Citing sources in essays
When you cite information in an essay, you must write one or more of the following in
the text: author, title, source (e.g. magazine, newspaper, data base, encyclopedia, or
website name) and page numbers. For more information, go to citationmachine.net,
click on MLA, choose your source type, then look at “in-text parenthetical citations” (the
section above it is for the bibliography, where you list your sources in more detail on a
final separate page).
1. Original source (online encyclopedia – Wikipedia. Title: “Solar panel”)
A solar panel is a device that collects and converts solar energy into electricity or heat.
Correct errors in the sentences below.
Note: some sentences may contain
no errors.
Q
P
S
How is the source cited?
Mention use of commas, periods,
brackets, and sentence position.
Wikipedia defines a solar panel as “a [useful]
device that collects and converts solar energy
into electricity or heat”.
What is a solar panel? It is something which
gathers and changes solar energy into heat or
electricity (“Solar panel”).
A solar panel, according to Wikipedia, changes
energy from the sun into electricity.
2. Original source (web page - http://www.solarpanelarticles.com. Title: “Take
Advantage of Modern Solar Heating Systems”. Author: Bryan Wong)
With the advancement of technology, the panels have now been efficient to collect and
convert the sun's energy into heat. Today, modern heating systems can have enough
energy to heat the water in your home or even the swimming pool.
Correct errors in the sentences below.
Note: some sentences may contain
no errors.
Q How is the source cited?
P Mention use of commas, periods,
S brackets, and sentence position.
Heat is one advantage of using solar panels. A
system today can heat water for the home and
even for the swimming pool. (“Take Advantage
of Modern Solar Panel Heating Systems”)
One benefit of employing solar panels is for
warmth. Wong states that solar panel systems
can heat not only water at home but also a
swimming pool.
One merit of solar panels is heating. For
example, Wong says modern heating systems
can … heat the water in your home or even the
swimming pool.”
* Q = Quote (all words copied), P = Paraphrase (a few words “copied”), S = Summary (almost all own words)
3. Original source (online magazine, Time, at Opposing Viewpoints, library database.
Title: “Racing Along on Sunshine: a solar-car contest points the way to practical electric
vehicles”. Author: Philip Elmer-DeWitt. Page: 67)
To run dependably on cloudy days, a solar car would have to carry sufficient power to
make the trip on batteries alone. Better to charge the car from a wall socket and use the
solar cells elsewhere -- perhaps at power stations to ease the load of generators
running on nuclear or nonrenewable fossil fuels.
Correct errors in the sentences below.
Note: some sentences may contain
no errors.
Q How is the source cited?
P Mention use of commas, periods,
S brackets, and sentence position.
A second merit of solar panels is to power cars.
Although solar panels may not replace fossil
fuels, they may nevertheless prove a good
alternative to non-renewable power sources
(DeWitt, p. 67)
Solar panels can also be used to power cars.
Philip suggests, however, that it could be better
to “charge the car from a wall socket and use
the solar cells elsewhere”.
Yet another merit of solar panels is for powering
cars. This is not, however, very efficient since to
run reliably in cloudy weather, a solar vehicle
would need to carry enough power to make a
journey just with batteries (Racing Along on
Sunshine: a solar-car contest points the way to
practical electric vehicles, p. 67).
Q = Quote (all words copied), P = Paraphrase (a few words “copied”), S = Summary (almost all own words)
Review: in-text citation (see citationmachine.net)
1. online encyclopedia: cite t____________ (of article or encyclopedia name, although
the latter is less accurate since there is a lot of information in an encyclopedia)
2. web page: cite a) a___________ l__________ n____________
or
b) t___________ (of article, magazine, or website)
3. magazine article (in print or online): cite a) a__________ l_________ n__________
or
b) t___________ (of article or magazine)
and c) p______ n__________________ (if given)
4. For a web page or (online) magazine, you must write b if a is not given. If both a and
b are given, which will you write and why? ____________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Citing sources in texts (key)
When you cite information in an essay, you must write one or more of the following in
the text: author, title, source (e.g. magazine, newspaper, data base, encyclopedia, or
website name) and page numbers. For more information, go to citationmachine.net,
click on MLA, choose your source type, then look at “in-text parenthetical citations” (the
section above it is for the bibliography, where you list your sources in more detail on a
final separate page).
