What Is an In-text Citation?
An in-text citation is a brief reference within the body of an essay or research paper that points the reader to the complete entry on the Works Cited page. It can also be referred to as a parenthetical citation because information about the source goes in parentheses after the citation.
Key Takeaways
The purpose of an in-text citation is to:
- Allow readers to locate the source of a quotation, idea, statistic, or paraphrased information.
- Help prevent plagiarism because it ensures that proper credit is given to the original author.
When Do I Use an In-Text Citation?
In-text citations are used when you use information (ideas, quotations, statistics, dates, figures, graphs, charts, and images) from other sources in your writing. Writers often take information from other sources and either directly quote, paraphrase or summarize it.
MLA has specific rules about how to format your in-text citations. In-text citations must correspond with the first word(s) of the matching Works Cited page citation. Below are general MLA guidelines for in-text citations.
- Include Author’s Name
- The first time you use a source in your paper, include the author and their credentials if those credentials help to establish the credibility of the author.
- This will be done at the beginning of the sentence.
- After the initial introduction, in-text citations can be contained in parentheses at the end of the research.
- If you have two authors, include both of their names.
- If you have more than two authors, use the first author’s name followed by a comma and et al.
- If there is no author, use the title of the source, capitalized according to MLA rules, in “quotation marks.”
- Example: According to the article “What Is Wrong with Today’s Schools,” children need teachers who they view as role models (24).
- Include the Page Number(s)
- The page number should be put at the end of the sentence in (parentheses).
- Put the period after the parentheses.
- Example: At the end of the day, Wilbur made “in excess of half a million dollars” (Marx 43).
- If there is no page number, skip this part. (The period should be put inside the “quote marks” in direct quotes.)
- Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of a private financial aid help site, published tips in Forbes magazine, stating, “To get a better financial aid offer, you need to understand how the system works.”
