What Is It?

In MLA style, parenthetical documentations (also called in-text citations) identify the source of information used by a writer in the text of a research paper. The parenthetical citations direct readers to the full bibliographic citations listed in the Works Cited page of the research paper, located at the end of the document. In most cases, the parenthetical citations include the author's last name and the specific page number for the information cited.

Helpful Tips

• If you quote, summarize, or paraphrase from a source, that source must be included on the Works Cited page.



• If you include a source on the Works Cited page, that source must be quoted, summarized, or paraphrased in the paper itself.



• Information that appears in the parenthetical citation comes directly from the Works Cited page and must be clearly identified with a particular source on that page.



• Place in the parenthetical citation only the information necessary to identify the source: usually the author’s last name (if there are two authors, both names appear) and the number of the page where the information may be found.



• There is no comma between the author’s last name and the page number.



But as time passes, readers of Shakespeare must remember that the meaning of his plays is dependent not only upon modern interpretations but also upon the response of Shakespeare and his company to their own audience, including Queen Elizabeth (Manley 253-4).

• If the author's name is used in the text introducing the source material, then cite only the page number(s) in parentheses.



According to Seward, there are two major historical views: the first is that Richard was the villain Shakespeare and others make him out to be; the second is that he was innocent of all charges (15-16, 21).

• When the source has no pagination (for example, many web pages), include only the author's last name.



• When the source has no author, the parenthetical citation uses the first words of the citation that appears in the Works Cited page (usually the title) and, if appropriate, the page number. Use only as much of the beginning of the main citation as is necessary to identify the work from the Works Cited page.



A third view takes a more credible middle road: “Though ruthless, [Richard] was not the absolute monster Tudor historians portrayed him to be, nor is there proof he was a hunchback” (“Richard III” 790).

• In order to distinguish between two works by the same author, the parenthetical citation includes the author’s name, a shortened form of the title of each work, and the page number.

But only in some places; in others he keeps him human (Tillyard, “First Tetralogy” 196). Such challenges threatened the order and stability that the Elizabethans valued so highly (Tillyard, Elizabethan 8).

• When more than one source contains the same information, both sources appear in the parenthetical citation, separated by a semicolon:

In fact, there is a credible case for the second view mounted by both serious historians and The Richard III Society, which sets forth the historical record and seeks to mend Richard’s reputation (Jacob 645; Moorhen).

• Place the parenthetical citation as close as possible to the information drawn from the source. Try to fit the citation into the structure of the sentence. If the citation comes at the end of the sentence, the period follows the closing parenthesis.

Though some readers see “psychological complexity” in the character of Richard, the accepted view is that he is a Machiavel (Dominic 276) or even a “villainous monster” (Gillespie 385).

• When a direct quotation exceeds four typed lines (or three lines of poetry) use a “block quotation,” which is double spaced, which is indented one inch or ten spaces from the left margin, which takes no quotation marks, and which takes the parenthetical citation after the period.

Richard the villain is also a concept he finds in Sir Thomas More, who “had already transformed mere chronicle event into a literary tradition” in which he “describes Richard as an absolute villain” (Hamilton 284-5):

More’s account of the reign of the last Yorkist monarch, notable for its strong Lancastrian bias and its lively, ironic tone, was very influential, and while other treatments of Richard . . . added lurid details . . . it was More who first presented him as a grotesque, almost diabolical figure. Thus, while contemporary portraits of the king depict him only as rather short in stature, with one shoulder slightly higher than the other, More describes him as actually deformed. (Scott 137)

• Sometimes, to save space or to maintain the focus of a quotation, a writer must omit words from a direct quotation. Such omissions are indicated by an ellipsis [ . . . ]. There is no need to place an ellipsis before or after a quotation since it is understood that the quotation is taken from a larger context. It is also acceptable to change capitalization at the beginning of a sentence to make a quotation conform to its new context in an essay.
  

  "While other treatments of Richard . . . added lurid details . . . it was More who first presented him as a grotesque, almost diabolical figure" (Scott 137).