Editing In-text Citations

Food in America Sample Quoted Text

If the author’s last name is cited in the signal phrase, you DO NOT need a parenthetical reference. INCORRECT

Our portion sizes seem to have almost more than doubled. This is best illustrated in The Sacramento Bee by reporter Shannon Brownlee when she states that “Fast food wasn’t any healthier back then; we simply ate a lot less of it.” (Brownlee)

CORRECT Our portion sizes seem to have almost more than

doubled. This is best illustrated in The Sacramento Bee by reporter Shannon Brownlee when she states that “Fast food wasn’t any healthier back then; we simply ate a lot less of it.”

If the author’s name is not used in the signal phrase you MUST have a parenthetical reference.

MOSTLY CORRECT In If You Pitch It, They Will Eat, the reporter David Barboza states that

“Professor McNeal at Texas A&M says the companies are a scapegoat. ‘I don’t think they should be singled out. Mom blames everyone but herself. There’s an abdication of the parent’s role. You’ve got 70 percent of moms who are working, so when they’re home they try to please their kids.’”

CORRECT BUT BETTER WRITTEN In “ If You Pitch It, They Will Eat,” Texas A&M professor

of marketing, James McNeal “says the companies are a scapegoat. ‘I don’t think they should be singled out ... Mom blames everyone but herself. There’s an abdication of the parents’ role. You’ve got 70 percent of moms who are working, so when they’re home they

try to please their kids’”(Barboza).

Reporter Daniel Weintraub in The Sacramento Bee states “It’s the fault of parents who let their kids eat unhealthy foods and sit in front of the television or computer for hours at a time.”(Weintraub)

CORRECT Reporter Daniel Weintraub in The Sacramento

Bee states “It’s the fault of parents who let their kids eat unhealthy foods and sit in front of the television or computer for hours at a time.”

Points to remember:

When citing an author the first time, use his/her full name and descriptor.

If you use the same author again, ONLY USE the writer’s LAST NAME!

Use multiple sources in your papers. Don’t just use Barboza or just Brownlee.

You do not need page numbers for the citations in this paper.