Citations

What Are In-Text Citations?

Citation styles that use in-text citations (aka parenthetical citations) include: APA, MLA, CSE , & ASA.

In-text citations, sometimes known as parenthetical citations, go in the body of your paper and are used to indicate that you’re using information from another source.

They are placed in parenthesis () next to the direct quote or paraphrase of the information you are using. Generally, this is the place where you’d include the page number of the source you are citing.

Depending on the citation style, the type of source you are using, and how you are writing your sentence, what goes into the parenthesis will vary.

Examples of APA in-text citation variations:

  • (Smith 2012)
  • (Smith 2012, p. 322)
  • According to Smith (2012) “in-text citations can be tricky”(p.322).

Always check our citation guides when doing in-text citations, stop by the Library Service Desk,  or contact us here.