Parenthetical Citation Guidelines

When to use parenthetical citations

Use parenthetical citations any time you:

  • Summarize or paraphrase (Write the author’s ideas in your own words.)
  • Directly quote(Repeat the author’s exact words.)

In other words, use citations any time you refer to something you have learned from a source.

How are parenthetical citations connected to the Works Cited list?

  1. First,complete your Works Cited page. This is an alphabetical list of all of the sources cited in your paper and it is placed at the end of your paper. Use a website such as Easybib or Dianahacker.com or a text such as The MLA Handbook For Writers of Research Papersto write the citations for the Works Cited page. Refer back to your Works Cited citations when writing parenthetical citations.
  1. The parenthetical citation should match whatever comes at the beginning of the corresponding citation in the Works Cited list.Use the author’s last name or, in the absence of an author, a shortened version of the title. (Most websites don’t have an author.)

How do you write a parenthetical citation?

  1. Put the author’s last name or a shortened version of the title in parentheses, followed by a page number if the source is a book. Never write p., pg.or “page” before a page number.
  1. In almost all cases a comma is not included.
  1. In almost all cases, the period goes after the citation.
  1. Only when you’re citing four lines or more do you put the period before the citation.
  1. If the author’s name appears in the same sentence as the cited material, include only the page number. If the next parenthetical citation refers to the same source, you can again, limit the citation to the page number. This makes your paper easier to read.

Where to put parenthetical citations:

  1. When summarizing or paraphrasing a source, place the citation at the end of the sentence, before the period.
    Example: When fishing for red snapper, raw squid serves as an inexpensive, yet effective bait (Jones 72).
  1. When directly quoting a source, place the citation after the quotation marks and before the period. If you include the author’s name in the sentence, you only have to put the page number in parentheses.
    Example: According to Bill Jones, “Raw squid makes great bait for red snapper” (72).
  1. When more than one sentence in a paragraph refers to one idea from the same source, simply place one citation at the end of the last sentence.
    Example: When fishing for red snapper, raw squid is a cheap and effective bait. Live bait, although more expensive, works even better (Jones 72).
  1. When citing more than one source in a paragraph, cite each source separately.
    Example: When fishing for red snapper, raw squid is a cheap and effective bait (Jones 72). Live bait, although more expensive, works even better (“Fishing”14).
  1. If a quote is longer than 4 typed lines, then create a block quote. Begin the quote on a new line and indent the entire quote ten spaces from the left margin. The right margin will remain the same as the rest of your text. Double space the quote. Do not include your own quotation marks. Place the period after the last word of the quote instead of after the in-text citation.
    Example:
    According to Smith and James,

Diet and exercise are the two most important factors in determining a person’s

health. One can exercise regularly but without a balanced diet, she will never

reach her most healthy self. The same is true with eating. One can eat well, but

without regular exercise, she will never be able to tone muscle, increase bone

density nor strengthen her cardiovascular system. (55)

Adapted from:

Aldworth, Caroline. Parenthetical Citations. n.d. Web.10 Sept. 2008

“Parenthetical Citation – What is it?” St. Johns School Media Center – Bibliobraphy.
n.d. Web. 24 Aug. 2008.