An in-text citation is a brief reference made within the body of your essay or research paper that tells readers which source you are using for a particular fact, idea, quote, or piece of information. Its main purpose is to give credit to the original author and point readers to your Works Cited page, where they can find the full details of the source.
What Does an In-Text Citation Include?
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In most styles, it includes the author’s last name and a page number (for MLA) or the author’s last name and date (for APA or Harvard).
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MLA example: (Smith 27)
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The citation is usually placed at the end of the sentence, before the closing punctuation mark.
When Do You Need In-Text Citations?
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Whenever you quote directly, paraphrase, or summarize information from another source.
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If an idea or information is not your own and isn’t common knowledge, you must cite it to avoid plagiarism.
Why Are In-Text Citations Important?
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They give credit to sources.
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They help readers verify your information or find more about it.
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They show academic honesty and help you avoid plagiarism.
How Do They Work with a Works Cited Page?
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Each in-text citation points to a full entry in your Works Cited (MLA) or References (APA) page at the end of your paper.
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This allows a reader to find the complete details about the source if they want more information.
Click the following link to find the type of source you are quoting and how to refer to it in your essay:
Here is an example of an in-text citation using the Encyclopedia of Social Psychology excerpt:
According to the Encyclopedia of Social Psychology, “When a person encounters a member of a stereotyped group, the stereotypes associated with that group may be automatically activated; that is, the specific characteristics that are seen as typical of the group may become more accessible in the person’s mind” (941).
There are a few things to note about this in-text citation:
- I used the title of the book because this source has multiple authors. However, if you have the author of the work and it has only one author, use the author’s name.
- The title here is italicized because it is a book. If you are using an article, you will need to place quotes around the title.
- This source is from a book with page numbers, so I have written the page number at the end of th quote in parentheses. If you have a source from a book, periodical, or research journal from a database that presents page numbers, then you will want to do the same. However, if you have a source that is electronic like an article online or a website, you will not have a page number. Therefore, use the paragraph number from the article, like this (para. 15).