Using Parenthetical Citations

May 2007

 

Citing sources is basically simple.  The citation should lead the reader directly to the source of your information.  Cite any words not your own or ideas or information not common knowledge.  First do your “Works Cited” page.  The first word from each source on that page, which is usually the author’s last name, is used in your paper for citations.  If there is no author, use the first keyword of the title.  Use this word in a signal phrase to set up the idea or the quote.  At the end of the sentence put the page number in parentheses followed by a period: (105). This is an excellent way to cite because the citations don’t interrupt the flow of the paper.  If you don’t use a signal phrase, you will need to include the author or keyword and page number in parentheses at the end of the idea followed by a page number.  Don’t put a comma between the author’s name and the page number:  (Crail 105).  In almost all cases, the period goes after the citation.  Only when you’re citing four lines or more do you put the period before the citation.  Double-space all quotations just as you would your own words.

 

FOR EXAMPLE:

Work being cited:  Crail, Ted.  Apetalk and Whalespeak.  Los Angeles:  Tarcher, 1981.

 

Sample Paragraph

 

Signs have existed all along that the gorilla has much in its heart and mind and even a way to express it.  Whether the gorilla wishes to express this for humans is questionable.  The gorilla lies low, much like those humans who do not have the time of day for another being until they are certain you are worthy of acceptance, affection, passionate friendship.  When they want to, gorillas can express their feelings with a skill that makes other animals seem like emptyheads.  Rarely do they choose to do this—with a human, at least—but those who have been loved by a gorilla know they have been loved 

 

 

 

To cite a sentence, using the author’s name in your paper:

 

Talking about how a gorilla can communicate its feelings, Crail tells us, “Signs have existed all along that the gorilla has much in its heart and mind and even a way to express it”  (105).

To cite a sentence:

 

“Signs have existed all along that the gorilla has much in its heart and mind and even a way to express it”  (Crail 105). 

To cite ideas you've taken from a source, but expressed in your own words (paraphrasing):

 

Ted Crail tells us that scientists who have studied gorillas have learned a lot about how they express their feelings  (105).

To quote four lines or more,  indent ten (10) spaces on the left side and put the period before the citation:

 

In his book Apetalk and Whalespeak, Ted Crail discusses what is known about the gorillas’ ability to communicate:

When they want to, gorillas can express their feelings with a skill that makes other animals seem like emptyheads.  Rarely do they choose to do this—with a human, at least—but those who have been loved by a gorilla know they have been loved.  (105)

CITING VARIOUS SOURCES

 

Sample Works Cited Page

 

“Ape Uses Sign Language: Zoo Trainer Says Orangutan Can Communicate as People Do.”  Detroit News.  15 Dec. 1997: E1.

 

“Are Nonhuman Species Capable of Language Acquisition?”  LittleTree Oriental Healing Arts.  1996.  19 Jan. 2006  <http://www.littletree.com.au/koko.htm >.

 

Connor, Steve.  “Chimpanzees Learn How to Ape Human Speech.”  The Independent.  26 July 1999, foreign ed.: 3+.  11 May 2000 <http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb... >.

 

Crail, Ted.  Apetalk and Whalespeak.  Los Angeles: Tarcher, 1981.

 

Eckholm, Erik.  “Kanza the Chimp: A Life in Science.”  New York Times.  25 June 1985: C1+.

 

---.  “Pigmy Chimp Readily Learns Language Skill.”  New York Times.  24 June 1985: A1+.

 

Goodall, Jane.  Personal Interview.  21 March 1994.

 

Gorillas in the Mist.  Dir: Michael Apted.  MCA Home Video.  80851, 1986.

 

Patterson, Francine, and Eugene Linden.  The Education of Koko.  New York: Holt, 1981.

 

Saffran, Jenny et al.  "Word Segmentation: The Role of Distributional Clues."  Journal of Memory and Language.  Aug. 1996: 606-621.

 

Sample Citations Using These Sources:

 

To cite a work by one author: Crail implies…(105).  or

 (Crail 105).

 

 To cite a work by two or three authors:  Patterson and Linden make the case that …(321).  or   (Patterson and Linden 321).

 

To cite a work by four or more authors: Saffran and her co-authors…(21).  or  (Saffran et al. 612).

 

To cite a work without an author: The article “Ape” explains...(E1). or  ("Ape" E1).

 

To cite one of  two works by the same author, use the author’s last name and a keyword of each title.  Put a comma between the author and title keyword:

Eckholm states, “The ape…” (“Kanza” C1).  or

(Eckholm, "Kanza" C1).

 

To cite a personal interview: Goodall expressed….  or

(Goodall).

 

To cite a video, use title or first keyword:  The video Gorillas in the Mist  depicted…  or  (Gorillas).

 

To cite an Internet site, use a keyword of the title if without  author:

 The website “Are Nonhuman Species Capable of Language Acquistion?” cites statistical…  or  ("Are Nonhuman").

 

If there is an author for the site, you would use the author's last name: Connor shows how…(3).   or  (Connor 3).

A ProQuest Direct citation would be done the same way.

 

To cite a quote by one author appearing in another source:

        (Jane Goodall qtd. in Crail 43).