So you’ve been asked by your teacher to cite your sources…what does that mean? Keep reading to find out when and how to cite.
When do I cite?
- If you use a quote
- If you paraphrase
- If you summarize
In short, if any of the ideas you have added to your paper are not your own ideas, then you need give credit to the person who had the ideas, and we do that through citations.
How do I cite?
There are two different types of citations, what we call in-text citations and then the Works Cited page.
In-text citations
These are also called parenthetical citations, since you put them in parentheses.
Here’s how they work: Whenever you are using someone else’s ideas, you should always include their name and where you found the information.
If you are using a source with an Author and a Page Number, your in-text citations should look like this (Lastname Pagenumber)
Human beings have been described as “symbol-using animals” (Burke 3).
or
Human beings have been described by Kenneth Burke as “symbol-using animals” (3). [Since the author’s name was mentioned when introducing the quote, you do not need to put it in the parentheses. Instead, just put the page number where the information was found.]
Now, many times when you are using information from a website, it does not have an author or page number. That’s okay! We can still make an in-text citation, but using different information.
If you are using an Internet source without an author use the title of the article or title of the webpage.
For example, I’m using an article from the website www.migrationpolicy.org. The title of the article is “Ten Facts About U.S. Refugee Resettlement.” My in-text citation should read (“Ten Facts About U.S. Refugee Resettlement”).
Works Cited Page
Now that you have included your in-text citations, it is time to create your Works Cited Page. This goes at the very end of your paper, and it gives more information on how to find the sources you used.
Follow the example below, and you will be creating perfect MLA citations!
Citing a Book
Author Lastname, Author Firstname. Title of Book. Where was it published: Publisher, Date of publication.
Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. New York: Scholastic, 1997.
Citing a Website
Editor or author (if available). Name of Site. “Title of Article.” (if available). Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), date of resource creation (if available). Medium of publication. Date of access.
Capps, Randy. “Ten Facts About U.S. Refugee Resettlement.”Migrationpolicy.org. Migration Policy Institute, 20 Oct. 2015. Web. 21 Nov. 2015. <http://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/ten-facts-about-us-refugee-resettlement>.
Did you know, you can use EasyBib.com to quickly and easily format your citations for websites? Just copy and paste the URL and plug it into their citation maker.
If you have any questions, or would like Ms. McBride to take look at your citations for you, email her at: bmcbride@fenwayhs.org
