In-Text Citations | Federation University

A citation is required in the body of the work whenever a source is used. This is called an in-text citation. It is made up of the author and the year of publication of the source. Page numbers are added when you are quoting a specific part of the source.

Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing is when you are expressing the ideas of the author in your own words. When you are paraphrasing, you must acknowledge each author or source of information with a citation.

When paraphrasing, the citation details can be used at the beginning, middle or end of the sentence.

Citation format	Example
Template	(Author, Year) or Author (Year)
Citation at the beginning	Jukes (2023) states that our environmental challenges . . .
Citation in the middle	. . . rethinking teaching practice (Jukes, 2023), and as a result, can contribute to achieving learning goals.
Citation at the end	. . . new ways of approaching outdoor and environmental education (Jukes, 2023).

Direct quoting

When you are using a direct quote in your writing, you must acknowledge each author or source of information.

Direct quotes are used if you are using the exact words of the author. Put direct quotes between double quotation marks (“ ”) and add a page number. Do not overuse direct quotes.

Citation format	Example
Template	(Author, Year, p. #)
Direct quote	“We need a strong and capable state that can build solid welfare services” (Goetz, 2024, p. 47).

Direct quote without page numbers

If the work you are referencing does not contain page numbers, then use chapter numbers, section headings, and paragraph numbers as part of the citation.

Citation format	Example
Template	(Author, Year, section, para. #)
Direct quote without page numbers	"As the national peak body for early childhood, ECA is a regular, and trusted, contributor to the public policy debate on all matters affecting young children (birth to eight years) and their families" (Early Childhood Australia, 2016, Advocacy section, para. 1).

Direct quotes more than 40 words in length

Quotations more than 40 words in length need to be in block form:

Do not use quotation marks.
Begin the quote on a new line.
Indent and double-space the entire quote.
Include citation details in brackets at the end of the quote.

Citation format	Example
Template	(Author, Year, p. #)
Direct quote more than 40 words	In April 2023, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released its Education Policy Outlook in Australia report. While Australia’s school system is generally considered to be high-performing in relation to other OECD countries, one of the most salient findings in this report was that Australia’s classrooms are among the least favourable in terms of disciplinary climate, measured by students’ perceptions of how often noise and disorder occur in the classroom (Hudson, 2024, p. 10).

In-text citations with multiple authors

Author format	Instructions	Template	Example
One author	List the author’s surname and publication date.	(Author, Year)	(Beseler, 2023)
2–20 authors	List the two authors’ surnames separated by an ampersand (&) and publication date.	(Author 1 & Author 2, Year)	(Beseler & Plumb, 2023)
21 or more authors	List the first author’s surname followed by 'et al.' and publication date.	(Author 1 et al., Year)	(Beseler et al., 2023)
Multiple citations in the same brackets	List multiple citations in alphabetical order, with a semi-colon (;) to separate them.	(Author 1, Year; Author 2, Year; Author 3, Year).	… along with other studies (Keen, 2005; Lee, 2004; Wojk, 2003, 2006).
Multiple works by the same author in the same year	When multiple references have an identical author (or authors) and publication year, include a lowercase letter after the year. These letters are assigned when the references are placed in order in the reference list.	(Author, Yeara) or (Yeara) (Author, Yearb) or (Yearb)	In a study by Crowley (2011a), it was found that . . . It is suggested that . . . (Crowley, 2011b).