26, 2024. https://www.litcharts.com/lit/hamlet.

• Quizzes, saving guides, requests, plus so much more.

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

MLA In-Text Citations: The Basics

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

Guidelines for referring to the works of others in your text using MLA style are covered throughout the  MLA Handbook  and in chapter 7 of the  MLA Style Manual . Both books provide extensive examples, so it's a good idea to consult them if you want to become even more familiar with MLA guidelines or if you have a particular reference question.

Basic in-text citation rules

In MLA Style, referring to the works of others in your text is done using parenthetical citations . This method involves providing relevant source information in parentheses whenever a sentence uses a quotation or paraphrase. Usually, the simplest way to do this is to put all of the source information in parentheses at the end of the sentence (i.e., just before the period). However, as the examples below will illustrate, there are situations where it makes sense to put the parenthetical elsewhere in the sentence, or even to leave information out.

General Guidelines

• The source information required in a parenthetical citation depends (1) upon the source medium (e.g. print, web, DVD) and (2) upon the source’s entry on the Works Cited page.
• Any source information that you provide in-text must correspond to the source information on the Works Cited page. More specifically, whatever signal word or phrase you provide to your readers in the text must be the first thing that appears on the left-hand margin of the corresponding entry on the Works Cited page.

In-text citations: Author-page style

MLA format follows the author-page method of in-text citation. This means that the author's last name and the page number(s) from which the quotation or paraphrase is taken must appear in the text, and a complete reference should appear on your Works Cited page. The author's name may appear either in the sentence itself or in parentheses following the quotation or paraphrase, but the page number(s) should always appear in the parentheses, not in the text of your sentence. For example:

Both citations in the examples above, (263) and (Wordsworth 263), tell readers that the information in the sentence can be located on page 263 of a work by an author named Wordsworth. If readers want more information about this source, they can turn to the Works Cited page, where, under the name of Wordsworth, they would find the following information:

Wordsworth, William. Lyrical Ballads . Oxford UP, 1967.

In-text citations for print sources with known author

For print sources like books, magazines, scholarly journal articles, and newspapers, provide a signal word or phrase (usually the author’s last name) and a page number. If you provide the signal word/phrase in the sentence, you do not need to include it in the parenthetical citation.

These examples must correspond to an entry that begins with Burke, which will be the first thing that appears on the left-hand margin of an entry on the Works Cited page:

Burke, Kenneth. Language as Symbolic Action: Essays on Life, Literature, and Method . University of California Press, 1966.

In-text citations for print sources by a corporate author

When a source has a corporate author, it is acceptable to use the name of the corporation followed by the page number for the in-text citation. You should also use abbreviations (e.g., nat'l for national) where appropriate, so as to avoid interrupting the flow of reading with overly long parenthetical citations.

In-text citations for sources with non-standard labeling systems

If a source uses a labeling or numbering system other than page numbers, such as a script or poetry, precede the citation with said label. When citing a poem, for instance, the parenthetical would begin with the word “line”, and then the line number or range. For example, the examination of William Blake’s poem “The Tyger” would be cited as such:

The speaker makes an ardent call for the exploration of the connection between the violence of nature and the divinity of creation. “In what distant deeps or skies. / Burnt the fire of thine eyes," they ask in reference to the tiger as they attempt to reconcile their intimidation with their relationship to creationism (lines 5-6).

Longer labels, such as chapters (ch.) and scenes (sc.), should be abbreviated.

In-text citations for print sources with no known author

When a source has no known author, use a shortened title of the work instead of an author name, following these guidelines.

Place the title in quotation marks if it's a short work (such as an article) or italicize it if it's a longer work (e.g. plays, books, television shows, entire Web sites) and provide a page number if it is available.

Titles longer than a standard noun phrase should be shortened into a noun phrase by excluding articles. For example, To the Lighthouse would be shortened to Lighthouse .

If the title cannot be easily shortened into a noun phrase, the title should be cut after the first clause, phrase, or punctuation:

In this example, since the reader does not know the author of the article, an abbreviated title appears in the parenthetical citation, and the full title of the article appears first at the left-hand margin of its respective entry on the Works Cited page. Thus, the writer includes the title in quotation marks as the signal phrase in the parenthetical citation in order to lead the reader directly to the source on the Works Cited page. The Works Cited entry appears as follows:

"The Impact of Global Warming in North America." Global Warming: Early Signs . 1999. www.climatehotmap.org/. Accessed 23 Mar. 2009.

