Essay Writing

In-text citationsa.k.a. parenthetical citations or internal documentation

Why use internal documentation?

refers reader to works cited page

shows reader you did your research

makes you more credible and believable

Example of in-text citation

Essay Works Cited

Que 1

Susie Que

Mrs. Kurth

English 9

13 April 2010

Crime in the U.S. Crime is rising in most metropolitan areas in the United States (Barker 25).

Que 7

Works CitedBarker, Tim. Crime in the

United States. New York:

Harper Perennial, 1999.

Print.Jones, Sally. Books Are Great. Dallas: Real Cool Publishing, Inc., 2004. Print.

When do I document?

Always cite your source when you: quote an author directly put an author’s ideas in your own words summarize facts you found from research

If you do not cite, you are plagiarizing! Even if it’s in your own words, you have to give credit to the author for the ideas and facts you found; if you don’t, you are saying these ideas are your own, which is theft.

What are the rules?

Put in-text citation in parenthesis Put in-text citation at end of thought

- usually end of sentence- sometimes at end of phrase- include wherever it’s least distracting

Include the author’s name and page # unless:- you already mention author in sentence- author isn’t provided- page # isn’t provided (websites)

Add punctuation after internal documentation

Crime is rising in most metropolitan areas in the United States (Barker 25).

Rules: where to place it

Put in-text citation at end of thought

Crime is rising in most metropolitan areas in the United States (Barker 25).

usually at end of sentence

Rules: what punctuation to include Put in-text citation in parenthesis

Crime is rising in most metropolitan areas in the United States (Barker 25).

parenthesis before and after

Rules: what to include

Include the author’s name and page #

Crime is rising in most metropolitan areas in the United States (Barker 25).

page # on which this fact was found

author

Rules: where to place end punctuation Add punctuation after in-text citation

Crime is rising in most metropolitan areas in the United States (Barker 25).

period goes after internal documentation

Exceptions to the rules: author’s name in sentence

Including an expert’s name in sentence- gives you more credibility if you cite an expert

- only needed the first time you introduce this source

Barra, author of “Intercultural Communication Stumbling Blocks” states, “learning the language, which most foreign visitors consider their only barrier to understanding, is actually only the beginning” (25).

Fred Donner, law professor at Harvard University, stated, “capital punishment violates the Constitution of the U.S. in that it is discriminatory and is a form of cruel and unusual punishment” (16).

author

author

Don’t include author again

Don’t include author again

Exceptions to the rules:anonymous authors

In-text: The number of people who are becoming vegetarians has been on the rise since the 1970s (“Trends in Eating Habits” 24).

Works cited: “Trends in Eating Habits.” Vegetarian Times Mar.

2000: 20-25. Print.

Exceptions to the rules:electronic sources

Websites don’t have page numbers, so substitute with:

- paragraph #s- sections of the website (e.g. introduction)- screen #s

Examples:1. Paragraphs: “Sleep deprivation affects 1 out of 4 teens” (Barton, par. 5).2. Sections: “Sleep deprivation affects 1 out of 4 teens” (Barton, Introduction).3. Screens: “Sleep deprivation affects 1 out of 4 teens” (Barton, screens 2-3).

Exceptions to the rules:more than one author

If there’s more than one author:- List all the last names of the authors in the same order as

you did in your works cited page (Franklin, Cardigan, and Davis 25).- List the last name of the first author listed in the works

cited page followed by et al. (Franklin et al. 25).

If there’s more than one source by the same author:

- also include the title or a shortened version of the title after the name and before the page number (Chaplan, “Homes” 3).

Other tricky situations

Two Authors with the Same Last Name: - include the first initial (L. Rivers 23).- if they share the same first initial, use the entire first name

(Lucy Rivers 23).

Using Two Sources to Support a Statement: Include the last name and page number of the first author followed by a semicolon and the last name and page number of the second author.

- (Kipp 22; Randolph 3)- (Natl. Research Council 3-5; “Death” 2)

Indirect Source: someone’s published account of another’s spoken remarks.

- Greenough claims that genetic engineering can be “a frightening concept when misunderstood” (qtd. in Lerner 45).Note: Lerner is the author of the book where you found this quote. Thus, Lerner willappear in your works cited page, not Greenough. If you only included the page number here, your reader would believe Greenough was the author and would look for her name in the works cited page.