MLA In-Text Citing With No Page Numbers

When writing a paper, you may need to cite a source that has no page number, such as an article found on the Internet. You should cite any source from which you use specific information, facts or opinions, whether or not you quote the source directly. If you are writing a paper using MLA style, you will need a Works Cited page, as well as offering in-text citations. The MLA style is mainly used in the liberal arts and humanities.

Works Cited Page

The Works Cited page is a list of all of the resources you cite in your paper. Each source -- newspaper, magazine, internet article, movie, or letter -- requires a slightly different format and the key to accurately using in-text citation in MLA format is making sure the information in the in-text citation matches the first piece of information in the corresponding Works Cited entry. This makes it easy for a reader to look at a citation, flip to the Works Cited page and find the related source. Often, the first piece of information on a Works Cited entry will be the author's last name.

For example:

In-Text Citation

In-text citations are placed in parentheses directly after a quote, fact, or opinion that has been obtained from another source.

The citation should include the first piece of information that will appear for that source on the Works Cited page. If you were citing a book or magazine, you would included the page number on which you found the information, but there are times when a source doesn't have page numbers, such as webpages.

An in-text citation for a webpage might look like,

Sometimes, you may reference the source directly in the text of the article. For example: In Jacob Smith's article "Cupcakes," Chef Jane Doe says that "cupcakes are the best dessert in the world."