If the title of the work begins with a quotation mark, such as a title that refers to another work, that quote or quoted title can be used as the shortened title. The single quotation marks must be included in the parenthetical, rather than the double quotation.

Parenthetical citations and Works Cited pages, used in conjunction, allow readers to know which sources you consulted in writing your essay, so that they can either verify your interpretation of the sources or use them in their own scholarly work.

Author-page citation for classic and literary works with multiple editions

Page numbers are always required, but additional citation information can help literary scholars, who may have a different edition of a classic work, like Marx and Engels's  The Communist Manifesto . In such cases, give the page number of your edition (making sure the edition is listed in your Works Cited page, of course) followed by a semicolon, and then the appropriate abbreviations for volume (vol.), book (bk.), part (pt.), chapter (ch.), section (sec.), or paragraph (par.). For example:

Author-page citation for works in an anthology, periodical, or collection

When you cite a work that appears inside a larger source (for instance, an article in a periodical or an essay in a collection), cite the author of the  internal source (i.e., the article or essay). For example, to cite Albert Einstein's article "A Brief Outline of the Theory of Relativity," which was published in  Nature  in 1921, you might write something like this:

See also our page on documenting periodicals in the Works Cited .

Citing authors with same last names

Sometimes more information is necessary to identify the source from which a quotation is taken. For instance, if two or more authors have the same last name, provide both authors' first initials (or even the authors' full name if different authors share initials) in your citation. For example:

Citing a work by multiple authors

For a source with two authors, list the authors’ last names in the text or in the parenthetical citation:

Corresponding Works Cited entry:

Best, David, and Sharon Marcus. “Surface Reading: An Introduction.” Representations , vol. 108, no. 1, Fall 2009, pp. 1-21. JSTOR, doi:10.1525/rep.2009.108.1.1

For a source with three or more authors, list only the first author’s last name, and replace the additional names with et al.

Franck, Caroline, et al. “Agricultural Subsidies and the American Obesity Epidemic.” American Journal of Preventative Medicine , vol. 45, no. 3, Sept. 2013, pp. 327-333.

Citing multiple works by the same author

If you cite more than one work by an author, include a shortened title for the particular work from which you are quoting to distinguish it from the others. Put short titles of books in italics and short titles of articles in quotation marks.

Citing two articles by the same author :

Citing two books by the same author :

Additionally, if the author's name is not mentioned in the sentence, format your citation with the author's name followed by a comma, followed by a shortened title of the work, and, when appropriate, the page number(s):

Citing multivolume works

If you cite from different volumes of a multivolume work, always include the volume number followed by a colon. Put a space after the colon, then provide the page number(s). (If you only cite from one volume, provide only the page number in parentheses.)

Citing the Bible

In your first parenthetical citation, you want to make clear which Bible you're using (and underline or italicize the title), as each version varies in its translation, followed by book (do not italicize or underline), chapter, and verse. For example:

If future references employ the same edition of the Bible you’re using, list only the book, chapter, and verse in the parenthetical citation:

John of Patmos echoes this passage when describing his vision (Rev. 4.6-8).

Citing indirect sources

Sometimes you may have to use an indirect source. An indirect source is a source cited within another source. For such indirect quotations, use "qtd. in" to indicate the source you actually consulted. For example:

Note that, in most cases, a responsible researcher will attempt to find the original source, rather than citing an indirect source.

Citing transcripts, plays, or screenplays

Sources that take the form of a dialogue involving two or more participants have special guidelines for their quotation and citation. Each line of dialogue should begin with the speaker's name written in all capitals and indented half an inch. A period follows the name (e.g., JAMES.) . After the period, write the dialogue. Each successive line after the first should receive an additional indentation. When another person begins speaking, start a new line with that person's name indented only half an inch. Repeat this pattern each time the speaker changes. You can include stage directions in the quote if they appear in the original source.

Conclude with a parenthetical that explains where to find the excerpt in the source. Usually, the author and title of the source can be given in a signal phrase before quoting the excerpt, so the concluding parenthetical will often just contain location information like page numbers or act/scene indicators.

Here is an example from O'Neill's  The Iceman Cometh.

WILLIE. (Pleadingly) Give me a drink, Rocky. Harry said it was all right. God, I need a drink.

ROCKY. Den grab it. It's right under your nose.

WILLIE. (Avidly) Thanks. (He takes the bottle with both twitching hands and tilts it to his lips and gulps down the whiskey in big swallows.) (1.1)

Citing non-print or sources from the Internet

With more and more scholarly work published on the Internet, you may have to cite sources you found in digital environments. While many sources on the Internet should not be used for scholarly work (reference the OWL's  Evaluating Sources of Information  resource), some Web sources are perfectly acceptable for research. When creating in-text citations for electronic, film, or Internet sources, remember that your citation must reference the source on your Works Cited page.

