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A publication of the harvard college writing program.

Harvard Guide to Using Sources 

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  • In-Text Citation Examples
  • When neither the author nor the page number is mentioned in the body of the sentence, you should include both the author’s last name and the page number in the parenthetical citation.

Colleges and universities need to create policies that foster inclusion for low-income students (Jack 24).

  • When the author’s name is mentioned in the sentence, you should include only the page number in your parenthetical citation.

As Anthony Jack argues, colleges and universities need to create policies that foster inclusion for low-income students (24).

  • If the source you are writing about does not have page numbers, or if you consulted an e-book version of the source, you should include only the author’s name in the parenthetical citation:

Colleges and universities need to create policies that foster inclusion for low-income students (Jack).

  • If you mention the author in the body of the sentence and there is no page number in the source, you should not include a parenthetical citation.

As Anthony Jack argues, colleges and universities need to create policies that foster inclusion for low-income students.

  • If you are referring to an entire work rather than a specific page, you do not need to include a page number.

In The Privileged Poor, Anthony Jack describes many obstacles that low-income students face at selective colleges and universities.

  • If you are referring to a source that has no listed author, you should include the title (or a shortened version of the title) in your parenthetical citation.

Harvard College promises “to educate the citizens and citizen-leaders for our society” (“Mission, Vision, & History”).

  • If you are referring to a source that has two authors, you should include both authors in your parenthetical citation.

The researchers tested whether an intervention during the first year of college could improve student well-being (Walton and Cohen 1448).

  • If you refer to a source that has more than two authors, you should include the first author’s name followed by et al. ( Et al. is an abbreviation for et alia which means “and others” in Latin.) When you use et al. in a citation, you should not put it in italics.

The researchers studied more than 12,000 students who were interested in STEM fields (LaCosse et al. 8).

  • If you refer to more than one source by the same author in your paper, you should include the title (or a shortened version of the title) in your parenthetical citation so that readers will know which source to look for in your Works Cited list. If you mention the author’s name in the sentence, you only need to include the title and page number. If you mention the author and title in the sentence, you only need to include the page number.

Colleges and universities need to create policies that foster inclusion for low-income students (Jack, Privileged Poor 24).

According to Anthony Jack, colleges and universities need to create policies that foster inclusion for low-income students ( Privileged Poor 24).

As Anthony Jack writes in Privileged Poor, colleges and universities need to create policies that foster inclusion for low-income students (24).

  • If you want to credit multiple authors for making the same point, you can include them all in one parenthetical citation. 

Students who possess cultural capital, measured by proxies like involvement in literature, art, and classical music, tend to perform better in school (Bourdieu and Passeron; Dumais; Orr).

  • If you refer to a source that includes line numbers in the margins, numbered paragraphs, numbered chapters, or numbered sections rather than page numbers, you should include the number in your parenthetical citation, along with “line,” “ch./ chs.,” or “sec./secs.”   You can include stable numbering like chapters even when there are no stable page numbers (as in an e-book). You should separate “line” or other designation from the work’s title or author’s name with a comma.  If the source does not include this type of numbering, you should not include it either.

We learn that when he went to the store to buy clothes for his son, “a frantic inspection of the boys’ department revealed no suits to fit the new-born Button” (Fitzgerald, ch.2).

  • If you are citing a play, you should include the act and scene along with line numbers (for verse) or page numbers, followed by act and scene, (for prose).

Guildenstern tells Hamlet that “there has been much throwing about of brains” (Shakespeare, 2.2. 381-382).

Chris is in this mindset when he says, “a couple minutes, and your whole life changes, that’s it. It’s gone” (Nottage, 13; act 1, scene1).

  • If you are referring to a video or audio recording that contains time stamps, you should include the time in your parenthetical citation to make it easy for your readers to find the part of the recording that you are citing.

In the Stranger Things official trailer, the audience knows that something unusual is going to happen from the moment the boys get on their bicycles to ride off into the night (0:16).

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  • Examples of Commonly Cited Sources
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  • Citing Sources
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A Guide to In-Text Citations: APA, MLA, and Chicago

Matt Ellis

Remembering to cite your sources can be hard, but don’t forget you also have to format them according to the style guide you’re using. MLA, APA, and Chicago all have different methods for in-text citations, so you may have to change your style from paper to paper. It can be a lot to keep track of.

In this guide, we explain how to do in-text citations for MLA, APA, and Chicago, as well as discuss the difference between parenthetical and narrative citations, the two types of in-text citations. But first, let’s take a closer look at what an in-text citation is and when you need it.

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What is an in-text citation?

An in-text citation is a source citation in academic writing that is placed directly in the body text, typically at the end of the related sentence, clause, or phrase. This is an alternative style to footnotes , which cite sources at the bottom of a page, or endnotes , which cite sources at the end of a section, chapter, or entire work.

In-text citations give basic source information like the author, page number, or publication year, but not details like the publisher. The complete details for a source instead go in the full citation in the bibliography at the end of the work.

Exactly which information is required for in-text citations varies whether you’re using APA , MLA , or Chicago style . However, if you’re confused about how to write your in-text citations, you can use Grammarly auto-citations or enter your source in our free citation generator to create citations for you.

Parenthetical vs. narrative citations

There are two types of in-text citations: parenthetical citations and narrative citations.

Parenthetical citations contain only enough information to identify the source, such as the author’s name, placed within parentheses (like this). Interested readers can then find the full citations in the bibliography if they’re interested in tracking down the source.

The character describes his own sacrifices as “a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done” (Dickens, 1859, p. 330).

Narrative citations are when the source details are mentioned directly in the body text. However, any information not included in the text must still be included in a parenthetical citation, so narrative citations and parenthetical citations are often used together.

As Charles Dickens wrote in his 1859 novel A Tale of Two Cities , “It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done” (p. 330).

When is an in-text citation required?

Generally speaking, a source citation is required in academic writing anytime an idea is presented that is not the author’s own. You can use a single in-text citation for long blocks of text like paragraphs, as long as all the information comes from the same source and location (i.e., the same page number or page range).

In-text citations are specifically required for papers written in the APA and MLA formats. If you’re using Chicago, you have a choice between in-text citations, footnotes, or endnotes, although the author still must use one of those to cite their sources.

How to do in-text citations: APA format

An APA in-text citation is written in the author-date style , which includes up to two authors’ last names and the year of publication. If the citation refers to a specific passage, like a direct quote, also include the location, such as a page number or time stamp, with the correct abbreviation ( p. for page , pp. for pages , and paras. for paragraphs ). Separate information with commas.

(Last Name, Year)

(Last Name, Year, p. #)

Example of an in-text citation: APA format

… or to put it another way, “unless we recognize our cognitive limitations, we will be enslaved by them” (Aronson, 1972, p. 161).

… or as Elliot Aronson wrote, “unless we recognize our cognitive limitations, we will be enslaved by them” (1972, p. 161).

How to do in-text citations: MLA format

While an APA in-text citation uses the year of publication, an MLA in-text citation requires only the author’s last name as well as a page number (if available). No commas are needed to separate the information, nor are abbreviations required for words like page .

(Last Name)

(Last Name #)

Example of an in-text citation: MLA format

. . . To summarize, “in every philosophy there is a point where the philosopher’s ‘conviction’ steps onto the stage” (Nietzsche 9).

. . . As Nietzsche summarized, “in every philosophy there is a point where the philosopher’s ‘conviction’ steps onto the stage” (9).

How to do in-text citations: Chicago format

Remember that in the Chicago format, in-text citations are optional—unlike in APA and MLA, where they are required. If you choose to use in-text citations instead of footnotes or endnotes, Chicago in-text citations follow an author-date system with the year of publication, just like citations in APA do. Also, like APA, Chicago in-text citations only use page numbers for direct quotes.

However, Chicago’s author-date format follows a couple of different rules. First, no abbreviations are needed for words like pages . Second, commas are used only to separate the year from page numbers but not to separate the author from the year.

Note that for personal communications, like an in-person interview or citing AI in Chicago , you also include the day and month of the conversation.

(Last Name Year)

(Last Name Year, #)

Example of an in-text citation: Chicago format

. . . Paranoia was common with the Turkish emirs, because “rare indeed was the emir who died in bed” (Maalouf 1984, 22).

. . . Paranoia was common with the Turkish emirs, because as Maalouf puts it, “rare indeed was the emir who died in bed” (1984, 22).

In-text citation FAQs

An in-text citation is a source citation in academic writing that is placed directly in the body text, typically at the end of the related sentence, clause, or phrase. This is an alternative style to footnotes or endnotes.

In-text citations are required when writing papers in either the APA or MLA formats, although they are optional for the Chicago format. Generally for all formats, a citation is required every time you present an idea that is not your own in a formal piece of writing.

How does a parenthetical citation differ from a narrative citation?

Parenthetical citations place the source’s information within parentheses, while narrative citations credit the source directly in the body text as part of the narrative. Any information not mentioned in the narrative citation, such as a page number or year of publication, must still be written in a parenthetical citation.

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In-text Citation Introduction

What is an in-text citation.

In APA Style, an in-text citation tells the reader where you got any and all information that did not come from inside your own head.  This is more obvious when you are directly quoting from a source, but it is also needed when you have summarized or paraphrased from a source and even if you got an idea from somewhere else.  In order to avoid plagiarism, it is extremely important that you cite all the words and ideas that you got from somewhere else. To learn more about plagiarism and how to avoid it, see Ethically Use Sources   and Plagiarism guidance from APA.

When citing sources in an APA Style paper, APA uses the author-date citation system. In this system, the writer includes the author and date within the body of the paper and includes a corresponding reference in the reference list. This citation system allows the reader to identify sources used in the paper by reviewing the author and date within the text of the paper, and then easily locate the corresponding reference in the alphabetical reference list. 

 There are two types of in-text citations that are used within the body of an APA paper to help the reader locate the corresponding reference in the reference list. T he two types of in-text citations are  parenthetical citations and narrative citations . A narrative citation is a type of citation where the author's name is used within the text of the sentence; whereas, a parenthetical citation is a type of citation where the author and date are in parentheses at the end of the sentence.   

How do I create narrative or parenthetical citations?

In  APA Style, cite your sources by putting the information about the source in parentheses at the end of a sentence or in the text of your paper as opposed to a footnote where the source information is at the bottom of the page or an endnote where it goes at the end of your paper.  There are slight differences depending on which style you are using.

Give the author’s last name and the publication year.

Only use page numbers or paragraph numbers for a direct quote.

Make sure the source information in parentheses matches with your reference in the reference list. 

The punctuation for the sentence goes AFTER the parentheses.

For a quote less than forty words  put quotation marks around the quoted words. For sources with designated page numbers - if the author and date are introduced in the sentence as a narrative citation, then add the page number in parentheses at the end of the quote. If the source does not have designated page numbers, then add the paragraph number, heading, or a combination of both the heading and paragraph number. If the author and date are not introduced as part of the text, then include the author and date with the page or paragraph number. The period should come after the parentheses.

If your quote is more than forty words , set it off in a block text by beginning the block quote on a new line, indent 0.5 inches (one-half), and do not add quotation marks around the block quote.  At the end of the quote put the period after the last word of the sentence followed by the parentheses. For more information, see Block Quote .

Additional Resources

  • Basic Principles of Citation Created by APA. This resource provides fundamental information about the basics of citations.
  • Appropriate Level of Citations Created by APA - learn about how many references should be used in a paper and how many times to cite the same source in a paragraph.
  • Paraphrasing This source provides the basics about paraphrasing, including the use of long paraphrases.
  • Quotations Created by APA - learn about creating quotations for short quotes, block quotes, quotes for sources without page number, and more!

More Information

For more information about parenthetical and narrative citations, see pages 253-278 of the APA Manual 7th edition for further explanation and examples.

Basic In-Text Citation Styles

The basic in-text citation style for adding sources to the body of an APA style paper is to add the author and the date. There are a number of ways that can be done to aid in the readability and flow of the paper. However, the basic style for different authors types are listed in the table below.  

Printable version of the basic in-text citation styles are available here:

  • Basic In-Text Citation Styles - Google Doc version 
  • Basic In-Text Citation Styles - PDF version

 Note.   Adapted from the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association , by the American Psychological Association, 2020, Table 8.1, p. 266 ( https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000 ). Copyright 2020 by the American Psychological Association.  * Define the abbreviation for a group author only once in the text, choosing either the parenthetical or narrative citation. Once introduced, use only the abbreviation for all mentions of the group author in the text of your paper.

In-text Citation Examples

There are a number of ways that parenthetical and narrative citations can be added to the body of an APA style paper. Using variety helps with the readability and flow of the paper. The following table provides a few examples of common ways parenthetical and narrative citations are used for quotes and paraphrases.

For additional examples, see the following printable handouts:

  • In-text Citation Examples - Google Doc version
  • In-text Citation Examples - PDF version

Variations in APA References

See the following webpages for variations in your APA references:

  • Sources with Multiple Authors
  • Group Author
  • Date Format
  • Periodical Information
  • Multiple Sources with the Same Author & Same Date
  • Secondary Sources
  • Personal Communication
  • Missing Information

Variation - Multiple Sources in Same Citation?

Citing multiple works in the same citation.

Several studies report ... (D'Esposito & Gardner, 1999; Griffiths & Brophy, 2005; Kim & Sin, 2007).  

Explanation

Multiple sources within the same parenthetical citation should be listed alphabetically by author. Separate each citation with a semicolon.  

For more information about citing multiple words in the same citation, see Section 8.12 on pages 263-264 fo the APA Manual, 7th edition.

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What Is In-Text Citation?

In APA, in-text citations are inserted in the text of your research paper to briefly document the source of your information. Brief in-text citations point the reader to more complete information in the Reference list.

When using APA format, follow the author-date method of in-text citation. In the author-date method, the writer includes the author and date within the body of the paper and includes a corresponding reference in the Reference list. This method allows the reader to identify sources used in the paper by reviewing the author and date within the text of the paper, and then easily locate the corresponding reference in the alphabetical Reference list.

Create an in-text citation whenever you quote another work, or whenever you paraphrase another work in your own words.

In-text Citations Have Two Formats

  • Parenthetical - the author name and publication date (or equivalent information) appear in parentheses. For example: Falsely balanced news coverage can distort the public's perception of expert consensus on an issue (Burnside, 2016).
  • Narrative - the author name appears in running text and the date appears in parentheses immediately after the author name. For example: Burnside (2016) noted the dangers of falsely balanced news coverage.

If you are referring to an idea from another work (paraphrasing or summarizing) but NOT directly quoting the material, you only have to make reference to the author and year of publication and not the page number in your in-text reference.

If you are directly quoting or borrowing from another work, you should include the page number at the end of the parenthetical citation. For example, (Burnside, 2016, p. 199).

In-Text Citation Styles

The table below shows several examples of parenthetical and narrative citations.

Paraphrasing and Quoting: What Is the Difference?

There are two ways to integrate sources into your assignment:

  • Paraphrasing  is used to show that you understand what the author wrote. You must reword the passage, expressing the ideas in your own words, and not just change a few words here and there. Make sure to also include an in-text citation.
  • Quoting is copying a selection from someone else's work, phrasing it exactly as it was originally written. When quoting, place quotation marks (" ") around the selected passage to show where the quote begins and where it ends. Make sure to include an in-text citation.

Signal Phrases

If you refer to the author's name in a sentence, you do not have to include the name again as part of your in-text citation; instead, include the date after the name and the page number (if there is one) at the end of the quotation or the paraphrased section. For example:

Hunt (2011) explains that mother-infant attachment has been a leading topic of developmental research since John Bowlby found that "children raised in institutions were deficient in emotional and personality development" (p. 358).

Short Quotations

If a quotation consists of fewer than 40 words , treat it as a short quotation:

  • Incorporate the quote into the text and enclose it within double quotation marks.
  • Include the author, year of publication, and page number for the reference.
  • For example, Smith (2019) demonstrated how to "..." (p. 112).
  • For example, "..." (Smith, 2019, p. 112).

Long (Block) Quotations

If a quotation contains 40 words or more , treat it as a long (block) quotation:

  • Do not use quotation marks to enclose a block quotation.
  • Start a block quotation on a new line and indent the whole block 0.5 inches from the left margin.
  • If there are additional paragraphs within the quotation, indent the first line of each subsequent paragraph an additional 0.5 inches.
  • Double-space the entire block quotation; do not add extra space before or after it.
  • Either (1) cite the source in parentheses after the quotation's final punctuation, or (2) cite the author and year in the narrative before the quotation and place only the page number in parentheses after the quotation's final punctuation. Do NOT add a period after the closing parenthesis in either case.
  • See section 8.27 in the Publication Manual for examples of the block quotation.

Direct Quotation Without Page Numbers

When you quote from electronic sources that do not provide page numbers (e.g., webpages, websites, some e-books), provide readers with another way of locating the quoted passage. Use any of the following approaches that will best help readers find the quotation:

  • Provide a heading or a section name.
  • Provide a paragraph number (count the paragraphs manually if they are not numbered).
  • Provide a heading or section name in combination with a paragraph number.

In-Text Citation for More than One Source

If you would like to cite more than one source within the same in-text citation, simply record the in-text citations as normal and separate them with a semi-colon. List the sources alphabetically by author's last name or first word used from the title if no author is given, in the same order they would appear in the Reference list. For example:

(Jones, 2015; Smith, 2014). 

( Beckworth, 2016;  "Nursing,"  2015).

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Apa quick citation guide.

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Using In-text Citation

Include an in-text citation when you refer to, summarize, paraphrase, or quote from another source. For every in-text citation in your paper, there must be a corresponding entry in your reference list.

APA in-text citation style uses the author's last name and the year of publication, for example: (Field, 2005). For direct quotations, include the page number as well, for example: (Field, 2005, p. 14). For sources such as websites and e-books that have no page numbers , use a paragraph number, for example: (Field, 2005, para. 1). More information on direct quotation of sources without pagination is given on the APA Style and Grammar Guidelines web page.

