IN-TEXT CITATION
Avoiding Plagiarism
Academic writing often involves
quotation. We cite what others
have said on topics of interest to
us, either to elucidate a point, or to
corroborate a claim that we have
made.
It is, of course, our ethical
responsibility to give credit where
credit is due. It is not fair to use the
original ideas of others without
crediting the source.
When we present information
derived from a source other than
our own mind, it is our
responsibility to say where that
information came from. Unless the
information can reasonably be
deemed common knowledge,
scholars must acknowledge their
sources.
Common knowledge is information
which can be located in five or
more places (i.e., in any number of
encyclopedia, in a reference text, in
a book, on-line, etc.).
No matter how quoted material is
presented, it must be acknowledged.
Please be aware that there are three
specific methods of quotation:
Three Types of Quotation:
1.
2.
3.
Three Types of Quotation:
1.
2.
3.
Direct quotation –
Three Types of Quotation:
1.
2.
3.
Direct quotation – Copying word-for-word.
Three Types of Quotation:
1.
Direct quotation – Copying word-for-word.
2.
Paraphrase –
3.
Three Types of Quotation:
1.
Direct quotation – Copying word-for-word.
2.
Paraphrase – Expressing the writer’s intent in your own words.
3.
Three Types of Quotation:
1.
Direct quotation – Copying word-for-word.
2.
Paraphrase – Expressing the writer’s intent in your own words.
3.
Summary –
Three Types of Quotation:
1.
Direct quotation – Copying word-for-word.
2.
Paraphrase – Expressing the writer’s intent in your own words.
3.
Summary – Briefly restating the writer’s ideas.
Naturally, the goal of in-text citation is
to avoid plagiarism, which is the
unethical use of another’s words or
ideas.
Plagiarism amounts to academic
theft and is deservedly litigable.
According to the MLA Handbook for Writers of
Research Papers, the following constitute plagiarism:
According to the MLA Handbook for Writers of
Research Papers, the following constitute plagiarism:
• Copying word for word from another source without acknowledging it.
According to the MLA Handbook for Writers of
Research Papers, the following constitute plagiarism:
• Copying word for word from another source without acknowledging it.
• Paraphrasing or summarizing another source without acknowledging it.
According to the MLA Handbook for Writers of
Research Papers, the following constitute plagiarism:
• Copying word for word from another source without acknowledging it.
• Paraphrasing or summarizing another source without acknowledging it.
• Adopting a particularly apt turn of phrase as if it were your own.
According to the MLA Handbook for Writers of
Research Papers, the following constitute plagiarism:
• Copying word for word from another source without acknowledging it.
• Paraphrasing or summarizing another source without acknowledging it.
• Adopting a particularly apt turn of phrase as if it were your own.
• Using an image or a copy of an image without crediting the source.
According to the MLA Handbook for Writers of
Research Papers, the following constitute plagiarism:
• Copying word for word from another source without acknowledging it.
• Paraphrasing or summarizing another source without acknowledging it.
• Adopting a particularly apt turn of phrase as if it were your own.
• Using an image or a copy of an image without crediting the source.
• Paraphrasing another’s line of thinking as if it were your own.
According to the MLA Handbook for Writers of
Research Papers, the following constitute plagiarism:
• Copying word for word from another source without acknowledging it.
• Paraphrasing or summarizing another source without acknowledging it.
• Adopting a particularly apt turn of phrase as if it were your own.
• Using an image or a copy of an image without crediting the source.
• Paraphrasing another’s line of thinking as if it were your own.
• Receiving excessive help from a friend (or, indeed, from any source).
According to the MLA Handbook for Writers of
Research Papers, the following constitute plagiarism:
• Copying word for word from another source without acknowledging it.
• Paraphrasing or summarizing another source without acknowledging it.
• Adopting a particularly apt turn of phrase as if it were your own.
• Using an image or a copy of an image without crediting the source.
• Paraphrasing another’s line of thinking as if it were your own.
• Receiving excessive help from a friend (or, indeed, from any source).
• Using another’s project as if it were your own.
Plagiarism is of two types:
Plagiarism is of two types:
1.
Deliberate
Plagiarism is of two types:
1.
Deliberate
2.
Inadvertent
Plagiarism is of two types:
1.
Deliberate
2.
