In-Text Citations Made Easy: MLA 9th Edition

Summary

In this video, Chelsea Seaburn walks viewers through the essentials of MLA 9th edition in-text citations. She explains why it's important to credit authors to avoid plagiarism and discusses the two-element citation format (author’s last name and page number). Seaburn covers parenthetical and narrative citation styles, handling multiple authors, corporate authors, and citing sources with no page numbers. She also explores situations like authors with the same surname. Throughout, she provides examples to demonstrate how to create accurate in-text citations. The video also previews upcoming lessons on creating works cited entries.

Takeaways

• 📚 MLA in-text citations are used to give credit to the author and avoid plagiarism.
• 🖋️ MLA 9th edition requires two elements for in-text citations: the author's last name and the page number.
• ❌ No comma separates the author's last name and the page number in MLA citations, just a space.
• 📖 In MLA narrative citations, the author's name is worked into the sentence, while parenthetical citations place the name and page number at the end.
• 👥 When citing two co-authors, list both last names separated by 'and'.
• 👨‍👩‍👦 For works with more than two authors, list the first author followed by 'et al.' to represent the others.
• 🏢 Corporate authors can be abbreviated in parenthetical citations for readability but written out fully in prose.
• 📄 When there is no author, use the title of the work in place of the author in the in-text citation.
• 🔢 If there are no page numbers, use an alternative location marker like section, paragraph, or chapter number.
• 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 If citing two different authors with the same surname, use their first initial to differentiate them in parenthetical citations.

Q & A

What is the primary purpose of using in-text citations in MLA format?

The primary purpose of using in-text citations in MLA format is to give credit to the original author of the information you're paraphrasing or directly quoting. This helps avoid plagiarism by properly attributing the source.

What two elements are typically included in MLA in-text citations?

MLA in-text citations typically include two elements: the author's last name and the page number where the cited information can be found.

How do you format an in-text citation with both the author's last name and the page number?

In MLA format, the author's last name is followed by the page number without a comma, separated only by a space. For example: (Smith 45).

What is the difference between a parenthetical and a narrative in-text citation?

A parenthetical citation places both the author's name and the page number within parentheses at the end of the sentence. A narrative citation integrates the author’s name into the sentence itself, followed by the page number in parentheses.

How do you handle MLA citations when a source has two authors?

When citing a source with two authors, include both last names separated by the word 'and.' For example: (Lemmerie and Ombrebatch 5).

What should you do when citing a source with more than two authors?

When citing a source with three or more authors, use the first author's last name followed by 'et al.' For example: (Nickerson et al. 78).

How should you cite a corporate author or organization in MLA format?

When citing a corporate author, use the full name of the organization in the in-text citation. If the name is long, MLA allows using a shortened version, such as a noun phrase that clearly identifies the organization.

What do you do if there is no known author for the source?

If there is no known author, MLA format suggests using the title of the work as the author element in the citation. You may abbreviate the title if it's long, focusing on the first main noun.

How do you cite sources that do not have page numbers in MLA format?

For sources without page numbers, MLA recommends using another location marker, such as a chapter, section, or paragraph number, and labeling it accordingly. For example: (Smith, ch. 2) or (Jones, sec. 4).

How should you handle citations for different authors with the same last name?

When citing different authors with the same last name, include the first initial before the last name to differentiate between them. For example: (N. Baron 67) and (J. Baron 89).

Outlines

00:00

🎓 Introduction to MLA In-Text Citations

Chelsea Seaburn introduces the topic of MLA in-text citations, explaining that the video will cover how to properly use in-text citations in MLA 9th edition. She briefly recaps previous content on MLA formatting and outlines the agenda for the video: discussing the purpose of in-text citations and providing examples to avoid plagiarism by properly crediting authors.

