For more guidelines and examples, check out the MLA Style Center In-Text Citations Overview.
Basic Format:
(Last Name Page #)
Or, introduce direct quotes with the author and title within the sentence or paragraph, then include the page number(s) at the end of the quote in parentheses.
I'm citing...
You only need the author's last name and the page number.
(Burke 3)
If there is no author...
Use a shortened title of the work
("Impact of Global Warming")
Connect both authors' last names with and, and include the page number.
(Best and Marcus 9)
Use the first author's last name and et al., and include the page number.
(Franck et al. 327)
Basic Format:
Author Last Name, First Name Middle Name or Initial. Title of Longer Work or "Title of Shorter Work." Publisher, Year. URL or DOI.
I'm citing a...
Example:
Example:
Example:
Example:
Example:
Example:
Example:
Check out more examples of citing online sources from the MLA Style Center.
This page was adapted from a guide created by Tess Withorn at CSUDH Library and licensed under a Creative Commons Atribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.
In MLA Style, photographs, artwork, maps, graphs, charts, and other visual media with the exception of tables should be labeled Figure (usually abbreviated to "Fig."), are numbered (based on the order in which they appear in your paper), and have a caption. Labels and captions are typically below the figure, aligned with the left margin.
Captions can be shortened, but typically include bibliographic information about the image that you are using (like the title and artist). If you do not include the full citation as part of the caption, or if the work is cited elsewhere in your paper, an entry for the figure should be included in your Works Cited.
Example:
Fig. 1. Eric Lee-Johnson. “[Two Cats].” Scenes of Life by Eric Lee-Johnson [E.001503], black and white negative, circa 1956. Museum of New Zealand - Te Papa Tongarewa; Collection: Photography, JSTOR, jstor.org/stable/community.27114598. Accessed 3 June 2025.
Alternatively, you could use the following label and description and include an entry in your Works Cited:
Fig. 1. Eric Lee-Johnson's "[Two Cats]."
Tables are presented slightly differently from figures in MLA. Tables are labelled as Table, are numbered in the order they appear in your paper, followed by a short but descriptive title. Notes (indicated by a superscript letter, labelled in order starting with a) that clarify information or provide context, as well as source information, can be included below the table.
Example:
Table 1
Activities middle school students do on social media sitesa
Post pictures | Read other's posts | Delete videos | Comment on others' posts | Post videos | Delete pictures | |
n | 494 | 397 | 333 | 333 | 234 | 209 |
% | 83.31 | 66.95 | 56.16 | 56.16 | 39.46 | 35.24 |
Reshare other's posts | Reshare other's videos | Reshare other's pictures | Post status updates | Delete my posts | Delete my comments | |
n | 150 | 129 | 129 | 110 | 69 | 39 |
% | 25.30 | 21.75 | 21.75 | 18.55 | 11.64 | 3.58 |
Source: Martin, Florence, et al. “Middle School Students’ Social Media Use.” Journal of Educational Technology & Society, vol. 21, no. 1, 2018, pp. 213–24. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26273881. Accessed 3 June 2025.
a. This table includes the frequency and percentages of responses to multiple choice questions.