Creating
Parenthetical
Citations
What is a parenthetical
citation?
The APA system of citing sources
which indicates the author's last
name and the date, in parentheses,
within the text of your paper.
How to cite sources within your document
updated spring 2006 sgb
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Actual text from an article to be
cited.
If only it were that easy.
“If you're like most
In truth, drafting
people, you probably
imagine that when your legislation is an
immensely complex task
representative has an
with which most
idea for a new law, he
members of Congress--I
or she sits down,
hope this won't shock
writes it up--maybe
you--feel uncomfortable.
using some legalese
This is because it
here or there--and
demands technical and
sends it off for
legal skills that are
consideration.
extremely difficult to
learn while juggling all
the other demands that
members face.”
How to cite sources within your document
updated spring 2006 sgb
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The Reference Documentation
Hamilton, L. (2006, February ). The hard
truth of writing laws: Writing laws
demands technical and legal skills that are
extremely difficult to learn while juggling
all the other demands lawmakers face.
State Legislatures 32.2 , 17.
How to cite sources within your document
updated spring 2006 sgb
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• A typical citation of an entire work
consists of the author's name and
the year of publication.
– Example: Writing laws is not as easy as
it appears to be (Hamilton, 2006).
How to cite sources within your document
updated spring 2006 sgb
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• If the author is named in the text,
only the year is cited.
– Example: Hamilton (2006) points out
that writing laws is not an easy job.
How to cite sources within your document
updated spring 2006 sgb
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• If both the name of the author and
the date are used in the text,
parenthetical reference is not
necessary.
– Example: In 2006, Hamilton argued
that writing effective legislation while
balancing the other legislative duties is
a complex task to learn.
How to cite sources within your document
updated spring 2006 sgb
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• Specific citations of pages or
chapters follow the year. (Direct
Quotes)
– According to Hamilton, writing
legislation “is an immensely complex
task. . . which. . . demands technical and
legal skills that are extremely difficult
to learn” (2006, p.17).
How to cite sources within your document
updated spring 2006 sgb
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“What your college professors didn't teach
you: ‘The one thing that I believe we
weren't taught was how to communicate
both verbally and in writing in a technical
manner. ... I still don't like standing in
front of groups of people. I was never
trained in it. And it wasn't until I was well
into my career that I found I had to stand
and communicate.’”
Morrissett, D. (2005, September 26). 100
Leading women in the North American auto
industry. Automotive News 80.6168, 20.
How to cite sources within your document
Reference
documentatio
n
updated spring 2006 sgb
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“What your college professors didn't teach
you: ‘The one thing that I believe we
weren't taught was how to communicate
both verbally and in writing in a technical
manner. ... I still don't like standing in
front of groups of people. I was never
trained in it. And it wasn't until I was well
into my career that I found I had to stand
and communicate.’”
Morrissett points out that colleges do
not teach people to communicate “in a
technical manner” (2005, 20).
Parenthetical Citation
How to cite sources within your document
updated spring 2006 sgb
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Actual text from an article to be
cited.
“Because an effective technical document,
manual, or help menu is often the result of
successful collaboration between the
technical writer and the engineer or the
technical writing group and the engineering
team,... these two groups [must] develop
successful communication practices and
maintain an effective working relationship.”
How to cite sources within your document
updated spring 2006 sgb
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The Reference Documentation
Tovey, J. (2005, May). Act well thy part:
Performing technical writer and engineer.
Technical Communication 52.2, 246.
How to cite sources within your document
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Parenthetical Citation
Collaboration between writers and
engineers is important in writing effective
technical documents (Tovey, 2005).
How to cite sources within your document
updated spring 2006 sgb
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Actual text from an article to be
cited.
“Within the heart of almost every technical
communicator beats the desire to practice
our craft independently. We dream of
writing that perfect technical communication
equivalent of the great novel on timelines
that we set and within budgets that are
totally under our control. To try to realize
the dream, we might take that road less
traveled--independent technical
communicator, also known as freelancer.”
How to cite sources within your document
updated spring 2006 sgb
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The Reference Documentation
Hanigan, M. (2005, August). 2005
writer's market. Technical
Communication, 52.3, 385.
How to cite sources within your document
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Parenthetical Citation
Hanigan (2005) says most technical
communicators want to work
independently.
Paraphrase
How to cite sources within your document
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How to cite sources within your document
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Creating
Parenthetical
Citations