How to Do In-Text Citations in a Dissertation

When you are writing your dissertation, it is more important than ever to cite your sources correctly. Your dissertation is the culmination of your college career, and any suspicion of plagiarism on such an important document has the potential to derail your professional future. Therefore, all sources that you quote or paraphrase from should be cited parenthetically within the text. The information that should be included in your citation differs depending on whether you are adhering to Modern Language Association (MLA) or American Psychological Association (APA) guidelines.

Instructions

  1. Citing Your Dissertation in APA Style

    • 1

      Provide the last name of the author you are citing, the year of publication of the source you are citing, and the page number you are citing. These elements should be placed within parentheses and separated by commas. A "p" and a period should be placed before the page number. For example:

      (Simpson, 1990, p. 117)

    • 2

      Position the parenthetical citation directly after the quoted or paraphrased passage. Your citation should fall outside any quotation marks but should be placed before other marks of punctuation. For example:

      One observer called the man "a wise prophet, a sage for our times" (Simpson, 1990, p. 117).

    • 3

      Split the citation if you mention the name of the person you are citing within the text. In this case, the year of publication should follow the author's name, and the page number should appear after the quoted passage. For example:

      Simon Simpson (1990) called the man "a wise prophet, a sage for our times" (p. 117).

    Citing Your Dissertation in MLA Style

    • 4

      Provide the last name of the author you are citing and the page number. These elements should appear in parentheses and should not be separated by any marks of punctuation. For example:

      (Simpson 117)

    • 5

      Position the parenthetical citation directly after the quoted or paraphrased passage. Your citation should fall outside any quotation marks but should be placed before other marks of punctuation. For example:

      One observer called the man "a wise prophet, a sage for our times" (Simpson 117).

    • 6

      Omit the name of the author from your parenthetical citation if you have already mentioned the author by name within your text. In this case, you need only cite the page number. For instance:

      Simon Simpson called the man "a wise prophet, a sage for our times" (117).

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