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In-Text Citations

Most citation styles recommend in-text citations when using other author's ideas to support your work. Using in-text citations lend authority to your work by demonstrating that your ideas are backed up by the ideas of other researchers. Use in-text citations whenever you:

  1. Use a direct quotation.
  2. Restate, summarize, or paraphrase an idea, theory, or opinion given by another author.
  3. Incorporate facts that are not common knowledge. A general rule of thumb is, if you can find the fact in at least three sources, it is common knowledge.

This guide will provide examples and guidelines for in-text citations for the APA and MLA citation styles. For further help contact a reference librarian.

APA In-Text Citations:

In-text citations in the APA style will include the author's last name, the date of publication, and in some cases a page number or numbers. In-text citations will correspond to an item in the references list, for help with the References list consult Documenting Sources in the APA Style.

Direct Quotations, APA:

When using direct quotations from a print source include the authors last name, the publication date, and the page number. Quotations taken from electronic sources should include the author's last name, the date of publication, and the paragraph number. Indicate that it is a paragraph number with the abbreviation para., or the symbol ¶ preceding the number. The three common examples of citing direct quotations are:

  • A recent study reveals that "university students and their teachers are caught in a complex web of interaction between their social identities and their subjects of study" (Robson, 2004, p.12), a fact echoed by many others.

  • Robson (2004) reports "half of the women interviewed mentioned confidence as a factor affecting achievement" (p.16).

  • In an article on technology and higher education, Ehrmann (1999) maintains,

    All of us wish we had good data about teaching, learning, and technology, but few institutions are doing the work to get it. Technology changes quickly and unpredictably, IT budgets are large and getting larger, and money remains tight. Lacking data, faculty and administrators make big investments of time and money with their eyes closed (¶ 2).

Paraphrasing, Summarizing, and Restating & Incorporating Little Known Facts, APA:

It is not necessary to include page numbers when paraphrasing, restating, or summarizing an authors ideas or when introducing little known facts into your paper.

  • List the last name of the author and the year. (Smith, 2000) If the author is mentioned in the text of the paper, list the year only. Smith (2000) has stated many times...

  • If a work has two or more authors list both. (Smith & Williams, 2000)

  • For three to five authors, list all of the authors in the first citation, then only the first author followed by et al. in subsequent citations. (Smith, Williams, James, & Jones, 2000) (Smith et al., 2000)

  • If a work has 6 or more authors only list the first author followed by et al. (Williams et al., 2003)

  • For corporate or organizational authors, cite the full name of the group the first time. If the group has an acronym or abbreviation, it can be used in following citations. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1999) (BLS, 1999)

  • A work with no author should be cited with the first significant word in the title of the work. For a 2001 article titled, Technology Knows No Bounds, use: (Technology, 2001)

Personal Communications, APA:

Letters, interviews, e-mails, and telephone conversations are all considered personal communications and should be cited in-text only. There are many other examples of personal communications, for a complete discussion, please consult section 3.102 of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th edition. When citing a personal communication include the first and middle initials and last name of the author, an indication that it is a personal communication, and as complete of a date as possible.

  • According to T.R. Wood, (telephone conversation, May 12, 2003) the quality of education is increasing.

  • " Finger painting is a lost art" (L. Waters, e-mail to author, November 29, 2004).

MLA In-Text Citations:

In-text citations in the MLA style include the author's name in the text of the paper and the page number or numbers in parentheses after the quoted, paraphrased, summarized, or restated material. If the author is not mentioned in the text of the paper, the last name should precede the page number/s in the parentheses. The citation should be placed as close to the referenced materials as possible and within the punctuation. In-text citations will correspond to an item in the works cited list, for help with the works cited list consult Documenting Sources in the MLA Style.

Direct Quotations, MLA:

  • A recent study reveals that "university students and their teachers are caught in a complex web of interaction between their social identities and their subjects of study" (Robson 12), a fact echoed by many others.

  • Robson reports "half of the women interviewed mentioned confidence as a factor affecting achievement" (16).

  • In an article on technology and higher education, Ehrmann maintains,

    All of us wish we had good data about teaching, learning, and technology, but few institutions are doing the work to get it. Technology changes quickly and unpredictably, IT budgets are large and getting larger, and money remains tight. Lacking data, faculty and administrators make big investments of time and money with their eyes closed (2-3).

General guidelines for using in-text citations in the MLA style:

  • If a work has 2 or 3 authors, list all authors either in the text of the paper or in the parenthetical reference.

  • For a work with four or more authors, make sure your citation matches your list of works cited. For example, if you listed all the authors' names in the works cited, then list them all in-text. If, in the works cited list, you named the first author only, followed by et al., then do the same in the in-text citation.

  • If the author is an organization or group, list the full name.

  • If your works cited list has two or more works by the same author, either mention the full title of the work in the body of the paper or list an abbreviated form of the title in the parentheses.

  • When the citation refers to more than one page, list the full range of pages.

  • For works with no author, list the title of of the work either in the body of the paper or in the parenthetical citation.

Help

Stop at the Reference Desk on the 3rd floor of the library for in-person assistance, or call us at 920-465-2303.

Reference Desk Hours

Other options for contacting us include email.

To learn more about research skills check out Searchpath, the library's online tutorial.
Here you will find information on everything from finding a paper topic to citation styles.