Inadvertent
Clearly, the former is worse than the latter.
However, inadvertent plagiarism is a matter
of neglect on the part of the researcher and
must be avoided.
In an effort to guard against plagiarism, the
Modern Language Association has devised a
simple but effective method of signal phrases
and parentheses to show where quotations
begin and end.
Signal Phrases
+
Parentheses
The goal, of course, is that readers
should know when quoted material
of any type is present.
• A signal phrase is more or less an “on”
switch.
• The parenthesis is the “off” switch.
• When a reader sees the signal phrase,
she is instantly alerted that the material
which follows is a quotation and does not
originate with the writer.
• She also knows, as soon as she reaches
the parenthesis, that the quotation is over.
In-text Citations: The Pattern
In-text Citations: The Pattern
Signal Phrase
In-text Citations: The Pattern
Signal Phrase + Quotation
In-text Citations: The Pattern
Signal Phrase + Quotation + Parenthetic Documentation
In-text Citations: The Pattern
Signal Phrase + Quotation + Parenthetic Documentation
According to Richard Fogle, “[c]ritical opinion has been
unanimous in terming the poetry of Shelley ‘abstract’” (13).
Signal Phrases
Signal phrases are introductory phrases which clue the reader in to the
fact that a quotation is coming.
Signal Phrases
Signal phrases are introductory phrases which clue the reader in to the
fact that a quotation is coming.
Here are some examples, although the variants are limitless:
Signal Phrases
Signal phrases are introductory phrases which clue the reader in to the
fact that a quotation is coming.
Here are some examples, although the variants are limitless:
• According to Bruno Bettelheim, . . .
Signal Phrases
Signal phrases are introductory phrases which clue the reader in to the
fact that a quotation is coming.
Here are some examples, although the variants are limitless:
• According to Bruno Bettelheim, . . .
• In the words of Bruno Bettelheim, . . .
Signal Phrases
Signal phrases are introductory phrases which clue the reader in to the
fact that a quotation is coming.
Here are some examples, although the variants are limitless:
• According to Bruno Bettelheim, . . .
• In the words of Bruno Bettelheim, . . .
• Dr. Bruno Bettelheim has claimed that . . .
Signal Phrases
Signal phrases are introductory phrases which clue the reader in to the
fact that a quotation is coming.
Here are some examples, although the variants are limitless:
• According to Bruno Bettelheim, . . .
• In the words of Bruno Bettelheim, . . .
• Dr. Bruno Bettelheim has claimed that . . .
• The research of Dr. Bruno Bettelheim suggests that . . .
Signal Phrases
Signal phrases are introductory phrases which clue the reader in to the
fact that a quotation is coming.
Here are some examples, although the variants are limitless:
• According to Bruno Bettelheim, . . .
• In the words of Bruno Bettelheim, . . .
• Dr. Bruno Bettelheim has claimed that . . .
• The research of Dr. Bruno Bettelheim suggests that . . .
• To cite Bruno Bettelheim, . . .
Signal Phrases
Signal phrases are introductory phrases which clue the reader in to the
fact that a quotation is coming.
Here are some examples, although the variants are limitless:
• According to Bruno Bettelheim, . . .
• In the words of Bruno Bettelheim, . . .
• Dr. Bruno Bettelheim has claimed that . . .
• The research of Dr. Bruno Bettelheim suggests that . . .
• To cite Bruno Bettelheim, . . .
• Dr. Bruno Bettelheim once said, . . .
Signal Phrases
Signal phrases are introductory phrases which clue the reader in to the
fact that a quotation is coming.
Here are some examples, although the variants are limitless:
• According to Bruno Bettelheim, . . .
• In the words of Bruno Bettelheim, . . .
• Dr. Bruno Bettelheim has claimed that . . .
• The research of Dr. Bruno Bettelheim suggests that . . .
• To cite Bruno Bettelheim, . . .
• Dr. Bruno Bettelheim once said, . . .
• Bruno Bettelheim observed that . . .
Signal Phrases
Signal phrases are introductory phrases which clue the reader in to the
fact that a quotation is coming.
Here are some examples, although the variants are limitless:
• According to Bruno Bettelheim, . . .
• In the words of Bruno Bettelheim, . . .
• Dr. Bruno Bettelheim has claimed that . . .
