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South Side High School: Parenthetical Citations

Create an APA Citation, Reference Page and Parenthetical Citations

What is a parenthetical citation?

Parenthetical citing is used to cite sources, whether it is a quote, summary or paraphrase, where it appears in your paper. Parenthetical citations within the text of your paper let your reader know when you've used information from another source. The parenthetical citation corresponds to a source listed on your works cited page.

When do you use a parenthetical citation?

  • Briefly let the reader know that you are using the words or ideas of another author.
  • Direct your reader to a complete citation of the work in your Work Cited page.

Where do you place your parenthetical citations

Place parenthetical citations at the end of the sentence you are paraphrasing, summarizing or quoting.

MLA  ex.: The destruction of the The Bantu Migration was a southeastern movement (Jonas 33).

Place parenthetical citations after the quotations. Example: "Today most of the population lives in regions descended from Bantu migrants" (Jonas 89).

APA ex.: The destruction of the The Bantu Migration was  a southeastern movement (Jonas, 2012, p. 4).

 "Today most of the population lives in regions  is descended from Bantu migrants" (Jonas, 2012 p. 89).

 

MLA - Parenthetical Citations

At the end of the sentence or paragraph where you referenced your source, use parenthesis to briefly indicate to the reader which source you used. Look at  your Works Cited page. If the source begins with the author's name, use the last name in your parenthesis. If there is no author, use the title of the article. Use whichever is the first entry on your Work Cited page. If there is a page number, include it in the parenthesis.
*** Remember the parenthetical citation and the first word or words of the citation on the Work Cited page must match exactly.
 
In MLA, use the Author, page number method
Ex.: In 1900, the worst hurricane in the United States history hit Galveston, Texas. “A storm surge almost two stories high broke over the city” (Miles 4).
•If you name the author in your sentence, just put the page number in parentheses.
Ex.: In Hurricane Force, Michael Miles explains that cool air draws heat and moisture from warm bodies of water to form a storm (22).
 
The matching citation in the Works Cited page reads:
Miles, Michael. Hurricane Force. Cambridge UP, 2013.

APA - Parenthetical Citations

At the end of the sentence or paragraph where you referenced your source, use parenthesis to briefly indicate to the reader which source you used. Look at  your Reference page. If the source begins with the author's name, use the last name in your parenthesis. If there is no author, use the title of the article. Use whichever is the first entry on your Work Cited page.
*** Remember the parenthetical citation and the first word or words of the citation on the Work Cited page must match exactly.

In APA parenthetical citations use the Author Date Method.

Author’s last name, year of publication and page number.

  • Ex.: The world had it’s 10th warmest year since 1880 (Jones, 2011, p.4).

Only information not already contained in your sentence should be included in the parenthesis.

  • Ex. In his 2011 article, Robert Jones says the world had its warmest year since 1180 (p.4).

The matching citation in the Works Cited page reads:
Jones R. (2011). Waging war on global warming. New York: Penguin.

Parenthetical Citations for more than one author

Visit the OWL page at Purdue for information on parenthetical citations for multiple authors.

Video on how to create a Parenthetical Citation