Example paragraph with in-text citation

A few researchers in the linguistics field have developed training programs designed to improve native speakers' ability to understand accented speech (Derwing et al., 2002; Thomas, 2004). Their training techniques are based on the research described above indicating that comprehension improves with exposure to non-native speech.   Derwing et al. (2002) conducted their training with students preparing to be social workers, but note that other professionals who work with non-native speakers could benefit from a similar program.

Derwing, T. M., Rossiter, M. J., & Munro, M. J. (2002). Teaching native speakers to listen to foreign-accented speech.  Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development , 23 (4), 245-259.

Thomas, H. K. (2004).  Training strategies for improving listeners' comprehension of foreign-accented speech  (Doctoral dissertation). University of Colorado, Boulder.

Citing Web Pages In Text

Cite web pages in text as you would any other source, using the author and date if known. Keep in mind that the author may be an organization rather than a person. For sources with no author, use the title in place of an author.

For sources with no date use n.d. (for no date) in place of the year: (Smith, n.d.). For more information on citations for sources with no date or other missing information see the page on missing reference information on the APA Style and Grammar Guidelines web page. 

Below are examples of using in-text citation with web pages.

Web page with author:

In-text citation

Heavy social media use can be linked to depression and other mental disorders in teens (Asmelash, 2019).

Reference entry

Asmelash, L. (2019, August 14). Social media use may harm teens' mental health by disrupting positive activities, study says . CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/13/health/social-media-mental-health-trnd/index.html

Web page with organizational author:

More than 300 million people worldwide are affected by depression (World Health Organization, 2018).

World Health Organization. (2018, March 22).  Depression . https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/depression

Web page with no date:

Establishing regular routines, such as exercise, can help survivors of disasters recover from trauma (American Psychological Association [APA], n.d.).

American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Recovering emotionally from disaste r. http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/recovering-disasters.aspx

General Guidelines

In-text references should immediately follow the title, word, or phrase to which they are directly relevant, rather than appearing at the end of long clauses or sentences. In-text references should always precede punctuation marks. Below are examples of using in-text citation.

Author's name in parentheses:

One study found that the most important element in comprehending non-native speech is familiarity with the topic (Gass & Varonis, 1984).

Author's name part of narrative:

Gass and Varonis (1984) found that the most important element in comprehending non-native speech is familiarity with the topic.

Group as author: First citation: (American Psychological Association [APA], 2015) Subsequent citation: (APA, 2015)

Multiple works: (separate each work with semi-colons)

Research shows that listening to a particular accent improves comprehension of accented speech in general (Gass & Varonis, 1984; Krech Thomas, 2004).

Direct quote: (include page number and place quotation marks around the direct quote)

One study found that “the listener's familiarity with the topic of discourse greatly facilitates the interpretation of the entire message” (Gass & Varonis, 1984, p. 85).

Gass and Varonis (1984) found that “the listener’s familiarity with the topic of discourse greatly facilitates the interpretation of the entire message” (p. 85).

Note:  For direct quotations of more than 40 words , display the quote as an indented block of text without quotation marks and include the authors’ names, year, and page number in parentheses at the end of the quote. For example:

This suggests that familiarity with nonnative speech in general, although it is clearly not as important a variable as topic familiarity, may indeed have some effect. That is, prior experience with nonnative speech, such as that gained by listening to the reading, facilitates comprehension. (Gass & Varonis, 1984, p. 77)

Works by Multiple Authors

APA style has specific rules for citing works by multiple authors. Use the following guidelines to determine how to correctly cite works by multiple authors in text. For more information on citing works by multiple authors see the APA Style and Grammar Guidelines page on in-text citation .

Note: When using multiple authors' names as part of your narrative, rather than in parentheses, always spell out the word and. For multiple authors' names within a parenthetic citation, use &.

One author: (Field, 2005)

Two authors: (Gass & Varonis, 1984)

Three or more authors:   (Tremblay et al., 2010)

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There are two basic ways to cite someone's work in text.

In narrative citations , the authors are part of the sentence - you are referring to them by name. For example:

Becker (2013) defined gamification as giving the mechanics of principles of a game to other activities.

Cho and Castañeda (2019) noted that game-like activities are frequently used in language classes that adopt mobile and computer technologies.

In parenthetical citations , the authors are not mentioned in the sentence, just the content of their work. Place the citation at the end of the sentence or clause where you have used their information. The author's names are placed in the brackets (parentheses) with the rest of the citation details:

Gamification involves giving the mechanics or principles of a game to another activity (Becker, 2013).

Increasingly, game-like activities are frequently used in language classes that adopt mobile and computer technologies (Cho & Castañeda, 2019).

Using references in text

For APA, you use the authors' surnames only and the year in text. If you are using a direct quote, you will also need to use a page number.

Narrative citations:

If an in-text citation has the authors' names as part of the sentence (that is, outside of brackets) place the year and page numbers in brackets immediately after the name, and use 'and' between the authors' names:  Jones and Smith (2020, p. 29)

Parenthetical citations:

If an in-text citation has the authors' names in brackets use "&" between the authors' names :  (Jones & Smith, 2020, p. 29).

Note: Some lecturers want page numbers for all citations, while some only want page numbers with direct quotes. Check with your lecturer to see what you need to do for your assignment. If the direct quote starts on one page and finishes on another, include the page range (Jones & Smith, 2020, pp. 29-30).

1 author

Smith (2020) found that "the mice disappeared within minutes" (p. 29).

The author stated "the mice disappeared within minutes" (Smith, 2020, p. 29).

Jones and Smith (2020) found that "the mice disappeared within minutes" (p. 29).

The authors stated "the mice disappeared within minutes" (Jones & Smith, 2020, p. 29).

For 3 or more authors , use the first author and "et al." for all in-text citations

Green et al.'s (2019) findings indicated that the intervention was not based on evidence from clinical trials.

It appears the intervention was not based on evidence from clinical trials (Green et al., 2019).

If you cite more than one work in the same set of brackets in text , your citations will go in the same order in which they will appear in your reference list (i.e. alphabetical order, then oldest to newest for works by the same author) and be separated by a semi-colon. E.g.:

  • (Corbin, 2015; James & Waterson, 2017; Smith et al., 2016).
  • (Corbin, 2015; 2018)
  • (Queensland Health, 2017a; 2017b)
  • Use only the   surnames   of your authors   in text   (e.g., Smith & Brown, 2014) - however, if you have two authors with the same surname who have published in the same year, then you will need to use their initials to distinguish between the two of them (e.g., K. Smith, 2014; N. Smith, 2014).   Otherwise, do not use initials in text .

If your author isn't an "author".

Whoever is in the "author" position of the refence in the references list is treated like an author in text. So, for example, if you had an edited book and the editors of the book were in the "author" position at the beginning of the reference, you would treat them exactly the same way as you would an author - do not include any other information. The same applies for works where the "author" is an illustrator, producer, composer, etc.

  • Summarising
  • Paraphrasing

citation in text sentence

It is always a good idea to keep direct quotes to a minimum. Quoting doesn't showcase your writing ability - all it shows is that you can read (plus, lecturers hate reading assignments with a lot of quotes).

You should only use direct quotes if the exact wording is important , otherwise it is better to paraphrase.

If you feel a direct quote is appropriate, try to keep only the most important part of the quote and avoid letting it take up the entire sentence - always start or end the sentence with your own words to tie the quote back into your assignment. Long quotes (more than 40 words) are called "block quotes" and are rarely used in most subject areas (they mostly belong in Literature, History or similar subjects). Each referencing style has rules for setting out a block quote. Check with your style guide .

It has been observed that "pink fairy armadillos seem to be extremely susceptible to stress" (Superina, 2011, p. 6).

NB! Most referencing styles will require a page number to tell readers where to find the original quote.

citation in text sentence

It is a type of paraphrasing, and you will be using this frequently in your assignments, but note that summarising another person's work or argument isn't showing how you make connections or understand implications. This is preferred to quoting, but where possible try to go beyond simply summarising another person's information without "adding value".

And, remember, the words must be your own words . If you use the exact wording from the original at any time, those words must be treated as a direct quote.

All information must be cited, even if it is in your own words.

Superina (2011) observed a captive pink fairy armadillo, and noticed any variation in its environment could cause great stress.

NB! Some lecturers and citation styles want page numbers for everything you cite, others only want page numbers for direct quotes. Check with your lecturer.

citation in text sentence

Paraphrasing often involves commenting about the information at the same time, and this is where you can really show your understanding of the topic. You should try to do this within every paragraph in the body of your assignment.

When paraphrasing, it is important to remember that using a thesaurus to change every other word isn't really paraphrasing. It's patchwriting , and it's a kind of plagiarism (as you are not creating original work).

Use your own voice! You sound like you when you write - you have a distinctive style that is all your own, and when your "tone" suddenly changes for a section of your assignment, it looks highly suspicious. Your lecturer starts to wonder if you really wrote that part yourself. Make sure you have genuinely thought about how *you* would write this information, and that the paraphrasing really is in your own words.

Always cite your sources! Even if you have drawn from three different papers to write this one sentence, which is completely in your own words, you still have to cite your sources for that sentence (oh, and excellent work, by the way).

Captive pink fairy armadillos do not respond well to changes in their environment and can be easily stressed (Superina, 2011).

NB! Some lecturers and citation styles want page numbers for all citations, others only want them for direct quotes. Check with your lecturer.

This example paragraph contains mouse-over text. Run your mouse over the paragraph to see notes on formatting.

Excerpt from "The Big Fake Essay"

You can read the entire Big Fake Essay on the Writing Guide. It includes more details about academic writing and the formatting of essays.

  • The Big Fake Essay
  • Academic Writing Workshop

When you have multiple authors with the same surname who published in the same year:

If your authors have different initials, then include the initials:

As A. Smith (2016) noted...

...which was confirmed by J.G. Smith's (2016) study.

(A. Smith, 2016; J. G. Smith, 2016).

If your authors have the same initials, then include the name:

As Adam Smith noted...

...which was confirmed by Amy Smith's (2016) study.

(Adam Smith, 2016; Amy Smith, 2016).

Note: In your reference list, you would include the author's first name in [square brackets] after their initials:

Smith, A. [Adam]. (2016)...

Smith, A. [Amy]. (2016)...

When you have multiple works by the same author in the same year:

In your reference list, you will have arranged the works alphabetically by title (see the page on Reference Lists for more information). This decides which reference is "a", "b", "c", and so on. You cite them in text accordingly:

Asthma is the most common disease affecting the Queensland population (Queensland Health, 2017b). However, many people do not know how to manage their asthma symptoms (Queensland Health, 2017a).

When you have multiple works by the same author in different years:

Asthma is the most common disease affecting the Queensland population (Queensland Health, 2017, 2018). 

When you do not have an author, and your reference list entry begins with the title:

Use the title in place of the author's name, and place it in "quotation marks" if it is the title of an article or book chapter, or in italics if the title would go in italics in your reference list:

During the 2017 presidential inauguration, there were some moments of awkwardness ("Mrs. Obama Says ‘Lovely Frame’", 2018).

Note: You do not need to use the entire title, but a reasonable portion so that it does not end too abruptly - "Mrs. Obama Says" would be too abrupt, but the full title "Mrs. Obama Says 'Lovely Frame' in Box During Awkward Handoff" is unecessarily long. You should also use title case for titles when referring to them in the text of your work.

If there are no page numbers, you can include any of the following in the in-text citation:

  • "On Australia Day 1938 William Cooper ... joined forces with Jack Patten and William Ferguson ... to hold a Day of Mourning to draw attention to the losses suffered by Aboriginal people at the hands of the whiteman" (National Museum of Australia, n.d., para. 4).
  • "in 1957 news of a report by the Western Australian government provided the catalyst for a reform movement" (National Museum of Australia, n.d., The catalyst for change section, para. 1)
  • "By the end of this year of intense activity over 100,000 signatures had been collected" (National Museum of Australia, n.d., "petition gathering", para. 1).

When you are citing a classical work, like the Bible or the Quran:

References to works of scripture or other classical works are treated differently to regular citations. See the APA Blog's entry for more details:

Happy Holiday Citing: Citation of Classical Works . (Please note, this document is from the 6th edition of APA).

In text citation:

If the name of the organisation first appears in a narrative citation, include the abbreviation before the year in brackets, separated with a comma. Use the official acronym/abreviation if you can find it. Otherwise check with your lecturer for permission to create your own acronyms.

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS, 2013) shows that...

The Queensland Department of Education (DoE, 2020) encourages students to... (please note, Queensland isn't part of the department's name, it is used in the sentence to provide clarity)

If the name of the organisation first appears in a citation in brackets, include the abbreviation in square brackets.

(Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS], 2013)

(Department of Education [DoE], 2020)

In the second and subsequent citations, only include the abbreviation or acronym

ABS  (2013) found that ...

DoE (2020) instructs teachers to...

This is disputed ( ABS , 2013).

Resources are designed to support "emotional learning pedagogy" (DoE, 2020)

In the reference list:

Use the full name of the organisation in the reference list.

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2017).  Australia's welfare 2017 . https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-welfare/australias-welfare-2017/contents/table-of-contents

Department of Education. (2020, April 22). Respectful relationships education program . Queensland Government. https://education.qld.gov.au/curriculum/stages-of-schooling/respectful-relationships

Academically, it is better to find the original source and reference that.

If you do have to quote a secondary source:

  • In the text you must cite the original author of the quote and the year the original quote was written as well as the source you read it in. If you do not know the year the original citation was written, omit the year.
  • In the reference list you only list the source that you actually read.

Wembley (1997, as cited in Olsen, 1999) argues that impending fuel shortages ...

Wembley claimed that "fuel shortages are likely" (1997, as cited in Olsen, 1999, pp. 10-12).

Some have noted that fuel shortages are probable in the future (Wembley, 1997, as cited in Olsen, 1999).

Olsen, M. (1999).  My career.  Gallimard.

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APA 7th Edition Guide

In-text citations.

  • APA Paper Basics
  • Preventing Plagiarism
  • Academic Integrity Video
  • Setting Up Your Paper
  • eTextbooks and Course Materials
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  • Additional Resources from the APA
  • Creating In-Text Citations

Formatting In-Text Citations

  • Placing In-Text Citations in a Paper
  • Quotations & Block Quotations
  • Paraphrases & Summaries

Why Cite Resources?

Citing sources in the body of a research paper tells the reader that outside source material was used in the sentence where the in-text citation appears.  This lets the reader know it is not their original work or thought. Citing sources:

  • Lets the reader know whose research or ideas or theories influenced the paper's author
  • Provides authority and support for the positions taken in the paper
  • Acknowledges others in the field by giving credit for their original work

In-text citations also serve as finding tools. Because in-text citations are composed of the first two elements of the reference for the resource (author's last name and publication date), it provides the reader with enough information to find the resource in the paper’s References list. In other words, in-text citations and references match!

             

What Needs to be Cited?

According to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.),

" Plagiarism is the act of presenting the words, ideas, or images of another as one's own; it denies authors credit where credit is due" (American Psychological Association, 2020, p. 21).

In other words, using information from source material must be cited in the text and in the Reference list of APA-style papers.  This includes using others:

  • Words  - Quotations
  • Ideas  - Summaries, Paraphrases
  • Data  - Numbers, Data
  • Images   - Pictures, Charts, Graphs

View examples of references and companion in-text citations in the References page s in the APA Guide.

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000

Creating In-Text Citations: Paraphrases and Summaries

(Author, Date)       

APA style uses the Author-Date citation system. In-text citations appear in the text of the paper to let readers know that information in the sentence where the in-text citation appears was taken from source material. They are composed of the first two elements of the corresponding reference (Author, Date)  for the resource and are designed to be short to avoid disrupting the flow of the paper.

There are two types of in-text citation:

  • Parenthetical

Parenthetical In-Text Citation

This is the most common form of in-text citation.  It is composed of the author(s) last name and the year of publication. It is called a parenthetical citation because this information is enclosed in parentheses. The parenthetical citation appears at the end of the sentence where information from the source was used and, because it is a part of the sentence, appears before the period. See the example of a parenthetical citation below:

Students reported they prefer writing on a computer rather than with paper and pen  (Cheung, 2016) .

Narrative In-Text Citation

The narrative citation is used when the author's name is used in a sentence. In this case, the year of publication enclosed in parentheses follows the author's name in the sentence. See the example of a narrative citation below:

In his survey, Cheung  (2016)  found that undergraduate writers produced higher quality writing when composing on a computer rather than with paper and pen.

In-Text Citations and References are Connected and Match!

In-text citations have two functions. First, they alert the reader that information from source material was used in a sentence where the in-text citation appears. It lets the reader know who's work influenced the writer's position or conclusions on the topic. Second, it serves as a finding tool so that the reader can quickly find the full reference in the reference list. The reference and in-text citation need to match. The example below illustrates how these match:

undefined

In-text citations follow the Author-Date pattern. In-text citations can appear at the end of a sentence (parenthetical in-text citation) or in the text of the sentence if the author's name is incorporated (narrative in-text citation). If a work is by three or more authors, list the first author's last name followed by the phrase "et al." and the year of publication.

Examples of in-text citations for works by one author, two authors, three or more authors, and group authors appear below:

Work by One Author

    Parenthetical in-text citation              (Davis, 2019).

    Narrative in-text citation                     According to Davis (2019),...

Work by Two Authors

    Parenthetical in-text citation              (Ryan & Cooper, 2020).

    Narrative in-text citation                     In the study conducted by Ryan and Cooper (2020),...

Work by Three or More Authors

   Parenthetical in-text citation              (Morrison et al., 2018).

    Narrative in-text citation                     In the Morrison et al. (2018) study,...

Work by Group Author

    Parenthetical in-text citation

  • First citation                                 (American Nurses Association [ANA], 2019).
  • Subsequent citation                     (ANA, 2019).

   Narrative in-text citation

  • First citation                                  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2020) report...
  • Subsequent citation                     According to the CDC (2020), recommendations include...                      

       

Placing In-Text Citations

In-text citations follow the Author-Date pattern and appear in the sentence where information from source material is used.  Placement of in-text citations vary depending on whether the author(s) name is incorporated into the sentence (narrative citation) or if the author(s) is not named directly in the sentence (parenthetical citation). In-text citations are a part of the sentence and appear before the ending period.

