If I paraphrase information from a source and then refer to that information again later in my paper, do I need to credit the source again?

Note: This post relates to content in the eighth edition of the MLA Handbook. For up-to-date guidance, see the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook.

If you paraphrase information from a source and cite that source appropriately, you do not need to cite subsequent references to that information. For example, if you are writing an essay about outer space, and you cite an article saying that there are about twenty thousand man-made objects orbiting the Earth (Witze), you do not need to cite the same source if you reintroduce that figure.

Work Cited

Witze, Alexandra. “The Quest to Conquer Earth’s Space Junk Problem.” Scientific American, 8 Sept. 2018, www.scientificamerican.com/
article/ the-quest-to-conquer-earths-space-junk-problem/.