In-Text Citations vs. Full Citations: A Dynamic Duo

In-Text Citations: Your Signal in the Text

Imagine you're having a conversation and want to mention where you heard a key piece of information – that's essentially what an in-text citation does within your writing!

• What They Are: An in-text citation is a short acknowledgment you include whenever you quote or take information from a source in academic writing. It's a crucial part of acknowledging the sources you have used within the body of your writing or assignment.
• Their Purpose: The point is to show your reader where your information comes from. Including these short mentions is a direct way to show your reader where your ideas come from. They help you:
  • Avoid plagiarism by acknowledging the original author’s contribution.
  • Allow readers to verify your claims and do follow-up research.
  • Show you are engaging with the literature of your field. Academic writing is seen as an ongoing conversation, and showing exactly how your own research draws on and interacts with existing sources is essential.
• What They Look Like: In-text citations give the brief (abbreviated) details of the work that you are quoting from or referring to in your text. They are short. They most commonly take the form of short parenthetical statements.
• Key Information Included: They indicate the author and publication year of the source. A page number is also included if relevant. The page number is necessary if you are quoting directly. Page numbers can also be included when paraphrasing where possible to show where the information can be found.
• When You Need Them: You need an in-text citation whenever you quote or paraphrase a source in your text.
  • Quoting (using the author's exact words) requires including the original author's words directly (usually with quotation marks) and always requires a citation, typically including a page number.
  • Paraphrasing (putting information from a source into your own words) also requires an in-text citation.
  • (Note: Some information is considered common knowledge and doesn’t need to be cited to avoid over-citation).
• Formats Vary: Different types of in-text citation are used in different citation styles. They can be:
  • Author-date: Includes the author’s last name, the year of publication, and a page number when available. Examples: (Smith, 2018, p. 11) or According to Davidson (2019, p. 370). This is used in styles like APA and Harvard.
  • Author-page: Includes the author’s last name and a page number, but not the year. Example: (Smith 11). This is used in MLA.
  • Parenthetical: The author’s name and publication date (and page) appear in parentheses. Example: (Smith, 2018, p. 11).
  • Narrative: The author’s name appears as part of your sentence, not in parentheses. Example: Smith states that the treatment was highly effective (2018, p. 11).
  • Numerical: Some systems use numbers instead of names. For example, the Vancouver system uses superscript numbers in the text.
  • Footnote citations: Sometimes referred to as in-text citations, but the citation itself appears in a note separate from the text, often at the bottom of the page. Footnotes can cite references or comment on text.

Full Citations: The Complete Source Details

• What They Are: A reference is the full description of the resource. Full citations provide all the details necessary for your reader to locate the original source. They are long and often run to several lines.
• Their Purpose: Full citations provide the additional information that the citation points to. They allow readers to consult the sources you have used directly. This fosters transparency and academic integrity. Readers can easily fact-check any claim you make within your document. They showcase the full spectrum of materials that shaped your thinking.
• What They Look Like: They include key components that help identify and locate the source. Answering four questions helps create a reference entry:
  • Who is responsible for this work? (author)
  • When was this work published? (date)
  • What is this work called? (title)
  • Where can I retrieve this work? (source)
  They also include other details like publisher, volume/issue, or URL.
• Where They Live: Full citations usually feature toward the end of the document. They are added towards the end of the main text as a list.
• The Different Names for the List: The consistently formatted list at the end can be called different names, depending on the citation style and what it includes.
  • Reference List: This list details the key information regarding only the sources you have cited or quoted verbatim in your paper, using in-text citations. Each entry corresponds to a specific in-text citation. This provides a precise snapshot of the works you actively engaged with. Reference lists are commonly associated with styles like APA. Items are typically listed alphabetically by author/editor’s surname.
  • Bibliography: This list is more comprehensive. It includes not only the source data of your in-text citations, but also any other sources you consulted during your research. This could include background reading or influential works, even if you didn't cite them in the text. A bibliography presents the same items as a reference list but also includes references to all the additional research you carried out. A "works consulted" page is essentially the same as a bibliography.
  • Works Cited: This term is simply the MLA equivalent of a reference list. It lists all the sources which you included as in-text citations.

Comparing In-Text Citations and Full Citations