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Citing Sources

Citation help and tools for citing sources/managing citations

When to Use In-Text (Parenthetical) Citations

When writing a paper at Catholic International, you should use in-text (parenthetical) citations when you cite the Bible, the Catechism, Church Documents, and the Summa. This form of citation is called "in-text" because the citation becomes part of the sentence, with the final sentence punctuation being placed after the closing parentheses. This form of citation is also called a parenthetical citation because the citation information is surrounded by parenthesis.

In-text citations do not require a footnote.

All sources referred to in your in-text citations must be listed in your Bibliography. 

Use the tabs below to see specific in-text citation formatting rules for the Bible, the Catechism, Church Documents, and the Summa.

How to Format Parenthetical (In-Text) Citations

Basic Rules for Using In-text (Parenthetical) Citations to Cite the Bible

  1. Do not use a footnotes or end notes for Biblical citations.
  2. Do not include an author in the in-text citation. 
  3. Books of the Bible may be abbreviated according to the standard abbreviations of the Society for Biblical Literature.

Stylistic Guidelines for In-Text Biblical Citations

  1. Do not italicize or underline the word "Bible."
  2. Capitalize the word "Bible" when you use it as a proper noun (referring to the Bible).
  3. When used as an adjective "biblical" is not capitalized.
  4. Do not italicize the title (or abbreviated title) of books of the Bible, i.e. Genesis, Exodus, Deuteronomy, etc.
  5. Do not use "Saint" or "St." when referring to the author of a New Testament book,
    Correct: "the Gospel of John"
    Incorrect: "the Gospel of St. John"
  6. If there is no scholarly consensus on who wrote a book of the Bible, refer to the author as " the author of [X}..."
    Example: "The author of Hebrews argues..."

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Basic Rules for Using In-text (Parenthetical) Citations to Cite the Catechism

  1. Treat the Catechism as a book without an author. Do not list "Catholic Church" or any other corporate entity as the author.
  2. Abbreviate the Catechism as "CCC." Italicize the abbreviation because it represents the title of a book.
  3. The Catechism's internal reference system, paragraph numbers, are used in place of page numbers.

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Stylistic Guidelines for In-Text Citations of the Catechism

  1. To avoid any potential confusion on the part of your reader, you should mention the title of the Catechism in a sentence before using "CCC" as an abbreviation. This signals your reader that "CCC" stands for Catechism of the Catholic Church.
  2. While in-text citations generally replace the need for footnotes or endnotes, it is good scholarly practice to provide a footnote or endnote with the full citation information associated for the version of the Catechism you are citing

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General Guidelines for In-Text Citations of texts published or promulgated by the
Magisterium of the Catholic Church

Guidelines regarding Authors
  1. When a single individual is clearly responsible for the document, list that individual as the sole and primary author.
  2. Do not include religious designations such as Saint, Venerable, Blessed, etc. with the author's name.
  3. Do not include religious titles such as Pope, Father, Deacon, Reverend, etc. with the author's name.
  4. Do not list "Catholic Church" as the author.
  5. Avoid listing general and ambiguous collective authors, such as "Second Vatican Council" or "Council Fathers of Nicea."
  6. As a rule, do not include the author's name in an in-text citation or footnote when citing encyclicals, papal bulls, and major conciliar documents.
Guidelines regarding Paragraph, Section, and Page Numbers
  1. Most official Church documents are broken into sequential paragraph and/or section numbers. Whenever available, utilize the internal system of reference (i.e. section or paragraph numbers), rather than the page numbers when citing a specific section of a Church document. 
  2. Use page numbers only when a document does not have internal system of reference

Titles of Magisterial Documents & Abbreviations

  1. Latin words within titles should be italicized.
  2. For the first citation, provide the full title of the document and the paragraph or section number.
    Example: (Lumen gentium, 15)
  3. For the second and all subsequent citations, use a standard, logical, and recognizable abbreviation of the title and the paragraph or section number.
    Example: (LG, 18)

Abbreviations for Vatican II Documents
AA Apostolicam actuoisitatem (Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity)
AGD Ad gentes divinitus (Decree on the Church's Missionary Activity)
CD Christus Dominus (Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops in the Church)
DH Dignitatis humanae (Declaration on Religious Liberty)
DV Dei verbum (Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation)
GE Gravissimum educationis (Decree on Christian Education)
GS Gaudium et spes (Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World)
IM Inter mirifica (Decree on the Means of Social Communication)
LG Lumen gentium (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church)
NA Nostra aetate (Declaration on the Church's Relations with non-Christian Religions)
OE Orientalium ecclesiarum (Decree on the Catholic Oriental Churches)
OT Optatam totius (Decree on the Training of Priests)
PC Perfectae caritatis (Decree on the Up-to-date Renewal of Religious Life)
PO Presbyterorum ordinis (Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests)
SC Sacrosanctum concilium (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy)
UR Unitatis redintegratio (Decree on Ecumenism)

 

Understanding the Parts of the Summa Theologiae

Overall, the Summa is divided into three (3) sections, Part I, Part II, and Part III. Additionally, Part II of the Summa is divided into two (2) subsections: The first part of the second part and the second part of the second part. Further, there is a Supplement to the third part of the Summa.* The following Roman numerals are used to abbreviate the different parts of the Summa.

Sections and Contents of the Summa
Part Latin Name Subjects Abbreviation
First Part Prima Pars Sacred Doctrine. The One God. The Blessed Trinity, Creation. The Angels, The Six Days. The Government of Creatures I
First Part of the Second Part Prima Secundae Partis Man's Last End. Human Acts. Passions. Habits. Vice and Sin. Law. Grace. II-I
Second Part of the Second Part Secunda Secundae Partis Faith. Hope. Charity. Prudence. Justice. Fortitude. Temperance. Acts Which Pertain to Certain Men. II-II
Third Part Tertia Pars The Incarnation. The Life of Christ. Sacraments. Baptism. Confirmation. The Holy Eucharist. Penance. III
Supplement to the Third Part Supplementum Tertiae Partis Penance (continued). Extreme Unction. Holy Orders. Matrimony. The Resurrection. Appendices. Supplement, Suppl. or Suppl. IIIae

 

*Aquinas never finished the Summa. The Supplement was probably compiled by Fra Rainlado da Piperno, Aquinas' friend and companion, using St. Thomas's commentary of the Fourth Book of Sentences by Peter Lombard (NewAdvent.org/summa/5.htm).

Basic Rules for Using In-text (Parenthetical) Citations to Cite the Summa Theologiae

  1. Always use the Summa's internal reference system, which is standard across all translations.
  2. In general, note the "Part" of the Summa using a Roman numeral, followed by the question number, and then the article number.
    • ​​​​​​​For a Reply to an objection, abbreviate adversus as "ad" followed by its number.
  3. ​​​​​​​When citing the Prologue to a question or the subjections of an article within a question, use the following abbreviations:
    • ​​​​​​​pr. -- prologue to a question
    • arg. -- objections
    • s.c. -- "on the contrary"
    • co. -- "I respond that"
    • ad.-- replies to objections 
  4. Use one of the two acceptable formats for indicating part, question, and article. Pick one format and use it consistently throughout your paper.

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