Textual Citations
This section refers only to the FORM for citations and lists of sources. For indications on what sorts of things need to be cited, please refer to the plagiarism link.
All types of textual citations presuppose that you will have a list of sources, in which you give the complete information for your sources (for which there are examples further down the page).
Textual Citations come in three general types: In-text Citations, Footnotes, and Endnotes. I'll explain each of these, but for reasons given below, I prefer that you use in-text citations.
1. In-Text Citations: in which your reference appears in the body of the text itself. For our purposes here--to indicate the source of a quote, or to give credit for an idea--in-text citations will generally be sufficient. The two major citation styles are MLA (which gives the page number of the work in question) and APA (which simply states the work). The APA style has always struck me as idiotic (am I supposed to read a 500 page book to find one reference?), so please use the MLA style (examples below).
Examples of in-text citations:
A. If you name the author in your text, and are using only one text by this author, then the page number will be sufficient documentation: "According to Bayly, the major distribution point for these goods moved first from Sialkot and Multan to Bilaspur, and from there, skirting the edges of the Himalayan foothills, to Hardwar (126)."
B. If your text does not name the author, then your citation should: "The major distribution point for these goods moved first from Sialkot and Multan to Bilaspur, and from there, skirting the edges of the Himalayan foothills, to Hardwar (Bayly 126)."
C. If you are using more than one work by the same author, then your citation should indicate your referent. You can do this by citing the book's publication date: "The major distribution point for these goods moved first from Sialkot and Multan to Bilaspur, and from there, skirting the edges of the Himalayan foothills, to Hardwar (Bayly 1988: 126)."
D. For sources on the WWW for which you know the author, treat this like any other named source. Page numbers can cited according to the citations position in the file (use the "Print Preview" command in your browser if you don't want to print the whole file): "The critical figure in the rise of Islam is the Prophet Muhammad (570-632), whom Muslims deem the final prophet in Allah's long history of revelation. Muhammad was born into a minor branch of Mecca's ruling clan, and for most of his life did not seem marked for greatness, although he was respected as honest and upright, and had been fairly successful in business. This all changed in 610 CE, the year he turned 40 (Lochtefeld: 8)."
E. In cases when you do not know the author, give an abbreviation of the URL, and the page number: for the example above, you could cite it as (www....sbi.htm: 8)
2. Footnotes are notes in which the references are at the bottom of your page. These should be used when you wish to include additional material that (for reasons of continuity or relevancy) you do not wish to include in the body of the text itself.
Text Example: Protection for these ascetic merchants came from their own ranks. This ability to protect themselves allowed them to trade in dangerous and politically unstable areas, and these marginal areas were the regions where they had the greatest influence.1
Footnote Text: Bayly notes that this was one reason sannyasis were able to dominate trade in the Himalayan Terai (386).
Another possible reason for footnotes is in cases of secondary citation, in which the person being cited is also citing a different source.
Text Example: Aside from these battles at Hardwar, twelve thousand were reported killed in Nasik, in a battle at the 1789 Kumbha Mela, and at an unspecified date in Ayodhya.2
Footnote Text: Burghart notes a Peshwa copper-plate inscription recording a battle between Sannyasis and Bairagis at the 1789 Nasik Kumbha Mela (374). The Peshwa eventually ruled that the two groups should bathe at different places. The Ayodhya battle is mentioned in the 18th century Shrimaharajacaritra, see Van der Veer (145), who is himself citing Bakker (149).
3. Endnotes: in which the references are at the end of your text. These are a continual annoyance, since one has to shuffle back and forth in the text to see them. So please don't use these.
For other examples not mentioned here,
consult the relevant authorities (such as Write For College).