In 1984, the Modern Language Association (MLA) presented guidelines for in-text documentation. This system allows the researcher to cite a source within the body of the paper without using footnotes and endnotes. For books and periodicals place pertinent information, including the author's last name and the page number within parenthesis immediately following the material presented.

Book:

During the Cultural Revolution the lives of at least 20 million people were dramatically disrupted. Some people were fired from their jobs while others were arrested or sent to labor farms (Gibney 296).

Periodical: two authors

Prof. Dobashi, the newly elected president of Hokusei Gakuen University in Japan, reports that faculty frequently lecture from 20 to 30 year old notes. Few students attend classes, and class discussion is rare (Smith and Hause 55).

Source with the author's name mentioned within the sentence:

Gibney believes that the destructive forces of Mao's regime were similar to those of Stalin in the Soviet Union (297).