In-text citations should give enough information for the reader to find the full entry on the works cited page.

Most in-text citations in MLA format refer to the author and page number.

(Author page)

Example: (Johnson 25)

In-text citations can be formatted in two ways.

"Local voter turnout contributes to a diminished sense of governmental legitimacy" (Luna 92). OR

Luna asserts that "lower voter turnout contributes to a diminished sense of governmental legitimacy" (92).

If you are citing a source with more than one author (but less than four), list all authors and the page number.

Example: (Smith, Thomas, and Jenkins 20)

If you are citing a source with more than three authors, provide the first author's last name followed by et al.

example: (Cassidy et al. 899)

If your source does not have page numbers (such as a website) or does not use paging (like a video or audio recording), then your citation would consist of the author's last name.

Example: (Franks)

If your work does not have an author, use the title as your in-text citation. If the title is lengthy, use the first few words of the title. Make sure that the title is in quotations.

For example, the full citation for The Library of Congress's African American Pamphlets homepage is:

"African American Pamphlets Home Page." American Memory. The Library of Congress, 19 Oct. 1998. https://www.loc.gov/rr/rarebook/coll/afam.html. Accessed 19 May 2015. Accessed 19 May 2015.  

The in-text citation would be ("African American Pamphlets Home Page").