How to cite sources in the body of your paper

To properly cite sources—to refer to the sources from which you borrowed ideas or quotes—you must begin with a correctly formatted “works cited” page. Study the example below taken from a student’s report on the causes of the Salem Witch Trials. You will notice that the sources are alphabetized by the author’s last name or the first key word off the title of the article or website:

Works Cited

Caporael, Linda, and Laurie W. Carlson. “Ergotism: Satan Loosed in Salem?Convulsive

ergotism may have been a physiological basis for the Salem witchcraft crisis in 1692.”

Science Vol. 192 (2 April 1976). 14 Aug 2007

Linder, Douglas. “Famous American trials.” Feb. 2007. UNIVERSITY

OF MISSOURI-KANSAS CITY. 13 Aug. 2007

“Salem Witch Trials: The World behind the Hysteria.” Discoveryschool.Com. Discovery

Communications, Inc. 13 Aug. 2007

There are two ways to cite sources: explicitly or parenthetically

1)Cite the expert or article explicitly, especially when the source appears to be an expert in their field, to build authority in your paper:

Researcher and university professor, Linnda Caporael suggested this idea when she compared symptoms of LSD and the symptoms of the town’s people.

According to Caporael, who in 1976 researched the possibility of ergot poisoning in the rye ingested by Puritans, “this fungus contains chemical precursors used to synthesize the powerful psychedelic drug LSD.”

2)Later references to the same source can be cited explicitly or with a parenthetical citation in which you cite the author’s last name:

Convulsive ergotism causes nervous dysfunction which are similar to many of the physical symptoms of those alleged to be afflicted by witchcraft (Caporael).

Caporael draws parallels between convulsive ergotism and the physical symptoms manifested by those alleged to be afflicted by witchcraft.

3)When you quote a source without an author you may refer to it explicitly or use a parenthetical citation that cites the first key word of the title of the article or website.

According to the article “Salem Witch Trials: The World Behind the Hysteria” repression from Puritan authority figures may have fueled the hysteria.

Repression from Puritan authority figures may have fueled the hysteria (“Salem”).

4) If you have two sources with very similar titles, you will need to include enough of the second title to distinguish them:

(Miller, “Why”)

(Miller, The Crucible)

(“Salem Witch Trials”)

(“Salem Witch Hysteria”)

Note: Referring to them explicitly, the way a journalist or magazine writer would naturally do, can help you distinguish them, too:

“In Miller’s narrative notes to Act I of The Crucible he states…”

“The PBS website article “Salem Witch Hysteria informs us that…”

5)In many cases, the source you are referencing is quoting someone else they have interviewed or researched. If you decide that you would like to use the same quote, you are responsible for giving credit to two different sources—the person who said the quote and the person writing the article. Let us look at this citation from an imaginary article by Douglas Lindner, quoting playwright Arthur Miller:

Arthur Miller contended that, “Sex, sin, and the Devil were early linked, and so they continued to be in Salem..” (qtd in Lindner). Obviously, Miller understood one possible cause for witchcraft hysteria…

If you are quoting indirectly, in your own words, just the “qtd” is not needed:

Arthur Miller contended that we always assume that our enemy is guilty of sexual immorality (Lindner).