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AP Government- White and Stevens: Citing Your Sources

In-text citations are also sometimes called parenthetical references or parenthetical citations. This type of citation goes in the body of your paper BUT it must also match with information that is in your Works Cited page.

In the 1931 court case Alvarez vs. the Lemon Grove School District, a judge ordered that Mexican school children be re-integrated into the white majority schools that they had previously attended (Rigonati). 

To keep in Mind for in-text citations: 

  • In-text citations include the last name of the author followed by a page number enclosed in parentheses. "Here's a direct quote" (Smith 8).
  • If the author's name is not given, then use the first word or words of the title. Follow the same formatting that was used in the works cited list, such as quotation marks. This is a paraphrase ("Trouble" 22).
  • If there is no page number, you just record the author’s name: (Smith)
  • If there are two authors, record both author's names: (Smith and Matthews 8). 
  • If there are three or more authors, record the first author's name and write et al.: (Smith et al.) 

Don't forget that you want to always cite direct quotations and any factual/researched information that you present. 

Works Cited Page

 

Creating a Works Cited Page

 

In order to give credit to the resources that you used for your research you will need to create a works cited page as the last page of your paper.

Considerations:

  • Type “Works Cited” at the top of the page. Make sure it is centered.
  • Your list of books should be organized alphabetically by the author’s last name. If there is no author listed for the article, alphabetize by the title—ignore A, An, or The.

The following are sample citations. You will want to follow this model for your paper. Note that our library databases will generate citations for you. You can cut & paste these citations to your works cited page.

Sample Online database with author:

Hershkowitz, Allen. "Recycled Materials Produce Less Pollution." Pollution, edited by James Haley, Greenhaven Press, 2003. Current Controversies. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ3010058252/OVIC?u=cice26272&sid=OVIC&xid=18ca08ef. Accessed 26 Sept. 2019.

Sample Online database without author:

"Bilingual Education." Issues: Understanding Controversy and Society, ABC-CLIO, 2017, issues.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1656181. Accessed 26 Sept. 2017.

Website with author:

Adams, Jennifer. “About Dr. King.” About Dr. King: The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, www.thekingcenter.org/DrMLKingJr/. Accessed 28 Feb. 2017.

Website without an author:

“Martin Luther King Jr.” Nobelprize.org, Nobel Media 2014,www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1964/king-bio.html. Accessed 28 Feb. 2017.

 

Want more information on how to correctly format your works cited page, please visit here.