Sometimes writers are confused with how to craft parenthetical citations for electronic sources because of the absence of page numbers. However, these sorts of entries often do not require a page number in the parenthetical citation. For electronic and Internet sources, follow the following guidelines:

• Include in the text the first item that appears in the Work Cited entry that corresponds to the citation (e.g. author name, article name, website name, film name).
• Do not provide paragraph numbers or page numbers based on your Web browser’s print preview function.
• Unless you must list the Web site name in the signal phrase in order to get the reader to the appropriate entry, do not include URLs in-text. Only provide partial URLs such as when the name of the site includes, for example, a domain name, like  CNN.com  or  Forbes.com,  as opposed to writing out http://www.cnn.com or http://www.forbes.com.

Miscellaneous non-print sources

Two types of non-print sources you may encounter are films and lectures/presentations:

In the two examples above “Herzog” (a film’s director) and “Yates” (a presentor) lead the reader to the first item in each citation’s respective entry on the Works Cited page:

Herzog, Werner, dir. Fitzcarraldo . Perf. Klaus Kinski. Filmverlag der Autoren, 1982.

Yates, Jane. "Invention in Rhetoric and Composition." Gaps Addressed: Future Work in Rhetoric and Composition, CCCC, Palmer House Hilton, 2002. Address.

Electronic sources

Electronic sources may include web pages and online news or magazine articles:

In the first example (an online magazine article), the writer has chosen not to include the author name in-text; however, two entries from the same author appear in the Works Cited. Thus, the writer includes both the author’s last name and the article title in the parenthetical citation in order to lead the reader to the appropriate entry on the Works Cited page (see below).

In the second example (a web page), a parenthetical citation is not necessary because the page does not list an author, and the title of the article, “MLA Formatting and Style Guide,” is used as a signal phrase within the sentence. If the title of the article was not named in the sentence, an abbreviated version would appear in a parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence. Both corresponding Works Cited entries are as follows:

Taylor, Rumsey. "Fitzcarraldo." Slant , 13 Jun. 2003, www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/fitzcarraldo/. Accessed 29 Sep. 2009. 

"MLA Formatting and Style Guide." The Purdue OWL , 2 Aug. 2016, owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/. Accessed 2 April 2018.

Multiple citations

To cite multiple sources in the same parenthetical reference, separate the citations by a semi-colon:

Time-based media sources

When creating in-text citations for media that has a runtime, such as a movie or podcast, include the range of hours, minutes and seconds you plan to reference. For example: (00:02:15-00:02:35).

When a citation is not needed

Common sense and ethics should determine your need for documenting sources. You do not need to give sources for familiar proverbs, well-known quotations, or common knowledge (For example, it is expected that U.S. citizens know that George Washington was the first President.). Remember that citing sources is a rhetorical task, and, as such, can vary based on your audience. If you’re writing for an expert audience of a scholarly journal, for example, you may need to deal with expectations of what constitutes “common knowledge” that differ from common norms.

Other Sources

The MLA Handbook describes how to cite many different kinds of authors and content creators. However, you may occasionally encounter a source or author category that the handbook does not describe, making the best way to proceed can be unclear.

In these cases, it's typically acceptable to apply the general principles of MLA citation to the new kind of source in a way that's consistent and sensible. A good way to do this is to simply use the standard MLA directions for a type of source that resembles the source you want to cite.

You may also want to investigate whether a third-party organization has provided directions for how to cite this kind of source. For example, Norquest College provides guidelines for citing Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers⁠ —an author category that does not appear in the MLA Handbook . In cases like this, however, it's a good idea to ask your instructor or supervisor whether using third-party citation guidelines might present problems.

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, generate accurate citations for free.

• Knowledge Base
• Working with sources
• How to Quote | Citing Quotes in APA, MLA & Chicago

How to Quote | Citing Quotes in APA, MLA & Chicago

Published on April 15, 2022 by Shona McCombes and Jack Caulfield. Revised on May 31, 2023.

Quoting means copying a passage of someone else’s words and crediting the source. To quote a source, you must ensure:

• The quoted text is enclosed in quotation marks or formatted as a block quote
• The original author is correctly cited
• The text is identical to the original

The exact format of a quote depends on its length and on which citation style you are using. Quoting and citing correctly is essential to avoid plagiarism which is easy to detect with a good plagiarism checker .