Parenthetical Citations

A parenthetical citation appears when information from source material is used, but the author(s) name is not included in the sentence text. This type of in-text citation is composed of the author(s) last name comma year of publication enclosed in parentheses. It is placed at the end of the sentence before the ending period.  

Narrative Citations

A narrative citation is used when the author(s) name is included in the sentence text. In this case, the year of publication is enclosed in parentheses and appears after the author(s) name.

In his survey,  Cheung  (2016)   found that undergraduate writers produced higher quality writing when composing on a computer rather than with paper and pen.

Creating In-Text Citations: Quotations

Author-Date-#   pattern:

When you copy a portion of the text directly from a source, it is called a  direct quotation . You will enclose the quote in quotation marks, and your citation will contain the last name of the author(s), the year of publication, and page number of where the quote can be found in the source:

If you are using a source that has  pages , then you will use an abbreviated p.:

(Smith, 2018, p. 4).

If you are using a source that does not have pages (a website), then you will use a  paragraph number . You will count down to the paragraph where your quote is located. You will use an abbreviated para.: 

(Wilson & Miller, 2019, para. 2).

Parenthetical In-Text Citation:

If the author’s name is not incorporated in your sentence include the author’s last name, year of publication, and page or paragraph number separated with commas and enclosed in parentheses at the end of the quotation: 

Many writers appreciate the “ability to edit instantaneously”  (Smith, 2008, p. 72)  when writing in pencil or on a computer.

If you incorporate the author’s name into your sentence follow the author's name with the year of publication in parentheses and include the location in parentheses directly following the quote:

In his survey,  Miller (2006)  found that some writers like the sound “of graphite turning ideas into reality”  (p. 72)  when writing in pencil. 

Quotations of 40 or More Words Require Block Format

Quotations of 40 or more words included in a paper are presented in block format. The quotation begins on a new line and the whole quotation is indented 1/2 inch from the left margin. No quotation marks are used and the citation appears at the end of the quotation after the final punctuation mark. In fact, this is the only situation where a parenthetical reference appears outside of a period!

Writing Tip:    Block quotations should be used sparingly.   Remember that your voice is important -- after all it is your paper! Instead of using a block quotation, consider taking pieces of the larger quote and either paraphrase them (put their ideas into your own words and provide an in-text citation) or include precise, shorter quotations from the larger quote, integrated into your own sentences. Either approach will help to ensure that you (the writer) have engaged with information in the quote and directly applied it to the topic of the paper.

Here is an example of a block quotation. Note: Normally the passage would be double spaced but, due to space restrictions, this example is single spaced.

Place direct quotations longer than 40 words in a free-standing block of typewritten lines, and omit quotation marks.  Start the quotation on a new line, indented 1/2 inch from the left margin, i.e., in the same place you would begin a new paragraph.  Type the entire quotation on the new margin, and indent the first line of any subsequent paragraph within the quotation 1/2 inch from the new margin.  Maintain double-spacing throughout.  The parenthetical reference should come after the closing punctuation mark. (Angeli, et al., 2018, para. 27)

To create a block quotation, use the block indent button:

citation in text sentence

Although paraphrasing information is preferable, there are specific situations when a quotation can be an effective choice.  For example:

  • Including a famous or familiar quotation can be effective when introducing a topic or in setting the tone of a paper.
  • Providing the words of an expert can bolster your position or argument.
  • In rare instances, it may be difficult to paraphrase a short passage without changing the meaning; including a precise quotation may be preferable.
  • Sources of facts and statistics--including those presented in tables or charts -- must be documented in your paper using in-text citations and references.
  • Including a quotation that opposes your position can be an effective method to prove why your position on the issue is preferable.

Paraphrases and Summaries

Author-Date  pattern:

When you  summarize ,  paraphrase , or otherwise refer to an idea, concept, or fact gained through your research, your citation will contain the last name of the author(s) and the year of publication:

(Smith, 2018)

(Wilson & Miller, 2019)

Qualities of a "Good" Paraphrase

Academic writing often requires students to integrate information found in source material.  There are various ways to do this; quotations, summaries, or paraphrases.  A  paraphrase  is a detailed restatement in your own words of main ideas from the portion of the source that is paraphrased.

Creating a well-written paraphrase can be a challenging skill to learn.  Understanding the qualities of a "good" paraphrase can help. A well-written paraphrase includes the following qualities:

  • All of the main details in the original appear in the paraphrase
  • The paraphrase does not change the original author's meaning.
  • ​The paraphrase is roughly the same length or shorter than the original. 
  • ​ The paraphrase is written using language, tone, and style that is your own.
  • ​ Paraphrased material must include both an in-text citation and a reference in the References list.

Example of a well-written paraphrase:

Original Passage:

University of Tulsa psychologist Judy Berry studied seventy-three Oklahoma eighth graders who had taken a parenting course.  For ten days, each student had to care for a ten-pound sack of flour as if it were a baby.  Berry's research on her young subjects suggests the course worked.  The teenagers in the study had a sounder sense of parental responsibility than they did before they took the course.

Harper, K. S. (1996). 'Flour babies' surrogacy teaches eight-graders parenting skills.  Journal of Child and Family Studies, 25 (4), 25-28.

Example of a Good Paraphrase:

Extended parental role-playing can actually increase an adolescent's awareness of parental responsibilities as shown by psychologist Judy Berry's study involving eighth grade students (Harper, 1996).

Avoid Patch Writing!

Students learning how to paraphrase may inadvertently "patch write."  Patch writing occurs when a writer uses a passage from source material and changes a few words and phrases before including the passage in a paper or assignment.  Not only is this  "bad" paraphrasing but it is also a form of plagiarism.  View the example below to gain a better understanding of patch writing:

University of Tulsa psychologist Judy Berry studied seventy-three Oklahoma eighth graders who had taken a parenting course.  For ten days, each student had to care for a ten-pound sack of flour as if it were a baby.  Berry's research on her young subjects suggests the course worked.  The teenagers in the study had a sounder sense of parental responsibility than they did before they took the course.

Patchwriting Example:

University of Tulsa psychologist Judy Berry  studied  eighth graders who had taken a parenting course.  Students had to treat  a ten-pound sack of flour as if it were a baby.   The results of Berry's study suggested  that teenagers in the study had a  better understanding  of parental responsibility than they did before they took the course  (Harper, 1996).

TIP:   Notice how the bolded phrases are identical to the original.  Even though there is an in-text citation, patchwriting is still a form of plagiarism.

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In-text citations

In-text citation examples, personal communications.

  • Articles from Journals, Magazines and Newspapers
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A parenthetical citation includes the last name(s) of the author(s) followed by a comma and the page number(s). The parenthetical citation can be at the end of a sentence or may be in the middle of a sentence if needed to be clear on what is being cited.

A company should always do what is right regardless of the consequences, but doing the right thing tends to result in the best outcomes (Dunn, 2016).

Because doing the right thing is always the best choice (Dunn, 2016), corporate leaders must carefully develop a strong ethical compass.

A narrative citation is used when the author’s name is part of the text. In these cases, the author’s name does not need to be repeated in the parenthetical reference.

Dunn (2016) asserts the view that though a company should do what is right regardless of the potential consequences, ethical actions often produce the best possible outcomes for all (p. 22).

For more on in-text citations of a paraphrase, see opens new window https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/citations/paraphrasing

When quoting a source directly, page numbers are used to indicate the location of the quoted text. Though page numbers are not required for a paraphrase, it may be helpful to include page numbers to indicate the location of the paraphrased text. If the source has no page numbers, other location indicators, such as paragraph or section numbers may be used.

“Fundraising is an art and a science” (Garry, 2017, p. 99).

It is hard to predict how donors will respond to an appeal, but in time fundraisers learn to trust their intuition regarding the best approach (Garry, 2017, p. 99).

For more on citing quotations, See opens new window https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/citations/quotations

Personal communications are sources that can not be recovered or accessed by the reader because they are not published. This includes emails, texts, conversations (in person, by phone or video conference, etc.), online chats, interviews, classroom lectures, memos, letters, etc. If the information is not available from any recoverable (published) source, it can be cited as a personal communication. Because the reader can not access the information in personal communications, they will not be included in the reference list, but cited in the text only.

In an interview, Benjamin Colby (personal communication, July 25, 2015) mentioned . . . .

A. J. Montoya (personal communication, February 4, 2020) emailed detailed financials to the research team . . . .

In a lecture on November 1, 2021, to a BUS 326 class, Dr. Dash said . . . .

More information is available on the APA Style website .

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MLA In-Text Citations: The Basics

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MLA (Modern Language Association) style is most commonly used to write papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities. This resource, updated to reflect the MLA Handbook (9 th ed.), offers examples for the general format of MLA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the Works Cited page.

Guidelines for referring to the works of others in your text using MLA style are covered throughout the  MLA Handbook  and in chapter 7 of the  MLA Style Manual . Both books provide extensive examples, so it's a good idea to consult them if you want to become even more familiar with MLA guidelines or if you have a particular reference question.

Basic in-text citation rules

In MLA Style, referring to the works of others in your text is done using parenthetical citations . This method involves providing relevant source information in parentheses whenever a sentence uses a quotation or paraphrase. Usually, the simplest way to do this is to put all of the source information in parentheses at the end of the sentence (i.e., just before the period). However, as the examples below will illustrate, there are situations where it makes sense to put the parenthetical elsewhere in the sentence, or even to leave information out.

General Guidelines

  • The source information required in a parenthetical citation depends (1) upon the source medium (e.g. print, web, DVD) and (2) upon the source’s entry on the Works Cited page.
  • Any source information that you provide in-text must correspond to the source information on the Works Cited page. More specifically, whatever signal word or phrase you provide to your readers in the text must be the first thing that appears on the left-hand margin of the corresponding entry on the Works Cited page.

In-text citations: Author-page style

MLA format follows the author-page method of in-text citation. This means that the author's last name and the page number(s) from which the quotation or paraphrase is taken must appear in the text, and a complete reference should appear on your Works Cited page. The author's name may appear either in the sentence itself or in parentheses following the quotation or paraphrase, but the page number(s) should always appear in the parentheses, not in the text of your sentence. For example:

Both citations in the examples above, (263) and (Wordsworth 263), tell readers that the information in the sentence can be located on page 263 of a work by an author named Wordsworth. If readers want more information about this source, they can turn to the Works Cited page, where, under the name of Wordsworth, they would find the following information:

Wordsworth, William. Lyrical Ballads . Oxford UP, 1967.

In-text citations for print sources with known author

For print sources like books, magazines, scholarly journal articles, and newspapers, provide a signal word or phrase (usually the author’s last name) and a page number. If you provide the signal word/phrase in the sentence, you do not need to include it in the parenthetical citation.

These examples must correspond to an entry that begins with Burke, which will be the first thing that appears on the left-hand margin of an entry on the Works Cited page:

Burke, Kenneth. Language as Symbolic Action: Essays on Life, Literature, and Method . University of California Press, 1966.

In-text citations for print sources by a corporate author

When a source has a corporate author, it is acceptable to use the name of the corporation followed by the page number for the in-text citation. You should also use abbreviations (e.g., nat'l for national) where appropriate, so as to avoid interrupting the flow of reading with overly long parenthetical citations.

In-text citations for sources with non-standard labeling systems

If a source uses a labeling or numbering system other than page numbers, such as a script or poetry, precede the citation with said label. When citing a poem, for instance, the parenthetical would begin with the word “line”, and then the line number or range. For example, the examination of William Blake’s poem “The Tyger” would be cited as such:

The speaker makes an ardent call for the exploration of the connection between the violence of nature and the divinity of creation. “In what distant deeps or skies. / Burnt the fire of thine eyes," they ask in reference to the tiger as they attempt to reconcile their intimidation with their relationship to creationism (lines 5-6).

Longer labels, such as chapters (ch.) and scenes (sc.), should be abbreviated.

In-text citations for print sources with no known author

When a source has no known author, use a shortened title of the work instead of an author name, following these guidelines.

Place the title in quotation marks if it's a short work (such as an article) or italicize it if it's a longer work (e.g. plays, books, television shows, entire Web sites) and provide a page number if it is available.

Titles longer than a standard noun phrase should be shortened into a noun phrase by excluding articles. For example, To the Lighthouse would be shortened to Lighthouse .

If the title cannot be easily shortened into a noun phrase, the title should be cut after the first clause, phrase, or punctuation:

In this example, since the reader does not know the author of the article, an abbreviated title appears in the parenthetical citation, and the full title of the article appears first at the left-hand margin of its respective entry on the Works Cited page. Thus, the writer includes the title in quotation marks as the signal phrase in the parenthetical citation in order to lead the reader directly to the source on the Works Cited page. The Works Cited entry appears as follows:

"The Impact of Global Warming in North America." Global Warming: Early Signs . 1999. www.climatehotmap.org/. Accessed 23 Mar. 2009.

If the title of the work begins with a quotation mark, such as a title that refers to another work, that quote or quoted title can be used as the shortened title. The single quotation marks must be included in the parenthetical, rather than the double quotation.

Parenthetical citations and Works Cited pages, used in conjunction, allow readers to know which sources you consulted in writing your essay, so that they can either verify your interpretation of the sources or use them in their own scholarly work.

Author-page citation for classic and literary works with multiple editions

Page numbers are always required, but additional citation information can help literary scholars, who may have a different edition of a classic work, like Marx and Engels's  The Communist Manifesto . In such cases, give the page number of your edition (making sure the edition is listed in your Works Cited page, of course) followed by a semicolon, and then the appropriate abbreviations for volume (vol.), book (bk.), part (pt.), chapter (ch.), section (sec.), or paragraph (par.). For example:

Author-page citation for works in an anthology, periodical, or collection

When you cite a work that appears inside a larger source (for instance, an article in a periodical or an essay in a collection), cite the author of the  internal source (i.e., the article or essay). For example, to cite Albert Einstein's article "A Brief Outline of the Theory of Relativity," which was published in  Nature  in 1921, you might write something like this:

See also our page on documenting periodicals in the Works Cited .

Citing authors with same last names

Sometimes more information is necessary to identify the source from which a quotation is taken. For instance, if two or more authors have the same last name, provide both authors' first initials (or even the authors' full name if different authors share initials) in your citation. For example:

Citing a work by multiple authors

For a source with two authors, list the authors’ last names in the text or in the parenthetical citation:

Corresponding Works Cited entry:

Best, David, and Sharon Marcus. “Surface Reading: An Introduction.” Representations , vol. 108, no. 1, Fall 2009, pp. 1-21. JSTOR, doi:10.1525/rep.2009.108.1.1

For a source with three or more authors, list only the first author’s last name, and replace the additional names with et al.

Franck, Caroline, et al. “Agricultural Subsidies and the American Obesity Epidemic.” American Journal of Preventative Medicine , vol. 45, no. 3, Sept. 2013, pp. 327-333.

Citing multiple works by the same author

If you cite more than one work by an author, include a shortened title for the particular work from which you are quoting to distinguish it from the others. Put short titles of books in italics and short titles of articles in quotation marks.

Citing two articles by the same author :

Citing two books by the same author :

Additionally, if the author's name is not mentioned in the sentence, format your citation with the author's name followed by a comma, followed by a shortened title of the work, and, when appropriate, the page number(s):

Citing multivolume works

If you cite from different volumes of a multivolume work, always include the volume number followed by a colon. Put a space after the colon, then provide the page number(s). (If you only cite from one volume, provide only the page number in parentheses.)

Citing the Bible

In your first parenthetical citation, you want to make clear which Bible you're using (and underline or italicize the title), as each version varies in its translation, followed by book (do not italicize or underline), chapter, and verse. For example:

If future references employ the same edition of the Bible you’re using, list only the book, chapter, and verse in the parenthetical citation:

John of Patmos echoes this passage when describing his vision (Rev. 4.6-8).

Citing indirect sources

Sometimes you may have to use an indirect source. An indirect source is a source cited within another source. For such indirect quotations, use "qtd. in" to indicate the source you actually consulted. For example:

Note that, in most cases, a responsible researcher will attempt to find the original source, rather than citing an indirect source.

Citing transcripts, plays, or screenplays

Sources that take the form of a dialogue involving two or more participants have special guidelines for their quotation and citation. Each line of dialogue should begin with the speaker's name written in all capitals and indented half an inch. A period follows the name (e.g., JAMES.) . After the period, write the dialogue. Each successive line after the first should receive an additional indentation. When another person begins speaking, start a new line with that person's name indented only half an inch. Repeat this pattern each time the speaker changes. You can include stage directions in the quote if they appear in the original source.

Conclude with a parenthetical that explains where to find the excerpt in the source. Usually, the author and title of the source can be given in a signal phrase before quoting the excerpt, so the concluding parenthetical will often just contain location information like page numbers or act/scene indicators.

Here is an example from O'Neill's  The Iceman Cometh.

WILLIE. (Pleadingly) Give me a drink, Rocky. Harry said it was all right. God, I need a drink.

ROCKY. Den grab it. It's right under your nose.

WILLIE. (Avidly) Thanks. (He takes the bottle with both twitching hands and tilts it to his lips and gulps down the whiskey in big swallows.) (1.1)

Citing non-print or sources from the Internet

With more and more scholarly work published on the Internet, you may have to cite sources you found in digital environments. While many sources on the Internet should not be used for scholarly work (reference the OWL's  Evaluating Sources of Information  resource), some Web sources are perfectly acceptable for research. When creating in-text citations for electronic, film, or Internet sources, remember that your citation must reference the source on your Works Cited page.

Sometimes writers are confused with how to craft parenthetical citations for electronic sources because of the absence of page numbers. However, these sorts of entries often do not require a page number in the parenthetical citation. For electronic and Internet sources, follow the following guidelines:

  • Include in the text the first item that appears in the Work Cited entry that corresponds to the citation (e.g. author name, article name, website name, film name).
  • Do not provide paragraph numbers or page numbers based on your Web browser’s print preview function.
  • Unless you must list the Web site name in the signal phrase in order to get the reader to the appropriate entry, do not include URLs in-text. Only provide partial URLs such as when the name of the site includes, for example, a domain name, like  CNN.com  or  Forbes.com,  as opposed to writing out http://www.cnn.com or http://www.forbes.com.

