Locator
Also called: page number, pinpoint
The part of a citation that points to the exact spot inside a source: a page, paragraph, timestamp, section, or line.
A locator narrows a citation from “this work” to “this bit of this work”. Page numbers are the familiar case, but the concept covers whatever the medium offers: a paragraph number for an unpaginated web page, a timestamp for a video or podcast, a chapter and verse for scripture, an act and scene for a play, a section number for a statute.
Most styles require a locator for a direct quotation and make it optional for a paraphrase — though giving one for a paraphrase is a courtesy to any reader who wants to check you. APA abbreviates page as p. and pages as pp.; MLA uses bare numbers.
Locators by medium
(Okafor, 2019, p. 88) · (Larsen, 2024, para. 4) · (Study Lab, 2024, 3:12) · (Shakespeare, 1623, 2.1.14–22)