To correctly cite sources using MLA style, you must include both an in-text citation and the full source citation.
The first step occurs while you're writing the main body of your answer or explanation. Each time that you include a fact, quote, chart, image, or other piece of information that you first saw in another source, you must pause at that moment and give credit to the original source. This is called the in-text citation because it's placed inside the main text of your project.
For MLA style, you must provide in-text, parenthetical citations each time you quote from, paraphrase, or summarize a source. For each source, give the author’s last name and page number, if available. If no page number is available, then write "n. pag."
Examples / Models:
Summarized information/data from this page:
The harpy eagle is not yet, in 2021, classified as fully endangered (International Union for Conservation of Nature n. pag.).
^ This is the preferred mode for in-text citation in science disciplines.
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Directly quoted information from this page:
One writer describes a keystone species as providing "the glue that holds a habitat together" (Denchak n. pag.).
^ This mode is not encouraged to be used very often in science disciplines.
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Notice: In MLA style, the period is always placed *after* the parenthetical citation. And there is no comma inserted between the author and the page number.
Click here to view the full corresponding citations for both of these sources.