In-Text Citations
An in-text citation, a parenthetical reference, contains the last name of the author, if not previously stated, the year, and the page number of the material, if available. If the author is mentioned in the sentence, the year must follow in parentheses.
For a work with two to five authors, list all last names, (Smith & Winston, 1976). For a work with six or more authors, use the last name of one author and use “et al.” for the rest, (Johnson et al., 1997, p. 47).
In-text citations appear at the end of the sentence containing the summarized, paraphrased, or quoted material:
Book
Holden Caulfield wears the hunting cap in public but only when “Nobody was around” (Salinger, 1991, p. 53).
In his The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger (1991) has Caulfield wearing the cap only when “Nobody was around” (p. 53).
In the first example, the author’s last name is present because it is not previously mentioned. In the second example, since the author’s name and year is mentioned in the sentence, it is not necessary to be repeated in the parenthetical reference.
Article or Essay
As 81% of students who use the service are freshmen, the service is advertised accordingly (Smith, 2001, p. 124).
As stated in the survey conducted by Smith (2001), advertising is geared towards freshmen since 81% of the department’s services are freshmen used (p. 124).
In the first example, the paraphrased material contains a statistic; therefore, it must be cited. In the second example, the paraphrased material includes the author’s last name, but the page number is still given. Note that the page number is the page of the journal, magazine or book in which the material appears.
Article or Essay from an Internet Database or Website
Record producers have called the singer “an angry troll because of her frequent tantrums during recording sessions” (Walters, 2001).
According to music journalist Henry Walters (2001), record producers have called the singer “an angry troll because of her frequent tantrums during recording sessions.”
Even though original page numbers may be given on the database or website, we have no idea on what page we find this quote. Do not refer to the pages as marked out of the printer; for example, 1 of 3 is not a proper page number for your citation. In the second example, since the author’s last name is given, a parenthetical reference is unnecessary.
Article or Essay with No Author
In a blind taste test, 65% chose No-Cola as his or her preferred brand (“The road,” 1998, p. 34).
In the absence of an author, the first few words of the title in quotes need to be listed. These are the first two or three words listed in the References entry.
Setting off Long Quotes
In cases when a direct quote exceeds forty words, you need to use a block quote. In these cases, the text should be moved in one-half inch from the margin. The quote remains double-spaced. Note that the quote is not placed in quotation marks and that the final punctuation comes before the citation.
The use of the color red in the book denotes passion:
Walter walked into the room and saw the red scarf on the bedroom floor.
He grabbed it and envisioned Doris wearing it. Despite this vision, he had
to control himself. The amber dawn outside mocked him at this point. The
streaks of golden red flowed through the window, juxtaposing the dullness
in the room. Now, only the light and the scarf mattered. (Green, 2003, p. 112)
In making this connection between color and life, Walter shows maturation of thought, but he fails to support those thoughts with action.
Notice that once the block quote is complete, the paragraph continues at its original margins.
Using an Ellipsis and Brackets
When omitting words from the middle of a quote, use an ellipsis, three spaced periods “. . .” within a bracket, [ ]. If a sentence ends before you omit anything, make sure to put a period before the ellipsis, “[. . . .]”.
The author uses red quite a bit: “Walter walked into the room and saw the red scarf [. . .] The amber dawn outside mocked him [. . .] The streaks of golden red flowed through the window” (Green, 2003, p. 112).
Or
The author uses red quite a bit: “Walter walked into the room and saw the red scarf on the bed
[. . . .] The streaks of golden red flowed through the window, juxtaposing the dullness in his room [. . . .] only the light and the scarf mattered (Green, 2003, p. 112).
Also, if you are adding words to a quote or pointing out that an error in the text is not yours, you use brackets.
At first, it seems as though “it [origami] is too complicated to learn” (Walsh, 1957, p. 15).
In saying this, the chairman acknowledged the he “failed too [sic] properly complete his duty” (Lamb, 1999).
References
The word “References” should appear in the center of the page. The entries should have reverse indentation, with the first line at the left margin and subsequent lines indented one inch. Also, the entries should be listed in alphabetical order.
Last name, First initial. (year). Book Title. City of publication: Publisher.
Salinger, J.D. (1991). The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and Company.
Article, Article with a Volume Number, Article with a Volume and Issue Number
Last name, First initial. (year, month day). Article title. Magazine, Journal, Newspaper Title,
Pages.
Last name, First initial. (year, month day). Article title. Magazine, Journal, Newspaper Title,
Volume, Pages.
Last name, First initial. (year, month day). Article title. Magazine, Journal, Newspaper Title,
Volume(Issue), Pages.
Smith, B. (2001, September 19). College report: A study of students. College Weekly, 9(3),
120-134.
Names of months are not abbreviated. Only the first word of a title and first word of a subtitle are capitalized. For an article not on consecutive pages, list all of the pages on which the article appears.
Article in a Book or Collection of Essays
Last name, First initial. (year). Article title. In initial. Last name (Ed.), Name of book
(pages). City: Publisher.
Simmons, T. (1975). Arctic weather. In J. Russell (Ed.), The Arctic (pp. 34-41). New York:
Putnam.
Article from an Internet Database
Last name, First initial. (date). Article title. Magazine, Journal, Newspaper Title,
Volume(Issue), pages. Retrieved date, from database name (Document number).
Walters, H. ( 2001, November 10). A musician’s quest. Music Fun, 12-13. Retrieved
October 13, 2003 from Academic Search Elite (A001_001).
Last name, First initial or corporate author. (date). Website title. Retrieved date, from
Website Address
In the example, no author or date published is given. Use “(n.d).” for no date. Also, no period goes at the end of website addresses.
Many other types of References entries; however, these are the most common. Do not forget that movies, interviews, pamphlets, television shows, government publications, poems, songs, advertisements, and many other types of works have specific entries.