How Parenthetical Citations Work

While you are writing your paper you will insert a brief parenthetical (which means inserted using parentheses) acknowledgment wherever you insert another author’s facts, ideas or words. The author’s last name and a page number (in parentheses) identify the source and page(s) from which you borrowed the fact, idea or words. 

Example: 

This led to employee activism which, coupled with “the exclusion of the Southern work force to placate Southern plantation owners,” precipitated passage of the NLRA  even though there was “nearly unanimous opposition of Northern corporate leaders, showing how vulnerable they were” (Manza and Cook 135).

The quotations above come from page 135 of a source by Manza and Cook as indicated in the parenthetical citation “(Manza and Smith 135).”  Manza and Smith, the authors’ last names, guide the reader to the Works Cited page.  The Works Cited page lists complete publication information for all sources cited in your paper.  It is organized alphabetically by author.  

Information for Preparing Citations Accurately

• Place a citation as close to the relevant material as possible without disrupting the sentence. 

• Do not cite at the end of each sentence.  Rather, use one citation at the end of a long section of material that comes from the same page(s) of one source. 

• The citation is inside parentheses and the sentence period follows the end parentheses.  Example: (Jones 531).  

• Parenthetical citations always go outside of a quotation and always before a punctuation mark, such as a period. Example: “He focused primarily on…but was unable to do so the remainder of his life” (Martin 12).

• If a quotation is over four lines, double indent the quotation, use no quotation marks, and place the parenthetical citation after the punctuation mark. Do not include a period after the parenthetical citation.

Example:

…Florence, Rome, Paris and the other cities she visits.  Her interest is augmented by her knowledge; indeed, she is a very intellectual woman. 

Her reputation of reading a great deal hung about her like the cloudy envelope of a goddess in an epic; it was supposed to engender difficult questions and to keep the conversation at a low temperature... she used to read in secret and, though her memory was excellent, to abstain from showy reference.  She had a great desire for knowledge, but she really preferred almost any source of information to the printed page; she had an immense curiosity about life and was constantly staring and wondering. (James 45)

As ambitious as Isabel is, she still must realize the differences between her socially sheltered youth and her socially…. 

• If a quotation ends with a question mark (?) or an exclamation point (!), include the given punctuation followed by a closed quotation mark, then insert your parenthetical citation followed by a period.  Example: “He focused primarily on…but was unable to do so the remainder of his life!” (Martin 12).

• Place parenthetical citations in your essay as you write. Do not wait until the essay is finished.  

What You Should Document 

• Document direct quotations.  Use direct quotations, even very short phrases, if they are not your own.

• Document ideas or concepts you have borrowed, even when you have used your own words to express them.  Visit Six Rules for Using Quotations Effectively for more information.

What You Should Not Document 

• Do not document common knowledge that has been written in your own words. Knowledge is "common" when it is widely known by educated people. Within the specialized area of your research, knowledge is common if it is found in most general reference works such as encyclopedias and almanacs or through the popular media—television, newspapers, and magazines. There is no need to document, for example, who the president is or where the White House is or the fact that Shakespeare is the author of Hamlet. (Anything copied word for word from a source must of course be documented, even if it is common knowledge.)

• Uncontested knowledge need not be documented, even if it is not common knowledge. A handy rule to follow is this: Anything that would weaken your thesis if it were removed from your paper or proved to be wrong should be documented.

A Source Within a Source.  

In general, avoid using material you find quoted in a secondary source. In other words, do not quote a source within a source. Try to locate the original. If the original is not available through interlibrary loan and is simply impossible to locate, then and only then is it acceptable to quote from a secondary source (Memering 150-51).  

When quoting a source within in a source the correct way to use parenthetical citation is (qtd. in Smith 213).

A Source by One Author 

This also relates to Editor, Compiler, or Corporation, Association or Government Agency as author.

Example: 

James subtly demonstrates this in the repeated "doorway scenes" (Routh 262).  

Example:

Isabel first appears in the doorway to Gardencourt, "a person who had just made her appearance in the ample doorway for some moments before he perceived her" (James 16). 

A Source by Two Authors

Write the last name of each author then the page(s). 

Example:  

(Levy and Mahoney 722).

Three or More Authors 

Use the first author's last name followed by "et al." (Latin for "and others"). No comma between author’s name and “et al.”

Example:  

(Adams et al. 109).

A Source by an Unknown Author

• For anthologies, encyclopedias, newspapers, and magazines, the article title or an abbreviated title (surrounded by quotation marks) in the parenthetical citation  

• For books, use the title or an abbreviated title (in italics) in the parenthetical citation

• When abbreviating titles, always begin with the first word that appears on the Works Cited page or Bibliography.

