Created by Ms. Giegerich

Citation FAQ’s

Q:  How do I embed a citation from a book?

A:  After your quote or reference, place the author’s last name and page number in parenthesis. 

          Example:  (Dickins 12)

Q:  I am citing information from a website that lists an author but does not list page numbers.  How do I write my embedded citation?

A:  For a website that lists an author but has no page numbers, you would write the author’s last name only in parenthesis, following the quote. 

          Example:  (Rodriguez)

Q:  I am using information from a website that does not list an author and does not have page numbers.  How do I write my embedded citation? 

A:  For resources that do not list an author or page number, simply cite a condensed version of the website title, article title, etc. inside of parenthesis. 

        Note – if you are using multiple resources with similar titles, make sure that each citation is different and that is clearly refers to the

          correct item on your works cited page.

          Example:  (Emancipation Proclamation)

                           (Lincoln Emancipation)

Q:  How do I cite a reference from an organization or corporate publication that doesn’t list an author?

A:  To cite a corporate or organizational reference, you should write an abbreviated form of the name of the organization followed by the page number, if available. 

          Example:  (Natl. Research Council 15)

                           (US Dept. of State)

Q:  I am using an E-Book as a resource.  How do I write my embedded citation?

A:  E-books can be cited in the same way that regular books are cited:  author’s last name followed by the page number, all in parenthesis. 

          Example:  (Moore 6)

Q:  I am citing a source that has multiple authors.  How do I write my embedded citation?

A1:  If your resource has two authors, you should write both last names of the authors followed by the page number.

          Example:  (Eggins and Slade 15)

    On the works cited page, your citation would look like this:

    Eggins, Suzanne, and Diana Slade.  Analysing Casual Conversation. London: Cassell, 1997

A2:  If your resource has more than two authors, you should write the name of the first author followed by et al. (“and others”) in your works cited.  For your embedded citation, use only the last name of the first author given. 

Q:  Two of my resources are by authors with the same last names!  How do I differentiate between the two in my embedded citations?

A:  The best way to cite two authors with the same last names is to include their first initial with their last name, followed by the page number (if available). 

          Example: (R. Miller 51)

                          (A. Miller 16) 

Q:  I would like to include an indirect source in my paper, how should I cite it? 

A:  When citing an indirect source (a source cited in another source), use the phrase “qtd. in” to indicate the source you actually cited.

          Example:  Ravitch argues that high schools are pressured to act as “social service centers, and they don’t do that well”

                           (qtd. in Weisman 259). 

Q:  How to I cite more than one source in a single parenthetical reference?

A:  When citing two or more works in a single parenthetical reference, cite each work as you normally would in a reference and use semicolons to separate the citations.

          Example:  (Farley 43; Fradin 68)

Important things to remember:

Embedded citations (also called parenthetical citations) are meant to refer your reader to the works cited page at the end of your paper.  Your embedded citations, then, must be short.  Embedded citations that are too lengthy can be a distraction from the content of your paper. 

If the author’s name appears in the paraphrase or quote that you are referencing, you should not repeat the name in the citation.  Just include the page number.  (Be sure to maintain a good balance between referencing the author within the quote and referencing the author in the embedded citation!)

If you come across a situation where you are unsure of how to cite something, just ASK!  There are many resources available (including the ones listed below) that can guide you in writing your research paper. 

Works Cited

Gibaldi, Joseph. "Citing Books and Other Nonperiodical Publications." MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6th ed. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 2003. 139-161.

---. "Documentation: Citing Sources in the Text." MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6th ed. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 2003. 237-60.

Stolley, Karl. "In-Text Citations: Author-Page Style." The OWL at Purdue. 1995-2009. Purdue University Writing Lab. 23 Mar. 2009 <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/03/>.