If I introduced the source material in the sentence above a little differently, introducing the author before delivering the material, I wouldn’t need to repeat the author’s name in that same sentence in the parenthetical citation. However, you don’t always need both components (last name and page number) in the parenthetical citation. If, on page 41, she says something like, “While most studies have shown that Expo dry erase markers have superior lasting power, erasability, and color saturation than other brands on the market, their higher cost is a concern for some consumers,” I might incorporate that into a paper like this:īy most measurable standards, Expo markers are clearly the favored option (Smith 41). It’s in a physical magazine and spans pages 38-42. For example, let’s say I’m using material from an article written by Lisa Smith. Parenthetical means that the citation appears in parentheses in the text of your essay.Ī starting point for parenthetical citations is that they include the author’s last name and the page number where the borrowed information came from. Sometimes you can accomplish this simply by mentioning the author or title of a source in the body of your writing, but other times you’ll handle in-text citation differently, with a parenthetical citation. In-Text CitationĮvery time you use an idea or language from a source in your text (so every time you summarize, paraphrase, or directly quote material from a source), you will want to add an in-text citation. Note that if you don’t do that, your reader is left to assume the words are yours-and since that isn’t true, you will have committed plagiarism. When you cite or identify source materials, you make it absolutely clear that the material was taken from a source. Identifying your sources also helps your reader understand which written content is from a source and which represents your ideas. This is essential because giving credit to the creator of the source material helps you avoid plagiarism. Once you have brought source material into your writing (via quotation, summary, or paraphrase), your next task is to cite or identify it. All of the information we are looking at here is specific to MLA, which is the format you will use for your writing classes (and some other humanities classes). The specific details required and the order in which they appear changes a little between different formats, but practicing one of them will give you a general idea of what most of them are looking for. What these two things look like will be a little different for different types of classes (for example, it’s likely your writing class will use MLA-Modern Language Association-format, while a psychology class is more likely to use APA-American Psychological Association-format).
What Does It Mean to Credit or Cite Your Sources?įor college-level work, this generally means two things: in-text or parenthetical citation and a “Works Cited” or “References” page. It gives your readers additional resources (already curated by you in your research process!) that they can go to if they want to read further your topic.It gives credit to the original author and their work for the ideas you found to be useful, and in giving them credit it helps you avoid unintentionally plagiarizing their work.It adds to your own credibility as an author by showing you have done appropriate research on your topic and approached your work ethically.Giving credit to the sources you used creating a text is important (and useful!) for several reasons. Following these guidelines also allows us, your readers, to locate those sources if we are interested in the topic and would like to know more about what they say.
There are some standard ways of using sources that let your readers know this material is from other texts rather than original ideas from your own brain. Now that you’ve just summarized or paraphrased or directly quoted a source, is there anything else you need to do with that source? Well, it turns out there is. “Old library of Trinity College, Dublin” by Francesc González is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0