5.10 Creating In-Text Citations and References

Now that we know what to cite and how to quote and paraphrase, we need to decide what format to create our in-text citations and references. Your instructor will tell you whether they prefer MLA, APA, Chicago or another style format. In BCOM301, we will be using APA. Luckily, the Forsyth librarians have come up with handy citation guides, which you can access on the Citation Styles section of the FHSU website.

Rather than covering every citation rule (which you can find in the guides), let’s just discuss the purpose of each one.

Creating an In-Text Citation

An in-text citation tells the reader where the information in a particular sentence came from. If the in-text citation is done well, the reader will be able to use it to find the full reference in the bibliography, then easily find the exact spot where the idea/quote came from.

In APA citation, the in-text citation consists of the author’s last name, date of publication, and the page number (or paragraph number for sources with no page numbers). If you’ve already used the author’s name in the sentence, you don’t have to repeat it in the in-text citation. It looks like this:.

According to Haudenosaunee writer Alicia Elliot, “We know our cultures have meaning and worth, and that culture lives and breathes inside our languages.” (2019, p. 18).

or this:

“We know our cultures have meaning and worth, and that culture lives and breathes inside our languages.” (Elliot, 2019, p. 18).

If you don’t know the name of the author, simply put the first few words of the title. If you don’t know the date, write “n.d.” for No Date. If you are citing content that does not include page numbers, put in the paragraph number.

Creating a Reference

As with in-text citations, it’s best to refer to FHSU’s Citation Guides. The purpose of a reference, however, is to give enough information for the reader to find the original source.

Here are several examples of APA references:

Books:

Elliot, A. (2019). A Mind Spread Out on the Ground. Doubleday Canada.

Journal Article:

Cardon, P. W., & Marshall, B. (2024). Can AI be your teammate or friend? Frequent AI users are more likely to grant humanlike roles to AI. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly, 87(4), 654–669. https://doi.org/10.1177/23294906241282764

You may be able to use a citation generator to create your references (as long as you double-check them for accuracy). Citation generators are only as accurate as the information they have been given and often include mistakes.