22 In-text Citation
Learning Objectives
In-text citations pinpoint your ideas original source.
- In-text citations – quote, paraphrase or summarise
- Long quotes of more than 30 words
- Narrative Citation ( Author focussed) and Parenthetical Citation (Idea focussed)
- Cite a resource with an organisation as the author
- Cite multiple authors
- Cite from two different sources
- Cite a resource with no author
- Cite a resource with no date
- Different works of the same author and same year
- Citing sources referred to within the source ( secondary sources)
- In-text citation – quick reference guide
In-text citations – quote, paraphrase or summarise
When you refer to a source in your writing you give credit to the original author by using an in-text citation. You can directly quote, paraphrase or summarise their words.
Consider this text from Kotterman 2006:
“It is unusual for one person to have the skills to serve as both an inspiring leader and a professional manager. In large, complex organizations, these two distinct roles are even more difficult to assimilate in one person, and the tendency is to set leadership skills aside in favor of managing the workplace.”
Long quotes of more than 30 words
Longer quotes should be used sparingly in academic writing, as they don’t allow your voice and opinion to shine through. If your quotation is greater than 30 words, indent the block of text with no quotation marks and introduce it in your own words.
It was stated that:
If any similar qualitative research is to be undertaken in the future, then stringent
controls should be put in place to ensure such statistical anomalies do not occur
through lack of methodological rigor, particularly through corruption of data
inadequately stored and processed (Mullane 2006, p. 66).
Quote or paraphrase?
If you closely paraphrase or summarise a specific paragraph/section you should also consider including the page number.
If you have any doubt about how closely you have used the wording or sentence structure of the original author, you should include a page number.
Narrative Citation ( Author focussed) and Parenthetical Citation (Idea focussed)
There are two ways to include a citation, your choice will depend upon your writing style and the flow of your argument. Both styles are correct and you may switch between them within your writing or paragraph. note the use of quotation marks and page numbers in the below examples.
The Narrative Citation emphasises the author by using their name/s in the sentence. This is generally at the beginning of the sentence before you state your fact.
- Taylor (2019, p.99) states that ‘information legitimacy is the most crucial step’ in the development…
- Jewell and Sheehy (2018) argue against this concept…
- Ryde Council (2017) delayed their consultation process by …
The Parenthetical Citation emphasises the fact/idea and places the Author-date citation at the end of the sentence.
- …notwithstanding that the development of ‘ínformation legitimacy is the must crucial step’ (Taylor 2019, p. 99).
- ….consider an outdated concept (Jewell & Sheehy 2018).
- ….by delaying the consultation process (Ryde Council 2017).
Cite a resource with an organisation as the author
It is common to find resources that are authored by an organisation, group entity, or government body. For these resources, you should use the organisation name in place of the author’s last name. You can abbreviate any long names the first time that you cite the resource, and then continue to use the shortened version in subsequent citations.
- Infrastructure NSW (2021) reported that…
- …as estimated by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO 2021).
OR
- …to remain competitive (Infrastructure NSW 2021).
- …more than estimated (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation [CSIRO] 2021).
Cite multiple authors
If a work has one, two, or three authors, cite all the names every time the reference occurs in-text. You should always cite them in the order that they appear on the resource, as sometimes this is an indicator of academic seniority, the major contributor or principal researcher. Note the use of ‘and’ and ampersand in both examples.
- Baynie (2021) predicted that…
- Ryde Council (2017) delayed their consultation process by …
- Watson and McCartney (2018, p.99) conducted…
- Baynie, Watson and McCartney (2020) hypothesised…
OR
- …is predicted (Baynie 2021).
- ….by delaying the consultation process (Ryde Council 2017).
- …was conducted (Watson & McCartney 2018, p.99).
- …is hypothesised (Baynie, Watson & McCartney 2018).
If a work has more than three authors include only the first author followed by et al. (meaning “and others”). If two different references shortened in this manner become the same, include as many names as is necessary to distinguish them.
- Baynie et. al (2021) predicted that…
- Watson et. al (2018, p.99) conducted…
OR
- …is predicted (Baynie et. al 2021).
- …will occur (Watson et. al 2018, p.99).
Cite from two different sources
If you have used more than one resource in your writing, you indicate this to your reader by citing both/all resources and separating them by a semi-colon. For ease of reading, this is more suited to a parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence.
- Hoehn (2016) and Sanders (2014) state that…
- Sheehy (2021), Watson & McCartney (2020) and Dunstan et. al (2021) found that it was undesirable…
OR
- …is questionable (Hoehn 2016; Sanders 2014).
