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Whether you use a direct quotation, a summary, or a paraphrase, it is important to distinguish the original source from your ideas, and to explain how the cited source fits into your argument. While introducing the author of the source, the use of quotation marks, or parenthetical citations tells your reader that these are not your own words or ideas, you should follow the quote with a description, in your own terms, of what the quote says and why it is relevant to the purpose of your paper. You should not let quoted or paraphrased text stand alone in your paper, but rather, should integrate the sources into your argument by providing context and explanations about how each source supports your argument.
As you learned, an in-text citation is a brief reference within the text of your essay or assignment that indicates the source of information or ideas you have used. It requires less bibliographic information than a reference page entry. According to APA guidelines, in-text citations must include the following bibliographic data:
The original source material includes the ideas or words you are using from an outside source, either through direct quotation or paraphrase. For summary, you will often introduce the author and the text you are summarizing inside the sentence. If this is the case, you will not need the parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence for summary because summaries can be of such large sections of the paper. The work of shrinking this material down is your work. You need to give the source’s author’s credit for their ideas, but you do not need the page number. Similarly, you may introduce an author and source title in a paraphrase. Then, you would still need the page number at the end of the sentence because a paraphrase is for a specific part of the source that your reader may want to find.
A signal, also known as signal phrase, is how you introduce the quote, paraphrase, or summary. It helps your writing flow by giving some context for the reader. There are many different ways to signal to your reader that you are shifting from your words to another source, as you'll see in the examples below. Parenthetical references include any remaining bibliographic information that was not included in the signal.
Let’s look at some different ways to create in-text citations. In each example, look for the original source material, the signal, and the parenthetical reference.
EXAMPLE
Chang (2008) emphasized that “engaging in weight-bearing exercise consistently is one of the single best things women can do to maintain good health” (p. 49).EXAMPLE
Historian Jeanine Laplante (1997) argues that there are precious few examples of a people who had the ability to oppress another people, and did not (p. 3).EXAMPLE
Ryan Onizu (2013) is less certain: “The only sure thing about NASA's future is that the legacy it has already achieved will outlast the scope of congressional budget hearings” (p. 24).Notice in these examples that the signal phrase introduces the author before the quotation, so the source's publication year follows the author's name in parentheses. After the quotation or paraphrase, there is another parenthetical reference with the page where the content appears.
EXAMPLE
As doctors continue to point out, “It is never too late to quit smoking. The health risks associated with this habit begin to decrease soon after a smoker quits” (Garrison & Gould, 2010, p. 101).EXAMPLE
The quickest way to Rome, it seemed, was to go around: “Finding the Mediterranean blockaded, Hannibal was forced to bring his army through the Iberian Peninsula” (Martinez et.al., 1978, p. 102).In these examples there is a signal phrase, a quotation or paraphrase, and then the parenthetical reference with the authors, year, and page where the content appears. Notice the punctuation. The quotation marks come immediately after the quoted material, followed by the parenthetical reference and a period. Notice also the use of et. al., which is a Latin abbreviation for "and others," and is used when a work has three or more authors.
EXAMPLE
As researchers have explained, “Incorporating fresh fruits and vegetables into one’s diet can be a challenge for residents of areas where there are few or no easily accessible supermarkets” (Smith & Jones, 2006, para. 4).In this example, there is a signal phrase, a quotation, and then the parenthetical reference with the authors, year, and paragraph number where the content appears. Notice the punctuation.
EXAMPLE
Scientists have suggested that electromagnetic radiation from cellular telephones may pose a risk for developing certain cancers (“Cell Phones and Cancer,” n.d.).In this example, there is a signal phrase, a summary, and then the parenthetical reference with the article title, and n.d., which stands for no date. Notice that the summary example does not have a page number. Often, summaries are of larger sections of source so there will be no page number provided. It does not help your reader to say you have summarized pages 2-42. That is too much text for a reader to easily go back and review.
Did you know that you can use Sophia tutorials as content sources too? If you want or need to use a tutorial as a Touchstone source, it's easy to cite them.
Using APA formatting, the parenthetical reference for the in-text citation will look like this:
The entry on your reference page will look like this:
Sophia Learning, L.L.C. (2025). Romanesque Architecture. In Art History I. Sophia Learning. app.sophia.org/tutorials/romanesque-architecture-example
You have a lot of strategies for balancing and incorporating sources! Use the ones that jump out at you to practice and keep rolling!
As you learned, in-text citations appear within the body of your paper. They briefly identify the source of information, usually by the author’s last name and date, so the reader knows where a fact, idea, or quote came from. The reference page appears at the end of your essay, and provides the full publication details for every source you cited in your text. This allows readers to locate and evaluate the original sources for themselves. Each in-text citation in your essay must match a corresponding entry on the reference page. This relationship allows your audience to easily connect your evidence to its original source.
