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Step 5: Parenthetical Documentation
 

 Parenthetical Documentation

 

 According to the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, parenthetical documentation acknowledges sources "by keying brief parenthetical citations in your text to an alphabetical list of works that appear at the end of your paper. The parenthetical citation that concludes the following sentence is typical of MLA style.

  • Ancient writers attributed the invention of the monochord to Pythagoras, who lived in the sixth century BC (Marcuse 197).

The citation "(Marcuse 197)" tells readers that the information in the sentence was derived from page 197 of a work by an author named Marcuse. If readers want more information about this source, they can turn to the works-cited list, where, under the name Marcuse, they would find the following information.

  • Marcuse, Sibyl. A Survey of Musical Instruments. New York Harper, 1975.

This entry states that the work's author is Sibyl Marcuse and its title is A Survey of Musical Instruments. The remaining information relates, in shortened form, that the work was published in New York City by Harper and Row in 1975" (Gibaldi 104-105).

According to page 283 of The Writer's Craft, the following are useful guidelines for parenthetical documentation:

  • Work by one author: Put the author's last name and the page reference in parentheses: (Lieberman 25-28). If you mention the author's name in the sentence, put only the page reference in parentheses.
  • Work by more than one author: Put the authors' last names and the page reference in parentheses: (Lobin and Wilk 15). If a source has more than three authors, give the first author's last name followed by et. al and the page reference: (Fishbeck et al. 122).
  • Work with no author given: Give the title (or shortened version of it) and the page reference: ("Laser Pioneers" 19).
  • One or two or more works cited by the same author: Give the author's last name, the title or a shortened version, and the page reference: (Louis, Light Show 201).
  • Two or more works cited at the same place: Use a semi-colon to separate the entries: (Chaffin 33; Levenson 98).