In MLA, in-text citations are inserted into the body of your research paper to briefly document the source of your information. Brief citations in the text refer the reader to more complete information in the list of works cited at the end of the article. Number of authors-editors. In-text citation format. 1. Basic rules for in-text citations: In all cases, create a citation that is brief and unambiguously directs the reader to the correct entry on your Works Cited page. Use the author's last name and page number when available for paraphrases and only the author's name is sufficient to summarize the gist of an entire work. Put it on,