It is an editorial style developed by the Modern Language Association and used for written materials in the humanities. MLA Style requires you to cite the sources you have used in two places: the in-text citation and as part of your works cited list at the end of your paper.
In MLA Style, each quotation or paraphrase must include the author's last name, a short title if more than one work by the same author is used, and the page number. Below are a few examples:
Identify the author in the text and give the page reference at the end: Hale has argued this point (145-47).
Identify the author and page at the end: This point has previously been argued (Hale 145-47).
Identify a short title if more than one work by an author is used: When women enter a male occupation, “pay, recognition, and opportunities drop” (Fillmore, Women MBA's, 195).
Identify the source within a sentence when necessary for clarity: As Long (37) had predicted, research demonstrated a relationship between smoking and cancer (Smith 234).