Examples:

• article title is “Steam Engines Past and Present”:   (“Steam” 18)

• book title is Beautiful Maine Landscapes and Seascapes:   (Beautiful 15)

• title is short:   (Wild Swans 25)

Two Authors With the Same Last Name 

Write the author's first initial and last name in the parenthetical citation.

Examples:

(B. Smith 938)

(R. Smith 12) 

You may use the author’s full name in the text. Remember, when the author is mentioned in the text, there is no need to write the name in the parenthetical citation.

Examples:

• Bob Smith notes that … last year (73).

• Robin Smith takes issue with… while moving (135).

More Than One Work by the Same Author(s) 

Write an abbreviated title between author and page number, using a comma between the author and title.

Example: 

The Bronte sisters, daughters of a country parson, might teach school or go out as governess’.  There were no other professions that could keep the average impoverished lady respectable (Bell, Women 5).

A Work in an Anthology or Collection

Use the author of the work, not the source editor.

Example:

(Simmons 28).

Poetry

When using part or all of a single line of poetry, put it in quotation marks within your text. Two or three lines may be incorporated this way with a slash (/) to separate them. 

Example:

Bradstreet frames the poem with a sense of mortality: “All things within this fading world that end, / Adversity doth still our joys attend; / No ties so strong, no friends so dear and sweet” (1-3). 

Poetry quotations of four or more lines should begin a new line. Indent each line one inch from the left margin and double-space between lines. Do not use quotation marks unless they’re in the original.  

Example:

Elizabeth Bishop’s “In the Waiting Room” is rich in evocative detail: 

It was winter. It got dark 

early. The waiting room 

was full of grown-up people, 

 arctics and overcoats, 

lamps and magazines. (6-10) 

When quoting poetry these numbers refer to line numbers.

Classic Drama in Verse and Epic Poetry 

Whenever possible, include quotations from plays within your own sentences, and end your paragraphs with your own thoughts not a quotation.  Italicize the title of the work, as in Othello, The Odyssey, Romeo and Juliet.

Example :

The Odyssey begins, “Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story / of the man skilled in all ways of contending” (1.1-2), referring to the epic theme of Odysseus’ journeys in search of home. 

The previous example comes from book 1, lines 1-2.  In the case of The Iliad and The Odyssey, if the title were not used in the paragraph, it would have appeared in the parenthetical citation rather than the author’s name (Homer). 

Plays

When quoting lines from a play, cite Act. Scene. Line(s) in that order. When using part or all of a single line, put it in quotation marks inside your text.  Two or three lines may be incorporated this way with a slash (/) to separate them. 

Example (this example comes from act 5, scene 5, lines 26-28):

According to Macbeth, life is "a tale/Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,/Signifying nothing" (5.5.26-28).  

Longer Quotations from Plays

Quotations of four or more lines should begin a new line. Indent each line one inch from the left margin and double-space between lines. Do not use quotation marks unless they’re in the original.  

When quoting dialogue, begin each part of the dialogue with the appropriate character’s name indented one inch from the left margin and written in capital letters.  Follow the name with a period and begin the quotation exactly as it is formatted in the original text.

Example:

HAMLET. …How came he mad?

CLOWN. Very strangely they say.

HAMLET. How strangely?

CLOWN. Faith, e’en with losing his wits.

HAMLET. Upon what ground?

CLOWN. Why, here in Denmark… (Hamlet. V.I.135-140)   

Note:  In this case the writer used Roman numerals Act and Scene.  This is acceptable as long as you use either Arabic numbers or Roman numerals throughout your paper; never combine the two.

A Work in an Electronic Source (Web site, online journal, database journal)

Treat these sources as you would print sources.  Use the author (if no author, write the title or abbreviated title) in the parenthetical citation.  

PDF Files

If possible, use pdf versions of online articles because pdf files include page numbers and all other characteristics of the original article.

An Electronic Source with No Page Numbers

One problem students encounter is that web pages do not have page numbers. Consequently, if you write the author’s name (or source title when no author is given) in the text, there is nothing to write in the parenthetical citation.  Some teachers may prefer to see a parenthetical citation (which designates where source information ends and your writing begins). In these instances, students may need to find an alternative way to introduce their source in the text so a parenthetical citation can be included to identify the author (or title, if no author is supplied).

Example:  

This research paper mentions public health care officials rather than the web article’s author, so the student had to include a parenthetical citation.

Some parents believe that their child will have to stay home several weeks if they contract the H1N1 flu virus.  Understandably, parents are concerned about child care because they simply cannot afford it. To alleviate this concern, public health care officials recommend that children “with flu-like illness should stay home for at least 24 hours after they no longer have a fever, or signs of a fever, without the use of fever-reducing medicines” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)….