Both APA and MLA cite sources within a paper by using parenthetical, in-text references. MLA uses the author’s last name and the page number as reference. APA uses the author’s last name and the year of publication. If a direct quote is used, APA requires author’s name, year, and page number.
The examples below are based on an excerpt from page 39 of French author Fifi LaRue’s autobiography, My Fabulous Life, which was published in 1969.
Excerpt:
Paris in 1920 was simply exquisite! I embarked on my writing career that year and began building my reputation for letters among the Paris intelligentsia. Oooh la la! Fifi loved Paris and Paris loved her back, passionately and with wild abandon. I fondly remember 1920 as “L’anné Merveilleuse de Fifi.”
APA
Paraphrase or non-quoted reference
Fifi’s life was always flamboyant, but she remarked once that the year 1920 was her most marvelous year (LaRue, 1969).
Author’s name mentioned in the sentence
Fifi LaRue (1969) remarked in her autobiography that she looked fondly on the year 1920 as one of the most remarkable of her life.
Direct quote
Fifi remarked in her autobiography, “I fondly remember 1920 as ‘L’anné Merveilleuse de Fifi’” (LaRue, 1969, p. 39). LaRue (1969, p. 39) remarked in her autobiography, “I fondly remember 1920 as ‘L’anné Merveilleuse de Fifi.’”
MLA
Paraphrase or non-quoted reference
Fifi’s life was always flamboyant, but she remarked once that the year 1920 was her most marvelous year (LaRue 39).
Author’s name mentioned in the sentence
Fifi LaRue remarked in her autobiography that she looked fondly on the year 1920 as one of the most remarkable of her life (39).
Direct quote
Fifi remarked in her autobiography, “I fondly remember 1920 as ‘L’anné Merveilleuse de Fifi’” (LaRue 39). LaRue remarked in her autobiography, “I fondly remember 1920 as ‘L’anné Merveilleuse de Fifi’” (39).
