Sometimes you get a double whammy: no author and no date. That’s like finding a phone without a charger. But you still cite it. Just use the title and skip the date in the in-text part. For example: (“How to Fix a Sink”) works fine.
In your Works Cited entry, you’ll add “n.d.” for “no date.” But in your paper’s body, you just focus on the title. It’s like telling a friend, “You know that meme without a source? Yeah, that one.” Your reader gets it.
Why Bother? Because It’s About Trust
You care about this because credibility is like a good handshake. Without it, your writing feels slippery. When you cite a no-author source correctly, you’re saying, “Hey, I found this weird gem, and I want to be honest about where it came from.”
Think of your reader as a friend who loves details. If you write, “According to The New York Times article ‘The Rise of Indoor Plants’…” but there’s no author, they might think you’re guessing. A proper citation shows you’re not guessing—you’re transparent. That builds respect.
Plus, it saves you from the dreaded “Citation Cop” teacher. You know the one. They scan your paper like a hawk. If every source has a signal—even without an author—you’ll cruise right through their radar.
PPT - Understanding MLA Parenthetical Citations: A Guide for Academic
