In-Text Citations

In-Text Citations

BASIC RULES FOR IN-TEXT CITATIONS

In-text citations are short and sweet. They allow the reader to identify your source, which can be looked up in the complete alphabetical list of Works Cited at the end of the paper. In MLA format the in-text citations appear in parentheses, so are sometimes called parenthetical citations.

Here's how to write an MLA in-text citation:

• In most cases, write the author’s last name, one space, and then the page number, enclosed in parentheses.

• Put the citation as close to the borrowed material as possible without disrupting the sentence. Citations most often appear at the end of sentences.

• Put the period ending the sentence AFTER the parenthesis ending the citation. If the quotation itself ends in a question mark or exclamation point, leave that punctuation in and then add a period after the citation.

• If the name of an author has been introduced in a SIGNAL PHRASE, you can omit it from the citation. This may mean, for sources without page numbers, that you may sometimes not need a parenthetical citation at all.

• When material from a single source and the same page is used throughout several sentences, you may use one citation at the end of the material rather than the same citation at the end of each sentence AS LONG AS the origin of the material is clear to the reader throughout. Try introducing the source through a signal phrase at the beginning of the section.

• Basic information you see over and over again in your sources may be considered COMMON KNOWLEDGE for your topic and does not require a citation. Exceptions include controversial information and statistics. When in doubt, err on the side of caution: ask your instructor or just cite the source.

• EXAMPLES OF COMMON IN-TEXT CITATIONS

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• These examples cover the most common types of in-text citations. For many more examples, see MLA In-Text Citations from Purdue University.

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• Print Source with Author in Parentheses

• Perhaps we are fascinated by zombies because they are "liminal beings that fall in between categories" (Shermer 83).

• This is the format for a basic parenthetical citation, where "Shermer" points the reader to the correct entry in the Works Cited page.

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• Print Source with Author in Signal Phrase

• Michael Shermer suggests that our fascination with zombies may be due to their nature as "liminal beings that fall in between categories" (83).

• If you name the author in the sentence, you may only need a page number for your citation.

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• Source without Page Numbers

• Initial studies suggest that hands-free voice-activated texting while driving may be just as dangerous as the hands-on variety (Pogue).

• If you are using a source without page numbers, do not include page numbers in your citation. This is the case for many internet resources. Do not add page numbers to printed webpages as they could change depending on the printer, etc. You can use page numbers for electronic sources if they are unchanging, such as in a PDF file. If a source has numbered paragraphs or sections you should use them, but do not number them yourself. In some cases, such as a journal article retrieved from a database, whether or not you have page numbers will depend on whether you use an HTML or PDF version of the document.

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• Repeated Citations from Same Source

• Although we get our genetic material from both parents, the contributions are not always equal (Moyer 106). New research suggests that some aspects of our brains, like higher cognitive function, may be more influenced by our mothers, while other characteristics are stronger from our fathers (108).

• If you are citing the source in multiple citations immediately following each other, you can omit the name and just include the new page number. This happens often when you are discussing a single work, like a piece of literature, in depth. However, if too much of your research is coming from the same source over and over, you may wish to go back and take more notes so that your evidence will be more diverse.

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• Electronic Source without Page Numbers

• Teenagers who get more sleep can actually learn more because information is processed and absorbed by the brain during the rapid-eye movement stage of sleep (Hoffman).

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• Around 8.7 percent of the United States armed forces during World War II were African Americans, although the military remained segregated and racial tensions were high (Altman).

• There are no page numbers on a web source, so you simply leave them out. This means that in some cases, if you clearly identify the author in a signal phrase, you may not have a parenthetical citation to accompany the source.

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• No Author Identified

• The debate over fracking may become an irreconcilable showdown between pro-industry and environmental groups ("Fracking").

• If you cannot determine the author, substitute the title of the source. Italicize the title if the source is a book or longer work; use quotation marks if the source is an article or shorter work. If you name the source in a signal phrase use the complete title; if you place it in parentheses use an abbreviated form (such that the reader can still look it up alphabetically in the Works Cited list).

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• But, before assuming that a web page has no author, do some careful searching. You may need to look at the end of the page, or navigate back to the homepage of the website. If there is no named author but the work is published by a corporation or government agency, that organization may be named as the author.

Multiple Works by the Same Author

When we store our personal data "in the cloud" we may be trading convenience for privacy and security (Pogue, "Curse of the Cloud" 28).

If you use more than one source by the same author, include an abbreviated form of the title in addition to the author’s last name (unless already identified in a signal phrase) and page number. Separate the author’s name and the title with a comma if both appear in the parenthetical citation. Italicize the title of longer works like books; use quotation marks for shorter works like articles.

Multiple Authors

Martin Luther King, Jr. brought civil rights to the forefront of American politics and "changed race relations in America" (Branch and Pillar 345).

Last year there were 195 reported incidents of zombie attack, but experts assume many more have gone undocumented (Clark, Schneider, and Smith 34).

Scientists now believe that the government was aware of the vampire menace for years before the public at large (Heberlein et al. 42).

For two or three authors, you should name all in the parenthetical citation as above. For more than three authors, you can name all of the authors or include only the first followed by the phrase "et al." (meaning "and others").

Indirect Source (Source Quoted in a Source)

Professor Mary-Claire King believes that the only results of genetic tests that should be reported to patients are those that are "devastating and clearly devastating," not results of unknown significance (qtd. in Grady and Pollack A17).

Sometimes you want to quote a quotation that was used by one of your sources. Use the phrase qtd. in ("quoted in") and the name of YOUR source, the one appearing in your Works Cited page, in parentheses. Identify the original source of the material in a signal phrase or at the beginning of the parenthetical citation.

Long Quotations

Vonnegut raises the question of veracity in the opening lines of his novel:

All this happened, more or less. The war parts, anyway, are pretty much true. One guy I knew really was shot in Dresden for taking a teapot that wasn't his. Another guy I knew really did threaten to have his personal enemies killed by hired gunmen after the war. And so on. I've changed all their names. (1)

Quotations more than four lines long should be set off with a one-inch indent. When you use a long quotation, the parenthetical citation goes OUTSIDE of the period ending the sentence. There are no quotation marks because the indentation tells the reader that it is a quote. The entire passage should be be double spaced like the rest of the paper. Use long quotations sparingly, and be sure to introduce them and explain their significance.