apa citation author mentioned in text

APA (7th Edition) Referencing Guide

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Everything must match!

Types of citations, in-text citations, quoting, summarising and paraphrasing, example text with in-text referencing, slightly tricky in-text citations, organisation as an author, secondary citation (works referred to in other works), what do i do if there are no page numbers.

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There are two basic ways to cite someone's work in text.

In narrative citations , the authors are part of the sentence - you are referring to them by name. For example:

Becker (2013) defined gamification as giving the mechanics of principles of a game to other activities.

Cho and Castañeda (2019) noted that game-like activities are frequently used in language classes that adopt mobile and computer technologies.

In parenthetical citations , the authors are not mentioned in the sentence, just the content of their work. Place the citation at the end of the sentence or clause where you have used their information. The author's names are placed in the brackets (parentheses) with the rest of the citation details:

Gamification involves giving the mechanics or principles of a game to another activity (Becker, 2013).

Increasingly, game-like activities are frequently used in language classes that adopt mobile and computer technologies (Cho & Castañeda, 2019).

Using references in text

For APA, you use the authors' surnames only and the year in text. If you are using a direct quote, you will also need to use a page number.

Narrative citations:

If an in-text citation has the authors' names as part of the sentence (that is, outside of brackets) place the year and page numbers in brackets immediately after the name, and use 'and' between the authors' names:  Jones and Smith (2020, p. 29)

Parenthetical citations:

If an in-text citation has the authors' names in brackets use "&" between the authors' names :  (Jones & Smith, 2020, p. 29).

Note: Some lecturers want page numbers for all citations, while some only want page numbers with direct quotes. Check with your lecturer to see what you need to do for your assignment. If the direct quote starts on one page and finishes on another, include the page range (Jones & Smith, 2020, pp. 29-30).

1 author

Smith (2020) found that "the mice disappeared within minutes" (p. 29).

The author stated "the mice disappeared within minutes" (Smith, 2020, p. 29).

Jones and Smith (2020) found that "the mice disappeared within minutes" (p. 29).

The authors stated "the mice disappeared within minutes" (Jones & Smith, 2020, p. 29).

For 3 or more authors , use the first author and "et al." for all in-text citations

Green et al.'s (2019) findings indicated that the intervention was not based on evidence from clinical trials.

It appears the intervention was not based on evidence from clinical trials (Green et al., 2019).

If you cite more than one work in the same set of brackets in text , your citations will go in the same order in which they will appear in your reference list (i.e. alphabetical order, then oldest to newest for works by the same author) and be separated by a semi-colon. E.g.:

• (Corbin, 2015; James & Waterson, 2017; Smith et al., 2016).
• (Corbin, 2015; 2018)
• (Queensland Health, 2017a; 2017b)
• Use only the   surnames   of your authors   in text   (e.g., Smith & Brown, 2014) - however, if you have two authors with the same surname who have published in the same year, then you will need to use their initials to distinguish between the two of them (e.g., K. Smith, 2014; N. Smith, 2014).   Otherwise, do not use initials in text .

If your author isn't an "author".

Whoever is in the "author" position of the refence in the references list is treated like an author in text. So, for example, if you had an edited book and the editors of the book were in the "author" position at the beginning of the reference, you would treat them exactly the same way as you would an author - do not include any other information. The same applies for works where the "author" is an illustrator, producer, composer, etc.

• Summarising
• Paraphrasing

It is always a good idea to keep direct quotes to a minimum. Quoting doesn't showcase your writing ability - all it shows is that you can read (plus, lecturers hate reading assignments with a lot of quotes).

You should only use direct quotes if the exact wording is important , otherwise it is better to paraphrase.

If you feel a direct quote is appropriate, try to keep only the most important part of the quote and avoid letting it take up the entire sentence - always start or end the sentence with your own words to tie the quote back into your assignment. Long quotes (more than 40 words) are called "block quotes" and are rarely used in most subject areas (they mostly belong in Literature, History or similar subjects). Each referencing style has rules for setting out a block quote. Check with your style guide .

