Citing Sources
When you are ready to start typing, you need to cite your sources in the text. Whether you are
directly quoting or paraphrasing, you need to give credit to the original author(s) of your
information.
Here’s how:
Use the last name of the author or the title of the article (only the part that makes it
different from other sources). Put that in parenthesis behind your direct quote or
behind your paraphrased ideas.
Page Numbers:
If your source is a book, you also need to include the page number in the parenthesis.
You do not need to include page numbers for subscription database articles or websites,
as they are most often not paginated (if you find one that is, then you need to cite the
page number – see me if you are unsure).
Direct Quote:
1. Notice below that Wordsworth actually said those words, and the parentheses tell the
reader that you got this information from the article by Smith.
Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by the “spontaneous
overflow of powerful feelings” (Smith).
So this would be used if you were quoting an expert that the author of your article cited
in your source.
2. Notice that the article title is cited in the parentheses this time and that this is a direct
quote from the article, not from someone else cited within the article.
Is it possible that dreams may express “profound aspects of personality?”
(“McCarthyism”).
Paraphrasing:
If you are paraphrasing what an author says, then you still need to cite that source. Just
because you are not using his or her exact words, does not mean that you don’t have to
give that author credit. If it isn’t common knowledge, then it is somebody else’s knowledge
and you have to cite it. Not citing paraphrased material is PLAGIARISM and will result in
an automatic failure of the paper.
EXAMPLE: If you wanted to write that people were afraid of losing their jobs during the
Communist Witch hunt, but you don’t want to write it in the exact words the author uses,
then you would want to paraphrase:
Some people were afraid to stand up to McCarthy’s witch hunt because they saw
other people lose their jobs and their livelihoods ("Red Scare" 263).
Notice the title of the article (this article is from an encyclopedia) and the page number
where that article was found.
Ellipses:
An ellipse is three periods put together to indicate that text is missing (because you
purposefully omitted it). If you want, you can leave out part of the middle of a sentence
if it just doesn’t fit or flow with your paper. This allows you to work the quotes more
seamlessly into your essay, so that you aren’t including unnecessary or contradictory
information. You do NOT need an ellipse if you are beginning a quote in the middle of
it or ending a quote before the sentence ends; only if you are omitting words from the
middle of a sentence.
EXAMPLE: In an essay on urban legends, Jan Harold Brunvand notes that "some
individuals make a point of learning every recent rumor or tale...and in a short
time a lively exchange of details occurs."