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What are IN-TEXT CITATIONS?
Also known as "Parenthetical Citations"
In short, in-text citations are a way to signal your reader that the material you're using (referencing) belongs to another author. The citation points to your Works Cited Page, where you place the full reference for your text.
For Example:
Schuller (2005) found that children who watched more than five hours of television a day before the age of three were twice as likely to show signs of ADD and ADHD in their adolescent and teen years, a finding that “places serious health burdens on the television industry” (p. 54).
Though Pauline Kael found Julie Andrews to be “annoyingly fresh-faced” in her exuberant performance as Maria in The Sound of Music, it is, in fact, this cherubic, scrubbed-clean quality that gives the film its contagious power (36).
One fantastic resource is Purdue University's Online Writing Lab: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/02/
Also, be sure to see our Prezis on 'Why do we cite?', 'How to make a Bibliography/Works Cited' and 'How to cite a Website'.
Let's say you want to use
this article, from a scholarly journal,
in your essay.
Specifically, this line,
which you wish to "quote."
Take note of the page number:
Place your citation, (in parenthesis), immediately following your "quote" (or paraphrase or summary).
If you don't put the author's
name in the text, you must
place it in the citation.
Let's say this is your paper (in MLA):
But, if you use the author
in your sentence, you only
need to place the page
number in your citation.
Remember, your in-text citation must match the first word in your Works Cited reference - this makes it easy for your reader to find.
The first word you use here (the last name of the author, or, if there is no author, the first unique word in the title) is what you will use in the in-text citation.
First, make a Works Cited
reference of the article.
MLA vs. APA
(Jones 183)
(Jones 1997)
Because APA is used in the sciences, which rely on scientific studies as source material, the most important information a reader will need to know is who authored study and the date it was conducted. These are important issues in the sciences because subsequent studies and theories – including yours – change often and rely on the accumulated information from previous studies.
What matters more to readers, writers and researchers working in fields such as Literature, Art, or Philosophy are ideas and arguments about pieces of art, works of literature, or patterns of thought. Therefor, MLA format uses page numbers because it values contextual accuracy; readers should be able to check that you are fairly representing the words you are quoting or paraphrasing.
APA
Note that in both of these examples, the author is referenced in the text, so only the page number/date are necessary in the citation. Also note how the writer mixed quotes with paraphrasing.
Yes. Problems always arise in the citation process (i.e. what to do if there are multiple authors, how to cite web sources with no author, what to do if there are no page numbers, etc.), but solutions to those problems do exist. Make sure you consult a writing handbook or style manual when you cite sources.
MLA