15.7: Understanding In-Text Citations
- Page ID
- 223422
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)In-text citations and the Works Cited Page
There are two types of citations in every research paper, whether it be in MLA or APA format: intext citations and end citations. In-text citations are what you just reviewed in this chapter; the term "in-text citation" refers to the parenthetical or signal phrase that you use to show specific information in the paper came from other sources. The Works Cited citation includes much more information than the in-text citation; in fact, it should include enough information that the reader can locate the source, either online or through the library, using the information.
But these two citations are also closely linked. When done correctly, the in-text citation should lead the reader right to the Works Cited citation because the in-text citation is whatever occurs first in the Works Cited citation. For example, the book The Shallows by Nicholas Carr would be cited in the Works Cited as follows:
| Carr, Nicholas. The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains. New York: Norton, 2011. |
When you cite the source by the author's name, either in a signal phrase or a parenthetical––Carr argues or (Carr 218)––you don't just cite random information. Rather, you are giving the amount of information your reader needs to find the source on the Works Cited.
If you can understand the relationship between an in-text citation and a citation on a Works Cited page, you will always know how to cite a source in your paper. No author? No problem. Just look at what comes first in the Works Cited citation; that is the info you need to relay to get your reader to the Works Cited citation.
This relationship has another implication: each source on the Works Cited page must be cited in the paper. If you have a source on the Works Cited that is not findable in the paper, you have made a mistake. Either you have put information in the paper from the source without crediting the source (which is plagiarism) or you have not used the source in the paper (in which case it should be removed from the Works Cited.
The title "Works Cited" implies that the works in the list are all cited in the paper. If the source is not cited in the paper, it would follow that the source should not be included on the Works Cited.
Dealing with Multiple Authors
Sometimes, you will find sources that have multiple authors. The rules for how to credit multiple authors vary depending on the number of authors and the style you are using. The rules below apply to MLA format, but APA format has slightly different rules for multiple authors, mainly because scientific papers are much more likely to have many authors (sometimes over twenty!), so always double check the rules before you start writing in a new format.
When you have two authors in an MLA citation, cite both of their last names in the parenthetical or in the signal phrase:
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According to Carol Parise and Vincent Caggiano in their article "The Influence of Marital Status on Risk of Mortality In Breast Cancer," the chances of white women dying due to breast cancer decreases when married, but this is not true of any other racial group. As a result, the authors conclude, "The risk of mortality with marital status is dependent on race/ ethnicity" (Parise and Caggiano). |
When you have three or more authors in an MLA citation, cite the first author's name and then use the term "et al." in the parenthetical or list out the names in the signal phrase. This phrase is short for the Latin phrase that means "with others." In a signal phrase, you can also get creative and describe the group or researchers in different ways, but in the parenthetical, you must always use the term "et al." to show more than two authors.
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In their study "The Role of Defendant Race and Racially Charged Media In Canadian Mock Juror Decision Making," authors Laura McManus, Evelyn Meader, and Susan Yamamoto made a surprising discovery regarding differences between American and Canadian juries. In similar American studies, emphasizing race during the trial or in the media actually led to more lenient punishments for those convicted, but in the Canadian study, emphasizing race led to harsher punishments for both Black individuals and those from indigenous populations (McManus et al.). McManus and her team were very shocked by these disparate findings and believe more studies need to be conducted regarding this topic in Canada as the Canadian judicial system has a growing population of Black and indigenous defendants that are suffering longer and longer sentences, possibly as a result of systemic racism. |
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Pro-Tip Keep the authors' names in the order they appear on the article or source. The authors decided on the order their names appear in; if you decide to re-order the names, say alphabetically, you are altering the way the authors have asked to be credited by ordering their own names. Chances are that if an author's name appears first on an article, they did the most work on the project, so they deserve to have their name appear first. |
How to cite an article without an author
When an article or webpage does not have an author, use whatever comes first in the Works Cited citation in the signal phrase or the parenthetical citation. This is generally the title of the article or webpage, but depending on the source type, the initial information in a Works Cited citation will vary.
Works Cited citation:
| "Gamergate: Is Misogyny Widespread in the Video Game Community?" Issues & Controversies,Infobase Learning, 19 Dec. 2014, http://icof.infobaselearning.com/rec....aspx?ID=14846. Accessed 14 May 2018. |
Citing an article without an author in the signal phrase
| According to the article "Gamergate: Is Misogyny Widespread in the Video Game Community?", "Some game developers have attempted to respond to criticism of sexualized female characters by reworking their video game casts" (par. 17). |
Citing an article without an author in a parenthetical citation
| “A male-dominated workforce pervades the broader tech industry; according to a Harvard Business School study, more than half of women in tech cite sexism as a major factor for leaving the field” (“Gamergate” par. 15). |
See this video for more help citing sources without authors in MLA.
Web sources: what changes and what stays the same
When citing a web source, you should still use whatever information comes first in the Works Cited citation to reference the source within your paper. If there is an author, this is the author's last name, but if there is no author, it will be the title of the webpage you are using.
Web sources vary in the amount of information available for a citation; sometimes, especially in the databases, you might find sources that have been published previously and include page numbers, but many web sources will not have page numbers.
MLA technically varies in the use of paragraph numbers to cite quotes and paraphrases, but this is at your teacher's discretion. Always be sure to check if your teacher expects a paragraph number with web citations or not.
DO NOT cite the URL in the in-text citation. The URL belongs in the Works Cited citation in MLA 8, but it should never be used as the in-text citation.