In-Text Citation and Notes

Citing Sources in the Text of Your Paper

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)

Form: (Author Last Name, Year)

Example: (Smith, 1988)

With Page Number: Smith (1988, p. 244)

Two Authors: (Brown & Sullivan, 2020)

Three+ Authors: First: (Johnson, Smith, & Brown, 1999); Later: (Johnson et al., 1999)

Organization: (American Medical Association, 2002)

No Date: (Plagiarism and You, n.d.)

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)