05:01

📖 Importance and Basic Structure of MLA In-Text Citations

Chelsea explains why in-text citations are crucial for giving credit to sources, thus avoiding plagiarism. MLA 9th edition uses two main elements in citations: the author’s last name and the page number where the information was found. She emphasizes that there’s no comma between the two elements, only a space, and mentions the flexibility in formatting these citations using either a parenthetical or narrative style.

10:02

📝 Formatting Options: Parenthetical vs. Narrative Citations

The paragraph dives into the differences between parenthetical and narrative citation formats in MLA. Parenthetical citations place both the author’s last name and page number at the end of a sentence within parentheses. In narrative citations, the author's name is integrated into the sentence, and the page number follows the author’s first mention.

15:02

📚 Example of Standard In-Text Citations

Chelsea presents the first example, where the author and page number are included. She highlights the process of selecting the correct page number when paraphrasing from multiple pages, explaining that only the page containing the paraphrased content is included. Both parenthetical and narrative citation examples are shown to illustrate how these formats are applied.

👥 Citing Two Authors in MLA

The discussion focuses on how to cite two co-authors in MLA. Chelsea explains that both authors' last names should be included, separated by the word ‘and.’ The same rules apply to both parenthetical and narrative citations, and examples are provided for clarity, showing how to correctly format such citations.

👨‍👩‍👧 Citing More Than Two Authors

Chelsea explains how to cite sources with more than two authors. The citation should include the first author’s last name followed by ‘et al.,’ indicating there are additional authors. She also touches on the reasoning behind why the first author is listed, usually because of their significant contribution to the work.

🏢 Citing Corporate Authors

This paragraph discusses how to cite corporate authors such as organizations or groups. Chelsea advises using the shortest noun phrase when the corporate author’s name is long and suggests abbreviating where possible to maintain readability. She explains the difference between parenthetical and narrative citations for corporate authors, emphasizing brevity in the parenthetical form.

❓ Citing Sources Without Authors

The focus here is on how to handle citations when no author is known. Chelsea explains that in such cases, the title of the work should replace the author’s name. The first element from the Works Cited entry is used for the in-text citation, with examples showing how to shorten titles for parenthetical citations and include full titles in narrative ones.

🔖 No Page Numbers in Citations

Chelsea explains how to cite works that don’t have page numbers. Instead of pages, another marker (e.g., section, chapter, or line) is used to guide the reader to the location of the source material. She also gives examples of how to cite works where an alternative numbering system, like sections or paragraphs, is needed.

👬 Citing Authors with the Same Surname

The paragraph covers how to differentiate between two different authors with the same surname. In parenthetical citations, the first initial of the author’s first name is added to avoid confusion. In narrative citations, Chelsea suggests using the full first name initially and then using the first name in subsequent mentions.

📖 Differentiating Works by the Same Author

This paragraph discusses how to cite multiple works by the same author. The in-text citation includes the author’s last name, a shortened title of the work, and the page number. Examples are provided for both parenthetical and narrative citations, showing the proper placement of the title to distinguish between different works.

📜 Conclusion and Final Tips

Chelsea wraps up the lesson, reminding viewers to download a PDF guide for MLA 9th edition to help them master the citation process. She also promotes a YouTube feature that allows viewers to support content creators and encourages them to engage with the video by liking and subscribing. Finally, she hints at future videos covering more MLA topics.

Keywords

💡MLA In-Text Citations

MLA in-text citations are a method for giving credit to the original source within the body of a paper or work. In this video, they are emphasized as essential for avoiding plagiarism when paraphrasing or quoting directly. The basic format for MLA in-text citations includes the author's last name and page number from the source, and this structure follows MLA 9th edition guidelines.

💡Works Cited

The Works Cited section in MLA format is a list at the end of a paper that includes full citations for all sources referenced in the text. This video explains how in-text citations relate to the Works Cited page, which contains full details of the source, allowing readers to locate it. The Works Cited page ensures that the brief in-text citations can be matched with complete references.

💡Author Element

In MLA citations, the 'Author Element' refers to the inclusion of the author's last name in both the in-text citations and the Works Cited page. This video explains how the author's last name should be included without any commas, followed by the relevant page number, as a crucial part of MLA formatting to attribute credit to the correct source.

