{"id":8690,"date":"2025-11-28T10:04:17","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T10:04:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.oreateai.com\/blog\/in-text-citation-example-2\/"},"modified":"2025-11-28T10:04:17","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T10:04:17","slug":"in-text-citation-example-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.oreateai.com\/blog\/in-text-citation-example-2\/","title":{"rendered":"[ In-Text Citation Example ]"},"content":{"rendered":"

Okay, let me take you back to my junior year of college. It was 2 AM, I\u2019d downed my third Red Bull (the sugar-free kind, because I was adulting<\/del>), and I was staring at my literature essay like it had just insulted my favorite pair of sweatpants. The problem? My professor had circled three words in bright red pen: "CITATION NEEDED.<\/strong>" Again. Turns out, slapping a quote into your paper without giving credit is like bringing store-bought cookies to a bake sale and claiming they\u2019re Grandma\u2019s secret recipe\u2014someone\u2019s gonna call you out.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the thing: in-text citations aren\u2019t just academic formalities<\/strong>. They\u2019re how you say, "Hey, I didn\u2019t pull this genius idea out of thin air\u2014Sharon over here deserves the credit." But back then? I treated citation styles like IKEA instructions: confusing, vaguely Swedish, and easy to ignore until something broke.<\/p>\n

\n

My Big "Oh Crap" Moment<\/h3>\n

My wake-up call came when I accidentally plagiarized a paragraph about Moby Dick<\/em> (yes, the whale book). I\u2019d paraphrased a SparkNotes summary a little<\/em> too closely and forgot to cite it. Got a stern email from my professor that felt like getting slapped with a wet newspaper. After that, I became the Leslie Knope of citation rules\u2014obsessive, slightly neurotic, and armed with color-coded Post-Its.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what actually works, based on burning midnight oil (and dignity) in the campus library:<\/p>\n

\n

The Citation Styles, Demystified<\/h3>\n

1. MLA (Modern Language Association)<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  • When<\/strong>: Literature, arts, humanities papers.<\/li>\n
  • The Vibe<\/strong>: Straightforward, like black coffee.<\/li>\n
  • Example<\/strong>:
    \n"Call me Ishmael" might be iconic, but so is surviving a group project (Melville 1).<\/em>
    \n\u2192 After the quote: (Author\u2019s Last Name Page Number<\/strong>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    2. APA (American Psychological Association)<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    • When<\/strong>: Social sciences, psychology, nursing.<\/li>\n
    • The Vibe<\/strong>: Detail-oriented, like a Starbucks order with extra shots.<\/li>\n
    • Example<\/strong>:
      \nSleep deprivation correlates with poor decision-making (Smith, 2020, p. 42).<\/em>
      \n\u2192 Include the year, because science loves timestamps.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      3. Chicago\/Turabian<\/strong><\/p>\n

        \n
      • When<\/strong>: History, business, "I want footnotes to take up half the page."<\/em><\/li>\n
      • The Vibe<\/strong>: Fancy dinner party rules.<\/li>\n
      • Example<\/strong>:
        \nThe Industrial Revolution changed everything\u00b9.<\/em>
        \n\u2192 Then drop the source details in a footnote like a mic drop.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
        \n

        Pro Tips I Learned the Hard Way<\/h3>\n
          \n
        • Paraphrasing \u2260 Free Pass<\/strong>: Changed a few words? Still cite it. My 10th-grade self thought swapping "utilize" for "use" was loophole royalty. Spoiler: It\u2019s not.<\/li>\n
        • Missing Page Numbers?<\/strong> Use paragraphs (Smith, para. 4) or just the author\/year if it\u2019s a webpage.<\/li>\n
        • No Author?<\/strong> Use the title: ("How to Adult Without Crying"<\/em> 12).<\/li>\n
        • ChatGPT\/Bard?<\/strong> Cite it like a weird interview: (OpenAI, 2023). Professors are onto this, trust me.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
          \n

          Tools That Saved My GPA (and Sanity)<\/h3>\n
            \n
          • Purdue OWL Website<\/strong>: My Bible. Free, clear examples for every style.<\/li>\n
          • Zotero<\/strong>: Like a Tamagotchi for references\u2014feed it sources, and it spits out citations.<\/li>\n
          • Citation Machine<\/strong>: Plug in the ISBN or URL, but double-check the output. Once it gave me a citation in Wingdings. Not ideal.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
            \n

            The Real Secret No One Talks About<\/h3>\n

            Consistency > Perfection<\/strong>. Professors care more about you trying than flawless commas. I once handed in a paper where every citation was a different font size (thanks, Google Docs glitch). My professor\u2019s feedback? "Interesting stylistic choice. B+."<\/p>\n

            \n

            Your Homework (But Fun, I Promise)<\/h3>\n

            Next time you\u2019re writing a paper:<\/p>\n

              \n
            1. Throw quotes in bold<\/strong> as placeholders.<\/li>\n
            2. Finish drafting, then tackle citations like a Netflix binge\u2014snacks included.<\/li>\n
            3. Read your citations out loud<\/strong>. If it sounds robotic, tweak it.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

              Remember: Citing sources isn\u2019t about kissing up to academics. It\u2019s about joining the conversation. Think of it like tagging someone in a meme\u2014it\u2019s just good manners.<\/p>\n

              (And if all else fails? Email your campus librarian. Those folks are wizards with a side of espresso-induced kindness.)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

              Okay, let me take you back to my junior year of college. It was 2 AM, I\u2019d downed my third Red Bull (the sugar-free kind, because I was adulting), and I was staring at my literature essay like it had just insulted my favorite pair of sweatpants. The problem? My professor had circled three words…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1756,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-content"],"modified_by":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oreateai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oreateai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oreateai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oreateai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oreateai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.oreateai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8690\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oreateai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oreateai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oreateai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oreateai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}