• The research of Dr. Bruno Bettelheim suggests that . . .
• To cite Bruno Bettelheim, . . .
• Dr. Bruno Bettelheim once said, . . .
• Bruno Bettelheim observed that . . .
• Dr. Bettelheim explains that . . .
Signal Phrases
Signal phrases are introductory phrases which clue the reader in to the
fact that a quotation is coming.
Here are some examples, although the variants are limitless:
• According to Bruno Bettelheim, . . .
• In the words of Bruno Bettelheim, . . .
• Dr. Bruno Bettelheim has claimed that . . .
• The research of Dr. Bruno Bettelheim suggests that . . .
• To cite Bruno Bettelheim, . . .
• Dr. Bruno Bettelheim once said, . . .
• Bruno Bettelheim observed that . . .
• Dr. Bettelheim explains that . . .
• Bruno Bettelheim contends that . . .
Signal Phrases
Signal phrases are introductory phrases which clue the reader in to the
fact that a quotation is coming.
Here are some examples, although the variants are limitless:
• According to Bruno Bettelheim . . .
• In the words of Bruno Bettelheim . . .
• Dr. Bruno Bettelheim has claimed that . . .
• The research of Dr. Bruno Bettelheim suggests that . . .
• To cite Bruno Bettelheim, . . .
• Dr. Bruno Bettelheim once said, . . .
• Bruno Bettelheim observed that . . .
• Dr. Bettelheim explains that . . .
•Bruno Bettelheim contends that . . .
• etc.
Now that you have used a signal phrase to set your reader up for a
quotation, it’s time to move on to the quotation itself:
As you will remember, there are three kinds of quotation:
1.
Direct quotation – Copying word-for-word.
2.
Paraphrase – Expressing the writer’s intent in your own words.
3.
Summary – Briefly restating the writer’s ideas.
Direct Quotations
Direct quotations cite the text directly—in other words,
you copy the original text word-for-word, with no
variation.
Remember, direct quotation is as near to plagiarism as
you can come.
For that reason, direct quotation should be used
SPARINGLY.
Direct quotation may be used to cite (a) poetry, (b)
literary passages of exceptional quality, or (c) prose
where the author’s words are so memorable as to
deserve no other form of expression.
Direct Quotations
In general, direct quotations are introduced by a signal
phrase and a comma:
According to Humphrey House, “For thousands now alive a
passionate love of Shelley was a major experience in their
young development” (47).
Direct Quotations
In general, direct quotations are introduced by a signal
phrase and a comma:
According to Humphrey House, “For thousands now alive a
passionate love of Shelley was a major experience in their
young development” (47).
However, there is no comma required after the word that:
Direct Quotations
In general, direct quotations are introduced by a signal
phrase and a comma:
According to Humphrey House, “For thousands now alive a
passionate love of Shelley was a major experience in their
young development” (47).
However, there is no comma required after the word that:
Humphrey House insists that “[f]or thousands now alive a
passionate love of Shelley was a major experience in their
young development” (47).
Types of Direct Quotation:
There are essentially two types of direct quotation—short and long.
1.
2.
Types of Direct Quotation:
There are essentially two types of direct quotation—short and long.
1. A short quotation consists of no more than three lines.
2.
Types of Direct Quotation:
There are essentially two types of direct quotation—short and long.
1. A short quotation consists of no more than three lines.
2. A long quotation consists of four lines or more.
Short Quotations
Short quotations are placed inside quotation marks:
Short Quotations
Short quotations are placed inside quotation marks:
House says of Shelley that “his poetry enthralls
boys (girls rather less, I fancy) as no other poetry
enthralls them” (47-8).
Short Quotations: Poetry
Short Quotations: Poetry
Quoting poetry or song has some special requirements all of its own.
When quoting a short selection of poetry, the line divisions must be
shown as follows:
Short Quotations: Poetry
Quoting poetry or song has some special requirements all of its own.
When quoting a short selection of poetry, the line divisions must be
shown as follows:
Frost considered the path that lay before him, “Then took
the other, as just as fair / And having perhaps the better
claim / Because it was grassy and wanted wear” (5). In
other words, he chose the path because it wasn’t quite
so popular as the other and would give him more leeway
as an individual.
Short Quotations: Poetry
Quoting poetry or song has some special requirements all of its own.
