We use in-text citations for all the same reasons we use references. The important difference is that in-text citations are found in the body of your work, while references are found in the list at the end of your work.
In-text citations are used to point out to the reader exactly which pieces of information, ideas, thoughts images etc. were created by someone else.
This is a requirement of the IB (Academic Integrity). It is also the ethical and moral thing to do and helps us to avoid plagiarism and copyright infringements.
Also - Using in-text citations helps your teachers to see that you have done the research and understood the information, giving your work more weight!
A Signal Phrase is when you name the author or resource as part of your sentence.
Using a Signal Phrase is an important part of in-text citations. If you use a signal phrase, you do not have to include as much information in the parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence, if any. The information you would then add in the parentheses varies depending on the citation style you are using, and are further explained in other boxes on this page.
In-text citations in MLA9 can take 2 forms: Citation in Prose, which uses a signal phrase, and Parenthetical Citation, which will appear at the end of the relevant sentence.
Citation in Prose
When the name of the author or title appears in your sentence, there is no need for further citation if the source has no unchangeable location such as a page number. If there is a page number, time stamp, line number or other location indicator, it will be placed in parentheses at the end of the sentence.
Biedermann noted the difficulties of attributing dragons as representations of dinosaurs from the Mesozoic era (102).
Parenthetical Citation
When available, the name of the author is placed in parentheses at the end of the sentence. If there is no unchangeable location indicator, there is no other information included. If there is an unchangeable location indicator, it must be included in the parentheses with no punctuation between.
Dragons are "always portrayed as reptilian" although there are a wide range of reptiles influencing the different portrayals (Biedermann 102).
"In Japan, dragon legends are heavily intertwined with Chinese dragons, even using Chinese loanwords for dragon names" (Milligan).
When there is no known author, use the title of the resources, using the same format as seen int he reference for that title. If the title is long, you can shorten it.
Dragons in medieval European literature are usually shown with wings and breathing fire, while Asian dragons typically have no wings ("Dragon").
If there are two authors, name both in the citation with the word 'and' between the names. (Note: If you are using the names in a Citation in Prose, use the full names. If you are using them in a Parenthetical Citation, use the surnames only). If there are more than two authors, name the first author only in your citation followed by the words 'and colleagues' or 'and others'. If you are using parenthetical citations, use the first author's surname only and et al.
Karl Shuker and Dennis Morris base their description of Babylonian Ishtar's guard dragon on images portrayed in ancient mosaic bas-reliefs.
"Dragons are not just the mightiest of foes, they are the original foes (Brackin et al.)".
If you cannot use the original source of material you wish to quote, either make it clear in your work that the quote has been taken from a secondary source, or put the abbreviation qtd in (for quoted in) before the secondary or indirect source in your parenthetical citation. You then only include the work you have cited in your Works Cited List.
Carl Sagan (qtd in Blust 521) asks, "Is it possible that dragons posed a problem for our protohuman ancestors of a few million years ago, and that the terror they evoked and the deaths they caused helped bring about the evolution of human intelligence?"
If there are two or more sources by the same author(s), you need to include the title in your in-text citation in one of the following ways:
Biederman states... (Dictionary of Symbolism 521)
In Dictionary of Symbolism, Biederman claimes... (521)
... (Biederman, Dictionary of Symbolism 521)
In-text citations in APA7 can take 2 forms: Narrative Citation, which uses a signal phrase, and Parenthetical Citation, which can appear either at the end or within a sentence.
Narrative Citation
When the name of the author or title appears in your sentence, usually the date will be placed in parentheses immediately after the name.
Biedermann (1994) noted the difficulties of attributing dragons as representations of dinosaurs from the Mesozoic era.
Parenthetical Citation
The name of the author and the date with a comma separating them are found in the parentheses of this form of citation. When quoting from a source that has page numbers or an unchangeable location such as a timestamp, this is included in the parentheses after a comma after the date. The parentheses can occur at the end of a sentence with the closing period after the final parenthesis. If the citation is for a paraphrase or partial quote that is at the beginning of a sentence, the parenthetical citation is found at the end of the relevant information with no other punctuation needed.
Dragons are usually seen as violent and primeval, to be conquered by gods, heroes or noble ancestors (Biedermann, 1994).
Dragons are "always portrayed as reptilian" (Biedermann, 1994, p. 102) although there are a wide range of reptiles influencing the different portrayals.
When there is no known author use the title and year of publication in your citation, using the same format as seen in the reference for the title. If the title is long, you can shorten it.
Dragons in medieval European literature are usually shown with wings and breathing fire, while Asian dragons typically have no wings (Dragon, 2024).
If there are two authors, name both in the citation with '&' between the names, followed by the date. If there are three or more authors, name the first author et al., followed by the date.
Shuker & Morris (2006) base their description of Babylonian Ishtar's guard dragon on images portrayed in ancient mosaic bas-reliefs.
"Dragons are not just the mightiest of foes, they are the original foe (Brackin et al., 2022)."
If you are citing a source that includes a citation from another author/work, you should try to read and cite the original work. If you cannot locate the original you can cite the quotation using the secondary source. You would then only include the work you have cited in your Reference List.
Carl Sagan (as cited in Blust, 2000, p. 521)) asks, "Is it possible that dragons posed a problem for our protohuman ancestors of a few million years ago, and that the terror they evoked and the deaths they caused helped bring about the evolution of human intelligence?"
If you are citing multiple works with the same author and same date, include a lowercase letter after the year beginning with a. The same letter after the date should appear in the Reference List.
(Biederman 1994a).
