MLA In-Text Citations: the Source is a Website

If you retrieved a PDF from a website (most often a library database or a government website) that is formatted like a print source (like hard copy rather than a web page), use the page numbers provided as part of your citation.

If your source is a website, then still use the author’s name. So citing from a newspaper accessed online would look like:

According to the New York Times, “Kelly Clarkson is back on top” (Sisario).

If your source is a website but the material you are citing isn’t attributed to a specific person, use the name of the organization/website:

There are plenty of jobs available in specific fields. Employers are “looking for smart, ambitious people for a variety of public health training programs” (Center for Disease Control).

Notes:

• If the website uses a fixed numbering system for pages or paragraphs, include the detail in the citation. Example: (Sisario, page 4). Other appropriate terms might be “sec.” for “section,” “par.” for “paragraph” etc.
• The bibliographic entry in the Works Cited page is where a print source will be clearly different from an Internet source. An Internet source will include a full URL, a retrieval data and so on. See the MLA Works Cited page for details.