Grammar Lesson #2- In-Text Citations
We use in-text citations to let readers know where we found our information and
material. Anytime you reference information that is not commonly known or that
you got from somewhere else, you have to cite it.
There are numerous ways to do this. Every style guide (MLA, APA, Chicago,
ASA) has a slightly different way to do in-text citations, but all of them share
basic principles. We’ll focus on those basic principles here.
Basic Structure of an In-Text Citation
An in-text citation references the full citation at the end of the paper. The full
citation should look something like this:
Hanlon, Bernadette. 2008. “The Decline of Older, Inner Suburbs in
Metropolitan America.” Housing Policy Debate 19: 423-456.
This citation is in the format preferred by the American Sociological Association.
Other style guides look a little bit different, but they generally follow the same
pattern. The author’s name goes first, followed by the date, the title, and the
publication information.
If I wanted to cite Hanlon’s article in a paper, I’d want to use an in-text citation.
For example:
Other research suggests that neighborhoods built in the 1950s and
1960s were more likely to decline than those neighborhoods built
before or since (Hanlon 2008).
The in-text citation is the part in parentheses at the very end. If you flipped to the
references at the end of the paper, you could look up the full citation, and find the
original source material.
Other style guides look different. Some just require the author’s name and omit
the year. Others use footnotes.
Footnote example:
Beginning in 1820, when the first modern suburbs were
constructed, and continuing until the late 1930s and early 1940s,
the vast majority of suburban areas were developed by the
affluent.1
1
Jackson, Kenneth T. 1985. Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States. New York:
Oxford University Press.
Special Cases
The examples above are the simplest ways to cite things, but sometimes, those
will not suffice. The following are some special cases where you’ll need to use a
slightly different format.
Two or more articles give the same facts or findings.
Sometimes, you’ll find multiple sources that report similar findings. Your
argument appears stronger if you can back it up with multiple sources. In that
case, cite all the findings.
Example:
Because the upper classes are constantly moving to newer areas,
the middle and lower classes, who cannot afford new houses, are
relegated to older areas, resulting in neighborhoods with different
statuses (Grigsby 1963; Baer and Williamson 1988).
Two or more articles were written by the same author in the same year.
Sometimes, you’ll find multiple sources from the same author written in the same
year. To keep your citations straight, you have to add a letter to indicate which
article or book you are referencing. You’ll add this in both the in-text citation and
the references list.
If you are using a format that requires the year, you’ll add letters after the
date.
(Hanlon 2008a).
(Hanlon 2008b).
If you are using a format that doesn’t require the year, you’ll add letters
after the author’s name.
(Hanlon a)
(Hanlon b)
*You would also use add a letter if you are using a format
that doesn’t require a date in the in-text citation and you had
multiple works by the same author, regardless of when they
were written.
(Hanlon 2008) would be (Hanlon a)
(Hanlon 2010) would be (Hanlon b)
You want to cite multiple sources in a sentence, but they don’t all say the same
thing.
Sometimes, it is convenient to cite two different sources in a sentence that say
different things. In this case, you put the citation after the relevant information.
In all other cases, you put the citation at the end of the sentence.
Example:
While housing age still explains neighborhood stratification in many
suburban areas, studies demonstrate that some of the oldest
suburbs have maintained high status (Hanlon 2009), while some
newer suburbs have high levels of poverty (Holliday and Dwyer
2009).
Important Things to Remember About In-Text Citations
Once you’ve figured out what you need to cite and the format, the most important
thing to remember is how to add citations to a sentence.
If you are using footnotes at the end of the sentence, you put the footnote after
the punctuation.
Example:
That trend has continued since 2000, so that now more than half of
all impoverished individuals in the United States live in the
suburbs.2
If you are using parentheses, the citation goes before the punctuation.
Between 1990 and 2000, central city poverty fell, while suburban
poverty rose (Berube and Frey 2002).
If you are ending your sentences with a quotation, the citation goes after the
quotation marks, but before the period.
Since 1990, many immigrants have avoided the cities that
traditionally house the foreign-born and are heading for “new
immigrant gateways” (Singer 2004).
2
Kneebone, Elizabeth, and Emily Garr. 2010. “The Suburbanization of Poverty: Trends in Metropolitan
America, 2000 to 2008.” Metropolitan Opportunity Series. Washington, D.C.: The Brookings
Institution.
Exercise
Examine the following citations. Correct any mistakes.
Leo Tolstoy is famous for his cynical remark that “happy families are all alike;
every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” (Tolstoy 1877).
Tina Fey was slashed in the face by a stranger when she was 5 years old. (Dowd
2008)
A Reuters/Ipsos poll indicated that Americans prefer Betty White over any other
celebrity (Lopez 2011)
In a conversation with reporters, Elliot’s personal physician proposed that “the
post mortem will probably show she died as a result of choking on a sandwich
while lying in bed and inhaling her own vomit (Greenburg 1974).”
After lead-singer Natalie Maines criticized President Bush over the invasion of
Iraq, the Dixie Chicks received death threats and had to install metal detectors at
their shows, (Sawyer 2003).
Sherlock Holmes never actually says “Elementary, my dear Watson,” in Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle’s original works1.