In-Text Documentation

In-text documentation is sometimes called parenthetical documentation because it requires the use of parentheses (). For every fact or idea you borrowed from another source, you must provide the author's last name and the page of the source. There are two ways you can do this:

  1. Begin the quote or paraphrase with the author's last name and end the borrowed information with the page number in parentheses. For example: According to Gary S. Becker, human capital, "the knowledge, information, ideas, skills, and health of individuals," is the greatest form of capital in the 21st century (3).
  2. Or, provide the author's last name and the page number inside parentheses at the end of the borrowed information. For example: Human capital, "the knowledge, information, ideas, skills, and health of individuals," is the greatest form of capital in the 21st century (Becker 3).

What if your source doesn't list the author?

If the source you borrowed information from does not list the author's name, use the title, shortened. Use quotation marks and underlinging as apporopriate. For a review of when to underline or use quotation marks for a title see http://ollie.dcccd.edu/library/Module4/M4-IV/punct.htm

For Example: The difference in earnings between the average American with just a high school diploma and the average American with a college degree has increased in the past twenty years, with most college graduates earning at least 23 percent more than those with just a high school diploma ("Rising" 35).

What if your source does not provide page numbers, like a web site?

If the source does not have numbered pages, you are not required to provide a page number. However, you may provide the number of the paragraph, if possible. 

Example: The evidence clearly proves that the benefits of a college education to an individual and society prevail over the cost of earning a college degree (Porter par. 11).

What if you used more than one page?

If the pages are continues, use a dash between the first and last page used.

Example: Maurice Holmes of Xerox Corp feels the only way the U.S. will gain a competitive edge is by utilizing information technology to "learn faster than the rest of the world" (qtd. in Imparato 179-80).

Additional Information

In some cases, you might need to provide additional information within your parenthetical documentation.

Author Has Two or More Works in the "Works Cited"

Place shortened titles within the citation whenever an author has two or more works listed in the "works cited."

Example: (McKibben "Happiness").

More than one author of a work.

For 2 or 3 authors, cite all names.

Example: (Rabkin, Greenberg, and Olander 44-45).

For more than three authors, use the abbreviation "et al.", which means "and others."

Example: (Wechsler, et al. 209).

Use a double reference when one source quotes another.

Within the sentence, state the name of the original source. At the end of the sentence, begin the parenthetical documentation with the phrase "qtd. in." Then list your source.

Example: Maurice Holmes of Xerox Corp feels the only way the U.S. will gain a competitive edge is by utilizing information technology to "learn faster than the rest of the world" (qtd. in Imparato 179-80).

Activity

Click on the DragNDrop Activity below to match in-text documentations to the sources they cite.

  Link to drag and drop activity. 

 Self Check

Test your self by completing the following Self Check.

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What is wrong with the following example of in-text documentation?

Information Literacy, the ability to find, analyze and use information, combines technology skills with critical thinking skills.  Such skills are required to succeed in the 21st century ("Introduction").

Source: "Introduction to Information Literacy." Information Literacy. Association of College and Research Libraries. 20 Mar. 2007. 12 Apr. 2007 <http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlissues/acrlinfolit/informationliteracy.htm>.

    a.It does not provide an author.
    b.It does not provide a page number.
    c.Nothing is wrong with this example.
    d.The parenthetical documentation includes quotation marks.

Works Cited 

Works cited for this page are below.

Works Cited

Becker, Gary S. "The Age of Human Capital." Education in the Twenty-first Century. Ed. by Edward P.

Lazear. Staford: Hoover, 2002. 3-8.

Campbell, Joseph. Masks of God. New York : Viking Press,1968. 4 vols.

Choo, Kristin. "Feeling THE HEAT." ABAJournal 92.7 (July 2006): 28-35. Academic Search Premier.

EBSCO. Richland Coll. Lib., Dallas. 6 Mar. 2007 <http://search.ebscohost.com/>.

Cooper, Mary H. "Global Warming Update." CQ Researcher 1 Nov. 1996: 1-24

"Greenhouse Effect." MacMillan Encyclopedia of the Environment. Ed. Stephen R. Kellert. Vol. 3. New

York: Simon & Schuster Macmillan, 1997. 34-36.

Impararto, Nicholas. "The Information Revolution Will Become More Competitive." The Information

Revolution. Ed. Laura K. Egendorf. Opposing Viewpoints Ser. San Diego: Greenhaven, 2004.

177-80. Rpt of "Innovation Leadership Undone." 9 Mar. 1999

<http://www.intelligententerprise.com>.

Porter, Kathleen. "The Value of a College Degree." 2002. ERIC Digest. ERIC Clearinghouse:

ED470038. U.S. Dept. of Education. 26 May 2006 <http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERICDigest/

ed348128.html>.

McKibben, Bill. The End of Nature. New York: Anchor, 1989.

- - -. "Happiness Is...." Ecologist Feb. 2007: 32-39.

Rabkin, Eric S., Martin H. Greenberg, and Joseph Olander, eds. No Place Else: Explorations in Utopian

and Dystopian Fiction. Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, 1983.

"The Rising Value of a College Education." Presidency. Sping 2004: 3.

Vasseur, Liette. "Global Warming." Encyclopedia of World Environmental History. Ed. Shepard Krech, III,

J. R. McNeill, and Carolyn Merchant. Vol. 2. New York: Routhledge, 2004. 590-94.

Wechsler, Henry, et al. "Trends in College Binge Drinking during a Period of Increased Prevention

Efforts." Journal of American College Health 50.5 (Mar. 2002): 203-18.


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