Table of contents

How to cite a quote in apa, mla and chicago, introducing quotes, quotes within quotes, shortening or altering a quote, block quotes, when should i use quotes, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about quoting sources.

Every time you quote, you must cite the source correctly . This looks slightly different depending on the citation style you’re using. Three of the most common styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago .

Citing a quote in APA Style

To cite a direct quote in APA , you must include the author’s last name, the year, and a page number, all separated by commas . If the quote appears on a single page, use “p.”; if it spans a page range, use “pp.”

An APA in-text citation can be parenthetical or narrative. In a parenthetical citation , you place all the information in parentheses after the quote. In a narrative citation , you name the author in your sentence (followed by the year), and place the page number after the quote.

Punctuation marks such as periods and commas are placed after the citation, not within the quotation marks .

• Evolution is a gradual process that “can act only by very short and slow steps” (Darwin, 1859, p. 510) .
• Darwin (1859) explains that evolution “can act only by very short and slow steps” (p. 510) .

Complete guide to APA

Citing a quote in mla style.

An MLA in-text citation includes only the author’s last name and a page number. As in APA, it can be parenthetical or narrative, and a period (or other punctuation mark) appears after the citation.

• Evolution is a gradual process that “can act only by very short and slow steps” (Darwin 510) .
• Darwin explains that evolution “can act only by very short and slow steps” (510) .

Complete guide to MLA

Citing a quote in chicago style.

Chicago style uses Chicago footnotes to cite sources. A note, indicated by a superscript number placed directly after the quote, specifies the author, title, and page number—or sometimes fuller information .

Unlike with parenthetical citations, in this style, the period or other punctuation mark should appear within the quotation marks, followed by the footnote number.

Complete guide to Chicago style

Don't submit your assignments before you do this

The academic proofreading tool has been trained on 1000s of academic texts. Making it the most accurate and reliable proofreading tool for students. Free citation check included.

Try for free

Make sure you integrate quotes properly into your text by introducing them in your own words, showing the reader why you’re including the quote and providing any context necessary to understand it.  Don’t  present quotations as stand-alone sentences.

There are three main strategies you can use to introduce quotes in a grammatically correct way:

• Add an introductory sentence
• Use an introductory signal phrase
• Integrate the quote into your own sentence

The following examples use APA Style citations, but these strategies can be used in all styles.

Introductory sentence

Introduce the quote with a full sentence ending in a colon . Don’t use a colon if the text before the quote isn’t a full sentence.

If you name the author in your sentence, you may use present-tense verbs , such as “states,” “argues,” “explains,” “writes,” or “reports,” to describe the content of the quote.

• In Denmark, a recent poll shows that: “A membership referendum held today would be backed by 55 percent of Danish voters” (Levring, 2018, p. 3).
• In Denmark, a recent poll shows that support for the EU has grown since the Brexit vote: “A membership referendum held today would be backed by 55 percent of Danish voters” (Levring, 2018, p. 3).
• Levring (2018) reports that support for the EU has grown since the Brexit vote: “A membership referendum held today would be backed by 55 percent of Danish voters” (p. 3).

Introductory signal phrase

You can also use a signal phrase that mentions the author or source, but doesn’t form a full sentence. In this case, you follow the phrase with a comma instead of a colon.

• According to a recent poll, “A membership referendum held today would be backed by 55 percent of Danish voters” (Levring, 2018, p. 3).
• As Levring (2018) explains, “A membership referendum held today would be backed by 55 percent of Danish voters” (p. 3).

Integrated into your own sentence

To quote a phrase that doesn’t form a full sentence, you can also integrate it as part of your sentence, without any extra punctuation .

• A recent poll suggests that EU membership “would be backed by 55 percent of Danish voters” in a referendum (Levring, 2018, p. 3).
• Levring (2018) reports that EU membership “would be backed by 55 percent of Danish voters” in a referendum (p. 3).

When you quote text that itself contains another quote, this is called a nested quotation or a quote within a quote. It may occur, for example, when quoting dialogue from a novel.

To distinguish this quote from the surrounding quote, you enclose it in single (instead of double) quotation marks (even if this involves changing the punctuation from the original text). Make sure to close both sets of quotation marks at the appropriate moments.

Note that if you only quote the nested quotation itself, and not the surrounding text, you can just use double quotation marks.

