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There are two formats for in-text citations: parenthetical and narrative. You can use both formats in a paper.
Example:
"Humanity needs to rethink our agricultural practices to make them sustainable by becoming stewards of the land" (Fitzgerald & Gershuny, 2019, p. 79)
There are two formats for in-text citations: parenthetical and narrative. You can use both formats in a paper.
Example:
Fitzgerald and Gershuny (2019) describe how humans have a stewardship obligation to both the land and to future generations.
APA uses an author-date format for in-text citations in the body of a paper. This means that the author's last name and the year of publication for the source should appear in the text when citing.
Provide the author's last name or the group name, plus the year (Name, year). If there is no date, use n.d.
For a direct quotation, include the page number (Name, year, p. 2) or the page range if it continues onto a second page (Name, year, pp. 79-80). If there are no page numbers, cite the paragraph number (Name, year, para. 3) or a short form of the section heading.
| Author type | Parenthetical citation | Narrative citation |
|---|---|---|
|
One author |
(Luna, 2020) |
Luna (2020) |
|
Two authors |
(Salas & D’Agostino, 2020) |
Salas and D’Agostino (2020) |
|
Three or more authors |
(Martin et al., 2020) |
Martin et al. (2020) |
|
Group author with abbreviation First citation a Subsequent citations |
(National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2020) (NIMH, 2020) |
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH, 2020) NIMH (2020) |
|
Group author without abbreviation |
(Stanford University, 2020) |
Stanford University (2020) |
Table from APA Style, Author-Date Citation Style.
A direct quote is an exact copy of the wording used in another material or source. You may want to use a direct quote in your paper when reproducing an exact definition, when an author has said something in a specific way that is of value to your argument, when you want to examine, interpret, or respond to the exact wording.
If you are directly quoting from a work, you will need to include the author, year of publication, and the page number for the reference (preceded by "p."). Introduce the quotation with a signal phrase that includes the author's last name followed by the date of publication in parentheses.
According to Jones (1998), "Students often had difficulty using APA style, especially when it was their first time" (p. 199).
Jones (1998) found "students often had difficulty using APA style" (p. 199); what implications does this have for teachers?
If the author is not named in a signal phrase, place the author's last name, the year of publication, and the page number in parentheses after the quotation.
She stated, "Students often had difficulty using APA style" (Jones, 1998, p. 199), but she did not offer an explanation as to why.
Place direct quotations that are 40 words, or longer, in a free-standing block of typewritten lines, and omit quotation marks. Start the quotation on a new line, indented 1/2 inch from the left margin (i.e., in the same place you would begin a new paragraph). Type the entire quotation on the new margin, and indent the first line of any subsequent paragraph within the quotation 1/2 inch from the new margin. Maintain double-spacing throughout. The parenthetical citation should come after the closing punctuation mark. For example...
Researchers have studied how people talk to themselves:
Inner speech is a paradoxical phenomenon. It is an experience that is central to many people’s everyday lives, and yet it presents considerable challenges to any effort to study it scientifically. Nevertheless, a wide range of methodologies and approaches have combined to shed light on the subjective experience of inner speech and its cognitive and neural underpinnings. (Alderson-Day & Fernyhough, 2015, p. 957)
To paraphrase is to restate someone else's work or ideas in your own words. Paraphrasing is best used when you want to summarize or synthesize information from one or more sources while still using your own voice. APA Style encourages writers to paraphrase their sources, as it not only shows a deep understanding of the material and your argument but also allows for smoother integration into your writing.
When paraphrasing, we should have 4 considerations:
If you are paraphrasing an idea from another work, you only have to make reference to the author and year of publication in your in-text reference, but APA guidelines encourage you to also provide the page number (although it is not required.)
According to Jones (1998), APA style is a difficult citation format for first-time learners.
APA style is a difficult citation format for first-time learners (Jones, 1998, p. 199).
In some instances, a paraphrase may continue for several sentences. In such cases, cite the work being paraphrased on first mention. Once the work has been cited, it is not necessary to repeat the citation as long as the context of the writing makes it clear that the same work continues to be paraphrased.
Check out the APA Style website for more information on paraphrasing citations.
One Author
Always include the author's last name with the correct spelling.
Public health officials’ faith in vaccines indicates good response (Schwartz, 2018).
Schwartz (2018) notes that the “excitement surrounding vaccines served as an early signal for the increasingly privileged place” of biomedical responses to public health crises (p. 1457).
Two Authors
Name both authors in the signal phrase or in parentheses each time you cite the work. Use the word "and" between the authors' names within the text and use the ampersand (&) in parentheses.
When measuring competencies of psychology students… (Poston & Bland, 2020). In 2020, Poston and Bland argued that when measuring competencies of psychology….
When measuring competencies of psychology students, “the current climate… often [eschews] assessment of its own practice and effectiveness” (Poston & Bland, 2020, p. 68).
Three Authors
List only the first author’s name followed by “et al.” in every citation, even the first, unless doing so would create ambiguity between different sources.
Traditional Chinese medicine employs a holistic… (Ge et al., 2019).
Ge et al. (2019) explain that traditional Chinese medicine has “multiple effects” (p. 1).
Unknown Author
If the work does not have an author, cite the source by its title in the signal phrase or use the first word or two in the parentheses. Titles of books and reports are italicized; titles of articles, chapters, and web pages are in quotation marks. APA style calls for capitalizing important words in titles when they are written in the text (but not when they are written in reference lists).
Note: In the rare case that "Anonymous" is used for the author, treat it as the author's name (Anonymous, 2001). In the reference list, use the name Anonymous as the author.
A similar study was done of students learning to format research papers ("Using Citations," 2001).
Sometimes you may need to cite a paper, website, or document that was authored by an organization or group. For example, a report written by the Government of Canada or a study by Health Canada. In these cases, treat the organization as the author.
Overall, soil quality in Canada is improving (Agriculture and Agri-food Canada, n.d.). Data from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada suggest that overall, soil quality is… (n.d.).
Due to “improvements in land management practice” Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (n.d.) sees an improvement in soil quality (“Soil Quality Indicators” section)
Anxiety disorders symptoms include… (National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2021) The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH, 2021) lists symptoms of anxiety.…
When prescribing Benzodiazepines doctors take into account the patient’s… (NIMH, 2021).
NIMH (2021) notes that benzodiazepine prescriptions should be….
Individuals with panic disorder anxiety experience “sudden periods of intense fear that come on quickly” (National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2021, “Signs and Symptoms” section).
Prescribing benzodiazepines is “often considered a second-line treatment for anxiety” because of the risk of dependence (NIMH, 2021, “Treatments and Therapies” section).
If you are using information from a single page, use the abbreviation p. (Smith, 2009, p. 12)
If your quote (or paraphrase) spans multiple pages, use the abbreviation pp., and separate the two numbers with an en dash (–).
Smith (2009) discusses how the study was received by the media (pp. 12–13).
If there are no page numbers on your resource, use section headers, paragraph numbers, or other descriptions to direct your reader to the information you are citing.
One of the author's main points is that "people don't rise from nothing" (Gladwell, 2008, Chapter 1, Section 2, para. 5).
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