How to Cite References in Text

When writing an academic or professional paper, there are many times where either directly quoting a source or paraphrasing a source is completely appropriate. Most of the time, instructors will limit the number of direct quotations or paraphrasings allowed in a paper. Either way, these types of in text uses of sources must be cited. They should be included in your works cited or reference page, but in-text citations throughout the paper are also required. Modern Language Association (MLA) format and American Psychological Association (APA) format in text citations are slightly different.

Instructions

  1. MLA---Author's Name Is Mentioned in the Sentence

    • 1

      Type a sentence including both the author's name and the direct quotation (in quotation marks) or the paraphrasing (not in quotation marks). For example, Jones said "a cat only cries when it is hungry" or Jones states that hunger can be a reason why a cat would meow.

    • 2

      Type the page number where the information can be found in parentheses after the quote.

    • 3

      Make the final citation look like this: Jones said "a cat only cries when it is hungry" (89). Or: Jones states that hunger can be a reason why a cat would meow (89).

    MLA---Author's Name Is Not Mentioned in the Sentence

    • 4

      Type a sentence including the direct quotation (in quotation marks) or the paraphrasing (not in quotation marks). For example, "A cat only cries when it is hungry" or Some researchers state that hunger can be a reason why a cat would meow.

    • 5

      Type the last name of the author, a space and the page number where the information can be found.

    • 6

      Place the entire citation in parentheses and place it after the sentence but before the period to signify the end of the sentence.

    • 7

      Make the final citation look like this: "A cat only cries when it is hungry" (Jones 89). Or: Some researchers state that hunger can be a reason why a cat would meow (Jones 89).

    APA---Author's Name Is Mentioned in the Sentence

    • 8

      Type a sentence including both the author's name and the direct quotation (in quotation marks) or the paraphrasing (not in quotation marks). For example, Jones said "a cat only cries when it is hungry" or Jones states that hunger can be a reason why a cat would meow.

    • 9

      Type the year that the source was written in parentheses behind the author's name.

    • 10

      Type "p." followed by a space and the page number where the information can be found in parentheses after the quote.

    • 11

      Make the final citation look like this: Jones (2001) said "a cat only cries when it is hungry" (p. 89). Or: Jones (2001) states that hunger can be a reason why a cat would meow (p. 89).

    APA---Author's Name Is Not Mentioned in the Sentence

    • 12

      Type a sentence including the direct quotation (in quotation marks) or the paraphrasing (not in quotation marks). For example, "A cat only cries when it is hungry" or Some researchers state that hunger can be a reason why a cat would meow.

    • 13

      Type the last name of the author, a comma, the year the source was written, a comma, "p." followed by a space and the page number where the information can be found.

    • 14

      Place the entire citation in parentheses and place it after the sentence but before the period to signify the end of the sentence.

    • 15

      Make the final citation look like this: "A cat only cries when it is hungry" (Jones, 2001, p. 89). Or: Some researchers state that hunger can be a reason why a cat would meow (Jones, 2001, p. 89).

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