This document provides guidance on using in-text citations, also known as parenthetical citations. It explains that in-text citations should be used to refer readers to the works cited page and to establish credibility by showing research was conducted. The document outlines rules for placement of citations within text, what to include in citations like author name and page number, and exceptions to the rules for situations like anonymous authors or electronic sources that lack page numbers.

1. Essay Writing
In-text citations
a.k.a. parenthetical citationsor internal documentation

2. Why use internal documentation?
refersreader to workscited page
showsreader you did your research
makesyou morecredible
and believable

3. Exampleof in-text citation
Essay WorksCited
Que
1
Susie Que
Mrs. Kurth
English 9
13 April 2010
Crime in the U.S.
Crime is rising in most
metropolitan areas in the
United States (Barker
25).
Que 7
Works Cited
Barker, Tim. Crime in the
United States. New York:
Harper Perennial, 1999.
Print.
Jones, Sally. Books Are
Great. Dallas: Real Cool
Publishing, Inc., 2004.
Print.

4. When do Idocument?
Alwaysciteyour sourcewhen you:
 quotean author directly
 put an author’sideasin your own words
 summarizefactsyou found from research
If you do not cite, you areplagiarizing! Even
if it’sin your own words, you haveto give
credit to theauthor for theideasand facts
you found; if you don’t, you aresaying these
ideasareyour own, which istheft.

5. What are the rules?
 Put in-text citation in parenthesis
 Put in-text citation at end of thought
- usually end of sentence
- sometimesat end of phrase
- includewherever it’sleast distracting
 Includetheauthor’snameand page# unless:
- you already mention author in sentence
- author isn’t provided
- page# isn’t provided (websites)
 Add punctuation afterinternal documentation
Crimeisrising in most metropolitan areasin theUnited States(Barker 25).

6. Rules: where to place it
 Put in-text citation at end of thought
Crimeisrising in most metropolitan areasin theUnited States(Barker 25).
usually at end of sentence

7. Rules: what punctuation to include
 Put in-text citation in parenthesis
Crimeisrising in most metropolitan areasin theUnited States(Barker 25).
parenthesis before and after

8. Rules: what to include
 Includetheauthor’snameand page#
Crimeisrising in most metropolitan areasin theUnited States(Barker 25).
page # on which this fact was
found
author

9. Rules: where to place end
punctuation
 Add punctuation afterin-text citation
Crimeisrising in most metropolitan areasin theUnited States(Barker 25).
period goes afterinternal
documentation

10. Exceptionsto therules:
author’snamein sentence
 Including an expert’snamein sentence
- givesyou morecredibility if you citean expert
- only needed thefirst timeyou introducethissource
Barra, author of “Intercultural Communication Stumbling Blocks” states,
“learning thelanguage, which most foreign visitorsconsider their only barrier
to understanding, isactually only thebeginning” (25).
Fred Donner, law professor at Harvard University, stated, “capital punishment
violatestheConstitution of theU.S. in that it isdiscriminatory and isaform of
cruel and unusual punishment” (16).
author
author
Don’t include authoragain
Don’t include authoragain

11. Exceptions to the rules:
anonymousauthors
 In-text: Thenumber of peoplewho arebecoming
vegetarianshasbeen on therisesincethe1970s
(“Trendsin Eating Habits” 24).
 Works cited:
“Trendsin Eating Habits.” Vegetarian Times Mar.
2000: 20-25. Print.

12. Exceptions to the rules:
electronic sources
 Websitesdon’t havepagenumbers, so substitutewith:
- paragraph #s
- sectionsof thewebsite(e.g. introduction)
- screen #s
Examples:
1. Paragraphs: “Sleep deprivation affects1 out of 4 teens” (Barton, par. 5).
2. Sections: “Sleep deprivation affects1 out of 4 teens” (Barton, Introduction).
3. Screens: “Sleep deprivation affects1 out of 4 teens” (Barton, screens2-3).

13. Exceptions to the rules:
morethan oneauthor
 If there’smorethan oneauthor:
- List all thelast namesof theauthorsin thesameorder asyou did in
your workscited page(Franklin, Cardigan, and Davis25).
- List thelast nameof thefirst author listed in theworkscited
pagefollowed by et al. (Franklin et al. 25).
 If there’smorethan onesourceby thesameauthor:
- also includethetitleor ashortened version of thetitleafter
thenameand beforethepagenumber (Chaplan, “Homes” 3).

14. Othertricky situations
 Two Authors with the Same Last Name:
- includethefirst initial (L. Rivers23).
- if they sharethesamefirst initial, usetheentirefirst name(Lucy Rivers23).
 Using Two Sources to Support a Statement: Includethelast nameand pagenumber
of thefirst author followed by asemicolon and thelast nameand pagenumber of the
second author.
- (Kipp 22; Randolph 3)
- (Natl. Research Council 3-5; “Death” 2)
 Indirect Source: someone’spublished account of another’sspoken remarks.
- Greenough claimsthat genetic engineering can be“afrightening concept
when misunderstood” (qtd. in Lerner 45).
Note: Lerner istheauthor of thebook whereyou found thisquote. Thus, Lerner will
appear in your workscited page, not Greenough. If you only included thepagenumber
here, your reader would believeGreenough wastheauthor and would look for her name
in theworkscited page.