Parenthetical Citations

You must provide parenthetical references for all quotes, paraphrases, and summaries in your paper. A parenthetical reference will take the reader to the Works Cited page at the end of the paper where you supply complete bibliographic information. According to MLA guidelines, you must provide both the name(s) of the author(s) as well as the page number(s) on which the information is located. If you introduce the borrowed material with the name(s) of the author(s), then you need only put the page number in parentheses at the end of the borrowed material. Here is an example:

Mary Davies describes the animals at East Mountain Reservation as "unlike

any known to previous civilizations, strange and exotic to the human explorers"

(176).

However, if you do not include the name(s) of the author(s) to introduce the material, then you must provide them with the page number in the parenthetical reference at the end of the borrowed material. Follow this model:

The animals at East Mountain Reservation are "unlike any known

to previous civilizations, strange and exotic to the human explorers"

(Davies 176).

· The first time you refer to a source, it's generally considered a good idea to introduce the borrowed material with the full name(s) of the author(s). You may also include credentials to stress the source's authority.

· When paraphrasing and summarizing, make certain readers can tell where your ideas stop and the borrowed material begins. You can avoid problems by introducing paraphrases or summaries with the name(s) of the author(s).

· Do NOT use "p." or "pp." to indicate page numbers.

· Do NOT use any punctuation to separate the name from the page number inside a parenthetical reference.

· Note that the period follows the parenthetical reference.

· Quotes of more than four typed lines are handled differently than shorter quotes. Instead of quotation marks, long quotes are set off from the text, and the entire quote, which is still double-spaced, is indented 10 spaces from the left hand margin. In this case, the parenthetical reference goes outside of the final period.

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