Miscellaneous non-print sources

Two types of non-print sources you may encounter are films and lectures/presentations:

In the two examples above “Herzog” (a film’s director) and “Yates” (a presentor) lead the reader to the first item in each citation’s respective entry on the Works Cited page:

Herzog, Werner, dir. Fitzcarraldo . Perf. Klaus Kinski. Filmverlag der Autoren, 1982.

Yates, Jane. "Invention in Rhetoric and Composition." Gaps Addressed: Future Work in Rhetoric and Composition, CCCC, Palmer House Hilton, 2002. Address.

Electronic sources

Electronic sources may include web pages and online news or magazine articles:

In the first example (an online magazine article), the writer has chosen not to include the author name in-text; however, two entries from the same author appear in the Works Cited. Thus, the writer includes both the author’s last name and the article title in the parenthetical citation in order to lead the reader to the appropriate entry on the Works Cited page (see below).

In the second example (a web page), a parenthetical citation is not necessary because the page does not list an author, and the title of the article, “MLA Formatting and Style Guide,” is used as a signal phrase within the sentence. If the title of the article was not named in the sentence, an abbreviated version would appear in a parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence. Both corresponding Works Cited entries are as follows:

Taylor, Rumsey. "Fitzcarraldo." Slant , 13 Jun. 2003, www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/fitzcarraldo/. Accessed 29 Sep. 2009. 

"MLA Formatting and Style Guide." The Purdue OWL , 2 Aug. 2016, owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/. Accessed 2 April 2018.

Multiple citations

To cite multiple sources in the same parenthetical reference, separate the citations by a semi-colon:

Time-based media sources

When creating in-text citations for media that has a runtime, such as a movie or podcast, include the range of hours, minutes and seconds you plan to reference. For example: (00:02:15-00:02:35).

When a citation is not needed

Common sense and ethics should determine your need for documenting sources. You do not need to give sources for familiar proverbs, well-known quotations, or common knowledge (For example, it is expected that U.S. citizens know that George Washington was the first President.). Remember that citing sources is a rhetorical task, and, as such, can vary based on your audience. If you’re writing for an expert audience of a scholarly journal, for example, you may need to deal with expectations of what constitutes “common knowledge” that differ from common norms.

Other Sources

The MLA Handbook describes how to cite many different kinds of authors and content creators. However, you may occasionally encounter a source or author category that the handbook does not describe, making the best way to proceed can be unclear.

In these cases, it's typically acceptable to apply the general principles of MLA citation to the new kind of source in a way that's consistent and sensible. A good way to do this is to simply use the standard MLA directions for a type of source that resembles the source you want to cite.

You may also want to investigate whether a third-party organization has provided directions for how to cite this kind of source. For example, Norquest College provides guidelines for citing Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers⁠ —an author category that does not appear in the MLA Handbook . In cases like this, however, it's a good idea to ask your instructor or supervisor whether using third-party citation guidelines might present problems.

citation in text sentence

APA (7th ed.) Citation Style Guide: In-Text Citations

  • Paper Format Guidelines
  • Four Elements of a Reference
  • Missing Reference Information
  • In-Text Citations
  • Secondary Sources
  • Tables and Figures
  • Book Sections (Chapters)
  • Reference Works
  • Business Sources
  • Audiovisual Material
  • Social Media & Software
  • Government Documents
  • Open Textbooks
  • Course Related Material

Personal Communications

  • Further Examples
  • Legal Citation
  • Nursing Resources

Basic In-Text Citation Styles

The following covers the most common in-text citation scenarios. For more specific information about in-text citations, refer to pp. 261-269 of the Publication manual of the American Psychological Association , 7th ed.

( Publication manual of the American Psychological  Association ,  7th ed., 2020,  p. 266)

author-date citation

https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/citations/basic-principles/author-date

  • Douglas College Learning Centre In-text Citation Using APA Style More information on APA 7th in text citation from the Douglas College Learning Centre
  • In-Text Citation Checklist from APA A helpful checklist provided by the folks at APA Style. Run through this quick list for all your citations.

Author - Date Citation System

  • Each source used in a paper has two parts - the in text citation and a corresponding citation in the reference list . 
  • The in text citation consists of the author and the date of publication .  It appears within the text of the paper.  
  • The in text citation gives the surname(s) of the author(s) or the group author(s).  
  • Use only the year in the in text citation, even if the citation in the reference list contains a more specific date.  
  • For works with no date , use n.d. in the in text citation. 

( Publication manual of the American Psychological  Association ,  7th ed., 2020, pp.261-262)

Parenthetical and Narrative Citations

There are two formats for in-text citations - parenthetical and narrative.  In parenthetical citations, the author's name and the publication date appear in parentheses.  In narrative citations, the author's name and publication date is included in the text as part of the sentence.  

In a parenthetical citation both the author and the date appear in parenthesis and are separated by a comma.  A parenthetical citation can go at the end of the sentence or within it.  When it is at the end of a sentence, the period appears after the closing parenthesis.  

Humanity needs to rethink our agricultural practices to make them sustainable by becoming stewards of the land (Fitzgerald & Gershuny, 2019).

Narrative Citation

Usually the author's name appears in the text and the date appears in parentheses immediately after the author's name. If you include the author's name in the sentence, do not include it in the parentheses. Occasionally the author's name and the date both appear in the text.  When this happens do not use parentheses.  

Fitzgerald and Gershuny (2019) describe how humans have a stewardship obligation to both the land and to future generations. 

In their 2019 essay, Fitzgerald and Gershuny discuss challenges, tools, and opportunities for the future of agriculture. 

For further information, see Publication manual of the American Psychological  Association ,  7th ed., 2020, pp.262-263.

Omitting the Year in Repeated Narrative Citations

In general, provide the author and date in every in-text citation.  The year can be omitted from an in text citation "only when multiple narrative citations to a work appear within a single paragraph.  Once you have provided a narrative citation to a work in a paragraph, do not repeat the year in subsequent narrative citations in that same paragraph . Follow this guideline with each paragraph (i.e., include the year in the first narrative citation in a new paragraph).   Include the year in every parenthetical citation .

However, if you cite multiple works by the same author or authors, regardless of the publication years, include the date in every in-text citation to prevent ambiguity. ( Publication manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th ed., 2020, pp.265-266) .

Organizations as Author

Works with a group author are usually spelled out each time they appear in a citation.

  • The first time provide the full name of the group followed by the abbreviation.  
  • Do not abbreviate the group author name in the reference list entry.    
  • If the group name first appears in a narrative citation, include the abbreviation before the year in parentheses, separated with a comma, e.g.,  The American Psychological Association [APA], 2017 described....  
  • If the group name first appears in a parenthetical citation, include the abbreviation in square brackets, followed by a comma and the year, e.g., (American Psychological Association [APA], 2017)

(Publication manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th ed., 2020, p. 268)

Citing Multiple Works

Parenthetical citations of multiple works  are listed alphabetically and separated with semicolons.

(Carson, 2019; Lewis et al., 2020; Sanders & Turner, 2018)

For two or more works by the same author , arrange by the year of publication. Place the citations with no date first. Provide the author's surname once and then just the date for subsequent works.

Konepeleny (n.d., 2015, 2020)

For multiple references that have an identical author (or authors) and publication year , include a lowercase letter after the year. These letters are assigned when the references are placed in order in the reference list (alphabetically by title). The year-letter combination is used in both the in-text and the reference list entry. Use only the year with a letter in the in-text citation, even if the reference list entry contains a more specific date.

(Richards, 2018a, 2018b, 2020)

When multiple citations are cited narratively within a sentence, they can appear in any order.

Rogers (2019), Mason (2020), and Pompeo (2015) studied.....

( Publication manual of the American Psychological  Association ,  7th ed., 2020, pp.263-264)

Unknown or Anonymous Author

"When the author of a work is not named, the author may be unknown (i.e., no author is listed on the work, as with a religious work) or identified specifically as "Anonymous." For works with an unknown author , include the title and year of publication in the in-text citation (note that the title moves to the author position in the reference list entry as well).  If the title of the work is italicized in the reference, also italicize the title in the in-text citation.  If the title of the work is not italicized in the reference, use double quotation marks around the title in the in-text citation.  Capitalize these titles in the text using title case, even though sentence case is used in the reference list entry.  If the title is long, shorten it for the in-text citation."

Book with no author: ( Interpersonal Skills , 2019)

Magazine article with no author: ("Understanding Sensory Memory," 2018)

When the author of a work is overtly designated as "Anonymous,"  "Anonymous" takes the place of the author name in the in-text citation."

(Anonymous, 2017)

( Publication manual of the American Psychological  Association ,  7th ed., 2020, pp.264-265)

Works With the Same Author and Same Date

When more than one reference has the same author and publication year, include a lowercase letter after the year . This year-letter combination is used in both the reference list entry and the in-text citation. Use only the year-letter in the in-text citation even if the reference entry has a more specific date.

(Munroe, 2019a)

(Munroe, 2019b)

(Sawatzky, n.d.-a)

(Satwatzky, n.d.-b)

( Publication manual of the American Psychological  Association ,  7th ed., 2020, p.267)

Authors With the Same Surname

When multiple references have authors with the same surname, include the authors' first initials in all in-text citations . This helps to avoid confusion.

(S. Rogers, 2020)

(K. Rogers & Tonnelo, 2019)

Paraphrasing

When   paraphrasing   or referring to an idea contained in another work, APA encourages but does not require one to "provide an page number in the citation for a paraphrase, you may include one in addition to the author and year when it would help interested readers locate the relevant passage within a long or complex work."   ( Publication manual of the American Psychological  Association ,  7th ed., 2020, p.269)

Direct Quotations

When quoting directly, always provide the author, year and page number of the quotation in either the parenthetical or narrative format.  

When providing a direct quote,  a page number is included. For a single page, use p.; for multiple pages use pp.

Short Quotations  (Fewer than 40 Words)

Incorporate a short quotation (fewer than 40 words) into the text of your essay and enclose the quotation in double quotation marks.

Morey (2019) found that the "placebo effect, which had been verified in previous studies, disappeared when only the first group's behaviours were studied in this manner" (p. 225).

Block Quotations (40 Words or More)

When a quotation has 40 words or more, treat it as a block quotation and omit the quotation marks.  Start a block quotation on a new line and indent the whole quotation .5 inch from the left margin.

Morey (2019) found the following:

The placebo effect, which had been verified in previous studies, disappeared when behaviours were studied in the this manner. Furthermore, the behaviours were never exhibited again, even when real drugs were administered. Earlier studies were clearly premature in attributing the results to a placebo effect. (p. 255)

Citing a source multiple times in one paragraph

According to the APA Style , it is important to avoid both undercitation (plagiarism) and overcitation. The website states that "...it is considered overcitation to repeat the same citation in every sentence when the source and the topic have not changed. Instead, when paraphrasing a key point in more than one sentence within a paragraph, cite the source in the first sentence  in which it is relevant and do not repeat the citation in subsequent sentences as long as the source remains  clear and unchanged ." ( Publication manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th ed., 2020, p.254) . 

To do this, you can make it clear in subsequent sentences that you are still referring to that initial citation. Some was you could do this include using language like "according to the authors" or "they also found" or "the article states."

Trigg (2022) found that owning a pet "may be leverageable in interventions for mental health an wellbeing improvement during cancer recovery" (p.834). In the study, the author found that cancer survivors who were also pet owners found benefits in the companionship and affection they received from their pets. The article was, however, limited by the COVID-19 pandemic which "reduced the overall sample size" (p.848).

Direct Quotations of Material Without Page Numbers

Textual works  may not provide page numbers. To directly quote a document that does not give page numbers, any of the following approaches are acceptable:

Provide a paragraph number . You can count the paragraphs if they are not numbered.

e.g. (Rogers, para. 4).

If the document includes headings or section names , cite the heading name in the in text citation. If the heading or section name is too long, provide an abbreviated heading or section name in quotation marks to indicate that is is an abbreviation.

e.g.  (Selig, Interaction Analysis section).

If the heading or section name is too long, provide an abbreviated heading or section name in quotation marks to indicate that it is an abbreviation.

e.g. ( Selig , "Nutrition" section). The original  section was titled Nutrition Analysis of Vegan and Vegetarian Diets.

Provide a heading/section name with a paragraph number .

e.g. (Golan, Kuchler, & Krissof, 2017, Body Trust section, para. 3).

Audiovisual Works. Give a time stamp for the beginning of the quotation in place of a page number.

(Gendlin, 2020, 4:42).

( Publication manual of the American Psychological  Association ,  7th ed., 2020, pp.272-278)

Entire Websites

When citing an entire website rather than a specific document on that website, an in-text citation is with the address of the website is all that is required. A reference list entry is not required.  

e.g. The Douglas College library has information on citing your sources (https://library.douglascollege.ca)

( Publication manual of the American Psychological  Association ,  7th ed., 2020, p.268)

"Works that cannot be recovered by readers (i.e., works without a source element) are cited as personal communications. Personal communications include emails, text messages, online chats or direct messages, personal interviews, telephone conversations, live speeches, unrecorded classroom lectures, memos, letters, messages from nonarchived discussion groups or online bulletin boards, and so on.

"Citing Personal Communications in the Text. Because readers cannot retrieve the information in personal communications, personal communications are not included in the reference list; they are cited in the text only.  Give the initial(s) and surname of the communicator, and provide as exact a date as possible."

(APA Publication Manual, 7th ed., p. 260)

Parenthetical citation:

(N. Smith, personal communication, April 8, 2020)

Narrative citation:

N. Smith said in her email ....(personal communication, April 8, 2020)

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  • Harvard In-Text Citation | A Complete Guide & Examples

Harvard In-Text Citation | A Complete Guide & Examples

Published on 30 April 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on 5 May 2022.

An in-text citation should appear wherever you quote or paraphrase a source in your writing, pointing your reader to the full reference .

In Harvard style , citations appear in brackets in the text. An in-text citation consists of the last name of the author,  the year of publication, and a page number if relevant.

Up to three authors are included in Harvard in-text citations. If there are four or more authors, the citation is shortened with et al .

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Table of contents

Including page numbers in citations, where to place harvard in-text citations, citing sources with missing information, frequently asked questions about harvard in-text citations.

When you quote directly from a source or paraphrase a specific passage, your in-text citation must include a page number to specify where the relevant passage is located.

Use ‘p.’ for a single page and ‘pp.’ for a page range:

  • Meanwhile, another commentator asserts that the economy is ‘on the downturn’ (Singh, 2015, p. 13 ).
  • Wilson (2015, pp. 12–14 ) makes an argument for the efficacy of the technique.

If you are summarising the general argument of a source or paraphrasing ideas that recur throughout the text, no page number is needed.

Prevent plagiarism, run a free check.

When incorporating citations into your text, you can either name the author directly in the text or only include the author’s name in brackets.

Naming the author in the text

When you name the author in the sentence itself, the year and (if relevant) page number are typically given in brackets straight after the name:

Naming the author directly in your sentence is the best approach when you want to critique or comment on the source.

Naming the author in brackets

When you  you haven’t mentioned the author’s name in your sentence, include it inside the brackets. The citation is generally placed after the relevant quote or paraphrase, or at the end of the sentence, before the full stop:

Multiple citations can be included in one place, listed in order of publication year and separated by semicolons:

This type of citation is useful when you want to support a claim or summarise the overall findings of sources.

Common mistakes with in-text citations

In-text citations in brackets should not appear as the subject of your sentences. Anything that’s essential to the meaning of a sentence should be written outside the brackets:

  • (Smith, 2019) argues that…
  • Smith (2019) argues that…

Similarly, don’t repeat the author’s name in the bracketed citation and in the sentence itself:

  • As Caulfield (Caulfield, 2020) writes…
  • As Caulfield (2020) writes…

Sometimes you won’t have access to all the source information you need for an in-text citation. Here’s what to do if you’re missing the publication date, author’s name, or page numbers for a source.

If a source doesn’t list a clear publication date, as is sometimes the case with online sources or historical documents, replace the date with the words ‘no date’:

When it’s not clear who the author of a source is, you’ll sometimes be able to substitute a corporate author – the group or organisation responsible for the publication:

When there’s no corporate author to cite, you can use the title of the source in place of the author’s name:

No page numbers

If you quote from a source without page numbers, such as a website, you can just omit this information if it’s a short text – it should be easy enough to find the quote without it.

If you quote from a longer source without page numbers, it’s best to find an alternate location marker, such as a paragraph number or subheading, and include that:

A Harvard in-text citation should appear in brackets every time you quote, paraphrase, or refer to information from a source.

The citation can appear immediately after the quotation or paraphrase, or at the end of the sentence. If you’re quoting, place the citation outside of the quotation marks but before any other punctuation like a comma or full stop.

In Harvard referencing, up to three author names are included in an in-text citation or reference list entry. When there are four or more authors, include only the first, followed by ‘ et al. ’

In Harvard style , when you quote directly from a source that includes page numbers, your in-text citation must include a page number. For example: (Smith, 2014, p. 33).

You can also include page numbers to point the reader towards a passage that you paraphrased . If you refer to the general ideas or findings of the source as a whole, you don’t need to include a page number.

When you want to use a quote but can’t access the original source, you can cite it indirectly. In the in-text citation , first mention the source you want to refer to, and then the source in which you found it. For example:

It’s advisable to avoid indirect citations wherever possible, because they suggest you don’t have full knowledge of the sources you’re citing. Only use an indirect citation if you can’t reasonably gain access to the original source.

In Harvard style referencing , to distinguish between two sources by the same author that were published in the same year, you add a different letter after the year for each source:

  • (Smith, 2019a)
  • (Smith, 2019b)

Add ‘a’ to the first one you cite, ‘b’ to the second, and so on. Do the same in your bibliography or reference list .

