The purpose of in-text citation is to link the borrowed material in the body of the paper to the reference page or pages following. The general principle to make the least intrusion into the readability of your work. Below are examples of a variety of situations you may encounter in your writing. It is a good idea to use both embedded and parenthetic citations to keep your writing smooth and readable. Another matter of style is that authors are referred to by their surnames only except the first time mentioned. Also, do not use Dr., Mr., Mrs., or Ms. before the name or professional and academic titles such as M.D., D.D.S., J.D., Ph.D., M.A., or B.A. or personal suffixes such as Jr, Sr. or III after the name.
In professional publication styles such as APA, writers are generally bringing in the entire body of the work referenced rather than quoting specific passages. For this reason, the basic in-text citation consists of the author and date in most cases. The basic variations are shown below. In the simplest case the author and date are embedded in the sentence:
In 2004, Jones claimed the optimum solution would be both costly and time consumptive.
However, if the date was not included as part of the sentence, show the year in parentheses after the author's name:
Jones (2004) claimed the optimum solution would be both costly and time consumptive.
If you choose to exclude the author and year from the sentence, then place his surname and the page number, separated by a comma, somewhere in the sentence at an appropriate place:
The optimum solution (Jones, 2004) would be both costly and time consumptive.
Be sure to include the comma after the author's name.
If you refer to the source a second time, omit the year reference:
Jones predicted the this solution would take a least five years to complete.
Finally, if the source is a direct quote, you'll need to include the precise reference information:
"The solution would take a least five years to complete." (Jones, 2004, p.37)
Be sure to include the comma after the author's name and after the year and note that the parenthetical citation follows the closing quotation mark. References could be in various forms i.e. p.37 or pp.37-39 or chap. 5 or figure 2 or table 9 or equation 2.11 or para. 22 or ¶ 9 as needed. For recordings, indicate side and band number or track number.
In addition to the basic forms shown above, special cases are shown below:
Two authors:
In 2004, Jones and Smith claimed the optimum solution would be both costly and time consumptive.
-or-
Jones and Smith (2004) claimed the optimum solution would be both costly and time consumptive.
-or-
The optimum solution would be both costly and time consumptive. (Jones and Smith, 2004)
Three authors:
In 2004, Jones, Brown, and Smith claimed the optimum solution would be both costly and time consumptive.
-or-
Jones, Brown, and Smith (2004) claimed the optimum solution would be both costly and time consumptive.
-or-
The optimum solution would be both costly and time consumptive. (Jones, Brown, and Smith, 2004)
Four authors:
In 2004, Jones, Sapperstien, Brown, and Smith claimed the optimum solution would be both costly and time consumptive.
-or-
Jones, Sapperstien, Brown, and Smith (2004) claimed the optimum solution would be both costly and time consumptive.
-or-
The optimum solution would be both costly and time consumptive. (Jones, Sapperstien, Brown, and Smith, 2004)
Five authors:
In 2004, Jones, Sapperstien, Thomas, Brown, and Smith claimed the optimum solution would be both costly and time consumptive.
-or-
Jones, Sapperstien, Thomas, Brown, and Smith (2004) claimed the optimum solution would be both costly and time consumptive.
-or-
The optimum solution would be both costly and time consumptive. (Jones, Sapperstien, Thomas, Brown, and Smith, 2004)
Six or more authors:
In 2004, Jones, et al. claimed the optimum solution would be both costly and time consumptive.
-or-
Jones, et al. (2004) claimed the optimum solution would be both costly and time consumptive.
-or-
The optimum solution would be both costly and time consumptive. (Jones, et al., 2004)
Three or more authors subsequently referenced (use et al and omit year):
Jones, et al. predicted the solution would take five years to implement.
-or-
The solution will take five years to implement. (Jones, et al.)
Group authors (corporations, associations, government agencies, study groups, etc), first reference:
In 2004, the Ohio State University claimed the optimum solution would be both costly and time consumptive.
-or-
The Ohio State University (2004) claimed the optimum solution would be both costly and time consumptive.
