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Formatting Citations: In-text Citations

APA Style | MLA Style
Return to Formatting Citations: Works Cited

APA Style --
Cite your sources when you quote from them, summarize or paraphrase them, or otherwise refer to them. The following is a brief summary of how to cite sources in text. Please consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association for instruction on how to cite specific resources.

Quoting: Include a page number reference when quoting from source

Basic format: (surname, date of publication, page number ) i.e. (Foster, 2003, p.356)

Three formats for quotations:
  • He maintains that "What the shirts represent, however, is Dischord's lack of control over its products within the marketplace"(Thompson, 2001, p. 48), rather than the opposite.
  • Thompson (2001) argues that "One of the most difficult tasks that mapping punk demands is that of formulating a working definition of the term from which to strike out" (p. 49).
  • Thompson (2001) observes the following:
        Because punk's forms of resistance have radically changed over the past twenty-six years,
        it is impossible to establish a trans-historical definition of punk aesthetics or economics;
        consequently, the best attempts to describe punk aesthetics have focused not on punk
        as a whole but on one of its six major scenes (p.50).

Summarizing, paraphrasing, or referencing: Including page number(s) is optional.

Basic format: (surname, date of publication) i.e. (Rubin, 2003)

  • If author name is referred to in the text of the sentence, only cite the date: Klein (1995) proposes that ...
  • If both author and date are referred to in the text of the sentence, no parenthetical citation is necessary: In her 1992 study, Russo found that children were more likely to ...
  • If a work has two authors, always cite both in the text: (Smith & Hart, 1999) OR Smith and Hart (1999) argue that ...
  • If a work has three - five authors, cite all authors the first time the work is referenced. After the first citation, use the first author's surname, plus et al: (Crain, Hobbes, Wu, Wright, & King, 1997); (Crain et al., 1997)
    OR According to Crain, Hobbes, Wu, Wright, and King (1997) the cranial development occurs after the second phase.
    [Later in text] Crain et al. (1997) found that ...
  • If a work has six or more authors, cite only the first author's surname, plus et al.: (Mendez et al., 2002)
  • If a work has no author, cite the first few words of the title of the work: ("Early detection," 2001)
  • If the author is a group or organization, cite the full name of the group the first time: (American Civil Liberties Union [ACLU], 2001) After the first citation, you may cite using the group's acronym or abbreviation: (ACLU, 2001)

 

MLA Style --
Cite your sources when you quote from them, summarize or paraphrase them, or otherwise refer to them. The following is a brief summary of how to cite sources in text. Please consult the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers for instruction on how to cite specific resources.

Basic format: (surname page number): (Jackson 211)

  • Place citation close to material being cited, but at a natural breaking point. This is almost always at the end of the sentence: Poetry, far from being a quiet art, should be "enjoyed, out-loud and in your face" (Rogers 119).
  • If the author's name is in mentioned in the text, include only the page number in the citation: According to Williams, New Orleans has become a city enslaved to its history (23).
  • Cite the full range of pages you are referring to: (McChesney 455-460).
  • When a work is listed in your works cited by title (because there is no author listed), cite it using the first word or words in the title: ("Commuting" 76)
  • If the author is a group or organization, cite full name of the group, abbreviating commonly shortened words: (Amnesty Int'l 3)
  • If you cite more than one work by the same author, put the title of the specific work (or a shortened version of it) after the authors name: (Dosetoevsky, Double 33)

 

Style Manuals:

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers: Call number: LB2369 .G53 2003 (Reference Collection)

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association: Call number: BF76.7 .P83 2001 (Reference Collection)

 

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