Research paper: In-Text Citations

1. Research paper: In-Text Citations • When you borrow words and/or ideas from another person (an author), you have to give that person credit in your writing. • Use In-text citations to show which ideas you borrowed • In-text citations give the author’s name in parenthesis right in your paper!

2. Research paper: In-Text Citations • When you take words directly from an author, put them in quotations: “A cyclops is a one-eyed creature often associated with the god Hephaestus.” • Next, put the author’s last name in parenthesis to show where you got your idea. “A cyclops is a one-eyed creature often associated with the god Hephaestus” (Jones). • If your information came from a book, include the page number after the author’s name. “A cyclops is a one-eyed creature often associated with the god Hephaestus” (Jones 25).

3. Research paper: In-Text Citations • For online sources, include the author’s last name and article title. “A cyclops is a one-eyed creature often associated with the god Hephaestus” (Jones “Mythological Creatures”). • If you are using an online source and you cannot find an author, put the article title in parenthesis. “A cyclops is a one-eyed creature often associated with the god Hephaestus” (“Mythological Creatures”).

4. Research paper: In-Text Citations • Very Important! Ideas that you took from another person (an author), even if you are not quoting word for word, must also be cited in-text! • When possible, reword what the author is saying using your own words, but still give credit to the author in your writing. • Use the same rules for citations as already shown • Book with an author: (Jones 12) • Online text with author: (Jones “Mythological creatures) • Online text with no author: (“Mythological creatures)

5. Research paper: In-Text Citations • Sample paragraph with in-text citations: The story of Arachne and Athena tells us the tale of a young girl with too much pride. According to the myth, Arachne boasts that she is a better weaver than Athena and then challenges the goddess to a contest (Smith 25). During the contest, Arachne weaves an insulting tapestry which Athena destroys. In some versions of the story, Arachne tries to apologize to Athena (“Tales of the Gods”). In most stories however, Arachne does not get the chance to apologize before Athena turned “the boastful young girl into a spider, sentenced forever to weave in her punishment” (Smith 27). This story, like many others, warns the reader of hubris, or excessive pride (Watson “The Olympians).

6. Research paper: In-Text Citations Final thoughts: • You do not need a citation for every single sentence. • If you have several ideas that came from the same source, put your citation after the first sentence only. • Once you starting using information from a new source, do a new citation. • If you use the author’s name in the sentence, you do not need to put it in parenthesis at the end of the sentence, but you do still need the page number or article title. As Smith states, Arachne is a boastful girl (“The Olympians”). • Your paper should be mostly your words, with a few quotes. • Don’t forget your Works Cited page!