- <…whilst it was found to be undesirable (Sheehy 2021; Watson & McCartney 2020; Dunstan et. al 2021).
Cite a resource with no author
Sometimes, you may use a resource that doesn’t have an author. Without the individual author’s name or the authoring organisation, it is very difficult to establish whether they are even qualified to comment on the subject. This resource is not suitable for an academic paper and you should consider finding a better resource with authoritative authors that have recognisable academic, business, or government affiliations. If you decide to use this resource, your in-text citations will use the resource title in italics in place of the author’s name.
- ….to be determined (Seven signs of economic downturn 2018).
- …can be ill-informed and harmful (Clean eating is a fad 2019).
Cite a resource with no date
It is quite common to find resources that don’t have a publishing date, particularly in documents found on the internet through a search engine. Sometimes, a copyright date is available on the bottom of the page or you may decide that the document is appropriate to use as it appears to be updated regularly e.g. a price list, a company’s employment policy, or an organisation’s mission statement. In these cases, you can use n.d. (no date) in place of the year.
Examples:
- …increase of 20 percent (Samsung n.d.).
- …to improving Indigenous students’ outcomes (Western Sydney University n.d.).
- The Sydney Graduate School of Management (SGSM n.d.) is committed…
Different works of the same author and same year
If you use resources that have the same author, they generally have a different year of publication.
However, if you use multiple resources by the same author and published in the same year, you need to differentiate the works by including ‘a’, ‘b’ or ‘c’ etc. after the year.
Assign a,b and c to articles in alphabetical order of their title.
Different authors with the same surname can be distinguished in-text by initials e.g. J Brown (1997) and C Brown (1997)
Examples:
- Simpson (2021a) states that…
- Simpson (2021b) concludes…
- …to acknowledge traditional owners (James 2021a; James 2021b).
- ..will accomplish a great deal (James 2021a, p.99).
Citing sources referred to within the source ( secondary sources)
You may read a text where the author cites another author’s work in their writing. This is called a secondary source and you should acknowledge both sources in your writing by following this format.
For example, the book you are using is written by Smith who quotes another author called Jones. In your essay you wish to use Jones’ idea. In-text you should acknowledge both the primary source (Jones) and secondary source (Smith) as follows:
Jones (cited in Smith 2009) agreed that the experiment failed to confirm this hypothesis.
or
The experiment failed to confirm this hypothesis (Jones, cited in Smith 2009).
You should only include the text that you read (i.e. Smith 2009) in the reference list.
In-text citation – quick reference guide
| Types of Intext Citation | Example | Narrative Citation | Parenthetical Citation |
| One author | (Author YEAR) | Jackson (2021) stated… | …as stated (Jackson 2021). |
| Two authors | (Author & Author YEAR) | Jackson and Stone (2021) stated… | …stated (Jackson & Stone 2021). |
| Three authors | (Author, Author & Author YEAR) | Jackson, Stone and Gill (2021) stated… | …stated (Jackson, Stone & Gill 2021). |
| More than three authors | (First author et.al YEAR) | Jackson et.al (2021) stated.. | …stated (Jackson et.al 2021). |
| Direct quote inc. page number | (Author YEAR, p.no.) | Jackson (2021, p.99) stated… | …stated (Jackson 2021, p. 99). |
| Combining two resources | (Author YEAR; Author YEAR) | Jackson (2021) and Stone (2021) stated… | …stated (Jackson 2021; Stone 2021). |
| Organisation as author | (Organisation name YEAR) | Western Sydney University (2021) stated… | …stated (Western Sydney University 2021). |
| Abbreviated organisation | Organisation name (Abbreviation YEAR) | Western Sydney University (WSU 2021) stated… | …stated (Western Sydney University [WSU] 2021). |
| No author | (Title YEAR) | Common referencing errors (2021) stated… | …stated (Common referencing errors 2021). |
| No date | (Author n.d.) | Jackson (n.d.) stated … | …stated (Jackson n.d.). |
| Same author name and date | (Author YEARa) | Jackson (2021a) stated… | …stated (Jackson 2021a). |
| Secondary sources | (Original Author, cited in Author YEAR) | Jackson (cited in Chau 2021) stated… | …stated (Jackson, cited in Chau 2021). |
Chapter Review
- An in-text citation is required any time you use the thoughts, words or findings of another author
- The in-text citation includes the author/s and date; with a page number if it is a quote
- Correct in-text citation reduces plagiarism
- Use the rules outlined in the Harvard Western SydU style guide
- There are particular rules for quoting sources with organisational author, multiple authors and no visible author