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APA in-text citations

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In-text citations are a brief version of citations that are used to provide information about the sources being referred to by the author. They are used in the text to indicate to the reader that complete information of the citations referred to is available in the reference list, which will enable the reader to locate or access the sources being cited. To provide in-text citations, you must have the following two important elements:

Name of the author or organization

Publication year

Types of in-text citations

APA citation follows the author–date system. Two types of in-text citations are used in APA style. However, it is not necessary to follow the same type of citation throughout the paper. You must choose the appropriate type depending upon how you construct your sentence. There are two types of in-text citations:

Narrative citations

Parenthetical citations

Narrative citation

This type of citation is used when the name of the author or the organization and the year of publication are incorporated into the text and act as a part of the sentence. See the below examples:

With the author

Sivasankar (2007) argues that education for women is important to develop a nation.

Organization functioning as the author

IPIECA (2007) released the oil and natural gas industry guidelines.

Notice that only the publication year is enclosed in parenthesis for narrative citations.

Parenthetical citation

Parenthetical citations are used when both the name of the author or the organization and the year of publication appear inside parenthesis. In parenthetical citations, a comma separates the author from the publication year.

It is argued that education for women is important to develop a nation (Sivasankar, 2007).

It was concluded to release the oil and natural gas industry guidelines (IPIECA, 2007).

If you want to add any additional information in a parenthetical citation, provide the information after the year with a comma as a separator. Phrases or words such as “for more information, see,” “see,” and “e.g.,” can also be used in parenthetical citations. These are illustrated in the below examples:

With author

It is argued that education for women is important to develop a nation (Sivasankar, 2007, p. 7).

It is argued that education for women is important to develop a nation (see Sivasankar, 2007, p. 7).

However, when a citation appears along with some text in parenthesis, use a semicolon as a separator.

It is argued that education for women is important to develop a nation (e.g., the significance of Indian women; Sivasankar, 2007, p. 7).

Examples of in-text citations:

Narrative: Author Surname (Publication Year)

Parenthetical: (Author Surname, Publication Year)

Narrative: Hannula (2006)

Parenthetical: (Hannula, 2006)

Two authors

The surnames of the first author and the second author are separated by “and” in narrative citations. However, use an ampersand symbol in parenthetical citations.

Narrative: Author Surname1 and Author Surname2 (Publication Year)

Parenthetical: (Author Surname1 & Author Surname2, Publication Year)

Narrative: Kleanthous and Williams (2013)

Parenthetical: (Kleanthous & Williams, 2013)

Three or more authors

If the number of authors is three or more, use the first author’s surname followed by “et al.” in both narrative and parenthetical citations.

Narrative: Author Surname1 et al. (Publication Year)

Parenthetical: (Author Surname et al., Publication Year)

Narrative: Towers et al. (2018)

Parenthetical: (Towers et al., 2018)

Group author

If the reference has a group author, use it in place of the author’s name. The group author can be abbreviated. Note that there is a difference in using the abbreviation between a narrative and a parenthetical citation.

If the first occurrence appears in a narrative citation, include the abbreviation along with the year in parenthesis. If the first occurrence appears in a parenthetical citation, you need to include the abbreviation inside square brackets, as the citation is already inside parenthesis.

Narrative: Group author (Abbreviation, Publication Year)

Parenthetical: (Group author [Abbreviation], Publication Year)

Narrative: American Psychological Association (APA, 2008)

Parenthetical: (American Psychological Association [APA], 2018)

No author/Anonymous author

If a reference does not have an author, add the title of the work in in-text citations in place of the author’s name. In general, citations for no author reference appear parenthetical. You need to write the title according to how it is listed in the reference list entry. If the title in the reference list entry is italicized, you need to italicize the title in the in-text citation too. If formatting is not used in the list, use double quotes around the title and capitalize significant words.

Parenthetical: (“Title of the Work,” Publication Year)

Parenthetical: (“The Surrogate Mother,” 2018)

If the author of a work is openly mentioned as “Anonymous,” use “Anonymous” as the author.

Parenthetical: (Anonymous, 2004)

Other citations

Multiple citations in one sentence.

If multiple in-text citations appear together, arrange them in alphabetical order in parenthetical citations. Use semicolons to separate citations.

(Anand, 2017; Burner & Amit, 2012; Pitchard, 2004)

If multiple references by the same author group are cited, arrange them chronologically with a comma separator. Note that the chronological citation for the same author group takes the order mentioned in the below example, i.e., n.d., 2006, in press. Here, “n.d.” stands for “no date.”

(Albert, 2012, 2014a, 2014b; Ben & Bell, 2012, in press; Pitchard, n.d., 2004)

Note that the alphabetical arrangement of in-text citations should not be done in narrative citations.

Same surname, same publication year, different initials

If two or more entries in the reference list have the same surname and publication year, but different initials, add initials to the in-text citations to distinguish each author. This will help the reader locate the correct source of the citation. A few examples for your understanding are given below. The letters “F” and “M’ denote the authors’ initials.

Narrative: F. Author Surname (Publication Year)

Narrative: M. Author Surname (Publication Year)

Parenthetical: (F. Author Surname, Publication Year)

Parenthetical: (M. Author Surname, Publication Year)

Narrative: T. Lange (2016)

Narrative: K. Lange (2016)

Parenthetical: (T. Lange, 2016)

Parenthetical: (K. Lange, 2016)

Same surname, same initials, same publication year

If two or more entries in the reference list have the same surname and initials and same publication year, add a lowercase letter after the year to distinguish the citations. This will help the reader locate the correct source of a citation. A few examples for your understanding are given below.

Narrative: Author Surname (Publication Year followed by a suffix)

Narrative: Author Surname (Publication Year followed by a different suffix)

Parenthetical: (Author Surname, Publication Year followed by a suffix)

Parenthetical: (Author Surname, Publication Year followed by a different suffix)

Narrative: Sullivan (2014a)

Narrative: Sullivan (2014b)

Parenthetical: (Sullivan, 2014a)

Parenthetical: (Sullivan, 2014b)

Translated work

Translated titles contain two publication years (original work publication year and the translated work publication year). Include both years in in-text citations with the original work’s publication year first and the translated work’s publication year next. Separate them with a slash.

Narrative: Author Surname (Publication Year of the original work/Publication Year of the translated work)

Parenthetical: (Author Surname, Publication Year of the original work/Publication Year of the translated work)

Narrative: Herman (1997/2007)

Parenthetical: (Herman, 1997/2007)

Personal communication

Works such as personal interviews, emails, chats, text messages, and conversations on the telephone do not have any source. Such works are cited under personal communication. As the information cannot be retrieved, there will not be a citation for such references in the reference list. When citing personal communication, use initials as well. Try to give the exact date when citing personal communication.

Narrative: Communicator’s name (personal communication, Month Day, Year)

Parenthetical: (Communicator’s name, personal communication, Month Day, Year)

Narrative: K. Sethusankar (personal communication, December 2, 1996)

Parenthetical: (K. Sethusankar, personal communication, December 2, 1996)

For additional information on APA format, select from one of the source types below. For help creating APA citations, check out the BibMe APA citation generator.

Source Types:

  • How to cite a Book in APA
  • How to cite a Magazine in APA
  • How to cite a Newspaper in APA
  • How to cite a Website in APA
  • How to cite a Journal Article in APA
  • How to cite a Film in APA
  • How to cite an Interview in APA
  • How to cite a Lecture in APA
  • How to cite a TV Show / Radio Broadcast in APA
  • How to cite an Encyclopedia in APA
  • How to cite a Photograph in APA
  • APA 7 Updates

APA Format:

  • In-Text Citation Basics
  • Reference Page

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Home / Guides / Citation Guides / MLA Format / MLA In-text Citations

MLA In-Text Citations

An in-text citation is a reference to a source that is found within the text of a paper ( Handbook 227). This tells a reader that an idea, quote, or paraphrase originated from a source. MLA in-text citations usually include the last name of the author and the location of cited information.

This guide focuses on how to create MLA in-text citations, such as citations in prose and parenthetical citations in the current MLA style, which is in its 9th edition. This style was created by the Modern Language Association . This guide reviews MLA guidelines but is not related directly to the association.

Table of Contents

Here’s a quick rundown of the contents of this guide on how to use in-text citations.

Fundamentals

  • Why in-text citations are important
  • Prose vs parenthetical in-text citation differences
  • Parenthetical citation reference chart

In-text citation examples

  • In-text citation with two authors
  • In-text citation with 3+ authors
  • In-text citation with no authors
  • In-text citation with corporate authors
  • In-text citation with edited books and anthologies
  • In-text citation with no page numbers and online sources
  • Citing the same sources multiple times
  • Citing 2+ sources in the same in-text citation
  • Citing multiple works by the same author in the same in-text citation
  • Abbreviating titles
  • Citing religious works and scriptures
  • Citing long or block quotes

Why are in-text citations important?

In-text citations

  • Give full credit to sources that are quoted and paraphrased in a work/paper.
  • Help the writer avoid plagiarism.
  • Are a signal that the information came from another source.
  • Tell the reader where the information came from.

In-text citation vs. in-prose vs. parenthetical

An in-text citation is a general citation of where presented information came from. In MLA, an in-text citation can be displayed in two different ways:

  • In the prose
  • As a parenthetical citation

While the two ways are similar, there are slight differences. However, for both ways, you’ll need to know how to format page numbers in MLA .

Citation in prose

An MLA citation in prose is when the author’s name is used in the text of the sentence. At the end of the sentence, in parentheses, is the page number where the information was found.

Here is an example

When it comes to technology, King states that we “need to be comfortable enough with technology tools and services that we can help point our patrons in the right direction, even if we aren’t intimately familiar with how the device works” (11).

This MLA citation in prose includes King’s name in the sentence itself, and this specific line of text was taken from page 11 of the journal it was found in.

Parenthetical citation

An MLA parenthetical citation is created when the author’s name is NOT in the sentence. Instead, the author’s name is in parentheses after the sentence, along with the page number.

Here is an MLA parenthetical citation example

When it comes to technology, we “need to be comfortable enough with technology tools and services that we can help point our patrons in the right direction, even if we aren’t intimately familiar with how the device works” (King 11).

In the above example, King’s name is not included in the sentence itself, so his name is in parentheses after the sentence, with 11 for the page number. The 11 indicates that the quote is found on page 11 in the journal.

Full reference

For every source that is cited using an in-text citation, there is a corresponding full reference. This allows readers to track down the original source.

At the end of the assignment, on the MLA works cited page , is the full reference. The full reference includes the full name of the author, the title of the article, the title of the journal, the volume and issue number, the date the journal was published, and the URL where the article was found.

Here is the full reference for King’s quote

King, David Lee. “Why Stay on Top of Technology Trends?” Library Technology Reports , vol. 54, no. 2, Feb.-Mar. 2018, ezproxy.nypl.org/login?url=//search-proquest-com.i.ezproxy.nypl.org/docview/2008817033?accountid=35635.

Readers can locate the article online via the information included above.

Citation overview

mla-in-text-citations-reference-overview

The next section of this guide focuses on how to structure an MLA in-text citation and reference in parentheses in various situations.

A narrative APA in-text citation and APA parenthetical citation are somewhat similar but have some minor differences. Check out our helpful guides, and others, on EasyBib.com!

Wondering how to handle these types of references in other styles? Check out our page on APA format , or choose from more styles .

Parenthetical Citation Reference Chart

Sources with two authors.

There are many books, journal articles, magazine articles, reports, and other source types written or created by two authors.

When a source has two authors, place both authors’ last names in the body of your work ( Handbook 232). The last names do not need to be listed in alphabetical order. Instead, follow the same order as shown on the source.

In an MLA in-text citation, separate the two last names with the word “and.” After both authors’ names, add a space and the page number where the original quote or information is found on.

Here is an example of an MLA citation in prose for a book with two authors

Gaiman and Pratchett further elaborate by sharing their creepy reminder that “just because it’s a mild night doesn’t mean that dark forces aren’t abroad. They’re abroad all of the time. They’re everywhere” (15).

Here is an example of an MLA parenthetical citation for a book with two authors

Don’t forget that “just because it’s a mild night doesn’t mean that dark forces aren’t abroad. They’re abroad all of the time. They’re everywhere” (Gaiman and Pratchett 15).

If you’re still confused, check out EasyBib.com’s MLA in-text citation generator, which allows you to create MLA in-text citations and other types of references in just a few clicks!

If it’s an APA book citation you’re looking to create, we have a helpful guide on EasyBib.com. While you’re at it, check out our APA journal guide!

Sources With Three or More Authors

There are a number of sources written or created by three or more authors. Many research studies and reports, scholarly journal articles, and government publications are developed by three or more individuals.

If you included the last names of all individuals in your MLA in-text citations or in parentheses, it would be too distracting to the reader. It may also cause the reader to lose sight of the overall message of the paper or assignment. Instead of including all last names, only include the last name of the first individual shown on the source. Follow the first author’s last name with the Latin phrase, “et al.” This Latin phrase translates to “and others.” Add the page number after et al.

Here’s an example of an MLA parenthetical citation for multiple authors

“School library programs in Croatia and Hong Kong are mainly focused on two major educational tasks. One task is enhancing students’ general literacy and developing reading habits, whereas the other task is developing students’ information literacy and research abilities” (Tam et al. 299).

The example above only includes the first listed author’s last name. All other authors are credited when “et al.” is used. If the reader wants to see the other authors’ full names, the reader can refer to the final references at the end of the assignment or to the full source.

The abbreviation et al. is used with references in parentheses, as well as in full references. To include the authors’ names in prose, you can either write each name out individually or, you can type out the meaning of et al., which is “and others.”

Here is an acceptable MLA citation in prose example for sources with more than three authors

School library programming in Croatia and Hong Kong is somewhat similar to programming in the United States. Tam, Choi, Tkalcevic, Dukic, and Zheng share that “school library programs in Croatia and Hong Kong are mainly focused on two major educational tasks. One task is enhancing students’ general literacy and developing reading habits, whereas the other task is developing students’ information literacy and research abilities” (299).

If your instructor’s examples of how to do MLA in-text citations for three or more authors looks different than the example here, your instructor may be using an older edition of this style. To discover more about previous editions, learn more here .

Need some inspiration for your research project? Trying to figure out the perfect topic? Check out our Dr. Seuss , Marilyn Monroe , and Malcolm X topic guides!

Sources Without an Author

It may seem unlikely, but there are times when an author’s name isn’t included on a source. Many digital images, films and videos, encyclopedia articles, dictionary entries, web pages, and more do not have author names listed.

If the source you’re attempting to cite does not have an author’s name listed, the MLA in-text citation or parenthetical citation should display the title. If the title is rather long, it is acceptable to shorten it in the body of your assignment. If you choose to shorten the title, make sure the first word in the full citation is also the first word used in the citation in prose or parenthetical citation. This is done to allow the reader to easily locate the full citation that corresponds with the reference in the text.

If, in the Works Cited list, the full reference has the title within quotation marks, include those quotation marks in the in-text citation or reference in parentheses. If the title is written in italics in the full reference, use italics for the title in the in-text citation or reference in parentheses as well.

Parenthetical Citations MLA Examples

The example below is from a poem found online, titled “the last time.” the poem’s author is unknown..

“From the moment you hold your baby in your arms you will never be the same. You might long for the person you were before, when you had freedom and time and nothing in particular to worry about” (“The Last Time”).

The example below is from the movie, The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain .

“Perhaps it would have been different if there hadn’t been a war, but this was 1917, and people were exhausted by loss. Those that were allowed to stay manned the pits, mining the coal that would fuel the ships. Twenty-four hours a day they labored” ( Englishman ).

Notice the shortened title in the above reference. This allows the reader to spend more time focusing on the content of your project, rather than the sources.

If you’re looking for an MLA in-text citation website to help you with your references, check out EasyBib Plus on EasyBib.com! EasyBib Plus can help you determine how to do in-text citations MLA and many other types of references!

Corporate Authors

Numerous government publications, research reports, and brochures state the name of the organization as the author responsible for publishing it.

When the author is a corporate entity or organization, this information is included in the MLA citation in prose or parenthetical citation.

“One project became the first to evaluate how e-prescribing standards work in certain long-term care settings and assessed the impact of e-prescribing on the workflow among prescribers, nurses, the pharmacies, and payers” (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality 2).

If the full name of the organization or governmental agency is long in length, it is acceptable to abbreviate some words, as long as they are considered common abbreviations. These abbreviations should only be in the references with parentheses. They should not be used in citations in prose.

Here is a list of words that can be abbreviated in parentheses:

  • Department = Dept.
  • Government = Govt.
  • Corporation = Corp.
  • Incorporated = Inc.
  • Company = Co.
  • United States = US

Example of a shortened corporate author name in an MLA parenthetical citation

“Based on our analysis of available data provided by selected states’ departments of corrections, the most common crimes committed by inmates with serious mental illness varied from state to state” (US Govt. Accountability Office 14).

Here is how the same corporate author name would look in an MLA citation in prose

The United States Government Accountability Office states, “Based on our analysis of available data provided by selected states’ departments of corrections, the most common crimes committed by inmates with serious mental illness varied from state to state” (14).

Remember, citations in prose should not have abbreviations; other types of references can.

Looking for more information on abbreviations? Check out our page on MLA format.

Edited Books and Anthologies

Edited books and anthologies often include chapters or sections, each written by an individual author or a small group of authors. These compilations are placed together by an editor or a group of editors. There are tons of edited books and anthologies available today, ranging from ones showcasing Black history facts and literature to those focusing on notable individuals such as scientists like Albert Eintein and politicians such as Winston Churchill .

If you’re using information from an edited book or an anthology, include the chapter author’s name in your MLA citation in prose or reference in parentheses. Do not use the name(s) of the editor(s). Remember, the purpose of these references is to provide the reader with some insight as to where the information originated. If, after reading your project, the reader would like more information on the sources used, the reader can use the information provided in the full reference, at the very end of the assignment. With that in mind, since the full reference begins with the author of the individual chapter or section, that same information is what should be included in any citations in prose or references in parentheses.

Here is an example of an MLA citation in prose for a book with an editor

Weinstein further states that “one implication of this widespread adaptation of anthropological methods to historical research was the eclipse of the longstanding concern with “change over time,” and the emergence of a preference for synchronic, rather than diachronic, themes” (195).