It has been observed that "pink fairy armadillos seem to be extremely susceptible to stress" (Superina, 2011, p. 6).

NB! Most referencing styles will require a page number to tell readers where to find the original quote.

It is a type of paraphrasing, and you will be using this frequently in your assignments, but note that summarising another person's work or argument isn't showing how you make connections or understand implications. This is preferred to quoting, but where possible try to go beyond simply summarising another person's information without "adding value".

And, remember, the words must be your own words . If you use the exact wording from the original at any time, those words must be treated as a direct quote.

All information must be cited, even if it is in your own words.

Superina (2011) observed a captive pink fairy armadillo, and noticed any variation in its environment could cause great stress.

NB! Some lecturers and citation styles want page numbers for everything you cite, others only want page numbers for direct quotes. Check with your lecturer.

Paraphrasing often involves commenting about the information at the same time, and this is where you can really show your understanding of the topic. You should try to do this within every paragraph in the body of your assignment.

When paraphrasing, it is important to remember that using a thesaurus to change every other word isn't really paraphrasing. It's patchwriting , and it's a kind of plagiarism (as you are not creating original work).

Use your own voice! You sound like you when you write - you have a distinctive style that is all your own, and when your "tone" suddenly changes for a section of your assignment, it looks highly suspicious. Your lecturer starts to wonder if you really wrote that part yourself. Make sure you have genuinely thought about how *you* would write this information, and that the paraphrasing really is in your own words.

Always cite your sources! Even if you have drawn from three different papers to write this one sentence, which is completely in your own words, you still have to cite your sources for that sentence (oh, and excellent work, by the way).

Captive pink fairy armadillos do not respond well to changes in their environment and can be easily stressed (Superina, 2011).

NB! Some lecturers and citation styles want page numbers for all citations, others only want them for direct quotes. Check with your lecturer.

This example paragraph contains mouse-over text. Run your mouse over the paragraph to see notes on formatting.

Excerpt from "The Big Fake Essay"

You can read the entire Big Fake Essay on the Writing Guide. It includes more details about academic writing and the formatting of essays.

• The Big Fake Essay
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When you have multiple authors with the same surname who published in the same year:

If your authors have different initials, then include the initials:

As A. Smith (2016) noted...

...which was confirmed by J.G. Smith's (2016) study.

(A. Smith, 2016; J. G. Smith, 2016).

If your authors have the same initials, then include the name:

As Adam Smith noted...

...which was confirmed by Amy Smith's (2016) study.

(Adam Smith, 2016; Amy Smith, 2016).

Note: In your reference list, you would include the author's first name in [square brackets] after their initials:

Smith, A. [Adam]. (2016)...

Smith, A. [Amy]. (2016)...

When you have multiple works by the same author in the same year:

In your reference list, you will have arranged the works alphabetically by title (see the page on Reference Lists for more information). This decides which reference is "a", "b", "c", and so on. You cite them in text accordingly:

Asthma is the most common disease affecting the Queensland population (Queensland Health, 2017b). However, many people do not know how to manage their asthma symptoms (Queensland Health, 2017a).

When you have multiple works by the same author in different years:

Asthma is the most common disease affecting the Queensland population (Queensland Health, 2017, 2018). 

When you do not have an author, and your reference list entry begins with the title:

Use the title in place of the author's name, and place it in "quotation marks" if it is the title of an article or book chapter, or in italics if the title would go in italics in your reference list:

During the 2017 presidential inauguration, there were some moments of awkwardness ("Mrs. Obama Says ‘Lovely Frame’", 2018).

Note: You do not need to use the entire title, but a reasonable portion so that it does not end too abruptly - "Mrs. Obama Says" would be too abrupt, but the full title "Mrs. Obama Says 'Lovely Frame' in Box During Awkward Handoff" is unecessarily long. You should also use title case for titles when referring to them in the text of your work.

