In-Text Citation and Notes

In-Text Citation and Notes

When you use an outside source, you must give credit to the original creator.
This allows your reader to easily connect your in-text citation with the full bibliographic entry.
Each style guide (MLA, APA, Chicago, ASA, Turabian) has its own rules for doing this.

General Form: (Author Last Name Page #)

Single Author: (Smith 42)

Two Authors: (Brown and Sullivan 42)

Three+ Authors: (Brown, Sullivan, and Grayson 158) or (Brown et al. 38)

No Author: (“Library Links” 13)

Same Author, Multiple Works: (Smith, Big Changes 172)

APA uses two formats for in-text citations:

• Parenthetical citation – information in parentheses at the end of the sentence.
• Narrative citation – author is part of the sentence; year (and page if needed) goes in parentheses.

General Forms:
Parenthetical: (Author Last Name, Year)
Example: (Kazantzakis, 1946)
Narrative: Author Last Name (Year)
Example: Kazantzakis (1946) has argued this point.

With Page Numbers (direct quotation):
Parenthetical: (Velázquez, 1656, p. 23)
Narrative: Velázquez (1656, p. 23) described the finding as “foundational to the field of medicine.”
Another style: “The study was groundbreaking,” wrote Velázquez (1656, p. 23).

Two Authors:
Parenthetical: (Velázquez & Kazantzakis, 1950)
Narrative: Velázquez and Kazantzakis (1950) found that …

Three or More Authors:
Parenthetical: (Velázquez et al., 1955)
Narrative: Velázquez et al. (1955) also argue …

Organization as Author:
Parenthetical: (Universidad de Madrid, 2017)
Narrative: Universidad de Madrid (2017) reported …

No Date:
Parenthetical: (Kazantzakis, n.d.)
Narrative: Kazantzakis (n.d.) explains …

Author-Date Form: (Author Year, Page)

Example: (Smith 1992, 142)

Two Authors: (Smith and Johnson 1998, 14)

Organization: (National Alliance for Social Consideration 1932, 11)

No Date: (Statistics for Water Rights n.d.)

Form: (Author Year:Page)

Example: (Welch 1991:136)

Two Authors: (Johnson and Smith 1995:34)

Three Authors: (Johnson, Smith, and Marcus 1999)

Four+ Authors: (Johnson et al. 2003)

Multiple Sources: (Benson 1993; Nguyen 1999; Brown & Goggans 2000)