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:
Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by
a "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (263).
Romantic poetry is characterized by the "spontaneous
overflow of powerful feelings" (Wordsworth 263). Wordsworth
extensively explored the role of emotion in the creative
process (263).
The 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. London: Oxford U.P.,
1967. Print.
APA Citation Basics
When using APA format, follow the author-date method of in-text
citation. This means that the author's last name and the year of
publication for the source should appear in the text, E.g., (Jones,
1998), and a complete reference should appear in the reference list at
the end of the paper.
If you are referring to an idea from another work but NOT directly
quoting the material, or making reference to an entire book, article or
other work, you only have to make reference to the author and year of
publication in your in-text reference.
In-Text Citation Capitalization, Quotes,
and Italics/Underlining
.
Always capitalize proper nouns, including author names and
initials: D. Jones.
If you refer to the title of a source within your paper, capitalize
all words that are four letters long or greater within the title of
a source: Permanence and Change. Exceptions apply to short
words that are verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs:
Writing New Media, There Is Nothing Left to Lose.
(Note: in your References list, only the first word of a title will
be capitalized: Writing new media.)
.
.
.
When capitalizing titles, capitalize both words in a hyphenated
compound word: Natural-Born Cyborgs.
.
Capitalize the first word after a dash or colon: "Defining Film
Rhetoric: The Case of Hitchcock's Vertigo."
.
Italicize or underline the titles of longer works such as books,
edited collections, movies, television series, documentaries, or
albums: The Closing of the American Mind; The Wizard of Oz;
Friends.
.
Put quotation marks around the titles of shorter works such as
journal articles, articles from edited collections, television series
episodes, and song titles: "Multimedia Narration: Constructing
Possible Worlds"; "The One Where Chandler Can't Cry."
Short Quotations
If you are directly quoting from a work, you will need to include the
author, year of publication, and the page number for the reference
(preceded by "p."). Introduce the quotation with a signal phrase that
includes the author's last name followed by the date of publication in
parentheses.
According to Jones (1998), "Students often had difficulty
using APA style, especially when it was their first time"
(p. 199). Jones (1998) found "students often had difficulty
using APA style" (p. 199); what implications does this have
for teachers?
If the author is not named in a signal phrase, place the author's last
name, the year of publication, and the page number in parentheses
after the quotation.
She stated, "Students often had difficulty using APA
style," but she did not offer an explanation as to why
(Jones, 1998, p. 199).
Long Quotations
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 five spaces from the left margin. Type the
entire quotation on the new margin, and indent the first line of any
subsequent paragraph within the quotation five spaces from the new
margin. Maintain double-spacing throughout. The parenthetical citation
should come after the closing punctuation mark.
Jones's (1998) study found the following:
Students often
had difficulty using APA style, especially when it was
their first time citing sources. This difficulty could
be attributed to the fact that many students failed to
purchase a style manual or to ask their teacher for help.
(p. 199)
Summary or Paraphrase
If you are paraphrasing an idea from another work, you only have to
make reference to the author and year of publication in your in-text
reference, but APA guidelines encourage you to also provide the page
number (although it is not required.)
According to Jones (1998), APA style is a difficult
citation format for first-time learners.
APA style is a
difficult citation format for first-time learners (Jones,
1998, p. 199).
