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CITATIONS: THE INS AND OUTS OF IN-TEXT CITATION

Help students understand the importance of in-text citations, and how, where and when to use them correctly.

INTRODUCTION

This LibGuide will show you the magic behind creating in-text citations correctly.

Feel free to explore the helpful sites about this topic. Also, ask the ASC if you have any questions!

ONE AUTHOR

(Rollin, 2006)

or

Rollin (2006) shows…

TWO AUTHORS

(Sherman & Price, 2001)

or

Sherman and Price (2001) claimed…

THREE TO FIVE AUTHORS

(Goodpaster, Nash, & de Bettignies, 2006)

or

Goodpaster, Nash, and de Bettignies (2006) suggested…

  1. List up to five authors separated by commas and add an ampersand before the last one.
  2. Use this way for the first in-text citation in your paper.
  3. For the second in-text citation and forward, use the first name of the author and the words et al.

(Goodpaster et al, 2006)

or

Goodpaster et al (2006) claimed…

SIX OR MORE AUTHORS

(Smith et al., 2016)

or

Smith et al. (2006) noted…

  1. Only use the first author’s last name and the words et al. in all of your in-text citations.

MULTIPLE WORKS, SAME AUTHOR AND SAME YEAR

(Jones, 2016a) and Jones (2016b)

or

Jones (2016a) provided…

  1. Use a, b, c and so on to differentiate the whole citation in the references page.

CORPORATE OR GROUP AUTHOR

(American Medical Association [AMA], 2004)

or

The American Medical Association [AMA] (2004) acknowledges…

  1. For the first in-text citation spell out the name of the organization with its abbreviation in brackets next to it.
  2. For the second in-text citation and forward, use the abbreviation only.

(AMA, 2004)

or

The AMA (2004) acknowledges…

UNKNOWN AUTHORS OF BOOKS AND REPORTS

(Tale of Two Cities, 1859) or

Tale of Two Cities (1859) addressed…

* Of course we know who wrote this book, this is for educational purposes!

UNKNOWN AUTHORS OF ARTICLES, CHAPTERS, AND WEB PAGES

(“My Sad Life,” 2016)

or

“My Sad Life” (2006) illustrates…

Use the title or the first few words in a similar way you treat author’s last names.

ANONYMOUS AUTHOR

(Anonymous, 2005)

or

Anonymous (2005) emphasized…

Treat anonymous as a last name.

Unknown Date:

(Tale of Two Cities, n.d.) or

Tale of Two Cities (n.d.) rejected…

Use n.d. to substitute the date of publication.