When quoting a short selection of poetry, the line divisions must be
shown as follows:
Frost considered the path that lay before him, “Then took
the other, as just as fair / And having perhaps the better
claim / Because it was grassy and wanted wear” (5). In
other words, he chose the path because it wasn’t quite
so popular as the other and would give him more leeway
as an individual.
*Note that the slash has a space on each side.
Long Quotations
Long quotations are blocked, i.e., they are typographically set
apart from the rest of the text by being indented ten spaces.
Blocked quotations do not require quotation marks.
Spalding 2
assumption merely, both Kreon and Teiresias of political ambition,
asserting his assumed superiorit over rivals, seers, and the gods
themselves in those reckless words:
Has your mystic mummery ever approached the truth?
When that hellcat the sphinx was performing here,
What help were you to these people?
Her magic was not for the first man who came along:
It demanded a real exorcist. Your birds—
What good were they? Or the gods, for the matter of that?
But I came by,
Oedipus, the simple man, who knows nothing—
I thought it out for myself, no birds helped me!
And this is the man you think you can destroy,
That you may be close to Kreon when he’s king! (759-60)
And there we have it. Hubris, overweening pride, is the great
flaw that Oedipus has harbored in his heart these many years. Wrath
is his downfall now, just as it was all those years earlier when he
unwittingly slaughtered his own father and married his mother. It is
arrogance, always, which destroys greatness and humbles the mighty.
Caesar’s elevation to the rank of a god could not protect him from the
knives of those he called his friends. Hitler’s belief in the supremacy of
Block Quotation – Indent one inch – or ten spaces.
Spalding 2
assumption merely, both Kreon and Teiresias of political ambition,
asserting his assumed superiorit over rivals, seers, and the gods
themselves in those reckless words:
Has your mystic mummery ever approached the truth?
When that hellcat the sphinx was performing here,
What help were you to these people?
Her magic was not for the first man who came along:
It demanded a real exorcist. Your birds—
What good were they? Or the gods, for the matter of that?
But I came by,
Oedipus, the simple man, who knows nothing—
I thought it out for myself, no birds helped me!
And this is the man you think you can destroy,
That you may be close to Kreon when he’s king! (759-60)
And there we have it. Hubris, overweening pride, is the great
flaw that Oedipus has harbored in his heart these many years. Wrath
is his downfall now, just as it was all those years earlier when he
unwittingly slaughtered his own father and married his mother. It is
arrogance, always, which destroys greatness and humbles the mighty.
Caesar’s elevation to the rank of a god could not protect him from the
knives of those he called his friends. Hitler’s belief in the supremacy of
Block Quotation – Indent one inch – or ten spaces.
Spalding 2
assumption merely, both Kreon and Teiresias of political ambition,
asserting his assumed superiorit over rivals, seers, and the gods
themselves in those reckless words:
Has your mystic mummery ever approached the truth?
When that hellcat the sphinx was performing here,
What help were you to these people?
Her magic was not for the first man who came along:
It demanded a real exorcist. Your birds—
What good were they? Or the gods, for the matter of that?
But I came by,
Oedipus, the simple man, who knows nothing—
I thought it out for myself, no birds helped me!
And this is the man you think you can destroy,
That you may be close to Kreon when he’s king! (759-60)
And there we have it. Hubris, overweening pride, is the great
flaw that Oedipus has harbored in his heart these many years. Wrath
is his downfall now, just as it was all those years earlier when he
unwittingly slaughtered his own father and married his mother. It is
arrogance, always, which destroys greatness and humbles the mighty.
Caesar’s elevation to the rank of a god could not protect him from the
knives of those he called his friends. Hitler’s belief in the supremacy of
Spalding 2
Please note, there are no quotation marks at
the beginning or end of a block quotation.
assumption merely, both Kreon and Teiresias of political ambition,
asserting his assumed superiorit over rivals, seers, and the gods
themselves in those reckless words:
Has your mystic mummery ever approached the truth?
When that hellcat the sphinx was performing here,
What help were you to these people?
Her magic was not for the first man who came along:
It demanded a real exorcist. Your birds—
What good were they? Or the gods, for the matter of that?
But I came by,
Oedipus, the simple man, who knows nothing—
I thought it out for myself, no birds helped me!
