Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School Media Center
Creating Internal Citations
All Internal Citations based on the MLA Handbook, 6th edition
Internal citations are used instead of footnotes. They are included in the text of
the research paper, enclosed in parentheses. It includes the author's name and page number
of the source.
Internal citations are used in the following instances:
- When the author's exact words are used.
- When the author's words are paraphrased or summarized.
- When facts, statistics or figures are used.
Internal citations are not needed when commonly known information is used. For example,
December 21st is the first day of winter.
LINKS TO CITATION EXAMPLES
Book with One Author
To create an internal citation, cite the author's last name and the page number(s) of the
source in parentheses. Only the relevant pages are listed and no punctuation is used
between the author's last name and the page number. The period for the sentence goes
outside the parentheses.
Example
The assassination of Abraham Lincoln opened an era of political
corruption that was a blot on our nation's history (Garrison 112).
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Book with Two Authors
List the last names as they will appear on the Works Cited page.
Example
(Sarff and Harem 27).
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Book with Three or More Authors
If a work has three or more authors, list the first author's name
followed by the notation et al., meaning "and others" and then list the page
numbers.
Example
(Smith et al. 50-53).
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Two or More Books by the Same Author
List author's last name, followed by a comma, abbreviated form of the title,
underlined and the page number. There should be no comma between the title and
page number.
Example
(Twain, Hucklebery 145).
(Hawthorne, Scarlet 123).
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Book with No Author
Abbreviate the title and underline it, then write the page number.
Example
(Bible 393).
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Article Only One Page Long
Use the title of the article and omit the page number.
Example
(White House).
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Citing the Entire Work
Use the author's last name in a sentence and omit any references in parentheses.
Example
Turner argues that the closing of the American frontier in the 1890's led Americans
to look abroad for new markets and room for expansion.
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Other Ways to Cite Internally
Instead of giving the author's name and the page number at the end of the
sentence, the last name can be used in the sentence and then place
only the page number(s) of the source in parentheses.
Example
Hawthorn states in The Scarlet Letter that Hester...(76).
NOTE: If it is obvious that only one book is being used, or the quotes
are coming from the same source in that part of the paper, only
list the page number in the parentheses rather than continue to repeat the
same author's name. However, when a new section is started, or another author
or book is used, be sure to cite the last last name to avoid confusion.
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Last updated March 10, 2005