In-text Citations

When you include information or ideas borrowed from a source, whether it is paraphrased, summarized, or quoted directly, you must include an in-text citation. In-text citations should follow the following general formatting guidelines:
  • Introduce the quote, paraphrase, or summary with a signal phrase in your own words.
  • Present the quote, paraphrase, or summary.
  • End with a parenthetical citation, which should typically include the author’s last name and the page number from which the information was retrieved.  The period goes after the parentheses not before.

Example In-text Citations

 
1. Author Cited in Parentheses
If the author’s name is not cited in a signal phrase introducing the quote, paraphrase, or summary, both the author’s last name and the page number must be included in parentheses following the material being cited.
 
Evidence has shown that “states with the biggest reductions in welfare rolls have low unemployment levels or stringent welfare policies or both” (Edelman 146).
 
2. Author Cited in a Signal Phrase
If the author’s name is cited in a signal phrase introducing the quote, paraphrase, or summary, include only the page number in parentheses at the end of the material being cited.
 
According to Peter Edelman’s view of the PRWORA Act, “Bad policies kept too many people on welfare too long, but the new law invited states to make things worse, and too many accepted the invitation” (145).
 
3. Two or Three Authors
If a text has three or fewer authors, include all authors in the signal phrase or parentheses.
 
In 1996 the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program took the place of AFDC when the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) was enacted by the Clinton Administration (Hagen and Owens-Manley 171).

Like many poets of his time, Wordsworth deviated from the norm of formal and stylized language that earlier poets used (Hawthorne, Stevens, and McConaughey).
 
4. Four or More Authors
If a text has four or more authors, either name all authors or name only the first author followed by “et al.”
 
The results of the study “suggest that a work test is not a powerful tool in encouraging work effort” (Gil, et al 97).
 
5If no author or editor is identified
If a source does not include an author's name, substitute for the author's name the title or an abbreviated title in the parenthetical citation. Use the title that appears first in the Works Cited.  Italicize the title if the source is a book; if the source is an article, use quotation marks.  For very long titles, you may shorten to the first two or three key words.

The use of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems has grown substantially over the past five years as companies attempt to adapt to customer needs and to improve their profitability ("Making CRM Work").

6. Unknown Page Number  (ALMOST ALL WEBSITES)
If a text lacks page numbers (such as many resources found on the Web), omit page numbers from the in-text citation. 
 
As evidence of the effectiveness of these incentives, work participation requirements were reduced for 31 states to 0% in 2002 as a direct result of the dramatic decrease in caseloads (Fagnoni).
 
7.  Citing authors with same last names
Sometimes more information is necessary to identify the source from which a quotation is taken. For instance, if two or more authors have the same last name, provide both authors' first initials (or even the authors' full name if different authors share initials) in your citation. For example:
 
Although some medical ethicists claim that cloning will lead to designer children (R. Miller 12), others note that the advantages for medical research outweigh this consideration (A. Miller 46).
 
8.  Duplicate article titles with no author
To cite an article title without an author that is the same as another article title, place the article title in quotation marks, followed by a comma and then the source title in quotation marks
 
…(“Marilyn Monroe,” World Book Encyclopedia)    …(“Marilyn Monroe,” Encyclopedia of World Biography)
 
9.  Citing indirect sources
Sometimes you may have to use an indirect source. An indirect source is a source cited in another source. For such indirect quotations, use "qtd. in" to indicate the source you actually consulted. For example:
 
Ravitch argues that high schools are pressured to act as "social service centers, and they don't do that well" (qtd. in Weisman 259).
 
10. Multiple citations
To cite multiple sources in the same parenthetical reference, separate the citations by a semi-colon:
 
. . . as has been discussed elsewhere (Burke 3; Dewey 21).
 
 
11.  Citing the Bible
In your first parenthetical citation, you want to make clear which Bible you're using (and underline or italicize the title), as each version varies in its translation, followed by book (do not italicize or underline), chapter and verse. For example:
 
Ezekiel saw "what seemed to be four living creatures," each with faces of a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle (New Jerusalem Bible, Ezek. 1.5-10).
 
If future references employ the same edition of the Bible you’re using, list only the book, chapter, and verse in the parenthetical citation.
 
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