If there are no page numbers, you can include any of the following in the in-text citation:

• "On Australia Day 1938 William Cooper ... joined forces with Jack Patten and William Ferguson ... to hold a Day of Mourning to draw attention to the losses suffered by Aboriginal people at the hands of the whiteman" (National Museum of Australia, n.d., para. 4).
• "in 1957 news of a report by the Western Australian government provided the catalyst for a reform movement" (National Museum of Australia, n.d., The catalyst for change section, para. 1)
• "By the end of this year of intense activity over 100,000 signatures had been collected" (National Museum of Australia, n.d., "petition gathering", para. 1).

When you are citing a classical work, like the Bible or the Quran:

References to works of scripture or other classical works are treated differently to regular citations. See the APA Blog's entry for more details:

Happy Holiday Citing: Citation of Classical Works . (Please note, this document is from the 6th edition of APA).

In text citation:

If the name of the organisation first appears in a narrative citation, include the abbreviation before the year in brackets, separated with a comma. Use the official acronym/abreviation if you can find it. Otherwise check with your lecturer for permission to create your own acronyms.

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS, 2013) shows that...

The Queensland Department of Education (DoE, 2020) encourages students to... (please note, Queensland isn't part of the department's name, it is used in the sentence to provide clarity)

If the name of the organisation first appears in a citation in brackets, include the abbreviation in square brackets.

(Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS], 2013)

(Department of Education [DoE], 2020)

In the second and subsequent citations, only include the abbreviation or acronym

ABS  (2013) found that ...

DoE (2020) instructs teachers to...

This is disputed ( ABS , 2013).

Resources are designed to support "emotional learning pedagogy" (DoE, 2020)

In the reference list:

Use the full name of the organisation in the reference list.

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2017).  Australia's welfare 2017 . https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-welfare/australias-welfare-2017/contents/table-of-contents

Department of Education. (2020, April 22). Respectful relationships education program . Queensland Government. https://education.qld.gov.au/curriculum/stages-of-schooling/respectful-relationships

Academically, it is better to find the original source and reference that.

If you do have to quote a secondary source:

• In the text you must cite the original author of the quote and the year the original quote was written as well as the source you read it in. If you do not know the year the original citation was written, omit the year.
• In the reference list you only list the source that you actually read.

Wembley (1997, as cited in Olsen, 1999) argues that impending fuel shortages ...

Wembley claimed that "fuel shortages are likely" (1997, as cited in Olsen, 1999, pp. 10-12).

Some have noted that fuel shortages are probable in the future (Wembley, 1997, as cited in Olsen, 1999).

Olsen, M. (1999).  My career.  Gallimard.

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APA Citations (7th ed.)

• General Formatting
• Student Paper Elements - Title Page
• Professional Paper Elements - Title Page
• In-text Citation Basics
• In-text Citation Author Rules
• Citing Multiple Works
• Personal Communications
• Classroom or Intranet Resources
• Secondary Sources
• Periodicals
• Books & Reference Works
• Edited Book Chapters & Entries in Reference Works
• Reports & Gray Literature
• Conference Sessions & Presentations
• Dissertations & Theses
• Data Sets & Software
• Tests, Scales, & Inventories
• Audiovisual Works
• Audio Works
• Visual Works
• Social Media
• Webpages & Websites
• Artificial Intelligence
• Basics & Formatting
• Avoiding Plagiarism

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Author Rules

APA has different rules for in-text citations depending on:

• The number of authors of a work
• Whether you are citing a group author that has an abbreviation
• If an author is unknown or anonymous
• If more than one work has the same author and date
• If multiple authors share surnames

Number of Authors to Include in In-text Citations

For a work with one or two authors, include the author name(s) in every citation.