💡Page Number

The page number in MLA in-text citations refers to the specific page from which the information was taken. It follows the author's last name in the citation, with no additional punctuation, and helps readers identify the exact location of the referenced material. The video explains the rule of not including 'p.' or 'pp.' for page numbers and how to handle page ranges when needed.

💡Parenthetical Citation

Parenthetical citation is one of the two ways to format in-text citations in MLA. It involves placing both the author's last name and page number inside parentheses at the end of a sentence. The video provides examples of how to use this format and contrasts it with narrative citations, demonstrating when each method might be appropriate.

💡Narrative Citation

Narrative citation integrates the author's name into the sentence itself, with the page number following in parentheses. The video highlights that this format offers more flexibility and is commonly used when the author’s name is mentioned in the prose, with the page number appearing after the first mention of the author. It shows how this approach can streamline writing.

💡Two Authors

When citing a source with two authors in MLA, both last names should be included, separated by 'and.' The video explains this rule and gives examples for both parenthetical and narrative citations. In prose, the full names of both authors are used the first time they are mentioned, followed by the page number, but only the last names are needed in subsequent mentions.

💡Et al.

'Et al.' is used in MLA citations when there are three or more authors. It stands for 'and others' and allows for more concise in-text citations. The video explains how to use 'et al.' after the first author's last name when there are multiple contributors to a source, both in parenthetical and narrative citations, simplifying long author lists.

💡Corporate Author

A corporate author is an organization, corporation, or group credited with creating a source rather than an individual author. In MLA citations, corporate authors are handled slightly differently, especially if the name is long. The video discusses how to abbreviate long corporate names for smoother reading and how to cite them in both parenthetical and narrative formats.

💡No Page Number

When citing a source without a page number, MLA suggests using an alternative marker such as section, paragraph, or line number. The video covers how to apply these markers to make the citation as specific as possible when page numbers are not available. It advises using clear labels that help readers find the source within the text, such as 'section 4' or 'chapter 2.'

Highlights

Introduction to MLA in-text citations and their role in avoiding plagiarism by giving proper credit to the authors.

MLA 9th edition in-text citation format requires two elements: the author's last name and the page number, without a comma between them.

Explanation of how to handle page ranges for in-text citations when the source material spans multiple pages.

The two formatting options for in-text citations: parenthetical (elements in parentheses at the end of the sentence) and narrative (elements incorporated into the sentence).

The first in-text citation using a narrative format should include the author's full name, but subsequent mentions require only the last name.

When citing sources with two authors, both last names should be included, separated by 'and'.

For sources with three or more authors, include the first author's last name followed by 'et al.' in both parenthetical and narrative citations.

How to cite corporate or group authors by using abbreviations where appropriate or the shortest noun phrase in parenthetical citations.

In cases where there is no known author, the title of the work replaces the author element in both the works cited and in-text citations.

For sources without page numbers, MLA suggests using an alternative numbering system, such as section, chapter, or line numbers.

Guidelines for citing authors with the same surname: include the initial of the first name to differentiate them.

When citing works by the same author but different titles, include the author's last name, a comma, and the title in italics before the page number.

Parenthetical citations should be concise but complete, allowing readers to find the source in the works cited page.

For narrative citations, authors and titles can be woven into the sentence, with page numbers placed at the end.

The importance of correctly formatting the works cited page in MLA to match the in-text citations and ensure consistency throughout the document.

