In-Text Citation (parenthetical citations) Important Tips/Rules

The Basics: You MUST use parenthetical citations whenever you represent another person’s ideas, whether quoted, paraphrased, or summarized. To do this accurately, you must first determine the Works Cited info for that source. The parenthetical citation for a source will be the first word or words you see on the Works Cited page for that source.

The Basics If you have an author, your parenthetical citation will be their last name: (Bernstein). If no author, your parenthetical citation will be a shortened version of the title, i.e. first couple words: (“How to Make”). If your source has page numbers, include the page number where the quote appeared, no comma in between: (Bernstein 4) or (“How to Make” 4).

When “name-dropping:” If you use the author’s name in the sentence to introduce the quote, you need only cite the page # in the parentheses at the end. If you don’t, you must put author’s name and page # in parentheses -Human beings have been described by Kenneth Burke as “symbol-using animals” (3). *If no pagination (no page numbers) for the source, then no parenthetical required. Otherwise… -Human beings have been described as “symbol- using animals” (Burke 3).

Parenthetical Citation for Your Sources with Multiple Authors: If a source has two authors, list the author’s last names either in the text or parenthetical citation. -Smith and Moore argue that tougher gun control is not needed in the United States (76). -The authors state “tighter gun control in the United States erodes Second-Amendment rights (Smith and Moore 76).

Multiple Authors (cont.): But if a source has more than two authors, provide the first author’s last name followed by ‘et al.’ -Jones et al. counter Smith and Moore's argument by noting that the current spike in gun violence in America “compels law makers to adjust gun laws” (4). -Legal experts counter Smith and Moore's argument by noting that the current spike in gun violence in America “compels law makers to adjust gun laws” (Jones et al. 4).

Other Special Circumstances: If you have two works by the same author: In your Works Cited page, order the entries alphabetically by title, and use three hyphens in place of the author's name for every entry after the first. For example: Burke, Kenneth. A Grammar of Motives…. ---. A Rhetoric of Motives… So, you would use the title (or shortened title) of the work for the parenthetical citations. (A Grammar of Motives) (A Rhetoric of Motives)

Other Special Circumstances: If you have two different sources with the same title and no author for either, follow the same steps as you would for works with same author. For example: “Napoleon Bonaparte.” Essortment: Your Source for Knowledge. Demand Media, 2011. Web. 2 Nov. 2011. ---. Napoleonic Guide. Richard Moore, 2009. Web. 2 Nov. 2011. Parentheticals then become the Website Titles: (Essortment) and (Napoleonic Guide).

So to sum up, the only time you WON’T use the first word(s) from the works cited info to make your parentheticals is when… If you have two sources that start the same way in your Works Cited (same author, same title, same government entity, etc.), go to the next piece of information and put that in the parentheses with the same punctuation as it appears in the Works Cited page. Try to apply this principal when you’re coming up with parentheticals for your sources like legal documents or other primary sources. If you want, ask me and we can come up with a decision for how to do it. Remember you MUST consult the Works Cited info to make your parentheticals.

Just a couple other weird things: Authors with same last names, but different first names: (A. Miller 23) or (D. Miller) Multiple citations in one sentence (you used info from two different sources in one sentence): . . . as discussed elsewhere (Burke 3; Dewey 21). *These would appear in the order in which you used them in the sentence

One more, I swear (for now): Citing indirect sources: This is when you’re quoting Jones, but he’s not the actual author of the source you got it from. You need to specify this, or the reader looks for Jones in the Works Cited and doesn’t find him. So the simple solution… - Bill Ravitch argues that high schools are pressured to act as "social service centers, and they don't do that well" (qtd. in Weisman 259).