How to Paraphrase Using MLA

Modern Language Association style is a formatting system widely used in liberal arts disciplines, and it is likely that at one time or another in your college career, you will be asked to write a paper that conforms to MLA formatting guidelines. The Modern Language Association does not publish guidelines relating to proper paraphrase techniques, but it does publish guidelines governing the proper in-text citation of paraphrased passages.

Instructions

    • 1

      List the last name of the author you are citing, making sure to capitalize the first letter. For example:

      Johnson

    • 2

      List the number of the page that you are paraphrasing. For example:

      47

    • 3

      Arrange both pieces of information in a set of parentheses, with no punctuation between them. For example:

      (Johnson 47)

    • 4

      Position your parenthetical citation directly after the paraphrased passage. For example:

      It is likely that the crime occurred between five and seven in the evening, and that there was no murder weapon (Johnson 47).

    • 5

      Omit the name of the author from your citation if you have already mentioned it in the sentence. For example:

      Ted Johnson has hypothesized that the crime occurred between five and seven in the evening, and that there was no murder weapon (47).

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