Transcripts

hello everyone welcome to the smart

student my name is chelsea seaburn the

topic of today is we're going to cover

mla in-text citations so in the previous

video we went over all the basic

formatting principles you need to know

for mla 9th edition now we're going to

start getting into the works cited and

referencing and all that fun stuff now i

have just a few opening points to make

about in-text citations for mla and then

we're going to jump into a bunch of

examples that show you all the different

ways that you might include those

in-text citations sound good

[Music]

all right so opening point number one

why do we include in-text citations in

the first place

it's simple really is that's the way

that you give credit to the author where

you found your information that you're

including in your paper so in other

words if you're including paraphrase

material or you're directly quoting

another author or another source in

general

that in-text citation is how you avoid

plagiarism because again that's how you

credit the author

so when it comes to mla in creating

in-text citations and reference list

entries

it's not much different from other

formatting principles you need to create

a full reference list entry in your

works cited page at the end of your

document and then you need to include

that in-text citation after the

information that is either paraphrased

or directly quoted now the next question

to ask is well what do we include in

those in-text citations so firstly what

you include in the in-text citations are

referred to as elements and mla 9th

edition follows a two element formatting

pattern

in that you should always include the

author's last name followed by the page

number that the source information came

from

now a couple quick notes about this is

that first please take note how there is

no comma separating these two elements

you should always include one space and

that's it also if the material spans

more than one page go ahead and include

that page range

and then lastly please note how for the

page or page range you don't include the

abbreviation for either of those just

the page numbers will suffice now the

last thing you need to know before we

can jump into those examples is the two

different ways that you can choose to

format those in-text citations so you

can use either a parenthetical or a

narrative formatting pattern and the

parenthetical is where you're going to

include both of those elements in

parentheses typically at the end of your

sentence now when it comes to the

narrative there's a little more

flexibility here

so a narrative in-text citation simply

means that you're going to incorporate

the elements into the wording of the

sentence

[Music]

