When using paraphrases and quotations in a paper, it is necessary to cite the source with an in-text citation. Correctly formatting in-text citations is important because they give credit to the source and help you avoid accidental plagiarism. In-text citations are brief (usually only the author’s last name or source title and page number, if given) since the full citation information is provided on a separate Works Cited page. Because parentheses are used, in-text citations are also called parenthetical citations.
The following examples demonstrate how to format some of the most common types of in-text citations:
Source with author and page number – Cite the author at the beginning of the sentence or with the page number in the parentheses.
Studying psychology is essential because “the human condition is uniquely understood through psychological methods” (Smith 89).
According to psychologist Michelle Smith, “the state of the psychological community is undergoing an unprecedented change” (77).
Source with two authors – Cite both authors' names
Robertson and Hudson argue that “humanity is best described as a complex array of evolving motives” (86).
As a concept, humanity takes on many meanings, but perhaps “is best described as a complex array of evolving motives” (Robertson and Hudson 86).
Source with three or more authors – Cite the first author’s last name and replace the other authors’ names with et al., which is Latin for “and others.”
According to Franck et al., “Current agricultural policies in the U.S. are contributing to the poor health of Americans” (327).
The authors claim that one cause of obesity in the United States is government-funded farm subsidies (Franck et al. 327).
Indirect Source – An indirect source is a source that is cited within another source. This situation often occurs when the author of the source you found quotes other people. In this case, use "qtd. in" to indicate the source you actually consulted.
Ravitch argues that high schools are pressured to act as "social service centers, and they don't do that well" (qtd. in Weisman 259).
In this example, Weisman is the author of the article and this writer included a quotation from another person, Ravitch. The indirect source format allows you to give credit to both the speaker of the quotation and the writer of the source.
Unknown Author – When a source has no known author, cite a shortened version of the source title instead. Remember to italicize long works (websites, books, films, etc.) and put short works in quotation marks (webpages, articles, poems, etc.). Include the page number as well if available. If no page number is given, simply omit it.
We see so many global warming hotspots in North America likely because this region has "more readily accessible climatic data and more comprehensive programs to monitor and study environmental change" ("Impact of Global Warming").
Source consulted: Purdue OWL Website
Guide created by: C. Jones 6/4/2020
Revised by: J. Brown 1/23/2024
The RVC Writing Center offers many resources to help you with these topics and all of your writing concerns. Titles of available resources can be found in the navigation bars along the left side of this page and/or by using the search bar. The Writing Center’s Resource Library can be accessed by using the following link:
If you still need assistance, please call (815) 921-2370 to make an appointment with an RVC writing coach.
We are here to help!
