MLA In-Text Citation Generator
Free. No signup. Runs in your browser.
Paste a DOI, PubMed ID, arXiv ID or ISBN and get the MLA 9 in-text citation, author and page, with the works cited entry it points to. Type the page you are quoting and it goes straight into the citation: (LeCun et al. 440).
How to get an MLA in-text citation
Step 1
Paste your sources
One per line, up to 50, or upload a .bib, RIS, EndNote or PubMed export.
Step 2
Convert
In-text citation is already selected. Each source gets the parenthetical form and the narrative form, with the works cited entry below.
Step 3
Add the page
Type 440 or 255-257 in the page box and the citation updates: (Jordan and Mitchell 255–57).
MLA in-text citation rules, with examples
One author
Surname and page, no comma, no "p.".
(Shannon 380)
Two authors
Both surnames, joined by "and".
(Jordan and Mitchell 255–57)
Three or more authors
First author and et al.
(LeCun et al. 440)
Author named in your sentence
Only the page goes in the parentheses.
LeCun et al. argue that deep networks learn their own features (440).
Two works by the same author
A short title tells them apart.
(Kahneman and Tversky, “Prospect Theory” 270)
No page numbers
Leave the page out; do not invent one.
(Shannon)
MLA has no year in the citation; the year is only in the works cited entry. That is the main difference from APA's (LeCun et al., 2015, p. 440).
Where the citation goes
Put the parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence, before the full stop: "Deep networks learn features from raw data (LeCun et al. 437)." For a quotation, it follows the closing quotation mark. For a long block quotation, it goes after the final full stop.
Page ranges are shortened the same way as in the works cited entry, so 255 to 257 becomes 255–57. Use the page numbers printed on the source, not the page count of your PDF viewer, so a reader with another copy finds the same place.
Frequently asked questions
Both surnames joined by "and", then the page: (Jordan and Mitchell 255). MLA uses "and", not "&".
No. Author and page only. The year appears in the works cited entry.
Cite the author alone, (Shannon). Use a paragraph or section number only if the source numbers its own paragraphs or sections, written as (Shannon, par. 4).
Add a short version of the title, in quotation marks for an article or italics for a book: (Kahneman and Tversky, "Prospect Theory" 270). The generator adds it when two works in your list would otherwise look the same.
Yes. Choose Reference list under I want. The MLA citation generator shows what a finished Works Cited page looks like.
Need the whole paper formatted in LaTeX?
Our LaTeX experts format papers and theses for journals and universities by hand, with no upfront payment. 1,100+ clients in 40+ countries.
See our LaTeX services