all right so here we are let me explain

what you're looking at before we jump

into this first example

all right so for each example what i've

done is in the highlighted portion is

going to be the name of the example so

for instance this first one i'm going to

show you what a standard in-text

citation looks like when you have the

author and the page element present

then underneath that you have the full

works cited reference list entry that

way you can see how the two correspond

together

lastly i've included an example of a

parenthetical and a narrative in-text

citation for this example in an actual

sentence so you can see it in real time

and by the way

works cited in prose is the way mla

refers to a narrative in-text citation

prose simply means you're writing the

last note i'd like to make before we

dive in is that keep in mind that each

example i explain

i'm probably going to explain less and

less because a lot of this information

is going to be repetitive so just keep

that in mind

but let's go ahead and start with this

standard example so like i said all

elements are present we've got all the

good information there's nothing crazy

going on here

i want you to first look at the works

cited reference list entry because this

is where we're going to pull the two

elements from

starting with the author element which

as you can see we include the last name

only

then you want to include that one single

space before you include the page number

and this actually brings me to a good

point because i want you to take note

how there is a page span so a range of

pages included in the works cited

however i'm only included 193 in my

citation why is that this is because in

this example the portion that i

paraphrased only comes from page 193

now let's say this paraphrase was a lot

longer and the information the ideas

came from a few pages then i would

include the page span but that's why

there's only 193 in this example

moving down to the real-time examples

though here is what the parenthetical

would look like as you can see enclosed

in parentheses you have the space and

the punctuation comes at the end of the

sentence now

works cited in prose if you'll remember

i mentioned that if you include the

author or you're going to speak about

them more than once

the first time you want to include the

full name so i'm going to include naomi

barron the first time and then remember

the page number is always going to come

after the first mention of the author

and you don't have to put it after that

because from there on all you need to

include is the author's last name just

like you see it is in this second

sentence here great let's go ahead and

move on to the next example but i do

apologize because i need to correct this

right here

this is the title of the container it

should appropriately be italicized by

the way if you need help with creating

the full reference list entries for your

works cited page be sure to check back

next week because that's the topic i'm

going to cover

but for now let's stick to in-text

citations

going down the line

our next example we're going to talk

about how to create your in-text

citation when there's co-authors more

specifically you have two

so let's go ahead and take a look at the

works cited as you can see we have j

lemmery and paul ombre batch i believe

that's how you pronounce that we're

going to say it's ombre batch here we go

for the parenthetical what you want to

do for the author element is still

include the last names but you're gonna

separate them by the word and

next note how the space stays the same

and you would include the page range so

in other words in this example what

we're paraphrasing this information was

pulled from page four and five

looking at the works cited in prose

here's how you would include two authors

you want to type out both authors full

names just like before jay lemmerie

you're going to separate them with the

word and paul umber batch also just like

before you're going to include the pages

after the first mention of the author if

you plan on mentioning them a second or

third time in your prose so i went ahead

and included it here because as you can

see the next sentence includes them as

well in which i only include their last

names from here on out not too terribly

different from the first example

let's go ahead and talk about what to do

if you have more

than two authors so we're staying with

co-authors but now let's talk about

anytime you have more than two so three

or greater because things change a

little bit here but they're still fairly

simple to remember

so any time you have three or more

authors you want to include the first

author's last name

and then the abbreviation at all which

stands for and others

if you'll note there's a period after it

and everything else will stay the same

so coming down here to the full

reference list you can see that you have

that first author who is raymond

nickerson

and then at all signifying that there's

three or more

by the way if you're wondering

why this author gets chosen to be the

one listed and not included in the at

all this is because the first author is

generally the one who contributes the

most to this piece of work just

something to keep in mind but moving

down here to the example portion here's

what it would look like in a

parenthetical in-text citation if you'll

take note it looks exactly like every

other example in this case

however i do want to talk about the work

cited in prose because it does vary just

a little bit if you'll note it says

nickerson and colleagues it does not use

nickerson and the abbreviation at all

so any time that you want to include

a work cited in the prose and there are

more than three authors this is the

correct way to format the author element

you're going to use the first name

and write out the word and colleagues

and then go ahead and write out your

sentence from there on you would be able

to use just the last name nickerson and

of course you're going to add the page

just as normal but let's go ahead and

move on to the next example where we're

going to change directions just a little

bit

so we're moving on from what to do when

you're citing authors and now let's talk

about what to do

when you're trying to cite a corporate

author in other words it's an

organization a corporation or a group

and so this is what the in-text citation

would look like for the parenthetical

however the rules vary a little between

works cited and pros in parentheticals

so let's go ahead and actually start

with the works cited entry first

so as you can see here for the author

element the author is a corporation

which is the national academy of

sciences

and the royal society so this is what

we're going to use for our author

element in our corresponding in-text

citation however let's talk about this

so starting with the parenthetical what

mla suggests is that

one if you can use abbreviations where

it's appropriate go ahead and do so to

avoid interrupting the flow of reading

with overly long phrases as you can see

this group author is actually pretty

long and if there isn't anything to

abbreviate that would make sense you

want to use the shortest noun phrase so

as you can see here

national academy would be the shortest

