Political SOCIOLOGY Theory

How To:

In-Text Citations and References

For all writing assignments in this course, you are expected to properly cite the texts you use to discuss a given concept. References and citations relate to the issue of plagiarism – it is important to cite and reference ideas that are not your own. Good citation practices are, therefore, central to being an honest writer who acknowledges the contributions of others.

Please use the following guidelines to prepare your in-text citations and references:

IN-TEXT CITATIONS

· The purpose of in-text citations is to provide information about the source of any statement you make in your paper. These should be inserted in any sentence you write that draws on the work of other people.

· There are multiple ways of making in-text citations. They can fall generally into three categories:

1. If you decide to specifically reference an author’s argument in your paper using your own words, you should do the following:

· You put the author’s name and the date of the publication in parentheses.

· Example: MacKinnon (1989) argues that the state institutionalizes a male point of view in law.

2. If you decide to make a statement in your own words that is a point made by another author, you should do the following:

· You use the author’s name and date of publication at the end of the sentence. Even though you are not saying in the sentence that this is MacKinnon’s argument, you are indicating that this is her idea by using this citation format.

· Example: The state institutionalizes a male point of view in law (MacKinnon 1989).

3. If you decide to quote directly from another person’s work in your paper, you should do the following:

· You should always include the page number when you quote directly from an author. You have two options, however, for how you reference the author

· Example: MacKinnon (1989) defines the state as “x” (p. x)

· Example: The state can be defined as “x” (MacKinnon 1989; p. x)

REFERENCES

· At the end of your paper, please include a section entitled “References” and include the full citation of any book, news article, journal article, or web source you used in your paper. This should reflect the in-text citations – in other words, for every in-text citation you have, there should be a reference for the work so that the reader can find out more information about the publication you referenced in the paper.

· There are several different reference styles (including MLA, Chicago, ASA, and so forth). You may use any style you prefer. I have modeled the ASA (American Sociological Association) format in my syllabus for you to follow if you wish. Regardless of the convention you use, the following information must be present in some order:

· Author first and last name

· Date of publication

· Title of book or article

· Title of journal article or newspaper (if relevant)

· Type of press (for books, for example: University of Texas Press)

· For web sources, please include the hyperlink to the article and the date you accessed the page.

· Examples: See the syllabus for examples of how to cite different types of publications – I have sought to model for you how to properly cite work.

· To cite lecture, please include: the professor’s name, the title of the lecture, name of the class, and the date of the lecture.

· Example: Zarrugh, Amina. 2017. “Colonialism and Imperialism.” Political Sociology. September 25, 2017.