Full reference at the end of the assignment

Weinstein, Barbara. “History Without a Cause? Grand Narratives, World History, and the Postcolonial Dilemma.” Postcolonial Studies: An Anthology , edited by Pramod K. Nayar, Wiley-Blackwell, 2015, p. 196. Wiley , www.wiley.com/en-us/Postcolonial+Studies%3A+An+Anthology-p-9781118780985.

Once you’re through with writing and citing, run your paper through our innovative plagiarism checker ! It’s the editor of your dreams and provides suggestions for improvement.

Sources Without Page Numbers and Online Sources

When a source has no page numbers, which is often the case with long web page articles, e-books, and numerous other source types, do not include any page number information in the body of the project. Do not estimate or invent your own page numbering system for the source. If there aren’t any page numbers, omit this information from the MLA in-text citation. There may, however, be paragraph numbers included in some sources. If there are distinct and clear paragraph numbers directly on the source, replace the page number with this information. Make it clear to the reader that the source is organized by paragraphs by using “par.” before the paragraph number, or use “pars.” if the information is from more than one paragraph.

Here is an example of how to create an MLA parenthetical citation for a website

“She ran through the field with the wind blowing in her hair and a song through the breeze” (Jackson par. 5).

Here’s an example of an MLA citation in prose for a website

In Brenner’s meeting notes, he further shared his motivation to actively seek out and secure self help resources when he announced, “When we looked at statistical evidence, the most commonly checked out section of the library was self-help. This proves that patrons consistently seek out help for personal issues and wish to solve them with the help of the community’s resources” (pars. 2-3).

Here’s another MLA in-text citation example for a website

Holson writes about a new mindful app, which provides listeners with the soothing sound of not only Bob Ross’ voice, but also the “soothing swish of his painter’s brush on canvas.”

In above example, the information normally found in the parentheses is omitted since there aren’t any page, parentheses, or chapter numbers on the website article.

Looking for APA citation website examples? We have what you need on EasyBib.com!

Need an in-text or parenthetical citation MLA website? Check out EasyBib Plus on EasyBib.com! Also, check out MLA Citation Website , which explains how to create references for websites.

Citing the Same Source Multiple Times

It may seem redundant to constantly include an author’s name in the body of a research project or paper. If you use an author’s work in one section of your project, and the next piece of information included is by the same individual(s), then it is not necessary to share in-text, whether in prose or in parentheses, that both items are from the same author. It is acceptable to include the last name of the author in the first use, and in the second usage, only a page number needs to be included.

Here is an example of how to cite the same source multiple times

“One of the major tests is the Project for Standardized Assessment of Information Literacy Skills. This measurement was developed over four years as a joint partnership between the Association of Research Libraries and Kent State University” (Tong and Moran 290). This exam is just one of many available to measure students’ information literacy skills. It is fee-based, so it is not free, but the results can provide stakeholders, professors, curriculum developers, and even librarians and library service team members with an understanding of students’ abilities and misconceptions. It is not surprising to read the results, which stated that “upper-level undergraduate students generally lack information literacy skills as evidenced by the results on this specific iteration of the Standardized Assessment of Information Literacy Skills test” (295).

The reader can assume that the information in the second quote is from the same article as the first quote. If, in between the two quotes, a different source is included, Tong and Moran’s names would need to be added again in the last quote.

Here is the full reference at the end of the project:

Tong, Min, and Carrie Moran. “Are Transfer Students Lagging Behind in Information Literacy?” Reference Services Review , vol. 45, no. 2, 2017, pp. 286-297. ProQuest , ezproxy.nypl.org/login?url=//search-proquest-com.i.ezproxy.nypl.org/docview/1917280148?accountid=35635.

Citing Two or More Sources in the Same In-text Citation

According to section 6.30 of the Handbook , parenthetical citations containing multiple sources in a single parenthesis should be separated by semicolons.

(Granger 5; Tsun 77) (Ruiz 212; Diego 149)

Citing Multiple Works by the Same Author in One In-text Citation

Just as you might want to cite two different sources at the same time, it can also be useful to cite different works by the same author all at once.

Section 6.30 of the Handbook specifies that “citations of different locations in a single source are separated by commas” (251).

(Maeda 59, 174-76, 24) (Kauffman 7, 234, 299)

Furthermore, if you are citing multiple works by the same author, the titles should be joined by and if there are only two. Otherwise, use commas and and .

(Murakami, Wild Sheep Chase and Norwegian Wood ) (Murakami, Wild Sheep Chase , Norwegian Wood , and “With the Beatles”)

Abbreviating Titles

When listing the titles, be aware that long titles in parenthetical citations can distract the reader and cause confusion. It will be necessary to shorten the titles appropriately for in-text citations. According to the Handbook , “shorten the title if it is longer than a noun phrase” (237). The abbreviated title should begin with the word by which the title is alphabetized.

Best practice is to give the first word the reference is listed by so the source is easily found in the works cited. Omit articles that start a title: a, an, the. When possible, use the first noun (and any adjectives before it). For more on titles and their abbreviations, head to section 6.10 of the Handbook .

  • Full title :  The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time 
  • Abbreviated: Curious
  • Full title:  The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks 
  • Abbreviated:  Disreputable History

Religious Works and Scriptures

There are instances when religious works are italicized in the text of a project, and times when it is not necessary to italicize the title.

If you’re referring to the general religious text, such as the Bible, Torah, or Qur’an, it is not necessary to italicize the name of the scripture in the body of the project. If you’re referring to a specific edition of a religious text, then it is necessary to italicize it, both in text and in the full reference.

Here are some commonly used editions:

  • King James Bible
  • The Orthodox Jewish Bible
  • American Standard Bible
  • The Steinsaltz Talmud
  • The Babylonian Talmud
  • New International Bible

When including a reference, do not use page numbers from the scripture. Instead, use the designated chapter numbers and verse numbers.

MLA example of an in-text citation for a religious scripture

While, unacceptable in today’s society, the Bible is riddled with individuals who have two, three, and sometimes four or more spouses. One example in the King James Bible , states that an individual “had two wives, the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children” (1 Sam. 1.2)

The only religious scripture that is allowed to be in the text of a project, but not in the Works Cited list, is the Qur’an. There is only one version of the Qur’an. It is acceptable to include the name of the Qur’an in the text, along with the specific chapter and verse numbers.

If you’re attempting to create a reference for a religious work, but it’s not considered a “classic” religious book, such as a biography about Mother Teresa , or a book about Muhammed Ali’s conversion, then a reference in the text and also on the final page of the project is necessary.

If you’re creating an APA bibliography , you do not need to create a full reference for classic religious works on an APA reference page .

For another MLA in-text citation website and for more on the Bible and other source types, click here .

Long or Block Quotes

Quotes longer than four lines are called, “block quotes.” Block quotes are sometimes necessary when you’re adding a lengthy piece of information into your project. If you’d like to add a large portion of Martin Luther King ’s “I Have a Dream” speech, a lengthy amount of text from a Mark Twain book, or multiple lines from Abraham Lincoln ’s Gettysburg Address, a block quote is needed.

MLA block quotes are formatted differently than shorter quotes in the body of a project. Why? The unique formatting signals to the reader that they’re about to read a lengthy quote.

Block quotes are called block quotes because they form their own block of text. They are set apart from the body of a project with different spacing and margins.

Begin the block quote on a new line. The body of the full project should run along the one inch margin, but the block quote should be set in an inch and a half. The entire quote should be along the inch and a half margin.

If there aren’t any quotation marks in the text itself, do not include any in the block quote. This is very different than standard reference rules. In most cases, quotation marks are added around quoted material. For block quotes, since the reader can see that the quoted material sits in its own block, it is not necessary to place quotation marks around it.

Here is an MLA citation in prose example of a block quote

Despite Bruchac’s consistent difficult situations at home, basketball kept his mind busy and focused:

When I got off the late bus that afternoon, my grandparents weren’t home. The store was locked and there was a note from Grama on the house door. Doc Magovern had come to the house because Grampa was “having trouble with his blood.” Now they were off to the hospital and I “wasn’t to worry.” This had happened before. Grampa had pernicious anemia and sometimes was very sick. So, naturally, it worried the pants off me. I actually thought about taking my bike down the dreaded 9N the three miles to the Saratoga Hospital. Instead, I did as I knew they wanted. I opened the store and waited for customers. None came, though, and my eye was caught by the basketball stowed away as usual behind the door. I had to do something to take my mind off what was happening to Grampa. I took out the ball and went around the side. (13)

Notice the use of the colon prior to the start of the block quote. Do not use a colon if the block quote is part of the sentence above it.

Here is an example of the same block quote, without the use of the colon:

Despite Bruchac’s consistent difficult situations at home, it was clear that basketball kept his mind busy and focused when he states

When I get off the late bus that afternoon, my grandparents weren’t home…

If two or more paragraphs are included in your block quote, start each paragraph on a new line.

Looking for additional helpful websites? Need another MLA in-text citation website? Check out the style in the news . We also have other handy articles, guides, and posts to help you with your research needs. Here’s one on how to write an MLA annotated bibliography .

Visit our EasyBib Twitter feed to discover more citing tips, fun grammar facts, and the latest product updates.

Overview of MLA in-text citation structures

If you’re looking for information on styling an APA citation , EasyBib.com has the guides you need!

MLA Handbook . 9th ed., Modern Language Association of America, 2021.

Published October 31, 2011. Updated July 5, 2021.

Written and edited by Michele Kirschenbaum and Elise Barbeau. Michele Kirschenbaum is a school library media specialist and the in-house librarian at EasyBib.com. Elise Barbeau is the Citation Specialist at Chegg. She has worked in digital marketing, libraries, and publishing.

MLA Formatting Guide

MLA Formatting

  • Annotated Bibliography
  • Bibliography
  • Block Quotes
  • et al Usage
  • In-text Citations
  • Paraphrasing
  • Page Numbers
  • Sample Paper
  • Works Cited
  • MLA 8 Updates
  • MLA 9 Updates
  • View MLA Guide

Citation Examples

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  • View all MLA Examples

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In MLA style, if multiple sources have the same author , the titles should be joined by and if there are only two. Otherwise, use commas and and .

  • In-text citation: (Austen Emma and Mansfield Park )
  • Structure: (Last name 1st Source’s title and 2nd Source’s title )
  • In-text citation: (Leung et al. 58)

If the author is a corporate entity or organization, included the name of the corporate entity or organization in the in-text citation.

  • In-text citation: (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality 2)

Yes, there’s an option to download source citations as a Word Doc or a Google Doc. You may also copy citations from the EasyBib Citation Generator and paste them into your paper.

Yes! Whether you’d like to learn how to construct citations on your own, our Autocite tool isn’t able to gather the metadata you need, or anything in between, manual citations are always an option. Click here for directions on using creating manual citations.

An in-text citation is a shortened version of the source being referred to in the paper. As the name implies, it appears in the text of the paper. A works cited list entry, on the other hand, details the complete information of the source being cited and is listed within the works cited list at the end of the paper after the main text. The in-text citation is designed to direct the reader to the full works cited list entry. An example of an in-text citation and the corresponding works cited list entry for a journal article with one author is listed below:

In-text citation template and example:

Only the author surname (or the title of the work if there is no author) is used in in-text citations to direct the reader to the corresponding reference list entry. For citations in prose, use the first name and surname of the author for the first occurrence. In subsequent citations, use only the surname. In parenthetical citations, always use only the surname of the author. If you are directly quoting the source, the page number should also be included in the in-text citation.

Citation in prose:

First mention: Christopher Collins ….

Subsequent occurrences: Collins ….

Parenthetical:

….(Collins)

….(Collins 5)

Works cited list entry template and example:

The title of the article is in plain text and title case and is placed inside quotation marks. The title of the journal is set in italics.

Surname, F. “Title of the Article.” Journal Title , vol. #, no. #, Publication Date, page range.

Collins, Christopher. “On Posthuman Materiality: Art-Making as Rhizomatic Rehearsal.” Text and Performance Quarterly , vol. 39, no. 2, 2019, pp. 153–59.

Note that because the author’s surname (Collins) was included in the in-text citation, the reader would then be able to easily locate the works cited list entry since the entry begins with the author’s surname.

An in-text citation is a short citation that is placed next to the text being cited. The basic element needed for an in-text citation is the author’s name . The publication year is not required in in-text citations. Sometimes, page numbers or line numbers are also included, especially when text is quoted from the source being cited. In-text citations are mentioned in the text in two ways: as a citation in prose or a parenthetical citation.

Citations in prose are incorporated into the text and act as a part of the sentence. Usually, citations in prose use the author’s full name when cited the first time in the text. Thereafter, only the surname is used. Avoid including the middle initial even if it is present in the works-cited-list entry.

Parenthetical

Parenthetical citations add only the author’s surname at the end of the sentence in parentheses.

Examples of in-text citations

Here are a few tips to create in-text citations for sources with various numbers and types of authors:

Use both the first name and surname of the author if you are mentioning the author for the first time in the prose. In subsequent occurrences, use only the author’s surname. Always use only the surname of the author in parenthetical citations.

First mention: Sheele John asserts …. (7).

Subsequent occurrences: John argues …. (7).

…. (John 7).

Two authors

Use the first name and surname of both authors if you are mentioning the work for the first time in the prose. In subsequent occurrences, use only the surnames of the two authors. Always use only the authors’ surnames in parenthetical citations. Use “and” to separate the two authors in parenthetical citations.

First mention: Katie Longman and Clara Sullivan ….

Subsequent occurrences: Longman and Sullivan ….

…. ( Longman and Sullivan).

Three or more authors

For citations in prose, use the first name and surname of the first author followed by “and others” or “and colleagues.” For parenthetical citations, use only the surname of the first author followed by “et al.”

Lincy Mathew and colleagues…. or Lincy Mathew and others ….

…. (Mathew et al.).

Corporate author

For citations in prose, treat the corporate author like you would treat the author’s name. For parenthetical citations, shorten the organization name to the shortest noun phrase. For example, shorten the Modern Language Association of America to Modern Language Association.

The Literary Society of Malaysia….

…. (Literary Society).

If there is no author for the source, use the source’s title in place of the author’s name for both citations in prose and parenthetical citations.

When you add such in-text citations, italicize the text of the title. If the source title is longer than a noun phrase, use a shortened version of the title. For example, shorten the title Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them to Fantastic Beasts .

Knowing Body of Work explains …. (102).

….( Knowing Body 102).

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In-text citation

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  • Encyclopaedias and dictionaries
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  • Live performances
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  • Referencing home

The MLA 9th style uses author-date in-text citations, used when quoting or paraphrasing people’s work. 

Two types of in-text citations

1. author prominent format .

Use this format if you want to emphasise the author. Their name becomes part of your sentence.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," wrote Charles Dickens of the eighteenth century (5).

2. Information prominent format

Use this format if you want to emphasise the information. It cites the author’s name, typically at the end of a sentence.

as demonstrated in the opening line, "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times" (Dickens 5).

Examples of in-text citations

Less than three lines of text.

If a prose quotation is no more than four lines and does not require special emphasis, put it in quotation marks and incorporate it into the text. Include the page number(s) in brackets.

"It was the best of times it was the worst of times" wrote Charles Dickens of the eighteenth century (5).

  • See Plays and Poetry sections below for how to cite these in-text.

More than three lines of text

If a quotation is longer than three lines, set it off from your text by beginning a new line, indenting half an inch from the left margin. Quotation marks around the text are not required. Introduce the quotation with a colon. Place the parenthetical reference after the last line. For example, the above discusses John Corner in his book, The Art of Record: A Critical Introduction to Documentary , which refers to Brian Winston's revaluation of the documentary tradition in the writings of John Grierson.

Winston's reassessment of Grierson finds the play-off between creativity and realness unconvincing: Grierson's taxonomic triumph was to make his particular species of non-fiction film, the non-fiction genre while at the same time allowing the films to use the significant fictionalising technique of dramatisation. (Winston 103)

This is a usefully provocative point, though agreement with it will largely rest on certain, contestable ideas about 'fictionalisation' and 'dramatisation'. The issue is dealt with directly in Chapter Two, as part of considering the debate around drama-documentary forms, and it occurs in relation to specific works throughout this book.

Two authors

In prose, the first time the two authors are mentioned, use both first and second names. In a parenthetical citation use 'and', not '&' to connect the two surnames.

Others, like Cheryl Brown and Laura Czerniewicz argue that the idea of a generation of ‘digital natives’ is flawed (359). The Brown and Czerniewicz article focuses on…

(Brown and Czerniewicz 359)

Three or more authors

When citing a source with three or more authors in prose you only refer to the first coauthor and can follow the additional authors by “and others“ or “and colleagues.” A parenthetical citation requires the first author's surname, followed by et al.

Laura Czerniewicz and colleagues argue…

(Czerniewicz et al. 53)

Different authors, same surname

If you use works from more than one author with the same last name, eliminate any ambiguity by including the author's first initial as well (or if the initial is also the same, the full first name).

(N. Palmer 45)

(N. Palmer 45; M. Palmer 102)

Citing more than one author

If you are citing more than one source at the same point, place them in the same parentheses, separated by a semi-colon.

(Jackson 41; Smith 150)

Same author, two or more works

If you cite multiple works by the same author, include a shortened title in each in-text citation to establish which work you are referring to. To avoid overly lengthy in-text citations, shorten the title to a simple noun phrase, or a few words.

The first example references Said's book, so the title is italicised. The second example references Said's journal article, so it is in quotation marks.

For more tips on how to abbreviate titles of sources, see 6.10 of the MLA Handbook .

..."the Orient was a scholar's word, signifying what modern Europe had recently made of the still peculiar East" (Said, Orientalism 92).

..."there is something basically unworkable or at least drastically changed about the traditional frameworks in which we study literature" (Said, "Globalizing Literary Study" 64).

Anonymous or no author

For works that are anonymously authored, or have no author, include a shortened version of the title in the in-text citation (do not list the author as "anonymous", nor as "anon.").

It has been argued that the hat symbolised freedom (Wandering Merchant 157).

