A Quick Guide to In-Text Citations Cassy McCoy, NEA & BetterLesson Master Teacher Project

In-Text Citation Options In an ideal world, you’ll be working with the following pieces of information: Author’s name Page number Publication title Article title In the real world, we’ll often be stuck with just the author’s name, publication title, and article title…and that’s completely okay!

In-Text Citation Options If your article has all the information… Alternate between the author’s name, publication name, and article name in the stem, and always include a page number at the end. Pick TWO in addition to the page number, but always include the author somewhere in there. Don’t duplicate what you say in the sentence with what you way in the citation. Examples: According to Smith, “blah blah blah” (57). According to a Time Magazine article, “blah blah blah” (Smith 57). According to “An Inside Look at Citation,” there seems to be a “blah blah blah” occurring in America (Smith 57).

In-Text Citation Options If there’s no page number… Alternate between the author’s name, publication name, and article name. Pick TWO, but always include the author somewhere in there. Don’t duplicate what you say in the sentence with what you way in the citation. Examples: According to Smith, “blah blah blah” (“Inside Look”). According to a Time Magazine article, “blah blah blah” (Smith). According to “An Inside Look at Citation,” there seems to be a “blah blah blah” occurring in America (Smith). According to Smith, being American “blah blah blah” (Time Magazine).

In-Text Citation Options If there’s no page number or author… Try to stick to using the article title in the parentheses so that your reader can find your source more easily. Also, don’t be afraid to put something more general in your introductory stem to set off that you’re using someone else’s ideas. Examples: A new research study suggests that blah blah blah (“Inside Look”). Even Time Magazine reports that “blah blah blah” since 1992 (“Inside Look”).

Things to Remember About In-Text Citation Quotation marks end BEFORE the parenthetical citations. End-of-sentence punctuation marks go AFTER the parenthetical citations. Every sentence that you summarize, paraphrase, or direct quote needs a parenthetical citation following it. You should never stack sentences which require citation. If you’re finding yourself doing this, you are NOT using PIE structure, which requires an Explanation following your Illustration! I should hear your words and ideas more than source words and ideas—they are your BACKUP!