What is a Parenthetical Citation?

The Basics

Parenthetical citations are notes in parentheses that let a reader know what original sources you used in the body of your research paper. These notes make it easier for the reader because they don't have to stop reading to know what is source material. In other words, the parenthetical notes don't disrupt the flow of the paper. This saves the writer from having to create endnotes or footnotes, and it gives the reader immediate access to the sources.

Styles Have Different Rules

In research writing there are many different style guides that dictate the rules of how source material should be accounted for in the text of the paper. We will be looking at two of the most popular style guides used: MLA, Modern Language Association, and APA, The American Psychological Association.

We use parenthetical citations to indicate that we have included information from source material that is a direct quote, a summary, or a paraphrase. Let's take a look at these two styles to see how they differ.

MLA

When using parenthetical citations in the MLA style, you must include the author and the page number in the parenthesis. Take a look a the following examples:

A quote from a book

The author tells us, 'We all need to find a way to save on our consumption of oil, so carpooling when you can is an excellent idea' (Willis 25).

Because this example includes a quote, at the end of the sentence you need to include parentheses with the author's last name and the page number where the quote can be found. Notice that the punctuation is placed to the right of the parentheses, making the parenthetical citation a part of the sentence.

Paraphrase

Children can find themselves in trouble if they are given access to cell phones before they are able to understand how dangerous they can be ( 'No Cell Phones').

When you paraphrase, or put source information into your own words, you must provide documentation. If there is no author, then you use the first few words of the title in the parenthetical citation. Note: There are no page numbers given because the source is a website.

Ellipsis

In New England the heroine epidemic is a large problem...it is something we need to take seriously (Nelson and Smith 21).

Use an ellipsis, or what looks like three periods, to indicate that you have left out part of the quote.

Long quote

The prison system in America is filled largely with nonviolent drug offenders. We could do so much more for people who have drug issues if judges and the police were given options other than incarceration (Smith 7).

When you have a long quote you indent every line ten spaces, and you do not use quotation marks. In the parenthetical citation, you use the author's last name and the page number.

APA

When you use APA parenthetical citations, you include the author's last name and the year of publication. When it is a direct quote, you also include the page number.

Book

Franklin tells us, 'A hug a day can actually increase life expectancy' (Hawthorne, 2009, p. 78), but he didn't say anything about what laughter might do for us.

Direct quote

According to MacMillian (2003), 'Men who have served in Iraq for extended tours tend to suffer from PTSD and need help making the transition to life outside of the war' (p. 52).

When you use a direct quote, you introduce the author, providing the date of publication in parentheses, and put the page number in a parentheses at the end of the sentence.

Paraphrase

When writing papers, drafting, writing, and rewriting, helps students improve their critical-thinking skills (Shubert, 2010, p. 53).

When you paraphrase, you only have to include the author and the year of publication in the parentheses. You can include the page number (for example, p. 53) , but it is not required.