When you are presenting material that is factual in nature -- statistics, news reports, historical information, general definitions and explanations, etc. -- there's usually no need to identify the author or source in the text of your sentence. This type of material is best presented as a direct summary. All the documentation (author's last name and page number) will be contained in the parenthesis note:
Overcrowding has become a serious problem in Illinois prisons, which are currently operating at almost double their rated capacities (Hall 22).
This note tells the reader that the information came from page 22 of the source by Hall, which is documented under that name on your Works Cited page.
For a source with no named author: If the author's name is not available, identify the source in your MLA note by using a shortened version of the title of the document. Be sure your abbreviation includes at least the first word of the full title to send the reader to the proper alphabetized entry on your Works Cited page. The following is a reference to a fact on page 2 of an unsigned newspaper article titled "Council sets new fines":
In 1998, the Champaign City Council passed a new law that imposes a $500 fine on a bar owner who serves alcohol to under-age customers ("Council" 2).
For a source with more than one author:
If the source has two authors, use both names in the note (Hall and Wilson 3). If the source is edited or written by three or more people, use only the last name of the first author, followed by et. al., meaning "and others":Researchers at Johns Hopkins University concluded that diet was a contributing factor in more than 30 percent of all cancers (Blair et. al. 4).
For two or more sources by the same author:
If you cite two works by the same author, there will be two sources listed in your Works Cited listing. To show which of the two works is the source of a specific citation in your paper, include the author's last name and a shortened version of the title in your MLA note. Put the title in quotation marks. For example, if you used two newspaper stories titled "No solution reached on budget" and "Mayor vetoes proposal", both written by Joe Smith, the respective MLA notes would be:(Smith, "No solution" 3) (Smith, "Mayor" 2)
For a source you DO name in the text of your sentence:
If you are using a direct quote -- or if you are paraphrasing and want to stress the authority of the source -- include the author's name and credentials in the text of your sentence. Your MLA parenthesis note will take one of two formats, depending on whether you are using a direct quote, and whether the speaker/writer is the source's author:
1) If the person you are quoting or paraphrasing is the author of the source, your parenthesis note will include only the page number, since you've already identified the source in the text of your sentence:
Newsweek financial columnist Jane Bryant Quinn advises young investors to choose growth stocks for their self-directed retirement accounts (42).
This format tells the reader that the material is from page 42 of a source written by Jane Bryant Quinn. This source will be documented on your Works Cited page in an entry that begins with Quinn, Jane Bryant. Use this format whether you quote or paraphrase the author.
2) The note format is slightly different if you are using an indirect quote (a quotation published in one of your sources, but the speaker is not the actual author of the source you're using). In this case, you must identify your source's author in the MLA note. A common example would be when a newspaper story includes a quote from an expert interviewed by the reporter. For these situations, use the "quoted in" form:
According to Sixth Judicial Circuit Justice Harry Clem, the Urbana courthouse is an "archaic, crumbling edifice" that doesn't meet current safety codes (qtd. in Bloomer A2).
This tells the reader that the quotation came directly from page A2 of the source written by Bloomer (documented on your Works Cited page).
For other MLA note formats, follow the guidelines in Chapter 46 of the Little, Brown textbook.