IN A RESEARCH PAPER, YOU WILL BE DRAWING ON THE WORK OF OTHER WRITERS, AND YOU MUST DOCUMENT THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS BY CITING YOUR SOURCES. SOURCES ARE CITED FOR TWO REASONS:
Borrowing another writer’s language, sentence structures, or ideas without proper acknowledgement is plagiarism. You must include a citation when you quote from a source, when you summarize or paraphrase, and when you borrow facts that are not common knowledge. You do NOT have to cite common knowledge.
So how does one cite sources?
Imagine that this is one of your sources as listed on your source card and in your works-cited:
Levett, Christian. "Redefining Childhood: The Importance of Both Play and Learning." CHLC, vol.
68, no.4, 12 Mar. 2016, pp. 45-200.
According to the MLA Handbook, 8th edition, "A typical in-text citation is composed of the element that comes first in the entry in the works-cited list (usually the author's name) and a page number (if there is one). The page number goes in a parenthesis, which is placed, when possible, where there is a natural pause in the text."
Example:
According to Christian Levett, play is "just half of childhood. The other half is learning" (59).
Note the use of the signal phrase, "According to..." -- Signal phrases do exactly what their name suggests, they signal to the reader that a quote or paraphrase is coming. For more examples of signal phrases, click this link:
https://department.monm.edu/english/mew/signal_phrases.htm
A parenthetical citation is similar to the above in-text citation. Here, the writer once again uses the element that comes first in the entry in the works-cited list (usually the author's last name) and places it in parentheses along with the page number (if there is one) directly following the quotation.
Example:
Play is "just one half of childhood. The other half is learning (Levett 59).
Seems pretty simple, right? BUT WAIT! There’s more! Not every source is going to have an author—what do you do then? What if a source has two authors? What if there are no page numbers, as with an online source? Below you will find answers to all of these questions and more.
If there are two authors, list the authors' last names in the text or in the parenthetical citation:
EXAMPLE: (paraphrase)
Parenthetical Citation:
Annual wetlands productivity in Georgia’s Alcovy River Swamp equals roughly 3.1 million impact
(Goodwin and Ranter 31).
In-Text Citation:
In their 2010 environmental study, Goodwin and Ranter assert that annual wetlands productivity in Georgia's Alcovy River equals roughly 3.1 million impact (31).
For a source with three or more authors, provide the first author's last name followed by et al. You may list all of the authors if you feel it's important, but usually it's not.
EXAMPLE: (quotation)
Parenthetical Citation:
"The incidences of police officers using what the public deems to be 'excessive force' have risen dramatically in the past five years" (Harty et al. 94).
In-Text Citation:
The public surveys of Harty et al. show that, "The incidences of police officers using what the public deems to be 'excessive force' have risen dramatically in the past five years" (94).
If there are no page numbers or any other type of identifying number then no number should be given in the citation.
EXAMPLE: (paraphrase)
Parenthetical Citation:
"The Buffalo Bills are the most underrated football team in the NFL" (Beecher).
In-Text Citation:
According to Joseph Beecher, "The Buffalo Bills are the most underrated football team in the NFL."
According the the 8th edition of the MLA Handbook, "If your source uses explicit paragraph numbers rather than page numbers--as some publications on the Web do--give the relevant number or numbers, preceded by the label par. or pars. Change the label appropriately if another kind of part is numbered in the source instead of pages, such as sections (sec. secs.) or chapters (ch. chs.)
EXAMPLE:
Parenthetical Citation:
"Buffalo Bills fans love to chant the phrase "Squish the Fish!" while their home team battles the Miami Dolphins" (Mansouri, par. 5).
If there is no author, use the title, shortened if possible, and the page #. The title should be written EXACTLY as it was written on your source cards/ initial source list.
EXAMPLE: (quotation)
Parenthetical Citation:
Earlier labeled, “the Rodney Dangerfield of the environment” ("Our Wetlands" 2), wetlands are gaining respect as an integral part of life’s interdependence.
In-Text Citation:
The publication, "Our Wetlands, Our Future" claims that our wetlands are gaining respect as an integral part of life's interdependence, despite their past label as "the Rodney Dangerfield of the environment" (2).
If, in your paper, you use more than one work by a given author or if you use different sources that happen to have authors who share the same last name, you must identify both the author and the work in the citation. Once again, the title of the work may be abbreviated and it should be italicized. Separate the author’s name from the title with a comma.
EXAMPLE: (quotation)
Parenthetical Citation:
“Since 1950 over 4.5 million acres of wetlands have been lost in the Mississippi flyway alone” (Kusler, Roles 43).
In-Text Citation:
In Kusler's article, Roles Humans Play in the Wetlands, she asserts that "since 1950 over 4.5 million acres of wetlands have been lost in the Mississippi flyway alone."
To cite more than one source in parentheses, provide the citations in alphabetical order and separate them with a semicolon.
EXAMPLE: (paraphrase)
Parenthetical Citation:
The effects of sleep deprivation have been well documented (Cahill 42; Leduc 114;Vasquez 73).
In-Text Citation:
Cahill, Leduc, and Vasquez each say that the effects of sleep deprivation have been well documented (42; 114; 73).
You should do this only sparingly, and ONLY when every single aspect of the information is VITAL to the content of your paper. You may only do this with direct quotations.
For quotations that are longer than four lines, follow this format:
1.) Start the quotation on a new line.
2.) Indent (hit "tab" once) the start of the quotation. The entire quote should be indented while maintaining double spacing.
2.) Do NOT put quotation marks around the quotation (the indentation of the quote serves to alert the reader that it is someone else's work)
3.) End punctuation, in this case, goes after the quotation and before the parenthetical citation
EXAMPLE: (from the Owl/ Purdue website)
Nelly Dean treats Heathcliff poorly and dehumanizes him throughout her narration:
They entirely refused to have it in bed with them, or even in their room, and I had no more sense, so, I put it on
the landing of the stairs, hoping it would be gone on the morrow. By chance, or else attracted by hearing his
voice, it crept to Mr. Earnshaw's door, and there he found it on quitting his chamber. Inquiries were made as to
how it got there; I was obliged to confess, and in recompense for my cowardice and inhumanity was sent out of
the house. (Bronte 78)
If your author or source quotes another person with no mention of name or where he/she said the quote:
As one man said, “There is no substitute for mediocrity” (qtd. in Harris 34).
If your author/ source quotes another author by name only:
As psychologist Dr, Peter Abrams said, “Children need to find an appropriate outlet for their anger” (qtd. in Harris 34).
If your author/ source quotes another and supplies name and source:
As psychologist Dr. Peter Abrams in his recent article “Children and Anger” said, “Children are quick to blame others”
(qtd. in Harris 37).
According the the 8th edition of the MLA Handbook, "For works in time-based media, such as audio and video recordings, cite the relevant time or ranges of times. Give the numbers of the hours, minutes, and seconds as displayed in your media player, separating the numbers with colons.
EXAMPLE:
Buffy promise that "there's not going to be any incidents like at my old school" is obviously not one on
which she can follow through ("Buffy" 00:03:16-17).