Created by Melissa Zonin, 2012
Giving Credit Where Credit is Due
with Parenthetical Citations
If you don't cite (give reference to) the sources that you quote or paraphrase in your essay, then you are plagiarizing someone else's work. Not only does this have negative consquences for you academically but it is also illegal. The citations in an MLA formatted paper happen at the end of each sentence which has quoted or paraphrased material. They are parenthetical citations because you place the information inside parentheses. The citation is a signal to your reader to look at the attached works cited page to find out the full information for the source you reference.
Citations can vary depending on what information is given to you about the source. Is there an author? More than one? Numbered pages? All of these pieces of information factor into what belongs inside those parentheses. Below are some examples and explanations that can help you figure out what to do.
No matter what:
Whatever signal word you use inside your parenthetical citation must be the first word that appears on the works cited page for that source.
This example shows the use of a parenthetical reference from a named author when the author is not mentioned within the sentence:
Studies show that many Muslims “follow a primarily vegetarian diet” (McKinney 218).
--Notice that the period does not appear until the END of the sentence and that there is no punctuation between the end of the quote and the beginning of the citation.
This example shows a paraphrase from an unpaged source with a given author:
The daily routine of overworked, underpaid employees got to a breaking point, resulting in a revolt (Smith).
--Since this is paraphrased, no quotation marks are used and again there is NO punctuation before the parenthetical citation. The period always goes at the end of a sentence and the sentence isn't over until you've inserted your citation.
This example shows the use of a quote from a paged source with the author mentioned in the sentence:
McKinney also notes that many Muslims “follow a primarily vegetarian diet” (218).
--Since the author was mentioned within the sentence there is no need to again insert his/her name in the citation. Since we have a page number for this source, that is all that appears. If there were no page number for this source, no citation would be needed.
Need help with some other types of citations? Check out the Purdue Online Writing Lab here:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/02/
Citations can vary depending on what information is given to you about the source. Is there an author? More than one? Numbered pages? All of these pieces of information factor into what belongs inside those parentheses. Below are some examples and explanations that can help you figure out what to do.
No matter what:
Whatever signal word you use inside your parenthetical citation must be the first word that appears on the works cited page for that source.
This example shows the use of a parenthetical reference from a named author when the author is not mentioned within the sentence:
Studies show that many Muslims “follow a primarily vegetarian diet” (McKinney 218).
--Notice that the period does not appear until the END of the sentence and that there is no punctuation between the end of the quote and the beginning of the citation.
This example shows a paraphrase from an unpaged source with a given author:
The daily routine of overworked, underpaid employees got to a breaking point, resulting in a revolt (Smith).
--Since this is paraphrased, no quotation marks are used and again there is NO punctuation before the parenthetical citation. The period always goes at the end of a sentence and the sentence isn't over until you've inserted your citation.
This example shows the use of a quote from a paged source with the author mentioned in the sentence:
McKinney also notes that many Muslims “follow a primarily vegetarian diet” (218).
--Since the author was mentioned within the sentence there is no need to again insert his/her name in the citation. Since we have a page number for this source, that is all that appears. If there were no page number for this source, no citation would be needed.
Need help with some other types of citations? Check out the Purdue Online Writing Lab here:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/02/