MLA & APA Citation Guide 

Are you...

• using an exact quotation from another's work?
• paraphrasing wording from another's work?
• summarizing another's idea or research?
• using obsure facts or figures?

Don't forget to cite your source!

Check out the Library Tutorial on Plagiarism for more information about avoiding the consequences of plagiarism. 

Check out NoodleTools to help you perform smart research.

NoodleTools can assist you in the following ways:

1. Search intelligently
2. Assess the quality of results
3. Record, organize and synthesize information using online notecards
4. Format a bibliography in MLA or APA style

Elements of In-Text Citation

There are several methods for documenting sources in-text (also called parenthetical documentation). In general, an in-text citation must include the following:

• Author(s) last name
• Page number on which the cited material can be found

The purpose of parenthetical documentation is to direct the reader to the corresponding citation on the Works Cited list. For example, using the brief parenthetical citation below, the reader could find the full citation on the Works Cited list.

"Usually the author's last name and a page refeence are enough to identify the source and the specific location from which you borrowed material" (Modern Language Association 214).

Works Cited

Modern Language Association of America. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 7th ed. New York: The Modern

         Language Association of America, 2009. Print.  

Strategies for In-Text Citation

You may word your in-text citation in several different ways to maximize the effectiveness of your writing. The most straightforward method is to include the author's (or authors') last name and the page number(s) following the quotation, idea, or fact you are citing.

Example:

"When his father told him that he was to go back to school again, Charles's eyes filled with tears of gratitude" (Hibbert 83).

You may also refer to the author's name in the text of your paper. In this case, only the page number is needed following at the end of the sentence.

Example:

According to Andrea Tone, President John F. Kennedy took up to eight medications a day to treat illness and stress (112).

This strategy is especially helpful when citing information from Web pages and sources that do not include page numbers. It is often helpful to give as much information about the source as possible when page numbers are not available.

Example:

Copyright scholar Lawrence Lessig noted in his well-regarded blog that as of March 2009 over 100 million photos on Flickr were licensed through Creative Commons.

Works Cited

Hibbert, Christopher. Charles Dickens: The Making of a Literary Giant. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009. Print.

Lessig, Lawrence. "CC @ 100m; C-C @ $1.1m & 1 year." Blog. Lessig 2.0. N.p., 23 Mar. 2009. Web. 8 Sep. 2009.

Tone, Andrea. The Age of Anxiety: A History of America's Turbulent Affair with Tranquilizers. New York: Basic Books, 2009. Print.