1. Original source (online encyclopedia – Wikipedia. Title: “Solar panel”)
A solar panel is a device that collects and converts solar energy into electricity or heat.
Correct errors in the sentences below.
Note: some sentences may contain
no errors.
Wikipedia defines a solar panel as “a [useful]
device that collects and converts solar energy
into electricity or heat.”
What is a solar panel? It is something which
gathers and changes solar energy into heat or
electricity (“Solar panel”). correct
A solar panel, according to Wikipedia, changes
energy from the sun into electricity.
Q
P
S
How is the source cited?
Mention use of commas, periods,
brackets, and sentence position.
Q
 Italicised at the beginning, no
brackets.
 Period is within quotation
marks because it was part of
the original. [useful] in square
brackets as not part of original.
 Title at the end in quotation
marks and brackets
 Period after the bracket
because this is a paraphrase,
not a direct quote.
 Source in the middle
 comma before and after
“according to …”
P
S
2. Original source (web page - http://www.solarpanelarticles.com. Title: “Take
Advantage of Modern Solar Heating Systems”. Author: Bryan Wong)
With the advancement of technology, the panels have now been efficient to collect and
convert the sun's energy into heat. Today, modern heating systems can have enough
energy to heat the water in your home or even the swimming pool.
Correct errors in the sentences below.
Note: some sentences may contain
no errors.
Q How is the source cited?
P Mention use of commas, periods,
S brackets, and sentence position.
P
Heat is one advantage of using solar panels. A
system today can heat water for the home and
even for the swimming pool (“Take Advantage of
Modern Solar Panel Heating Systems”).
One benefit of employing solar panels is for
S
warmth. Wong states that solar panel systems
can heat not only water at home but also a
swimming pool.
correct
Q
One merit of solar panels is heating. For
example, Wong says “modern heating systems
can … heat the water in your home or even the
swimming pool.”
 Title in quotation marks and
also within brackets at the end.
 Period comes after the
bracket as not a direct quote.
 Source (author’s last name)
at beginning of sentence – use
of reported speech.
 Source (author) at beginning
of sentence.
 Quotation marks must
enclose all copied words.
 … = deleted words.
3. Original source (online magazine, Time, at Opposing Viewpoints, library database.
Title: “Racing Along on Sunshine: a solar-car contest points the way to practical electric
vehicles”. Author: Philip Elmer-DeWitt. Page: 67)
To run dependably on cloudy days, a solar car would have to carry sufficient power to
make the trip on batteries alone. Better to charge the car from a wall socket and use the
solar cells elsewhere -- perhaps at power stations to ease the load of generators
running on nuclear or nonrenewable fossil fuels.
Correct errors in the sentences below.
Note: some sentences may contain
no errors.
A second merit of solar panels is to power cars.
Although solar panels may not replace fossil
fuels, they may nevertheless prove a good
alternative to non-renewable power sources
(DeWitt, p. 67).
Solar panels can also be used to power cars.
Dewitt suggests, however, that it could be
“better to charge the car from a wall socket and
use the solar cells elsewhere” (p. 67).
Yet another merit of solar panels is for powering
cars. This is not, however, very efficient since to
run reliably in cloudy weather, a solar vehicle
would need to carry enough power to make a
journey just with batteries (“Racing Along on
Sunshine: a solar-car contest points the way to
practical electric vehicles”, p. 67).
Q How is the source cited?
P Mention use of commas, periods,
S brackets, and sentence position.
S
 Source (author’s last name)
at the end of the sentence
within brackets.
 Period comes at the end
after the second bracket.
Q
 Source (author’s last name)
at beginning of the sentence.
 Quotation mark before
“better” since copying from
original starts here.
 Period comes at the end
after the second quotation
because period not in original.
 Quotation marks must
enclose title at end; round
brackets enclose both.
 Give page number since it is
available.
P
Review: in-text citation (see citationmachine.net)
1. online encyclopedia: cite title (of article or encyclopedia name, although the latter is
less accurate since there is a lot of information in an encyclopedia. Normally, you will
not find an author.)
2. web page: cite a) author’s last name
or
b) title (of article, magazine, or website)
3. magazine article (in print or online): cite a) author’s last name
or
b) title (of article or magazine)
and c) page numbers (if given)
4. For a web page or (online) magazine, you must write b if a is not given. If both a and
b are given, which will you write and why? The author’s name because the title is
longer and you have more choices about where to put this source (beginning,
middle or end of sentence).