30 What Are In-Text Citations?
An in-text citation is a reference to the author you’ve quoted in your essay. It is very important that any words you use from a source, whether quoted or paraphrased, be given proper credit. Purdue OWL has provided examples of how to give credit. Most often, you will be citing either a research journal, a news article, or a website as a source in ENGL 090 and 095. Click the following link to find the type of source you are quoting and how to make reference 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).