SOME GUIDELINES FOR CITING WEB SOURCES IN THE TEXT OF YOUR ESSAY

With this rule in mind, you can choose from three methods when you cite web sources (or any source, really) in the text of your essay.

1.  signal phrase only

If you use a signal phrase only, you have to include in the signal phrase whatever item (author or title) begins the particular source’s corresponding entry in your sources list.

2.  parenthetical citation only

Use the author’s last name; if no author, use the first main word of the title and format it (quotation marks or underline) the same way it appears in the sources list. Put the citation after the sentence that contains the material (quote, paraphrase, summary) from the source

3.  signal phrase plus parenthetical citation

Use this method when you create a signal phrase that does not include the item that begins the particular source’s corresponding entry in your sources list.  Along with the signal phrase, include a parenthetical citation that uses the author’s last name or the first main word of the title. Format the title word (quotation marks or underline) in the same way it appears in the sources list.

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EXAMPLES OF THESE THREE METHODS WITH DIFFERENT KINDS OF WEB SOURCES

1. An article in an online periodical (journal, magazine, newspaper)

Here is the source citation from the sources list:

“Iraq's Future: Stability or Revolution? Kroll Report Reveals Long and Difficult Path to Stability.”  
         Business Wire 27 June 2003. FindArticles.com. 23 Oct. 2003
         <http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m0EIN/2003_June_27/104461130/p1/
         article.jhtml?term=%22post-war+Iraq%22>.

a.        method 1: signal phrase only

The article “Iraq's Future: Stability or Revolution? Kroll Report Reveals Long and Difficult Path to Stability” describes post-war Iraq as “delicately poised between a future that offers some stability for Iraqis and international business and a more unstable state where the country seeks to throw out U.S. and British forces.”

b.       method 2: citation only

A report from a British organization known as Kroll Middle East Practice describes post-war Iraq as “delicately poised between a future that offers some stability for Iraqis and international business and a more unstable state where the country seeks to throw out U.S. and British forces” (“Iraq’s”).

c.        method 3: signal phrase plus citation

An article in a recent issue of  Business Wire describes post-war Iraq as “delicately poised between a future that offers some stability for Iraqis and international business and a more unstable state where the country seeks to throw out U.S. and British forces” (“Iraq’s”).

2. A professional or personal web site

Here is the source citation from the sources list:

Maui Humane Society. 29 Oct. 2003 <http://www.mauihumane.org/>.

a.        method 1: signal phrase only

       The Maui Humane Society web site advocates against the forced killings of  non-diseased, homeless animals.

b.       method 2: citation only

       In Hawaii, too, there are those who argue against the forced killings of  non-diseased, homeless animals (Maui).

c.        method 3: signal phrase plus citation (not really applicable here, but I’ll try one)

       Organizations like the Maui Humane Society advocate against the forced killings of  non-diseased, homeless animals
       (Maui).

3. One part (section or page) of a larger web site

Example 1:

Here is the source citation from the sources list:

Suler, John. “Working and Playing with Dreams.” Teaching Clinical Psychology. June 2003. 22 Oct. 2003
       <http://www.rider.edu/users/suler/dreams.html>.

a.        method 1: signal phrase only

When it comes to interpreting dreams, Suler encourages a playful exploratory attitude. As he sees it, “it's not a game of Jeopardy or a multiple choice test where there's a right or wrong answer.”

b.       method 2: citation only

When it comes to interpreting dreams, some experts encourage a playful exploratory attitude that resists thinking of dream interpretation as “a game of Jeopardy or a multiple choice test where there's a right or wrong answer” (Suler).

c.        method 3: signal phrase plus citation

In the “Working and Playing with Dreams” section of  the web site Teaching Clinical Psychology, students are encouraged to be playful and exploratory when they interpret their dreams, resisting the temptation to see the process as “a game of Jeopardy or a multiple choice test where there's a right or wrong answer” (Suler).

Example 2:

Here is the source citation from the sources list:

“Occasions for Argumentative Essays.” Paradigm Online Writing Assistant. 25 Oct. 2003. 30 Oct. 2003
       <http://powa.org/argufrms.htm>.

a.        method 1: signal phrase only

The “Occasions for Argumentative Essays” page of the Paradigm Online Writing Assistant web site points out that argumentation arises not so much from anger but instead from the desire “to examine our own and others’ ideas.”

b.       method 2: citation only

One way to look at argumentation is to think of it as arising not so much from anger but instead from the desire “to examine our own and others’ ideas” (“Occasions”).

c.       method 3: signal phrase plus citation

A web site called Paradigm Online Writing Assistant points out that argumentation arises not so much from anger but instead from the desire “to examine our own and others’ ideas” (“Occasions”).