How to Use a Paragraph Number in Parenthetical References

When you cite within the text, both Modern Language Association (MLA) and American Psychological Association (APA) styles require that you provide a page number. However, some sources -- especially Internet sources -- are not paginated. In this case, MLA style simply requires that you provide the name of the author, and discourages you from providing paragraph numbers. On the other hand, APA style encourages you to refer to paragraph numbers in situations when a source is not paginated.

Instructions

    • 1

      Begin by listing the author's last name, followed by a comma.

    • 2

      List the year of publication, followed by a comma. If no date of publication is given, use "n.d." in place of the year.

    • 3

      List the paragraph number you are citing. Precede the number with the abbreviation "para."

    • 4

      Enclose your entire citation in parentheses. For example:

      (Smith, 2007, para. 3)

    • 5

      Cite whenever you quote or paraphrase. For example:

      One poster claimed that the video was "a total rip-off of Spanish horror films" (Smith, 2007, para. 3).

      If you mention the author's name in the sentence, you do not need to repeat it in your citation. In this case, cite the year of publication after the author's last name, and the paragraph number after the quoted portion. For example:

      Poster Stan Smith (2007) claimed that the video was "a total rip-off of Spanish horror films" (para. 3).

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