In your work, you may be discussing something that is described through a chart or table that you want readers to look at. You might also briefly mention something that's discussed in more detail in another section. Put this information in parentheses so your readers know where to go. Example: "Polling showed that within a year after graduation, more than half of students who had a bachelor's degree considered going back to school for a master's degree (see Figure 3)." When you list a series of items in writing, you may identify each item with a number or letter. Enclose those numbers or letters completely in parentheses to alert your readers that this is a list. Example: "The company is looking to hire someone who (a) has a great work ethic, (b) knows everything there is to know about the latest photo editing and enhancement software, and (c) has at least five years of professional experience in the field." Many common research citation styles, including Modern Language Association (MLA) and American Psychological Association (APA), require parenthetical citations in the text of a paper. These in-text citations include the name of the author, followed by either the year the work was published (APA) or the page on which the material appears (MLA). Readers can use this information to find the full citation in the paper's full reference list. APA example: "Research suggests that a link exists between migraine headaches and clinical depression (Smith, 2012)." MLA example: "Research suggests that a link exists between migraine headaches and clinical depression (Smith 32)."

Summary:
Refer readers to a page, section, or visual element. Set off letters or numbers that identify items in a series. Cite a reference in-text.