Answered By: Vicki Sciuk
Last Updated: Mar 31, 2023     Views: 221105

If you just put one in-text cite at the end of the paragraph, it might not be clear where the ideas at the beginning of the paragraph came from. Therefore, you should include credit to the authors whenever you are quoting, summarizing or paraphrasing facts and ideas from their work. This also helps differentiate your own ideas from those in your references. 

The best way to solve this problem and still make your paper easy to read is to use a lead-in referring to your source at the beginning of a sentence or at the start of the paragraph (signal phrase). You can alternate this with putting the in-text cite in parentheses at the end of other sentences or the paragraph. Try to make it clear in each following sentence if it is still coming from the same source, using phrases like "According to", "They also state...", "That article concludes...". If it is clear, you don't need to repeat the in-text citation for those sentences.

Here are two examples using APA style:

  • McLean and Morris (2014) studied the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and adolescent PTSD. They found that almost 61% of the teenagers they studied were abused by a relative, and 23.8% were chronically abused.
    [Using “They found” in the 2nd sentence shows you are talking about the same source (McLean & Morris), so you don’t have to add another in-text cite for these statistics]  
  • The National Cancer Institute (NCI) estimates there will only be 23,820 new cases of primary brain tumors and nervous system cancers diagnosed in 2019, so it is relatively rare. But the NCI also says that metastatic brain tumors, which spread to the brain from other cancer sites like the lungs and breasts, happen ten times as often as primary ones that start in the brain (2019). The most common types of primary brain tumors are Anaplastic Astrocytomas and Glioblastomas (38%), and Meningiomas and other Mesenchymal tumors (27%) (NCI, 2019).

Note: If a signal phrase or lead-in phrase states the authors in the text of the sentence, you only need to put the year in parentheses.

Here's an explanation and example using MLA style, from the MLA Style Center website:

"The citation should appear only after the final sentence of the paraphrase. If, however, it will be unclear to your reader where your source’s idea begins, include the author of the source in your prose rather than in a parenthetical citation. For example, the following is a paraphrase from an essay by Naomi S. Baron:

Literacy consists of both reading and writing. The writing might take the form of marking up a text or making notes about it (Baron 194).

Here your reader might think that the first sentence is your idea and that Baron’s idea begins in the second sentence. For clarity, you might revise as follows:

Naomi S. Baron argues that literacy consists of both reading and writing. The writing might take the form of marking up a text or making notes about it (194)."

(Ask the MLA)

You can always contact the writing tutors from the Center for Academic Success for help with your in-text citations. They can also review your paper and make suggestions via email if you submit the paper online to WriteAid.

Here are the complete references for the in-text cites in the examples above:

APA - References:

McLean, C. P., & Morris, S. H. (2014). Trauma characteristics and posttraumatic stress disorder among adolescent survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Journal of Family Violence, 29(5), 559-566. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-014-9613-6

National Cancer Institute. (2019, May 3). Adult Central Nervous System Tumors Treatment (PDQ®) – Health Professional Version. Cancer.gov. https://www.cancer.gov/types/brain/hp/adult-brain-treatment-pdq

MLA - Works Cited:

Baron, Naomi S. “Redefining Reading: The Impact of Digital Communication Media.” PMLA, vol. 128, no. 1, Jan. 2013, pp. 193-200.

Ask the MLA. “If my paraphrase consists of several sentences, should a citation for the original source appear after each sentence?” MLA Style Center, 12 April 2018, https://style.mla.org/paraphrase-of-many-sentences/.

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