In-text citations are important to include in the body of a paper because they identify the source referenced or the quotation used. The source is fully documented on the "Works Cited" page.
For example:
According to David McCullough, "St. Clair's Defeat, as the battle came to be known, had been a total disaster, worse than any suffered by the American army during the entire Revolution" (108).
or
The disastrous loss, which was deadlier than any battle fought by the Continental Army in the Revolution, was later referred to as the unflattering "St. Clair's Defeat" (McCullough 108).
Works Cited
McCullough, David. The Pioneers: the Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West. Simon & Schuster, 2019.
Source with two authors:
(Crabtree and Beudert 14).
Source with three or more authors:
(Evans et al. 133).
When the author is an organization, abbreviate terms that are commonly abbreviated, such as Department (Dept.).
For example:
(United States, Dept. of Education 53).
For more details on in-text citations, see MLA Handbook, pp. 54-58; 116-127.