-or-
The optimum solution would be both costly and time consumptive. (Ohio State University, 2004)
Group authors (corporations, associations, government agencies, study groups, etc) subsequent reference (drop the year reference):
The Ohio State University predicted the solution would take five years to implement.
-or-
The solution would take five years to implement. (Ohio State University, 2004)
Group authors (corporations, associations, government agencies, study groups, etc) with well known acronyms, first reference:
In 2004, the National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH] claimed the optimum solution would be both costly and time consumptive.
-or-
The National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH] (2004) claimed the optimum solution would be both costly and time consumptive.
-or-
The optimum solution would be both costly and time consumptive. (National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2004)
Group authors (corporations, associations, government agencies, study groups, etc) with well known acronyms, subsequent reference (drop the year reference):
The NIMH predicted the solution would take five years to implement.
-or-
The solution would take five years to implement. (NIMH, 2004)
Anonymous authorship:
The optimum solution would be both costly and time consumptive. (Anonymous, 2004)
Occasionally you may want to use a source that does not have an author to credit (for example, some newspaper articles such as wire service or press releases and most legal sources). In these cases, you may embed the full title of the piece in your body text or include the first few words of the title parenthetically. Article or chapter titles are shown in quotation marks, periodicals, books, and the like are shown in italics:
-an article title parenthetically-
The solution will be costly and time consumptive ("Organization Reports," 2004).
-an article title embedded-
In Saturday's article "Organization Reports Concerns," the American Red Cross expressed its concerns about the costliness and time consumptiveness of the optimum solution (2004).
-a book title parenthetically-
The solution will be costly and time consumptive (Modern Solutions, 2004).
-a book title embedded-
In Modern Solutions, the American Red Cross expressed its concerns about the costliness and time consumptiveness of the optimum solution (2004).
Be sure to list it exactly as it is indexed in the Works Cited.
Occasionally, duplicate surnames (different given names, same surnames) occur in a reference list and require the addition of initials:
In 2002 and 2004 respectively, both R.A.Jones and T.S. Jones claimed the optimum solution would be both costly and time consumptive.
-or-
R.A. Jones (2002) and T.S. Jones (2004) both claimed the optimum solution would be both costly and time consumptive.
-or-
The optimum solution would be both costly and time consumptive. (R.A.Jones, 2002; T.S. Jones, 2004)
In some cases, multiple sources provide similar or identical information and should be included. Separate authors with semicolons, years with commas:
-different authors-
Several studies (Jones, 1984, 1986; Brown, 1998; Kegel, 2001) show the optimum solution would be both costly and time consumptive.
-same author, different years-
Several studies (Jones, 1984, 1994a, 1994b) show the optimum solution would be both costly and time consumptive.
Note that in this example Jones conducted two studies in 1994. To distinguish between them, add a letter to the year here and in the reference entry.
Where the date reference is not known, indicate this fact with n.d. (no date):
Jones (n.d.) concluded the optimum solution would be both costly and time consumptive.
-or-
The optimum solution would be both costly and time consumptive. (Jones, n.d.)
Biblical references:
1 Cor. 13:1. (King James Version)
Personal communications (including interviews and correspondence):
T.L. Jones (personal communication, January 4, 2004) claimed the optimum solution would be both costly and time consumptive.
-or-
The optimum solution would be both costly and time consumptive. (T.L.Jones, personal communication, January 4, 2004)
And, finally, this writer's favorite--multiple citations can occur within a single sentence:
The optimum solution (Jones, 2000) would be both costly (Brown, 2002) and time consumptive (Sapperstein, 2004).
or, one can mix things up a bit:
In 2000, Jones proposed an optimum solution that Brown (2002) would find costly and, worse, unworkably time consumptive (Sapperstein, 2004).
These suggestions do not cover all the possibilities but do address the majority you will likely encounter. If what you have doesn't fit any of these situations, consult the style manual or come to your Writing Center for assistance.
—By Douglas E. Greathouse, M.A.