And this is the man you think you can destroy,
That you may be close to Kreon when he’s king! (759-60)
And there we have it. Hubris, overweening pride, is the great
flaw that Oedipus has harbored in his heart these many years. Wrath
is his downfall now, just as it was all those years earlier when he
unwittingly slaughtered his own father and married his mother. It is
arrogance, always, which destroys greatness and humbles the mighty.
Caesar’s elevation to the rank of a god could not protect him from the
knives of those he called his friends. Hitler’s belief in the supremacy of
Please note, there are no quotation marks at
the beginning or end of a block quotation.
Spalding 2
assumption merely, both Kreon and Teiresias of political ambition,
asserting his assumed superiorit over rivals, seers, and the gods
themselves in those reckless words:
Has your mystic mummery ever approached the truth?
When that hellcat the sphinx was performing here,
What help were you to these people?
Her magic was not for the first man who came along:
It demanded a real exorcist. Your birds—
What good were they? Or the gods, for the matter of that?
But I came by,
Oedipus, the simple man, who knows nothing—
I thought it out for myself, no birds helped me!
And this is the man you think you can destroy,
That you may be close to Kreon when he’s king!
And there we have it. Hubris, overweening pride, is the great
flaw that Oedipus has harbored in his heart these many years. Wrath
is his downfall now, just as it was all those years earlier when he
unwittingly slaughtered his own father and married his mother. It is
arrogance, always, which destroys greatness and humbles the mighty.
Caesar’s elevation to the rank of a god could not protect him from the
knives of those he called his friends. Hitler’s belief in the supremacy of
Spalding 2
assumption merely, both Kreon and Teiresias of political ambition,
asserting his assumed superiorit over rivals, seers, and the gods
themselves in those reckless words:
Has your mystic mummery ever approached the truth?
What help were you to these people?
Her magic was not for the first man who came along:
It demanded a real exorcist. Your birds—
What good were they? Or the gods, for the matter of that?
But I came by,
Oedipus, the simple man, who knows nothing—
I thought it out for myself, no birds helped me!
And this is the man you think you can destroy,
That you may be close to Kreon when he’s king! (759-60)
And there we have it. Hubris, overweening pride, is the great
flaw that Oedipus has harbored in his heart these many years. Wrath
is his downfall now, just as it was all those years earlier when he
unwittingly slaughtered his own father and married his mother. It is
arrogance, always, which destroys greatness and humbles the mighty.
Caesar’s elevation to the rank of a god could not protect him from the
knives of those he called his friends. Hitler’s belief in the supremacy of
Note that in a block quotation, the
parenthesis goes outside the period.
When that hellcat the sphinx was performing here,
Spalding 2
assumption merely, both Kreon and Teiresias of political ambition,
asserting his assumed superiorit over rivals, seers, and the gods
themselves in those reckless words:
Has your mystic mummery ever approached the truth?
What help were you to these people?
Her magic was not for the first man who came along:
It demanded a real exorcist. Your birds—
What good were they? Or the gods, for the matter of that?
But I came by,
Oedipus, the simple man, who knows nothing—
I thought it out for myself, no birds helped me!
And this is the man you think you can destroy,
That you may be close to Kreon when he’s king! (759-60)
And there we have it. Hubris, overweening pride, is the great
flaw that Oedipus has harbored in his heart these many years. Wrath
is his downfall now, just as it was all those years earlier when he
unwittingly slaughtered his own father and married his mother. It is
arrogance, always, which destroys greatness and humbles the mighty.
Caesar’s elevation to the rank of a god could not protect him from the
knives of those he called his friends. Hitler’s belief in the supremacy of
Note that in a block quotation, the
parenthesis goes outside the period.
When that hellcat the sphinx was performing here,
Please note, there are no quotation
marks at the beginning or end of a
block quotation.
Block Quotation – Indent one inch – or ten spaces.
assumption merely, both Kreon and Teiresias of political ambition,
asserting his assumed superiorit over rivals, seers, and the gods
themselves in those reckless words:
Has your mystic mummery ever approached the truth?
When that hellcat the sphinx was performing here,
What help were you to these people?
Her magic was not for the first man who came along:
It demanded a real exorcist. Your birds—
What good were they? Or the gods, for the matter of that?
But I came by,
Oedipus, the simple man, who knows nothing—
I thought it out for myself, no birds helped me!
