Where should you put in-text citations?

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

When evaluating where to place in-text citations, we start by identifying the core idea the option is presenting.
Option: 'In every sentence in which you use outside information.' This asserts that citations should accompany any sentence that relies on material from sources outside your own knowledge or words.
First, consider the purpose of citations: to acknowledge sources and allow readers to locate the exact material you drew from. Since the information in a sentence that uses outside information is tied to a source, attaching a citation directly to that sentence helps achieve transparency and traceability.
Next, think about how you would treat sentences that state your own analysis, interpretation, or synthesis based on your understanding. Such sentences do not require a citation unless they incorporate specific wording or ideas borrowed from a source. In those cases, you would still place a citation after the sentence that contains the borrowed material.
Therefore, the statement emphasizes precise attribution: each sentence that relies on outside information gets a citation, ensuring clarity about the source of that information, while sentences that are wholly your own ideas do not need citations.
If we imagine alternative practices, like citing only at the end of a paragraph or once per paragraph, you risk obscuring which sentences rely on which sources and reduce traceability for readers. The option's approach keeps attribution tightly coupled to the exact sentences that use sourced material.
In summary, the reasoning behind this rule is to maintain explicit, sentence-level attribution for all externally derived content, avoiding both under-citation and ambiguity about which ideas come from sources.

Where should you put in-text citations?

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