ALWAYS DOCUMENT YOUR SOURCE WITH IN-TEXT CITATIONS WHEN YOU:
- use information from one of your sources, whether you quote or paraphrase it
- summarize information from one of your sources
- use factual information that is not common knowledge*
- quote directly from a source
- use a date, fact or statistic that might be disputed
Usually only the author's last name (OR, if no author, the title) and page number are given. Do not use the word "page" or any abbreviations. Page numbers may be omitted if the source is a one-page article or an internet source which does not include paging.
* Common knowledge is information that recurs in multiple sources. If you are not certain it is common knowledge, cite it to be on the safe side!
RULES FOR USING IN-TEXT CITATIONS (MLA style)
- Cite the author's last name and page number in parentheses.
- When there are multiple titles by the same author, cite the author's last name, title and page.
- When the author and title are identified in the text, cite only the page number.
- When there is no author, cite title and page number.
- If the title is very lengthy, shorten it to a noun phrase by excluding articles (e.g. "Perceived Societal Impact of Intellectual Property Protections among US Adults" becomes "Perceived Societal Impact")
- When there is no numbering, cite only the author - or title, if there is no author - in parenthesis. Do not use the URL for in-text citations.
- When you are citing an indirect source (a quote within a source), you must identify it with "qtd. in"