And this is the man you think you can destroy,
That you may be close to Kreon when he’s king! (759-60)
And there we have it. Hubris, overweening pride, is the great
flaw that Oedipus has harbored in his heart these many years. Wrath
is his downfall now, just as it was all those years earlier when he
unwittingly slaughtered his own father and married his mother. It is
arrogance, always, which destroys greatness and humbles the mighty.
Caesar’s elevation to the rank of a god could not protect him from the
knives of those he called his friends. Hitler’s belief in the supremacy of
Note that in a block quotation, the parenthesis goes outside the period.
Spalding 2
Parenthetic Documentation
If you were paying attention, you would have noticed the presence, at the
end of each quotation, of a number in parentheses. The moment you see
this parenthetic notation, you know that the quotation is over.
The number, of course, is the page number on which the quotation is
found. This number is tied to the Works Cited page at the end of the
paper. The signal phrase usually provides the information which the
reader needs to locate the appropriate Works Cited entry (either the
author’s last name, or the title of the book or article). When a signal
phrase is not used, then more information may need to be included in the
parenthesis.
Parenthetic Documentation
If you were paying attention, you would have noticed the presence, at the
end of each quotation, of a number in parentheses. The moment you see
this parenthetic notation, you know that the quotation is over.
The number, of course, is the page number on which the quotation is
found. This number is tied to the Works Cited page at the end of the
paper. The signal phrase usually provides the information which the
reader needs to locate the appropriate Works Cited entry (either the
author’s last name, or the title of the book or article). When a signal
phrase is not used, then more information may need to be included in the
parenthesis.
House says of Shelley that “his poetry enthralls boys (girls
rather less, I fancy) as no other poetry enthralls them” (47-8).
Parenthetic Documentation
If you were paying attention, you would have noticed the presence, at the
end of each quotation, of a number in parentheses. The moment you see
this parenthetic notation, you know that the quotation is over.
The number, of course, is the page number on which the quotation is
found. This number is tied to the Works Cited page at the end of the
paper. The signal phrase usually provides the information which the
reader needs to locate the appropriate Works Cited entry (either the
author’s last name, or the title of the book or article). When a signal
phrase is not used, then more information may need to be included in the
parenthesis.
House says of Shelley that “his poetry enthralls boys (girls
rather less, I fancy) as no other poetry enthralls them” (47-8).
Please note that the period includes the parenthetic documentation.
Parenthetic Documentation
If you were paying attention, you would have noticed the presence, at the
end of each quotation, of a number in parentheses. The moment you see
this parenthetic notation, you know that the quotation is over.
The number, of course, is the page number on which the quotation is
found. This number is tied to the Works Cited page at the end of the
paper. The signal phrase usually provides the information which the
reader needs to locate the appropriate Works Cited entry (either the
author’s last name, or the title of the book or article). When a signal
phrase is not used, then more information may need to be included in the
parenthesis.
House says of Shelley that “his poetry enthralls boys (girls
rather less, I fancy) as no other poetry enthralls them” (47-8).
Apparently, Shelley’s poetry “enthralls boys . . . as no other
poetry enthralls them” (House 47-8).
Parenthetic Documentation
If you were paying attention, you would have noticed the presence, at the
end of each quotation, of a number in parentheses. The moment you see
this parenthetic notation, you know that the quotation is over.
The number, of course, is the page number on which the quotation is
found. This number is tied to the Works Cited page at the end of the
paper. The signal phrase usually provides the information which the
reader needs to locate the appropriate Works Cited entry (either the
author’s last name, or the title of the book or article). When a signal
phrase is not used, then more information may need to be included in the
parenthesis.
House says of Shelley that “his poetry enthralls boys (girls
rather less, I fancy) as no other poetry enthralls them” (47-8).
Apparently, Shelley’s poetry “enthralls boys . . . as no other
poetry enthralls them” (House 47-8).
Apparently, Shelley’s poetry “enthralls boys . . . as no other
poetry enthralls them” (Shelley 47-8).
Congratulations
You now have the basic pattern established for proper
in-text citation and we will move on to the proper format
for the Works Cited page. But that is another lesson
altogether.
The End
PowerPoint Presentation by Mark A. Spalding, BA, MEd, MA, 2007.