Read the excerpt from a research essay published in a printed book.

Question

Binge-watching television shows several times a week has a negative impact on people’s social lives. According to a study conducted by Dr. Cynthia Toles, adults who binge-watched more than one show a week were more prone to insomnia and a less-healthy diet. Further, "the process of watching several episodes of one show consecutively can cause changes to one’s sleep patterns” (Toles).

To follow MLA citation rules properly, what does the author of this essay need to do?

add a citation after each sentence in the essay
include a page number after the author’s name
remove the reference to the name of the doctor
place an end quotation mark after the end parenthesis

Answer 1

To follow MLA citation rules properly, the author of this essay needs to include a page number after the author’s name. In MLA style, citations typically include the author's last name and the page number from which the information was taken. For example, the citation should look like this: (Toles page number).

The other options are not correct:

• Adding a citation after each sentence is not necessary and can lead to over-citation.
• Removing the reference to the name of the doctor would not adhere to proper attribution.
• Placing an end quotation mark after the end parenthesis is incorrect and changes the meaning of the quote.

Therefore, the best choice is to include a page number in the citation.