Answered By: Elaine M. Patton Last Updated: Mar 26, 2024 Views: 840
This depends on what the citation on your Works Cited/References page looks like. In-text citations have to reflect what we see first in the full citation list: we don't want a reader to have to read every word of every citation to match up a source with a quote.
Short answer?
If the source has an author who you did not name in-text, yes, you still need a formal parenthetical citation included!
If the source does not have an author, the title is the first part of the full citation, and you don't need to do anything extra (except for APA's need for a publication date).
But also...
It doesn't usually add much, if anything, to name an article or book by title inside your paper -- mostly it's a lot of superfluous word count better used by actual information. Let your citations provide details about the publications, and let your writing focus on arguing your ideas. Unless you have specific instructions to do this, generally you should avoid writing out article titles in your essays.
| In your paper, you provided.... | Example | Parenthetical citation needed? |
|---|---|---|
| Author's name |
Folklorist Jack Santino writes... Journalists Nicole Sperling and Ella Koeze write... |
Only if you need to include a page number. |
| Article title |
The article "The Ritualesque: Festival, Politics, and Popular Culture" discusses... In the article "'Barbie Ruled the Box Office, but 2023 Was Tough for Women in Hollywood," ... |
Yes - author name(s), possibly page number |
| Name of publication or website |
An article published in the journal Western Folklore suggests... A recent article in The New York Times observes... |
Yes - author name(s), possibly page number |
| Article title and publication |
The article "The Ritualesque: Festival, Politics, and Popular Culture," published in the journal Western Folklore, discusses... The New York Times recently published the article "'Barbie Ruled the Box Office, but 2023 Was Tough for Women in Hollywood," which says... |
Yes - author name(s), possibly page number |
Example: Article Has Author, Only Article Title Used in Paper
In Your Paper:
The article "A Disney Requiem? Iterations of the 'Dies irae' in the Score to The Lion King (1994)" includes a breakdown of musical references and callbacks throughout The Lion King's soundtrack.
Works Cited (MLA):
Trocmé-Latter, Daniel. "A Disney Requiem? Iterations of the 'Dies irae' in the Score to The Lion King (1994)." Music and the Moving Image, vol. 15 no. 1, 2022, p. 38-66. Project MUSE, muse.jhu.edu/article/861932.
Reference (APA):
Trocmé-Latter, D. (2022). A Disney requiem? Iterations of the “Dies irae” in the score to The Lion King (1994). Music and the Moving Image, 15(1), 38-66. https://www.muse.jhu.edu/article/861932
Verdict?
In-text citation needed! The author's last name is the first thing we see in both MLA and APA citations: the article title comes later. Not much later, but enough that mentioning it in your paper doesn't create a strong enough bridge between the two.
Revised
(See "But also..." note above -- this isn't the best form of writing, but it is correct for citations, at least.)
- MLA: The article "A Disney Requiem? Iterations of the 'Dies irae' in the Score to The Lion King (1994)" includes a breakdown of musical references and callbacks throughout The Lion King's soundtrack (Trocmé-Latter 58-59).
- APA: The article "A Disney Requiem? Iterations of the 'Dies irae' in the Score to The Lion King (1994)" includes a breakdown of musical references and callbacks throughout The Lion King's soundtrack (Trocmé-Latter, 2022, p. 58-59).
Variation: Author and Title Used in Paper
In Your Paper:
In his article "A Disney Requiem? Iterations of the 'Dies irae' in the Score to The Lion King (1994)," Daniel Trocmé-Latter, a professor of music focused on liturgy and ceremony, includes a breakdown of musical references and callbacks throughout The Lion King's soundtrack.
Verdict?
It's okay. It wouldn't hurt to still include page numbers at the end (some argue that paraphrases don't necessitate page numbers), but overall, this is fine for MLA citation purposes. We have the author's name included, so a reader could skim the citation list to find "Trocmé-Latter."
Notice that the author is introduced a little: it's not just "Trocmé-Latter includes..."
Revised:
- APA: In his article "A Disney Requiem? Iterations of the 'Dies irae' in the Score to The Lion King (1994)," Daniel Trocmé-Latter (2022), a professor of music focused on liturgy and ceremony, includes a breakdown of musical references and callbacks throughout The Lion King's soundtrack.
- MLA, with page number: In his article "A Disney Requiem? Iterations of the 'Dies irae' in the Score to The Lion King (1994)," Daniel Trocmé-Latter, a professor of music focused on liturgy and ceremony, includes a breakdown of musical references and callbacks throughout The Lion King's soundtrack (58-59).
- APA, with page number: In his article "A Disney Requiem? Iterations of the 'Dies irae' in the Score to The Lion King (1994)," Daniel Trocmé-Latter (2022), a professor of music focused on liturgy and ceremony, includes a breakdown of musical references and callbacks throughout The Lion King's soundtrack (p. 58-59).
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