• Carraway introduces his narrative by quoting his father: “ “ Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, ” he told me, “ just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had ” ” (Fitzgerald 1).
• Carraway introduces his narrative by quoting his father: “‘Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,’ he told me, ‘just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had ” (Fitzgerald 1).
• Carraway introduces his narrative by quoting his father: “‘Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,’ he told me, ‘just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had’” (Fitzgerald 1).
• Carraway begins by quoting his father’s invocation to “remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had” (Fitzgerald 1).

Note:  When the quoted text in the source comes from another source, it’s best to just find that original source in order to quote it directly. If you can’t find the original source, you can instead cite it indirectly .

Often, incorporating a quote smoothly into your text requires you to make some changes to the original text. It’s fine to do this, as long as you clearly mark the changes you’ve made to the quote.

Shortening a quote

If some parts of a passage are redundant or irrelevant, you can shorten the quote by removing words, phrases, or sentences and replacing them with an ellipsis (…). Put a space before and after the ellipsis.

Be careful that removing the words doesn’t change the meaning. The ellipsis indicates that some text has been removed, but the shortened quote should still accurately represent the author’s point.

Altering a quote

You can add or replace words in a quote when necessary. This might be because the original text doesn’t fit grammatically with your sentence (e.g., it’s in a different verb tense), or because extra information is needed to clarify the quote’s meaning.

Use brackets to distinguish words that you have added from words that were present in the original text.

The Latin term “ sic ” is used to indicate a (factual or grammatical) mistake in a quotation. It shows the reader that the mistake is from the quoted material, not a typo of your own.

In some cases, it can be useful to italicize part of a quotation to add emphasis, showing the reader that this is the key part to pay attention to. Use the phrase “emphasis added” to show that the italics were not part of the original text.

You usually don’t need to use brackets to indicate minor changes to punctuation or capitalization made to ensure the quote fits the style of your text.

If you quote more than a few lines from a source, you must format it as a block quote . Instead of using quotation marks, you set the quote on a new line and indent it so that it forms a separate block of text.

Block quotes are cited just like regular quotes, except that if the quote ends with a period, the citation appears after the period.

To the end of his days Bilbo could never remember how he found himself outside, without a hat, a walking-stick or any money, or anything that he usually took when he went out; leaving his second breakfast half-finished and quite unwashed-up, pushing his keys into Gandalf’s hands, and running as fast as his furry feet could carry him down the lane, past the great Mill, across The Water, and then on for a mile or more. (16)

Avoid relying too heavily on quotes in academic writing . To integrate a source , it’s often best to paraphrase , which means putting the passage in your own words. This helps you integrate information smoothly and keeps your own voice dominant.

However, there are some situations in which quoting is more appropriate.

When focusing on language

If you want to comment on how the author uses language (for example, in literary analysis ), it’s necessary to quote so that the reader can see the exact passage you are referring to.

When giving evidence

To convince the reader of your argument, interpretation or position on a topic, it’s often helpful to include quotes that support your point. Quotes from primary sources (for example, interview transcripts or historical documents) are especially credible as evidence.

When presenting an author’s position or definition

When you’re referring to secondary sources such as scholarly books and journal articles, try to put others’ ideas in your own words when possible.

But if a passage does a great job at expressing, explaining, or defining something, and it would be very difficult to paraphrase without changing the meaning or losing the weakening the idea’s impact, it’s worth quoting directly.

If you want to know more about ChatGPT, AI tools , citation , and plagiarism , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• ChatGPT vs human editor
• ChatGPT citations
• Is ChatGPT trustworthy?
• Using ChatGPT for your studies
• What is ChatGPT?
• Chicago style
• Paraphrasing
• Critical thinking

 Plagiarism

• Types of plagiarism
• Self-plagiarism
• Avoiding plagiarism
• Academic integrity
• Consequences of plagiarism
• Common knowledge

A quote is an exact copy of someone else’s words, usually enclosed in quotation marks and credited to the original author or speaker.

In academic writing , there are three main situations where quoting is the best choice:

• To analyze the author’s language (e.g., in a literary analysis essay )
• To give evidence from primary sources
• To accurately present a precise definition or argument

Don’t overuse quotes; your own voice should be dominant. If you just want to provide information from a source, it’s usually better to paraphrase or summarize .

Every time you quote a source , you must include a correctly formatted in-text citation . This looks slightly different depending on the citation style .

For example, a direct quote in APA is cited like this: “This is a quote” (Streefkerk, 2020, p. 5).

Every in-text citation should also correspond to a full reference at the end of your paper.