Corporate author

Abbreviate terms that are commonly abbreviated (e.g. Department becomes Dept.), so as to not disrupt the flow of your text with overly long in-text citations.

If the corporate author is identified in the works-cited list by the names of administrative units separated by commas, give all the names in the parenthetical citation.

The Australian Research Council found that there are limited policies and procedures in place to manage foreign interference (4).

(Monash University 176)

Citing an author within another source

An indirect source is a source that is cited in another source. To quote this second-hand source, use “qtd. in” (quoted in), and then include the information of the source you actually consulted. Similarly, for the reference list use the source that you actually consulted (i.e. the indirect source). Keep in mind that it is good academic practice to seek out and use the original source, rather than the second-hand one, however this is not always possible.

For the below example, the student is using Petrarch's quote which is found in Hui. The page number refers to the source actually consulted (Hui), and the reference list would only list Hui, as shown below:

Hui, Andrew. The Poetics of Ruins in Renaissance Literature. Fordham UP, 2016.

For more information, see section 6.77 of the MLA Handbook .

Petrarch laments that Cicero’s manuscripts are “in such fragmentary and mutilated condition that it would perhaps have been better for them to have perished” (qtd. in Hui 4).

Author in a translation

If you think your audience would require a translation for your quoted material, then provide one. Give the source of the translation, as well as the source of the quote.

If you did the translation yourself, then insert my trans. where you would usually put the translation source, as shown in the example above.

If you're quoting in a language that does not use the Latin alphabet (Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, etc.), then consistently use the original writing system for your quotes or romanisation. Note that proper nouns are usually romanised.

For more information, see 6.75 Translations of Quotations in the MLA Style Guide .

Mme d'Aulnoy's heroine is "la chatte blanche" ("the white cat"; my trans.; 56)

Poetry - Short quotations

Quotations from poetry from part of a line up to three lines in length, which do not need particular emphasis, may be added, placed in quotation marks, within your text as part of a sentence. Use a slash with a space on either side ( / ) to indicate a new line of poetry.

If the poem you are referencing has line numbers, then omit page numbers all-together and cite by line number instead. Do not use the abbreviation l. or ll. , but instead in your first citation, use the word line, or lines as shown in the example below. After the first citation, it can be assumed that the numbers refer to lines, so you can include the numbers alone.

More's distress that she had not written about the problems of the slave trade earlier are expressed in the poem: "Whene'er to Afric's shores I turn my eyes, / Horrors of deepest, deadliest guilt arise" (line 5).

Poetry - Block quotations

When quoting a block of poetry, introduce it in the same manner as a prose block quotation, i.e. begin the quote on a new line and indent each line as below. There is no need to add quotation marks. A reference to the page or line number should be included in parenthesis at the end of the last line. If the original text is creatively spaced or indented, then try to replicate the original as best you can.

Judith Wright 's poetry explores the Australian environment:

And have we eaten in the heart of the yellow wheat the sullen unforgetting seed of fire? And now, set free by the climate of man's hate, that seed sets time ablaze (14)

If you quote the lines of more than one actor or if the piece you are quoting is long, the quotation should not be integrated into your text. The rules in MLA for presenting this text are:

  • Leave a line between your text and the quotation
  • Begin each part of the dialogue with the character's name, indented half an inch from the margin, in upper case and with a full-stop, e.g. BODYGUARDS.
  • Start dialogue after full-stop or match spacing shown in original source
  • Indent all dialogue an additional amount, as shown below
  • End each piece of dialogue with a full-stop
  • End the last line of the quotation with a full-stop and then add the section and line numbers in parentheses.

For more information, see section 6.40 of the MLA 9th Handbook .

TARTUFFE. Yes, my brother, I am a sinner, a guilty man. An unhappy sinner full of iniquity. (III. vi.)

In-text citation general checklist

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Generate accurate APA citations for free

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  • APA Style 6th edition

A complete guide to APA in-text citation (6th edition)

Published on November 4, 2020 by Raimo Streefkerk . Revised on May 19, 2022.

An APA in-text citation consists of the author’s last name and year of publication, for example: (Smith, 2020). When quoting , also include page numbers, for example (Smith, 2020, p.170).

Here’s what an in-text citation looks like in a sentence:

  • The author claims that “plagiarism is becoming a bigger problem” (Smith, 2014, p. 170) .
  • As Smith (2014) has shown, plagiarism is a serious issue for universities.
  • In 2014 , Smith found that plagiarism is becoming increasingly widespread.

Generate accurate APA citations with Scribbr

Table of contents, apa in-text citations with multiple authors, in-text citations explained in under 4 minutes, punctuation in apa in-text citations, when to include page numbers, apa in-text citations with lists, exceptions and missing information.

Multiple author names are separated using a comma. Only the final name in the list is preceded by an ampersand (“&”), for example: (Taylor, Johnson, & Parker, 2019) . Use “ et al .” to shorten in-text citations of sources with 6+ authors (first in-text citations) and 3+ authors (subsequent in-text citations), for example: (Taylor et al., 2019) .

Using “et al.” in APA in-text citations

Sources with three, four or five authors are shortened after the first citation. From the second citation onwards, include only the first author name followed by “et al.” (“and others”). Sources with six or more authors are always shortened, including in the first citation.

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citation in text sentence

  • When using the abbreviation “et al . ,” always include a period (“.”).
  • Include a comma between “et al.” and the publication date (e.g. Taylor et al., 2018).
  • There should be no punctuation between “et al.” and the author’s name preceding it.
  • The period ending the sentence always comes after the citation (even when quoting).

Never use an ampersand symbol (“&”) in the running text. Instead, use the full word “and.”

  • According to research by Taylor & Kotler … (2018).
  • Taylor and Kotler conclude … (2018).

Including the page number(s) in the in-text citation is required when quoting a source in APA . It is encouraged, but not required, when paraphrasing a source . Don’t include page numbers when referring to a work as a whole, e.g. “the study shows…”.

If the quote or paraphrase covers just one page, use “ p. 16. ” If it covers two or more pages, use a double ‘p’ followed by a page range (e.g.  pp. 16-18 ).

The in-text citation can be included in three different ways:

  • This is also confirmed by the business plan: “creating an APA Citation Generator is a lot of work but many students benefit from it” (Smith, 2014, pp. 14-15) .
  • Smith (2014) states: “making an APA Citation Generator is a lot of work but many students benefit from it” (pp. 14-15) .
  • In 2014 , Smith wrote: “making an APA Citation Generator is a lot of work but many students benefit from it” (pp. 14-15) .

Sources with no page numbers

When quoting a source that has no pages or page numbers, you can include a chapter or paragraph number instead.

If the source uses headings, cite the heading and the paragraph number following it. Long headings may be shortened, but then they should be enclosed in quotation marks.

  • (Johnson, 2019, Chapter 3)
  • (McCombes, 2016, para. 4)
  • (Smith, 2014, Conclusion, para. 2 )
  • (Streefkerk, 2019, “No Page Numbers,” para. 2)

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

If the cited list originates from one source, put the in-text citation after the last list item. If the list comes from several different sources, add the in-text citations after each list item.

  • Wired lifestyle
  • Time pressure
  • Risk aversion
  • Internet experience
  • Social interaction (Johnson, 2016, p. 18) .
  • Consumers experience greater risk for online purchases (Writers et al., 2016, p. 47) .
  • Young consumers experience no risk for online purchases (Porter, 2016, pp. 63-64) .

The basic APA guidelines are not applicable to every source. Information can be missing, confusing for the reader or simply different. The most common exceptions are listed below.

If the author is unknown, cite the first few words of the reference list entry instead (usually the title). Enclose the title in double quotation marks when citing an article, web page or book chapter. Italicize the title of periodicals, books, reports and brochures.

  • ( “U.S. Flood Risk Could Be Worse Than We Thought,”  2015)
  • ( Thinking, Fast and Slow , 2017)

For sources without a year of publication, use “n.d.” (no date) instead: (Johnson, n.d. ).

Multiple sources in the same parentheses

If you’re using multiple sources to support a statement, you can combine the in-text citations and separate them using semicolons. Order the sources alphabetically.

If you’re using multiple sources from the same author, you don’t have to repeat the author. Just add the other years and separate them with a comma.

Multiple publications from the same author(s) in the same year

To differentiate between two publications from the same author published in the same year, add a suffix after the publication year.

Repeated use of the same source

For citing the same source multiple times in a paragraph there are specific APA guidelines. The first mention should include the author and publication year. For subsequent mentions in the running text, you only have to include the author’s last name, not the year. However, citations in parentheses should always include the year.

Different authors with the same last name

To differentiate between two (or more) authors with the same last name, include the initials. This rule applies even if the year of publication is different.

Citing a source within a source (secondary source)

If you want to cite a source that you found in another source, you can do one of two things. First of all, you should try to find the original source ( primary source ). If you’re able to find it you can use regular APA guidelines.

If you are not able to find the primary source, you should cite it through the source that led you to it ( secondary source ). The in-text citation looks like this:

Note that you only need to include the publication year of the source you consulted (here Johnson).

Personal communication

Personal communication such as phone calls, emails and conversations are not cited in the reference list because they can’t be found anywhere. However, you should still cite them using an in-text citation.

Give the initials and the last name of the person you communicated with and provide as exact a date as possible.

Sales are declining in the second quarter  (P. G. Brown, personal communication, June 13, 2018).

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Streefkerk, R. (2022, May 19). A complete guide to APA in-text citation (6th edition). Scribbr. Retrieved February 17, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/apa-style/6th-edition/archived-in-text-citation/

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Create a form in Word that users can complete or print

In Word, you can create a form that others can fill out and save or print.  To do this, you will start with baseline content in a document, potentially via a form template.  Then you can add content controls for elements such as check boxes, text boxes, date pickers, and drop-down lists. Optionally, these content controls can be linked to database information.  Following are the recommended action steps in sequence.  

Show the Developer tab

In Word, be sure you have the Developer tab displayed in the ribbon.  (See how here:  Show the developer tab .)

Open a template or a blank document on which to base the form

You can start with a template or just start from scratch with a blank document.

Start with a form template

Go to File > New .

In the  Search for online templates  field, type  Forms or the kind of form you want. Then press Enter .

In the displayed results, right-click any item, then select  Create. 

Start with a blank document 

Select Blank document .

Add content to the form

Go to the  Developer  tab Controls section where you can choose controls to add to your document or form. Hover over any icon therein to see what control type it represents. The various control types are described below. You can set properties on a control once it has been inserted.

To delete a content control, right-click it, then select Remove content control  in the pop-up menu. 

Note:  You can print a form that was created via content controls. However, the boxes around the content controls will not print.

Insert a text control

The rich text content control enables users to format text (e.g., bold, italic) and type multiple paragraphs. To limit these capabilities, use the plain text content control . 

Click or tap where you want to insert the control.

Rich text control button

To learn about setting specific properties on these controls, see Set or change properties for content controls .

Insert a picture control

A picture control is most often used for templates, but you can also add a picture control to a form.

Picture control button

Insert a building block control

Use a building block control  when you want users to choose a specific block of text. These are helpful when you need to add different boilerplate text depending on the document's specific purpose. You can create rich text content controls for each version of the boilerplate text, and then use a building block control as the container for the rich text content controls.

building block gallery control

Select Developer and content controls for the building block.

Developer tab showing content controls

Insert a combo box or a drop-down list

In a combo box, users can select from a list of choices that you provide or they can type in their own information. In a drop-down list, users can only select from the list of choices.

combo box button

Select the content control, and then select Properties .

To create a list of choices, select Add under Drop-Down List Properties .

Type a choice in Display Name , such as Yes , No , or Maybe .

Repeat this step until all of the choices are in the drop-down list.

Fill in any other properties that you want.

Note:  If you select the Contents cannot be edited check box, users won’t be able to click a choice.

Insert a date picker

Click or tap where you want to insert the date picker control.

Date picker button

Insert a check box

Click or tap where you want to insert the check box control.

Check box button

Use the legacy form controls

Legacy form controls are for compatibility with older versions of Word and consist of legacy form and Active X controls.

Click or tap where you want to insert a legacy control.

Legacy control button

Select the Legacy Form control or Active X Control that you want to include.

Set or change properties for content controls

Each content control has properties that you can set or change. For example, the Date Picker control offers options for the format you want to use to display the date.

Select the content control that you want to change.

Go to Developer > Properties .

Controls Properties  button

Change the properties that you want.

Add protection to a form

If you want to limit how much others can edit or format a form, use the Restrict Editing command:

Open the form that you want to lock or protect.

Select Developer > Restrict Editing .

Restrict editing button

After selecting restrictions, select Yes, Start Enforcing Protection .

Restrict editing panel

Advanced Tip:

If you want to protect only parts of the document, separate the document into sections and only protect the sections you want.

To do this, choose Select Sections in the Restrict Editing panel. For more info on sections, see Insert a section break .

Sections selector on Resrict sections panel

If the developer tab isn't displayed in the ribbon, see Show the Developer tab .

Open a template or use a blank document

To create a form in Word that others can fill out, start with a template or document and add content controls. Content controls include things like check boxes, text boxes, and drop-down lists. If you’re familiar with databases, these content controls can even be linked to data.

Go to File > New from Template .

New from template option

In Search, type form .

Double-click the template you want to use.

Select File > Save As , and pick a location to save the form.

In Save As , type a file name and then select Save .

Start with a blank document

Go to File > New Document .

New document option

Go to File > Save As .

Go to Developer , and then choose the controls that you want to add to the document or form. To remove a content control, select the control and press Delete. You can set Options on controls once inserted. From Options, you can add entry and exit macros to run when users interact with the controls, as well as list items for combo boxes, .

Adding content controls to your form

In the document, click or tap where you want to add a content control.

On Developer , select Text Box , Check Box , or Combo Box .

Developer tab with content controls

To set specific properties for the control, select Options , and set .

Repeat steps 1 through 3 for each control that you want to add.

Set options

Options let you set common settings, as well as control specific settings. Select a control and then select Options to set up or make changes.

Set common properties.

Select Macro to Run on lets you choose a recorded or custom macro to run on Entry or Exit from the field.

Bookmark Set a unique name or bookmark for each control.

Calculate on exit This forces Word to run or refresh any calculations, such as total price when the user exits the field.

Add Help Text Give hints or instructions for each field.

OK Saves settings and exits the panel.

Cancel Forgets changes and exits the panel.

Set specific properties for a Text box

Type Select form Regular text, Number, Date, Current Date, Current Time, or Calculation.

Default text sets optional instructional text that's displayed in the text box before the user types in the field. Set Text box enabled to allow the user to enter text into the field.

Maximum length sets the length of text that a user can enter. The default is Unlimited .

Text format can set whether text automatically formats to Uppercase , Lowercase , First capital, or Title case .

Text box enabled Lets the user enter text into a field. If there is default text, user text replaces it.

Set specific properties for a Check box .

Default Value Choose between Not checked or checked as default.

Checkbox size Set a size Exactly or Auto to change size as needed.

Check box enabled Lets the user check or clear the text box.

Set specific properties for a Combo box

Drop-down item Type in strings for the list box items. Press + or Enter to add an item to the list.

Items in drop-down list Shows your current list. Select an item and use the up or down arrows to change the order, Press - to remove a selected item.

Drop-down enabled Lets the user open the combo box and make selections.

Protect the form

Go to Developer > Protect Form .

Protect form button on the Developer tab

Note:  To unprotect the form and continue editing, select Protect Form again.

Save and close the form.

Test the form (optional)

If you want, you can test the form before you distribute it.

Protect the form.

Reopen the form, fill it out as the user would, and then save a copy.

Creating fillable forms isn’t available in Word for the web.

You can create the form with the desktop version of Word with the instructions in Create a fillable form .

When you save the document and reopen it in Word for the web, you’ll see the changes you made.

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The Civil Fraud Ruling on Donald Trump, Annotated

By Kate Christobek

Former President Donald J. Trump was penalized $355 million , plus millions more in interest, and banned for three years from serving in any top roles at a New York company, including his own, in a ruling on Friday by Justice Arthur F. Engoron. The decision comes after the state's attorney general, Letitia James, sued Mr. Trump, members of his family and his company in 2022.

The ruling expands on Justice Engoron’s decision last fall , which found that Mr. Trump’s financial statements were filled with fraudulent claims. Mr. Trump will appeal the financial penalty and is likely to appeal other restrictions; he has already appealed last fall’s ruling.

The New York Times annotated the document.

Download the original PDF .

Page 1 of undefined PDF document.

New York Times Analysis

This ruling by Justice Arthur F. Engoron is a result of a 2022 lawsuit filed by New York’s attorney general, Letitia James , against Donald J. Trump and the Trump Organization; his adult sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump; the company’s former chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg and former controller Jeffrey McConney; and several of their related entities. Mr. Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, was also initially a defendant until an appeals court dismissed the case against her.

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The law under which Ms. James sued, known by its shorthand 63(12), requires the plaintiff to show a defendant’s conduct was deceptive . If that standard is met, a judge can impose severe punishment, including forfeiting the money obtained through fraud. Ms. James has also used this law against the oil company ExxonMobil, the tobacco brand Juul and the pharma executive Martin Shkreli.

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Justice Engoron is now providing a background of this case. This ruling comes after a three-year investigation by the attorney general’s office and the conclusion of a trial that ended last month. But this likely won’t be Mr. Trump’s last word on the matter — he will appeal the financial penalty and is likely to appeal other restrictions, as he has already appealed other rulings.

In late 2022, Justice Engoron assigned a former federal judge, Barbara Jones, to serve as a monitor at the Trump Organization and tasked her with keeping an eye on the company and its lending relationships. Last month, she issued a report citing inconsistencies in its financial reporting, which “may reflect a lack of adequate internal controls.”

Page 5 of undefined PDF document.

Here, Justice Engoron is laying out the laws he considered in his ruling beyond 63(12). The attorney general’s lawsuit included allegations of violations of falsifying business records, issuing false financial statements, insurance fraud and related conspiracy offenses.

Justice Engoron is explaining the decision, issued a week before the trial, in which he found that Mr. Trump’s financial statements were filled with fraud , fundamentally shaping the rest of the trial.

