In-text Citations

Basic Instructions: 719; Detailed instructions: 748-752

Quote: Write down what the source says verbatim

Paraphrase: Put the info. in your own words

*Both must be cited!

First use: Lead into source material w/ your own words.

· Acknowledge the author’s full name (or entire title if no author), his/her credentials (look at intro to article), and the work the source material came from in order to lend credence to the information.

· Include a statement that makes it clear to the reader how the source material supports your point.

· Include a statement attributing the thoughts to the writer (See page 720 for a list).

· Include page number in parentheses at end.

· Citation goes after quotation marks, before period.

In his article “A Brush with Reality: Surprises in the Tube,” David Bodanis, journalist and author of books The Body Book, The Secret Garden, The Secret Family, and The Secret House, points out how toothpaste can actually cause tooth decay, stating, “Quote” (437).

All subsequent citations: Punctuated the same.

· Lead into source material w/ your own words.

· Give first word of the Works Cited citation (if title, in quotes or underlined) and the page number.

· Do not put “pp., pg., etc” before page numbers.

· Do not put a comma between the author’s name and the page number.

Name in text: Says Bodanis, "Quote" (438).

No name: We also learn that "Quote" (Bodanis 437).

No author: A further example is "Quote" ("Brush" 437).

*If your lead-in is a complete sentence, separate it from your quote with a colon, not a comma:

In his article “A Brush with Reality: Surprises in the Tube,” David Bodanis, journalist and author of books The Body Book, The Secret Garden, The Secret Family, and The Secret House, points out how toothpaste can actually cause tooth decay: “Quote” (437).

Quoting: Omitting and Changing Portions

1. If you would like to omit certain portions of a quote, use an ellipsis enclosed in brackets: This keeps you from including information that is not directly supporting your point. Be selective!

Beginning: You do not need an ellipsis if the removed portion is at the beginning of your quote.

Ex: Bodanis says that toothpaste is “30 to 45 percent

[. . .]” water (437).

End:

· If the omission is at the end your sentence and there is no citation (e-source), put your period after the bracket but before the quotation marks: [. . .].”

· If there is a citation, put the final period after the citation: [. . .]” (438).

Middle: Says Bodanis, "The individual chalk particles

[. . .] have kept their toughness over the aeons [sic], and now on the toothbrush they’ll need it” (437).

An entire sentence or +: The period appears before the first bracket or after the second, depending on what has been omitted. (See page 723, rule 2, examples 4 and 5.)

2. If you would like to add or change something in a quotation, either to fit your sentence (something like verb tense) or for further clarification (perhaps a definition or an explanation) place any changes you make in brackets:

Ex: "Into the bathroom goes our male resident, and after the most pressing need is satisfied [urinating], it’s time to brush the teeth” (Bodanis 437).

Owning Your Paper

Don’t simply do research and then present what you have found. Any reader can do research. Have an original claim and use the research to support it!

Start with an original argument: YOURS

1. Clear thesis/claim that is YOURS: should shape the content of your paper.

2. The main points are YOURS: reasons why your reader should agree with you.

3. Use the information that you find to support YOUR claim, not to make it. (Common sense rule: Try not to refer to more than 1-2 sources per ¶.)

4. Do not string quotes together.

If you cannot list out your thesis and your main points on a separate sheet of paper along with a brief statement of who your audience is and what you hope they will think, know, or do after reading your paper, you are in trouble!

Control over your sources:

1. State your main point in your topic sentence.

2. Imbed your source material; do not “dump” quotes.

3. Paraphrase when possible. Quote only if the quote is from a well-known authority or is particularly striking.

4. Document your source material.

5. Add your own reflection/analysis; connect the source material to your point or give the reader food for thought regarding the source material.

6. Every ¶ should start and end with your own words.

7. Do not both start and end a sentence with quotation marks. Either start the sentence with your own words or end the sentence with your own words.