A block quote is a long quote formatted as a separate “block” of text. Instead of using quotation marks , you place the quote on a new line, and indent the entire quote to mark it apart from your own words.

The rules for when to apply block quote formatting depend on the citation style:

• APA block quotes are 40 words or longer.
• MLA block quotes are more than 4 lines of prose or 3 lines of poetry.
• Chicago block quotes are longer than 100 words.

If you’re quoting from a text that paraphrases or summarizes other sources and cites them in parentheses , APA and Chicago both recommend retaining the citations as part of the quote. However, MLA recommends omitting citations within a quote:

• APA: Smith states that “the literature on this topic (Jones, 2015; Sill, 2019; Paulson, 2020) shows no clear consensus” (Smith, 2019, p. 4).
• MLA: Smith states that “the literature on this topic shows no clear consensus” (Smith, 2019, p. 4).

Footnote or endnote numbers that appear within quoted text should be omitted in all styles.

If you want to cite an indirect source (one you’ve only seen quoted in another source), either locate the original source or use the phrase “as cited in” in your citation.

In scientific subjects, the information itself is more important than how it was expressed, so quoting should generally be kept to a minimum. In the arts and humanities, however, well-chosen quotes are often essential to a good paper.

In social sciences, it varies. If your research is mainly quantitative , you won’t include many quotes, but if it’s more qualitative , you may need to quote from the data you collected .

As a general guideline, quotes should take up no more than 5–10% of your paper. If in doubt, check with your instructor or supervisor how much quoting is appropriate in your field.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

McCombes, S. & Caulfield, J. (2023, May 31). How to Quote | Citing Quotes in APA, MLA & Chicago. Scribbr. Retrieved August 26, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/working-with-sources/how-to-quote/

Is this article helpful?

Shona McCombes

Other students also liked, how to block quote | length, format and examples, how to paraphrase | step-by-step guide & examples, how to avoid plagiarism | tips on citing sources, get unlimited documents corrected.

✔ Free APA citation check included ✔ Unlimited document corrections ✔ Specialized in correcting academic texts

Available today at 9 a.m.

Additional Options

• smartphone Call / Text
• voice_chat Consultation Appointment
• place Visit
• email Email

Chat with a Specific library

• Business Library Business Library Chat is Offline
• College Library (Undergraduate) College Library Chat is Offline
• Ebling Library (Health Sciences) Ebling Library Chat is Offline
• Gender and Women's Studies Librarian GWS Library Chat is Offline
• Information School Library (Information Studies) iSchool Library Chat is Offline
• Law Library (Law) Law Library Chat is Offline
• Memorial Library (Humanities & Social Sciences) Memorial Library Chat is Offline
• MERIT Library (Education) MERIT Library Chat is Offline
• Steenbock Library (Agricultural & Life Sciences, Engineering) Steenbock Library Chat is Offline
• Ask a Librarian Hours & Policy
• Library Research Tutorials

Search the for Website expand_more Articles Find articles in journals, magazines, newspapers, and more Catalog Explore books, music, movies, and more Databases Locate databases by title and description Journals Find journal titles UWDC Discover digital collections, images, sound recordings, and more Website Find information on spaces, staff, services, and more

Language website search.

Find information on spaces, staff, and services.

• ASK a Librarian
• Library by Appointment
• Locations & Hours
• Resources by Subject

book Catalog Search

Search the physical and online collections at UW-Madison, UW System libraries, and the Wisconsin Historical Society.

• Available Online
• Print/Physical Items
• Limit to UW-Madison
• Advanced Search
• Browse by...

collections_bookmark Database Search

Find databases subscribed to by UW-Madison Libraries, searchable by title and description.

• Browse by Subject/Type
• Introductory Databases
• Top 10 Databases

article Journal Search

Find journal titles available online and in print.

• Browse by Subject / Title
• Citation Search

description Article Search

Find articles in journals, magazines, newspapers, and more.

• Scholarly (peer-reviewed)
• Open Access
• Library Databases

collections UW Digital Collections Search

Discover digital objects and collections curated by the UW Digital Collections Center .

• Browse Collections
• Browse UWDC Items
• University of Wisconsin–Madison
• Email/Calendar
• Google Apps
• Loans & Requests
• Poster Printing
• Account Details
• Archives and Special Collections Requests
• Library Room Reservations

Search the UW-Madison Libraries

Citation data.

warning Note: These citations are software generated and may contain errors. To verify accuracy, check the appropriate style guide. Close close

Export to Citation Manager (RIS)

Back to item

Keyboard Shortcuts

Available anywhere, available in search results.