Incorporating In-text Citations (Parenthetical Documentation)
In-text citations are there to cue the reader where to look on the
Works Cited page for the source of the information. In other words, if the
reader sees a quote with the name "Peterson" behind it, he or she should be
able to look on the Works Cited page to find the last name "Peterson" on that
page to find the source for that quote.
Students sometimes ask why someone would want to know that information.
Here's the answer: Sometimes teachers and professors want to check the writer's sources to make
sure the information is accurate and not plagiarized. Sometimes,
however, the reader might be curious and want to know more information on
the topic. Either way, it is the writer's responsibility to make sure that
the in-text citations are
accurate and
match the Works Cited page so the
reader can find the source if he or she desires to locate the material on
his or her own. It is the author's responsibility to give credit to the
original author of the material, and that is what the author is doing when
he or she cites information. I recommend that you print out the handout
below and add it to your binder:
For further assistance, we recommend that you visit Purdue University's
Online Writing Lab (OWL).
An example paper:
General Rules:
1. Do not put punctuation inside the parentheses.
2. Instead of putting the period at the end of the sentence, put the period
behind the parentheses.
3. Do not put pg. or p. or pp. inside the parentheses.
4. Never include the URL in the text of the essay or research paper.
Please look at the examples carefully. Teachers expect
students to follow MLA's guidelines when doing in-text citations and get
annoyed when they are done incorrectly. Just find a situation that closely
matches your own and use that as an example. If you ever have a question,
just ask a teacher or look on Purdue's OWL.
Basic Citation (Book)
Normally, you will just put the author's last name and the page
number of the information behind the borrowed information.
Review the page on plagiarism to understand when you do and do not have to
cite information. If in doubt, cite your source.
Since I have the page number and author's name from
Seabiscuit,
this is how the in-text citation is done:
"Red Pollard and George Woolf had signed on to a life that
used men up," and this
challenged them at times (Hillenbrand 97).
If Hillenbrand's name appears in the sentence, however, then I only need the
page number. Here's that example:
Hillenbrand wrote in
Seabiscuit that "Red Pollard
and George Woolf had signed on to a
life that used men up (97).
Lacking an author's name?
If you don't have an author's name, which is the case with many
online sources, provide a shortened version of the article's title (3-4
words) with the page number. If there is not a page number, simply omit
that information. Please remember that the title of the article should be in quotation marks.
This quote is coming from CNN's website. The article does not have an author
listed, nor does it have a page number. If it had a page number, however,
that information would be included.
"Hurriedly whisking unclassified children out of Haiti will
not ensure the children are happy or
safe in the long-term" ("Moved to Adopt
Haitians?").
Citing two authors with the same last names?
If you are using two articles with two writers with the last name Smith, you have to distinguish which Smith you are
talking about by including an initial. Here I am providing a page number
because I have that information. If I did not have a page number, however, I
would have omitted it.
Many have reported the tragedy that killed "200 people from
drug use" (S. Smith 13).
Multiple authors?
If there is more than one author, you have to include all of them.
Goldfinches prefer thistle and tend to "avoid safflower
78% of the time" (Blue, Dennis, and
Young 78).
Multiple works by one author?
If the author has written more than one work that you are
citing in your paper, you have to distinguish which work you are citing by including the title of the work. Both of these articles are by
Maureen Dowd, a contributor of the
New York Times.
Maureen Dowd suggests that President Obama has not done
enough for gays and lesbians in her interview
with Gavin Newsom by hinting
that he had "disappointed him [Newsom] given that the president is a
triumph
of civil rights himself " ("The Trials of Gavin Newsom"). She reports that
"wanting to be liked and
accepted" is important to the gay/lesbian society
("An Odd Couple Defends").
Citing an indirect source?
When citing something by someone who is not the author of
the book, there's a special way to handle that. It is called "citing an
indirect source." This situation arises when someone else is stating
something within a book that is written by someone else. This is how you
handle this:
According to Red Pollard, Seabiscuit "gets gamer and gamer the
tougher it gets" (qtd. in
Hillenbrand 304).
For other situations, refer to Purdue's OWL.
