Page 269 - Foundations of Learning, 4th Edition (Revised)

In-text Citations

When you are deciding whether to quote or paraphrase a section of your source, ask yourself: Does the
author express this idea more clearly, succinctly, persuasively, or poetically than I could? If so, quote that
section. If the information is more general and less eloquent, put it in your own words. Always document
it, though.

Context: a student is writing an essay on how to become a musician.

MLA: Book

In-text citation
I have been training and planning to be a pianist since I was seven years old, yet sometime I feel
like I’m working too hard at it. This feeling seems to be supported by the dancer and choreographer
Twyla Tharp when she explains that an artist can plan too much. Planning is good, she feels,
“But there’s a fine line between good planning and overplanning. You never want the planning
to inhibit the natural evolution of your work” (118).

APA: Book

In-text citation
I have been training and planning to be a pianist since I was seven years old, yet sometime I feel
like I’m working too hard at it. This feeling seems to be supported by the dancer and choreographer
Twyla Tharp when she explains that an artist can plan too much. Planning is good, she feels,
“But there’s a fine line between good planning and overplanning. You never want the planning
to inhibit the natural evolution of your work” (2003, p. 118).

Documenting Electronic Sources

These citations are given as they would appear in an APA (American Psychological Association) References
list at the end of your paper. In the References list, they would be alphabetical—and all on the same topic,
of course. We wanted to give you a few interesting examples from different sources. Thanks to Karen
Redfield’s interim English 2 class for their suggestions. “Freegans” are people who try to live outside of
the capitalist society. They repair, reuse, or recycle goods, and in some cases, eat food thrown away by
grocery stores. There are few scholarly sources on the topic yet.

Notice that the date of the work is very important in the APA format and that the author’s first name is not
given, just the initial. As with the MLA format, you need to include the date of the article or work and the
date you retrieved it.

APA: Electronic Source

In-text citation

Hayasaki, E. (2007, September 14). ‘Freegans’are just picking up where others leave off. Houston
Chronicle, p. 5. Retrieved May 21, 2008, from ProQuest (1335981291).

Kurutz, S. (2007, Meghan 21). Not Buying It. The New York Times. Retrieved May 22, 2008,
from http://www.nytimes.com

Chapter 10 — Finding and Working with Sources 263