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For over 50 pages, Justice Engoron describes his conclusions about the testimony of all of the witnesses who spoke during the trial.

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Justice Engoron discusses Mr. McConney’s important role in preparing Mr. Trump’s financial statements. The judge points out that Mr. McConney prepared all the valuations on the statements in consultation with Mr. Weisselberg.

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In his discussion of Mr. Weisselberg, Justice Engoron calls his testimony in the trial “intentionally evasive.” Justice Engoron then brings up Mr. Weisselberg’s separation agreement from the Trump Organization, which prohibited him from voluntarily cooperating with any entities “adverse” to the organization. Justice Engoron says that this renders Mr. Weisselberg’s testimony highly unreliable.

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When Donald Trump Jr. testified in court, he disavowed responsibility for his father’s financial statements despite serving as a trustee of the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust while his father was president. But Justice Engoron specifically cites here that Donald Trump Jr. certified that he was responsible for the financial statements, and testified that he intended for the banks to rely on them and that the statements were “materially accurate.”

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During his testimony, Eric Trump, the Trump Organization’s de facto chief executive, initially denied knowing about his father’s financial statements until this case. As Justice Engoron points out here, Eric Trump eventually conceded to knowing about them as early as 2013. As a result, Justice Engoron calls Eric Trump’s credibility “severely damaged.”

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Justice Engoron points to Mr. Trump’s testimony when he took the witness stand in November when Mr. Trump acknowledged that he helped put together his annual financial statements. Mr. Trump said he would see them and occasionally have suggestions.

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After four pages of describing Mr. Trump’s testimony, Justice Engoron says Mr. Trump rarely responded to the questions asked and frequently interjected long, irrelevant speeches, which all “severely compromised his credibility.”

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For several pages, Justice Engoron provides background on specific assets that Mr. Trump included in his annual financial statements.

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The judge is clarifying that Ms. James had to prove her claims by a “preponderance of the evidence,” meaning she had to demonstrate it was more likely than not that Mr. Trump and the co-defendants should be held liable. This is a lower standard than that of a criminal trial, which requires that evidence be proven “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

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During the trial, Mr. Trump and his legal team tried to shift the blame for any inaccuracies in his financial statements onto his outside accountants. But Justice Engoron criticizes that argument here.

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During the monthslong trial, Mr. Trump, his legal team and several witnesses stressed that real estate appraisals are an art, not a science. But here it’s clear Justice Engoron, while agreeing with that sentiment, also believes it’s deceptive when different appraisals rely on different assumptions.

Page 78 of undefined PDF document.

Justice Engoron is now going through the defendants one by one and articulating the evidence that shows each of their “intent to defraud,” which is required by the statute against falsifying business records. Notably, his first paragraph describing the former president’s intent provides examples including Mr. Trump’s awareness that his triplex apartment was not 30,000 square feet and his valuation of Mar-a-Lago as a single-family residence even though it was deeded as a social club.

Page 79 of undefined PDF document.

Among the defendants, Justice Engoron finds only Allen Weisselberg and Jeffrey McConney liable for insurance fraud. Here, he doesn’t provide an explanation for why the other defendants, including Mr. Trump and his adult sons, were not found liable, and he says that both Mr. Weisselberg and Mr. McConney made false representations to insurance companies about Mr. Trump’s financial statements.

While Mr. Trump and his adult sons were not found liable for insurance fraud, here Justice Engoron finds them liable for conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, explaining that they all “aided and abetted” the conspiracy to commit insurance fraud by falsifying business records.

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Justice Engoron here adopts the approximations of Michiel McCarty, the attorney general’s expert witness. Justice Engoron says Mr. McCarty testified “reliably and convincingly,” and finds that the defendants’ fraud saved them over $168 million in interest.

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In finding that the defendants were able to purchase the Old Post Office in Washington, D.C., through their use of the fraudulent financial statements, Justice Engoron rules that the defendants’ proceeds from the sale of the post office in 2022 should be considered “ill-gotten gains.” He penalizes Donald Trump and his companies over $126 million, and Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump $4 million each, for this one property.

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Justice Engoron blasts the defendants for failing to admit that they were wrong in their valuations — adding that “their complete lack of contrition and remorse borders on pathological.” He says that this inability to admit error makes him believe they will continue their fraudulent activities unless “judicially restrained.”

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The judge cites other examples of Mr. Trump’s “ongoing propensity to engage in fraud,” bringing up lawsuits against Trump University and the Donald J. Trump Foundation. He also notably raises two criminal cases brought by the Manhattan district attorney’s office: one against Mr. Weisselberg, who pleaded guilty to tax fraud and falsifying business records , and another against the Trump Organization, which was convicted of 17 criminal counts including tax fraud .

Justice Engoron states that Judge Barbara Jones, who has been serving as an independent monitor at the Trump Organization since 2022, will continue in that role for at least three years. He clarifies that going forward, her role will be enhanced and she will review Trump Organization financial disclosures before they are submitted to any third party, to ensure that there are no material misstatements.

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In addition to extending the monitor’s tenure and strengthening her powers, Justice Engoron also took the unusual step of ordering that an independent compliance director be installed inside The Trump organization, and that they report directly to the monitor.

— William K. Rashbaum

In his pre-trial order, Justice Engoron ordered the cancellation of some of Mr. Trump’s business licenses . But here, he pulls back on that decision and instead says that any “restructuring and potential dissolution” would be up to Ms. Jones, the independent monitor.

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Justice Engoron lays out his bans against the defendants, ruling that Mr. Trump, Mr. Weisselberg and Mr. McConney cannot serve as officers or directors of any corporation or legal entity in New York for the next three years, and bans his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump for two years from the same. He also prohibits Mr. Trump from applying for any loans from any New York banks for the next three years. The ruling goes further in the cases of Mr. Weisselberg and Mr. McConney, permanently barring them from serving in the financial control function of any New York business.

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Justice Engoron also ordered that Mr. Trump and his sons pay the interest, pushing the penalty to $450 million, according to Ms. James.

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An earlier version of this article misstated how long the adult sons of former President Donald J. Trump — Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump — were barred by Justice Arthur F. Engoron from serving as officers or directors of any corporation or legal entity in New York. It was two years, not three. The article also misstated the number of pages in which Justice Engoron describes his conclusions about the testimony of all of the non-defendant witnesses. It was under 50 pages, not over 50 pages. The article also misstated the number of pages in the section in which Justice Engoron provides background on specific assets that Mr. Trump included in his annual financial statements. It was several pages, not more than a dozen pages.

  • Share full article

OpenAI teases ‘Sora,’ its new text-to-video AI model

Want to see a turtle riding a bike across the ocean ? Now, generative AI can animate that scene in seconds.

OpenAI on Thursday unveiled its new text-to-video model Sora, which can generate videos up to a minute long based on whatever prompt a user types into a text box. Though it’s not yet available to the public, the AI company’s announcement roused a frenzy of reactions online.

AI enthusiasts were quick to brainstorm ideas around the potential of this latest technology, even as others raised immediate concern over how its accessibility might erode human jobs and further the spread of digital disinformation.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman solicited prompt ideas on X and generated a series of videos including the aforementioned aquatic cyclists, as well as a cooking video and a couple of dogs podcasting on a mountain.

“We are not making this model broadly available in our products soon,” a spokesperson for OpenAI wrote in an email, adding that the company is sharing its research progress now to gain early feedback from others in the AI community.

The company, with its popular chatbot ChatGPT and text-to-image generator DALL-E, is one of several tech startups leading the generative AI revolution that began in 2022. It wrote in a blog post that Sora can generate with accuracy multiple characters and different types of motion.

“We’re teaching AI to understand and simulate the physical world in motion, with the goal of training models that help people solve problems that require real-world interaction,” OpenAI wrote in the post.

But Sora may struggle to capture the physics or spatial details of a more complex scene, which can lead it to generate something illogical (like a person running in the wrong direction on a treadmill), morph a subject in unnatural ways, or even cause it to disappear out of thin air, the company said in its blog post .

Still, many of the demonstrations shared by OpenAI showcased hyper-realistic visual details that could make it difficult for casual internet users to distinguish AI-generated video from real-life footage. Examples included a drone shot of waves crashing into a craggy Big Sur coastline under the glow of a setting sun and a clip of a woman strolling down a bustling Tokyo street still damp with rain.

As deepfaked media of celebrities, politicians and private figures becomes increasingly prevalent online, the ethical and safety implications of a world in which anyone can create high-quality video of anything they can imagine — especially during a presidential election year, and amid tense global conflicts fraught with opportunities for disinformation — are daunting.

The Federal Trade Commission on Thursday proposed rules aimed at making it illegal to create AI impressions of real people by extending protections it is putting in place around government and business impersonation.

“The agency is taking this action in light of  surging complaints  around impersonation fraud, as well as public outcry about the harms caused to consumers and to impersonated individuals,” the FTC wrote in a news release. “Emerging technology — including AI-generated deepfakes — threatens to turbocharge this scourge, and the FTC is committed to using all of its tools to detect, deter, and halt impersonation fraud.”

Prompt: Several giant woolly mammoths approach treading through a snowy meadow, their long woolly fur lightly blows in the wind as they walk, snow-covered trees and dramatic snowcapped mountains in the distance, midafternoon light with wispy clouds and a sun high in the distance creates a warm glow, the low camera view is stunning, capturing the large furry mammal with beautiful photography, depth of field.

OpenAI said it is working to build tools that can detect when a video is generated by Sora, and plans to embed metadata, which would mark the origin of a video, into such content if the model is made available for public use in the future.

The company also said it is collaborating with experts to test Sora for its ability to cause harm via misinformation, hateful content and bias.

A spokesperson for OpenAI told NBC News it will then publish a system card describing its safety evaluations, as well as the model’s risks and limitations.

“Despite extensive research and testing, we cannot predict all of the beneficial ways people will use our technology, nor all the ways people will abuse it,” OpenAI said in its blog post. “That’s why we believe that learning from real-world use is a critical component of creating and releasing increasingly safe AI systems over time.”

citation in text sentence

Angela Yang is a culture and trends reporter for NBC News.

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COMMENTS

  1. In-Text Citations: The Basics

    Use the abbreviation "p." (for one page) or "pp." (for multiple pages) before listing the page number (s). Use an en dash for page ranges. For example, you might write (Jones, 1998, p. 199) or (Jones, 1998, pp. 199-201). This information is reiterated below.

  2. The Basics of In-Text Citation

    Knowledge Base Citing sources The Basics of In-Text Citation | APA & MLA Examples The Basics of In-Text Citation | APA & MLA Examples Published on March 14, 2022 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on August 23, 2022. An in-text citation is a short acknowledgement you include whenever you quote or take information from a source in academic writing.

  3. APA In-Text Citations (7th Ed.)

    Knowledge Base APA Style 7th edition Beginner's guide to APA in-text citation APA In-Text Citations (7th Ed.) | Multiple Authors & Missing Info Published on November 4, 2020 by Raimo Streefkerk . Revised on September 30, 2022. This article reflects the APA 7th edition guidelines. Click here for APA 6th edition guidelines.

  4. MLA In-text Citations

    Revised on May 19, 2022. An MLA in-text citation provides the author's last name and a page number in parentheses. If a source has two authors, name both. If a source has more than two authors, name only the first author, followed by " et al. " If the part you're citing spans multiple pages, include the full page range.

  5. In-Text Citation Examples

    When the author's name is mentioned in the sentence, you should include only the page number in your parenthetical citation. As Anthony Jack argues, colleges and universities need to create policies that foster inclusion for low-income students (24).

  6. A Guide to In-Text Citations: APA, MLA, and Chicago

    An in-text citation is a source citation in academic writing that is placed directly in the body text, typically at the end of the related sentence, clause, or phrase. This is an alternative style to footnotes, which cite sources at the bottom of a page, or endnotes, which cite sources at the end of a section, chapter, or entire work.

  7. Citation Help for APA, 7th Edition: In-text Citations

    In APA Style, cite your sources by putting the information about the source in parentheses at the end of a sentence or in the text of your paper as opposed to a footnote where the source information is at the bottom of the page or an endnote where it goes at the end of your paper. There are slight differences depending on which style you are using.

  8. In-text citation

    In-text citation. The APA 7th style uses in-text citations when referring to or quoting people's work. The essential elements of an in-text citation are the author surname/s and year. Two types of in-text citations 1. Author prominent format. Use this format if you want to emphasise the author. Their name becomes part of your sentence.

  9. Library Guides: APA Citation Guide (7th Edition): In-Text Citation

    In APA, in-text citations are inserted in the text of your research paper to briefly document the source of your information. Brief in-text citations point the reader to more complete information in the Reference list. ... If the author and date are introduced in the sentence as a narrative citation, then add the page number in parentheses at ...

  10. Library Guides: APA Quick Citation Guide: In-text Citation

    In-text Citation APA Quick Citation Guide This guide contains examples of common citation formats in APA (American Psychological Association) Style 7th edition Using In-text Citation Include an in-text citation when you refer to, summarize, paraphrase, or quote from another source.

  11. In-Text Citations

    There are two basic ways to cite someone's work in text. In narrative citations, the authors are part of the sentence - you are referring to them by name. For example: Becker (2013) defined gamification as giving the mechanics of principles of a game to other activities.

  12. RasGuides: APA 7th Edition Guide: In-Text Citations

    APA 7th Edition Guide This guide provides an overview of the APA citation style and provides students with basic information to begin learning and applying this style in their academic writing. In-Text Citations Purpose Creating In-Text Citations Formatting In-Text Citations Placing In-Text Citations in a Paper Quotations & Block Quotations

  13. In-text citations

    The in-text citation appears within the body of the paper (or in a table, figure, footnote, or appendix) and briefly identifies the cited work by its author and date of publication. ... The parenthetical citation can be at the end of a sentence or may be in the middle of a sentence if needed to be clear on what is being cited. A company should ...

  14. MLA In-Text Citations: The Basics

    In-text citations: Author-page style MLA format follows the author-page method of in-text citation. This means that the author's last name and the page number (s) from which the quotation or paraphrase is taken must appear in the text, and a complete reference should appear on your Works Cited page.

  15. APA (7th ed.) Citation Style Guide: In-Text Citations

    In narrative citations, the author's name and publication date is included in the text as part of the sentence. In a parenthetical citation both the author and the date appear in parenthesis and are separated by a comma. A parenthetical citation can go at the end of the sentence or within it.

  16. In-text citations

    In-text citations are covered in the seventh edition APA Style manuals in the Publication Manual Chapter 8 and the Concise Guide Chapter 8. Date created: September 2019. APA Style provides guidelines to help writers determine the appropriate level of citation and how to avoid plagiarism and self-plagiarism. We also provide specific guidance for ...

  17. APA In-Text Citations

    To create a narrative APA in-text citation, include the author's last name in the sentence like this: As Drake (2013) once said "We don't like to do too much explaining." In the above APA in-text citation example, the Drake quote was taken from the song, "Started From the Bottom," in 2013.

  18. Harvard In-Text Citation

    An in-text citation consists of the last name of the author, the year of publication, and a page number if relevant. Up to three authors are included in Harvard in-text citations. If there are four or more authors, the citation is shortened with et al. Instantly correct all language mistakes in your text

  19. APA In-text Citation Examples

    Types of in-text citations. APA citation follows the author-date system. Two types of in-text citations are used in APA style. However, it is not necessary to follow the same type of citation throughout the paper. You must choose the appropriate type depending upon how you construct your sentence. There are two types of in-text citations:

  20. MLA In-Text Citations

    An in-text citation is a reference to a source that is found within the text of a paper ( 227). This tells a reader that an idea, quote, or paraphrase originated from a source. MLA in-text citations usually include the last name of the author and the location of cited information. This guide focuses on how to create MLA in-text citations, such ...

  21. In-text citation

    In-text citation. The MLA 9th style uses author-date in-text citations, used when quoting or paraphrasing people's work. ... within your text as part of a sentence. Use a slash with a space on either side ( / ) to indicate a new line of poetry. If the poem you are referencing has line numbers, then omit page numbers all-together and cite by ...

  22. Citing multiple works

    To highlight the work (s) most directly relevant to your point in a given sentence, place those citations first within parentheses in alphabetical order and then insert a semicolon and a phrase, such as "see also," before the first of the remaining citations, which should also be in alphabetical order.

  23. Illinois General Assembly

    (720 ILCS 5/11-14) (from Ch. 38, par. 11-14) Sec. 11-14. Prostitution. (a) Any person who knowingly performs, offers or agrees to perform any act of sexual penetration as defined in Section 11-0.1 of this Code for anything of value, or any touching or fondling of the sex organs of one person by another person, for anything of value, for the purpose of sexual arousal or gratification commits an ...

  24. A complete guide to APA in-text citation (6th edition)

    Punctuation in APA in-text citations. When using the abbreviation "et al.," always include a period (".").; Include a comma between "et al." and the publication date (e.g. Taylor et al., 2018). There should be no punctuation between "et al." and the author's name preceding it.; The period ending the sentence always comes after the citation (even when quoting).

  25. Create a form in Word that users can complete or print

    The rich text content control enables users to format text (e.g., bold, italic) and type multiple paragraphs. To limit these capabilities, use the plain text content control. Click or tap where you want to insert the control.

  26. The Civil Fraud Ruling on Donald Trump, Annotated

    Former President Donald J. Trump was penalized $355 million plus interest and banned for three years from serving in any top roles at a New York company, including his own, in a ruling on Friday ...

  27. Illinois General Assembly

    (720 ILCS 5/29D-20) Sec. 29D-20. Making a terrorist threat. (a) A person is guilty of making a terrorist threat when, with the intent to intimidate or coerce a significant portion of a civilian population, he or she in any manner knowingly threatens to commit or threatens to cause the commission of a terrorist act as defined in Section 29D-10(1) and thereby causes a reasonable expectation or ...

  28. OpenAI teases 'Sora,' its new text-to-video AI model

    OpenAI on Thursday teased its text-to-video artificial intelligence model Sora, which can generate videos up to a minute long based prompts users type into a text box.