In-text citations

A brief citation is required in the body of work whenever a source is used. This is the in-text citation. It is made up of the author and the page number of the source. Page numbers are added when you are referring to a specific part of the source.

Basic rules for in-text citations

• Enclose author’s given name in round brackets.
• Add a page reference if quoting from or referring to a specific part of the source. Do not use ‘p.’ or ‘pp.’ in front of pages.
• Insert the in-text citation before the punctuation mark ending the sentence (or part of sentence) where you used the source.
• If the author is already mentioned in the sentence, give the page reference alone in round brackets.
• If you have sources by authors with the same family name, add the author's given name or initial(s) to the family name.

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. Include the author(s) family name and page number(s) in brackets, or mention the author(s) given and family name as part of your sentence, followed by the page number(s) in brackets  

If the author's name is part of the sentence, add the entire given name.

Citation format	Example
Template	(Author page) or Author (page)
Citation at the beginning	Lesley Speed states that video games in Australia portraying suburban life … (10).
Citation in the middle	Video games in the Australian context according to Lesley Speed often portray themes such as … (1).
Citation at the end	Australian video games have contributed to both national and international film industries through their portrayal of suburban life from an Australian viewpoint (Speed 5-6).

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.
• Add the page reference after the closing quotation mark.
• If author is already mentioned in the sentence, give the page reference alone.
• For block quotations, i.e. , set apart from the text with no quotation marks, add the page reference after the closing punctuation mark.

Citation format	Example
Template	(Author page)
Direct quote	Languages such as English have “a global spread” (Zhang et. al. 1198). According to Zhang et. al. “English language has a global spread” (1198).

In-text citations variations

Author format	Instructions	Example
One author	List the author's surname.	. . . which is confirmed by the most recent study (Jenkins 22). . . . the study by Jenkins (22) confirmed these results.
Two authors	Name both authors and separate by 'and'.	(Currie and Kelly 443) . . . Currie and Kelly (409) . . .
Three or more authors	Name the first author and use 'et al.' in italics. (et al. is a Latin abbreviation meaning ‘and others’).	(Forman et al. 170) . . . Forman et al. (172) . . .
Group author (government or organisation)	Give the name of the group in all mentions. Use common abbreviations (e.g., ‘Org.’, ‘Assn.’, ‘Dept.’, ‘Soc.’) if name is in parentheses.	(Australian Bureau of Statistics 15) . . . Australian Bureau of Statistics (22) . . .
Two or more authors have the same family name	Add the given name initial to distinguish between the two authors. If the author's name is part of the sentence, add the entire given name.	The character Micheale McGuire regrets deserting his son … (D. Groves 14-15). . . . later work was explored by Derham Groves (45-54).
Multiple sources, same citation	List each source alphabetically by author and separate by semicolons.	. . . along with other studies (Keen 14; Lee 109; Wojk, 123–45).