Providing In-Text Citations

Why include in-text citations?

There are several reasons why academic writing requires some form of in-text citations.

• Avoiding plagiarism. For better or worse, the go-to reason for including correct in-text citations when referencing the work of others is to avoid accusations of plagiarism. When done correctly, in-text citations visually separate your content from a source’s; it lets your reader know when your voice ends and your source’s begins (and vice versa).
• Situating yourself in the conversation. This book has emphasized that academic writing, especially in the digital era, is an ongoing conversation. And much like any other conversation, you want to make it clear how your ideas align with, extend, or challenge the ideas of others. This is only possible, though, if you let your reader clearly know whose ideas you’re responding to. In-text citations give you the space to quite literally respond immediately to the ideas of another and discuss how your ideas relate to theirs.
• Connection to references. You know how academic works often require a works cited, references, or bibliography? The in-text citation gives your reader an easier way to find more detailed information for your sources.

How do I create an in-text citation?

An effective in-text citation has two elements: a signal phrase and a parenthetical citation.

Signal Phrases

Each citation style has its own way of tackling the parenthetical citation (which we’ll look at in a bit), but signal phrases stay consistent across disciplines. Signal phrases do a couple of things: they visually signal to your reader that you’re moving from your ideas to someone else’s ideas; they can help establish how your idea relates to the sources (and vice versa). Most often, the signal phrase will include the author’s name and sometimes the title of the work.

• Stephen Carradini suggests…
• In “On the Current Moment in AI,” Carradini writes …

Parenthetical Citations

While signal phrases are helpful for distinguishing between your voice and a source’s voice, parenthetical citations help the reader locate the full citation in your works cited, references, or bibliography.

MLA

In-text citations for MLA come at the end of the referenced material. Most often, you will include the page number that you found the specific referenced material on; however, the actual content included can vary pending on the source type.

Example  

Carradini argues that “In an era of machine-learning software development defined by rapid change, making a marker of a specific moment is important. We must say what it is like in the world now, even if only to establish ourselves as part of the quickly flowing river of history” (191).

APA

Unlike MLA, APA in-text citations immediately follow the signal phrase, most often with the year of publication.

Example 

Carradini (2024) argues that “In an era of machine-learning software development defined by rapid change, making a marker of a specific moment is important. We must say what it is like in the world now, even if only to establish ourselves as part of the quickly flowing river of history” (p. 191).

Helpful Resources

MLA In-Text Citations: The Basics from the Purdue OWL

APA In-Text Citations: The Basics from the Purdue OWL

Chicago In-text Citations from Scribbr