Final answer:
Use in-text parenthetical citations, following the MLA style, to reference the author's last name and page number or, if no author is given, a shortened title of the work. Titles of articles should be in quotation marks, and titles of books in italics. Every citation should be matched with a corresponding Works Cited entry.
Step-by-step explanation:
When writing academic papers, it is crucial to use the MLA style of documentation for in-text parenthetical citations to ensure clarity and avoid plagiarism. For example, say your source is Flynn, who doesn't have page numbers. You would include the quotation with a citation that looks like this: "Many students," Smith says, "leave insufficient time for writing assignments" (Flynn, para. 18).
If you're quoting from a source with a known author, the parenthetical citation will contain the author's last name and page number, like so: (Smith 23). If the work's author is unknown and you have not introduced the work in a signal phrase, you would include a shortened title followed by a page number, enclosed in parentheses. For articles, the title would be in quotation marks, for books or journals, the titles would be in italics, like this: ("Title of Article" 12) or (Title of Book 45).
Remember, every in-text citation should point towards a full citation on the Works Cited page, and every Works Cited page entry should be matched by at least one parenthetical citation within the text. This is essential to provide the reader with the means to locate the original source material themselves.