noun associated with this full group

author however coming down here to the

works cited in prose you're welcome to

go ahead and type out the full name of

the corporation

at least for the first one then again if

you were to include another

narrative citation with this same group

author you could use the shortened noun

phrase instead but now let's talk about

what you would do if there is no known

author

so the rule of thumb here is that

anytime there's not an author you want

to match the author element to the first

element in the works cited entry

so

in this example what they've used is the

title of the work rather than an author

because there was no author present and

that's generally what you're going to

use

in the works cited place but that's

diving more into the works cited

reference list page lesson so i'll cap

it at that for now let's go ahead and go

through the parenthetical and works

cited in pros because quite frankly

they're very similar to what we just

went over

the same rules apply in that you want to

keep

the author element brief in the

parenthetical citation so you want to

shorten it to the noun phrase here as

well so as you can see

reading is perfectly acceptable and then

coming down here and i have that

highlighted the wrong color let's change

that for consistency and then here as

you'll see you would include the full

name as well you don't need to include

after the colon but reading at risk

would be an acceptable author element if

you're going to cite the work in your

prose and as you can see the page

numbers are just as they were in all the

other examples so not too bad the last

thing i do want you to take note of is

that

the

wording is an italicized font this is

because

the font is italicized in the works

cited that's all but let's go ahead and

move on and this next example has a

couple of important things that i want

to point out that we haven't seen yet so

now let's move on to what to do if there

is no page number all right so first and

foremost the author element stays just

as it is but this example demonstrates

an author where they have two last names

that's fine if you're ever in your works

cited reference list entry and you see

something like this is the last name go

ahead and use exactly what you see in

your works cited that's fine

but what to do when there is no page

number basically what mla suggests is

that you use an alternative location

marker

that regards a numbering system and then

you'll want to use an abbreviated label

to note that it's not a page so as you

can see here section 4

signifies where this source came from

you could do chapter 2 or maybe line

100. again section works para works for

paragraph the list goes on and on it

really depends on the type of source

you're trying to cite but when it comes

to how to create the in-text citations

i'm going to say here that they follow

the exact same principles we've been

following this whole time so there's not

much to note about that as you can see

here everything stays the same and by

the way if you're ever trying to cite

something that doesn't have a page

number and you're not sure

what to label the marker simply ask

yourself how can i accurately get the

reader to this information so if it's a

paragraph it's a paragraph if it's a

line it's a line but that's just a good

way to simplify this because i know

sometimes it's hard to come up with that

label when there's no hard and fast rule

for you to reference in the moment but

we have two examples left that's the

good news and i will say that these are

the less common scenarios but it's

important that you understand how

how to do them correctly in case you run

into it so let's talk about what to do

when you have two different citations

coming from two different authors

however they have the same surname so as

you can see here

baron is a surname for both jamie and

naomi so how do you differentiate

between them

in your works cited in your in-text

citations all right so i'm going to

address these one at a time because they

each follow a different rule

when it comes to the parenthetical

in-text citation the way you would

differentiate is by including the

initial of the first name followed by

the last name so as you can see here n

baron would signify that this

information came from naomi

great then if you're going to cite the

work in prose you want to include the

full name first just as before

however any preceding time that you

include the author's name from then you

would use the first name rather than the

last name because

obviously if we use baron from here on

out it would be confusing to know which

one it came from so

to take all that confusion away you'll

simply use the first name instead the

next question is what do you do when

they have the same surname

because well it's the same person so as

you can see here we're talking about

tony morrison however

in this first works cited we're talking

about beloved and down here it's playing

in the dark

so under mla 9th edition what you're

going to do is include the author's last

name for the author element

and the page number just as normal

however we're going to add in a third

element including the title or the

shortened noun version of the title just

as we would if we were including the

title and replace of the author element

so you're just combining a few of the

practices that you've learned

to signify the differences in these

sources so this is what it would look

like down in the parenthetical as i

already said you have the author element

please note that there is a comma

separating the author from the title

the title is italicized but you know

that from before because it's italicized

in the works cited

and then we have the page number perfect

now coming down here to the works cited

in prose

i have two examples just because i

wanted to demonstrate the two options

you have in the first six i'm going to

put a sentence here so you can see it a

little better here we go

in the first example

note how the author element and the

title element

are worked into the wording of the

sentence

and the page number is at the end just

as normal that's completely acceptable

you can work these two elements

into the sentence or you can choose to

only include the author element and

include the title

with the page number at the end of the

sentence either way is fine and yes if i

were going to include morrison or at

least

refer to beloved more than once i would

type out his full name tony morrison the

first time and then morrison proceeding

afterwards

all right friends welcome back one more

time don't forget to go download the pdf

version of mla 9th edition if you're

getting used to it you're getting the

hang of it why not have it on your

computer

but for everyone who watches video all

the way through thank you so much for

being here by the way youtube has this

awesome new feature that allows the

audience to support their creators if

you have a video that you like or you

want to let them know that you want more

material like this it's called youtube

things you can find it down below where

the like subscribe and all those good

buttons are at in the meantime thank you

for being here and i will see you in the

next video

[Music]