How to Correctly Cite Your Sources or “Parenthetical citations: friend or foe?” Compiled from the Purdue OWL website at

What the heck are Parenthetical Citations? Parenthetical citations are brief references within the text of your paper to the sources listed on your Works Cited list. They are a way for you to acknowledge that the information just referred to in your text comes from one of your research sources, and not from your own thoughts.

Human beings have been described as “symbol-using animals” (Burke 3). In this example, our information about humans being “symbol-using animals” was quoted directly from our source: Burke, Kenneth. Language as Symbolic Action: Essays on Life, Literature, and Method. Berkeley: U of California Press, Print. Every time you quote, paraphrase, or summarize information from one of your sources, you must give credit to your source by citing it using a parenthetical citation.

So: A parenthetical citation contains just enough information to help the reader (your teacher) locate the source in your Works Cited list at the end of your paper - typically, the author’s last name followed by a space and the relevant page number (or numbers). If your source does not list an author, use a shortened title of the work instead. Parenthetical citations and Works Cited pages allow readers to know which sources you consulted in writing your paper, so that they can verify your interpretation of the sources.

Here are some examples: 1.Basic citation: Place the citation at the end of the sentence that contains the material you are documenting. The citation should appear after the last word of the sentence but before the end mark. Human beings have been described as “symbol-using animals” (Burke 3).

Here are some examples: 2.A long quotation citation: When documenting a long quotation (four lines or more), indent the text of the quote five spaces and place the citation after the end punctuation. No one is really certain about the origins of the term “Dust Bowl”: H. L. Mencken in a footnote to the first supplement to this monumental The American Language traces the term to an Associated Press dispatch sent by then staff writer Robert Geiger from Guymon, Oklahoma, on April 15th, (French,Companion 3)

Here are some examples: 3.Basic citation with author’s name in text: If the name of the author appears within the text, then give only the page number: As H. Kelly Crockett has pointed out, the Oklahoma migrants found “not a Promised Land but a man-blighted Eden” (195).

Here are some examples: 4.Citation of an anonymous work: If the author of a work is not apparent, use an abbreviated version of the title, followed by the page number. Make sure the first word in the abbreviated title is the first word listed for that work in your Works Cited list: One contributor wrote that the novel contained “a number of factual errors” (“Some Factual Errors” 647).

Here are some examples: 5.Citation of an encyclopedia or similar reference work: When citing an article in an encyclopedia give only the title or a shortened version of the title: One cause of the Dust Bowl was misuse of the land (“Dust Bowl”).

Here are some examples: 6.Citation of a work by two or three authors: When citing a work by two or three authors, give the author’s last names and the page number: Very little is known about how dolphins and whales communicate (Akmajian, Demers, and Harnish 36).

Here are some examples: 7.Citation of a work by more than three authors: When citing a work with more than three authors, give the last name of the first author, followed by et al. and the page number: Scientists are still debating whether the higher apes can be taught to create “sentences” in sign language (Kim et al. 427).

Here are some examples: 8.Citation of a non-paginated source: For a source without page numbers, give the name of the author. If no author, give the title or a shortened version of the title: The migrants didn’t have the necessary money, or “Do-Re- Me,” to live decently (Guthrie).

Remember: Cite anything that isn’t your own thought or idea (this includes direct quotations, paraphrases or summaries). If you’re not sure whether to cite a passage in your paper or not, it’s better to just cite it! If you have any additional questions, you can refer back to this presentation, or check out the Purdue University Online Writing Lab at:

The End The End …or is it? First PageWorks Cited Don’t forget to turn in your First Page and Works Cited page on Wednesday, December 16th!