# MLA citations

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mla-citations/712364>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 11, 2015, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mla-citations/712364 "2015-02-11T02:37:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![shellofmyformerself](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f8ce5/32.png) [@shellofmyformerself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shellofmyformerself)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mla-citations/712364/1 "2015-02-11T02:37:47Z")

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I’m trying to cite a website in a paper I’m writing for school. I found the proper format for the citation but I’m not sure how to do the inline cite (?) in the body of the paper. The website does not have an author’s name nor date published (it has a range of 2004-2015). What would go in the parenthesis?

This is my first time using MLA. Urg.

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**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mla-citations/712364/2 "2015-02-11T02:52:03Z")

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How about asking your teacher?

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**Author:** ![shellofmyformerself](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f8ce5/32.png) [@shellofmyformerself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shellofmyformerself)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mla-citations/712364/3 "2015-02-11T02:54:39Z")

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I would but she is not available at 9pm. I will ask tomorrow…just wanted to finish the paper tonight to get it off my plate.

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**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mla-citations/712364/4 "2015-02-11T03:31:57Z")

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Back in the day teachers either taught how to cite references, or provided a documented standard when issuing essay assignments. If your teacher did not provide you one of the above when they handed out the assignment, you are being short-changed.

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**Author:** ![shellofmyformerself](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f8ce5/32.png) [@shellofmyformerself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shellofmyformerself)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mla-citations/712364/5 "2015-02-11T23:55:04Z")

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I agree we are being short-changed. She told us we could “just Google it.”

Out of a class of 22 students, so far 7 have dropped because this teacher is just the worst.