# MLA Format: How Do I Provide an In-Text Cite To a Website With No Author? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 26, 2005, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mla-format-how-do-i-provide-an-in-text-cite-to-a-website-with-no-author/286727 "2005-01-26T07:06:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Duderdude2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@Duderdude2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duderdude2)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mla-format-how-do-i-provide-an-in-text-cite-to-a-website-with-no-author/286727/1 "2005-01-26T07:06:51Z")
Normally, when providing a cite in an MLA style essay, you list the author’s name in parenthesis at the end of the passage, followed by a page number if it’s a book. However, how would I reference a website that has no author? Specifcally, this website: > **[U.S. Divorce Statistics](https://www.divorcemag.com/articles/us-divorce-statistics)** > > U.S. Census Bureau reports the marriage and divorce rates in the US. IIRC, I think I would use the title instead of the author’s name, but that seems clunky to me. So what’s the straight dope on this? ---
**Author:** ![Duderdude2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@Duderdude2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duderdude2)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mla-format-how-do-i-provide-an-in-text-cite-to-a-website-with-no-author/286727/2 "2005-01-26T07:15:00Z")
BONUS QUESTION: What if I’m using a fact from a source in a sentence, but only for the first part? Where do I put the cite, still at the end? For instance, “According to a study, most caucasians are white, but I don’t believe that at all.” Does the cite still go at the end, even after the portion that’s my opinion? ---
**Author:** ![EmeraldGrue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dc4da7/32.png) [@EmeraldGrue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmeraldGrue)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mla-format-how-do-i-provide-an-in-text-cite-to-a-website-with-no-author/286727/3 "2005-01-26T16:19:09Z")
:whips out the Silver Bible: In your works cited: “If no author’s name is available, begin the entry with the title of the document” (5.9.1). The Guide doesn’t say how to cite works without authors in the text, but I should assume you would use only the title and, if applicable, page number, as you do for a work listed by title (6.4.4). Regarding where to put the parenthetical reference: > [@MLA Guide](#): > > To avoid interrupting the flow of your writing, place the parenthetical reference where a pause would naturally occur (preferably at the end of a sentence), as near as possible to the material documented. The parenthetical reference precedes the punctuation mark that concludes the sentence, clause, or phrase containing the borrowed material. Your Bonus Question could be answered at least three ways: _According to a study, most caucasians are white, but I don’t believe that at all (Author, Page)._ _According to a study, most caucasians are white (Author, Page), but I don’t believe that at all._ _According to a study (Author, Page), most caucasians are white, but I don’t believe that at all._ I’d go with the second one. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mla-format-how-do-i-provide-an-in-text-cite-to-a-website-with-no-author/286727/4 "2005-01-26T19:37:20Z")
What are you doing this for? If you’re writing a paper, I can’t imagine that a source that doesn’t even identify the author would do much good. If you can find the source of the statistics they’re using, and quote _them_, great. They list their sources at the bottom; some at least come from the census, and census data is easily accessible online (through the American Fact Finder tool on the census website.) But frankly, I wouldn’t be terribly inclined to use that magazine as a source in an essay.