IN-TEXT CITATIONS PARENTHETICAL CITATIONS

A short lesson on Academic Writing

Why you cite a source, reviewed You always provide a citation when:

Using a direct quote—as short as the “apt phrase” or as long as many paragraphs

You paraphrase the author’s work—no quotations marks, but still a citation

You use an idea that is the author’s—usually you will be summarizing it

When don’t I cite? No citation is necessary IF

The information is common knowledge (e.g. “The Great Depression occurred in the 1930s…” or “When the stock market crashed in 1929…”)

You are an expert in a field, and writing for experts and a piece of information is common knowledge among your peers

How to Cite: the Basics If you cite something in your paper it MUST have

a place on your Works Cited sheet at the end The point of your citation is to give the reader

enough information that he can find your citation in the back and then find the information in the work you are citing

Usually you give the author’s last name and page number of the information you are citing in the following form (author #) after the statement and before the final punctuation mark

Some examples Ducks eat small creatures living in ponds and

streams (Mallard 33). You have given author and page number.

However, if you were citing several Mallards, you may have to give first initial or first name (i.e. Mindy Mallard, 33)

You may say the following: According to Mindy Mallard, ducks eat small creatures living in ponds and streams (33). In this example the author is in the statement,

so only a page number is needed.

What if I have no author? If you have no author, you give the first

piece of information you do have: the title.

In your works cited page you will alphabetize according to the title as well.

Example: Ducks are quasi-amphibious creatures (“Ducks”). This citation refers back to this work without an author: “Ducks.” Discovery Channel. Discovery Communications, 2011. Web. 18 Jan. 2011.

So, web sources? Again: Ducks are quasi-amphibious creatures (“Ducks”).

Which refers back to this citation without an author: “Ducks.” Discovery Channel. Discovery Communications, 2011. Web. 18 Jan. 2011.

In this citation, we have used the web page title, and no numbers, since the web page is not paginated (has no page numbers) nor are there paragraph numbers. IF your source has either of these things, then you must include them.

If you had two web pages named the same thing, then you give the title of the website (“Ducks,” Discovery Channel) to distinguish from (“Ducks” Encyclopedia Britannica Online)

Sample Works CitedWorks Cited

"Blueprint Lays Out Clear Path for Climate Action." Environmental Defense Fund. Environmental Defense Fund, 8 May 2007. Web. 24 May 2009.

Clinton, Bill. Interview by Andrew C. Revkin. “Clinton on Climate Change.” New York Times. New York Times, May 2007. Web. 25 May 2009.

Dean, Cornelia. "Executive on a Mission: Saving the Planet." New York Times. New York Times, 22 May 2007. Web. 25 May 2009.

Ebert, Roger. "An Inconvenient Truth." Rev. of An Inconvenient Truth, dir. Davis Guggenheim. rogerebert.com. Sun-Times News Group, 2 June 2006. Web. 24 May 2009.

Gowdy, John. "Avoiding Self-organized Extinction: Toward a Co-evolutionary Economics of Sustainability." International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology 14.1 (2007): 27-36. Print.

Leroux, Marcel. Global Warming: Myth Or Reality?: The Erring Ways of Climatology. New York: Springer, 2005. Print.

Milken, Michael, Gary Becker, Myron Scholes, and Daniel Kahneman. "On Global Warming and Financial Imbalances." New Perspectives Quarterly 23.4 (2006): 63. Print.