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1.1.1.6. In-text references
There are basically three standard techniques for citing sources in connection
with quotations or to give credit for important insights: footnotes, end notes
and in-text notes. The basic difference is one of location – footnotes appear at
the bottom of the given page, endnotes appear at the end of a structural unit
(typically the given chapter or the book itself), in-text notes appear as soon as
possible in the text itself. I shall be making extensive use of in-text notes,
since they are concise, precise and extremely reader-friendly (no need to hunt
for them).
Since I suspect that some readers are unfamiliar with this technique, I shall
provide an example here and then comment on it.
It is customary today to distinguish between DESCRIPTIVE and
PRESCRIPTIVE grammars. As Palmer (1986:15) remarks:
. . .the basic mistake is viewing grammar as a set of normative
rules – rules that tell us how we ought to speak and write. It is
important incidentally to stress the word ‘normative’, since, as we
shall see later, one theoretical model of grammar makes extensive
use of rules; these will prove, however, to be ‘descriptive’ rules
(rules that describe the language), not prescriptive rules (rules
that prescribe the language). That is, they will be rules that state
what we in fact say, not rules that state what we ought to say.
In this example, the in-text note is the reference “Palmer (1986:15)”.
Here Palmer 1986 must point to a unique entry in the bibliography,
while the number 15 indicates the page number where the quotation can
be found. Palmer’s book is listed in the bibiography (or rather,
References) as follows:
Palmer, Frank. Grammar. Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, Middlesex,
England. 2 nd edition 1984 (1 st edition 1971).
Readers now have all the information they need to find the Palmer
quotation for themselves.
1.2. About the author
page 14
John M. Dienhart