     (Boucher, 2017)

     (Dawson & Lee, 2021)

     Fitzsimmons and Ibarra (2019)

For a work with three or more authors, include the name of only the first author plus "et al." in every citation, including the first citation:

     (Maldonado et al., 2019)

Unless using one author would create ambiguity:

     Weiss, Dryden, Prentiss, et al. (2018)

     Weiss, Dryden, Baptiste, et al. (2018)

To learn more about avoiding ambiguity with in-text citations, see pp.266-267 of the manual.

Group Authors, With and Without Abbreviations

Authors may be groups. For example, you may cite a work written by the Centers for Disease Control, or CDC.

If a work is authored by one or two groups, include the group author name(s) in every citation.

     (Buena Vista University, 2021)

     (Harvard University & Cambridge College, 2018)

     (U.S. Department of Agriculture et al., 2019)

If a group author has an abbreviation, introduce the abbreviation in the first citation. In subsequent citations, use the abbreviation in place of the full group name.

      First citation:  (North Atlantic Treaty Organization [NATO], 2017)

      Subsequent citations:  (NATO, 2017)

Unknown or Anonymous Author

For works with an unknown author, include the title and year of publication in the in-text citation.

If the title of the work is italicized in the reference list, also italicize the title in the in-text citation. If the title of the work is not italicized in the reference list, use double quotation marks around the title in the in-text citation.

Capitalize titles in in-text citations using title case, even though sentence case is used in the reference list entry.

      Book with no author:  ( The Business of Life , 2018)

      Magazine article with no author:  ("Parental Involvement and Academic Growth," 2021)

When the author of a work is overtly designated as "Anonymous," this takes the place of the author name in the in-text citation.

     (Anonymous, 2023)

Works With the Same Author and Same Date

When multiple references have an identical author (or no authors) and publication year , include a lowercase letter after the year. This lowercase letter is also included in the reference entry.

Use only the year with a letter in the in-text citation, even if the reference list entry contains a more specific date.

     (Cohen & Crozier, 2019a)

     (Cohen & Crozier, 2019b)

     (Stendahl, n.d.-a, n.d.-b)

Authors With the Same Surname

If the first authors of multiple references share the same surname but have different initials , include the first author's initials in all in-text citations, even if the year of publication differs.

     (J. R. Clancey & Thorgard, 2021; M. Clancey, 2019)

If the first authors of multiple references share the same surname and the same initials , cite the works in the standard author-date format.

     (Judge, 2022; Judge & Willard, 2021)

If multiple authors within a single reference share the same surname , the initials are not needed in the in-text citations.

     (Chen & Chen, 2023)

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Apa quick citation guide.

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Using In-text Citation

Include an in-text citation when you refer to, summarize, paraphrase, or quote from another source. For every in-text citation in your paper, there must be a corresponding entry in your reference list.

APA in-text citation style uses the author's last name and the year of publication, for example: (Field, 2005). For direct quotations, include the page number as well, for example: (Field, 2005, p. 14). For sources such as websites and e-books that have no page numbers , use a paragraph number, for example: (Field, 2005, para. 1). More information on direct quotation of sources without pagination is given on the APA Style and Grammar Guidelines web page.

Example paragraph with in-text citation

A few researchers in the linguistics field have developed training programs designed to improve native speakers' ability to understand accented speech (Derwing et al., 2002; Thomas, 2004). Their training techniques are based on the research described above indicating that comprehension improves with exposure to non-native speech.   Derwing et al. (2002) conducted their training with students preparing to be social workers, but note that other professionals who work with non-native speakers could benefit from a similar program.

Derwing, T. M., Rossiter, M. J., & Munro, M. J. (2002). Teaching native speakers to listen to foreign-accented speech.  Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development , 23 (4), 245-259.

Thomas, H. K. (2004).  Training strategies for improving listeners' comprehension of foreign-accented speech  (Doctoral dissertation). University of Colorado, Boulder.

Citing Web Pages In Text

Cite web pages in text as you would any other source, using the author and date if known. Keep in mind that the author may be an organization rather than a person. For sources with no author, use the title in place of an author.

For sources with no date use n.d. (for no date) in place of the year: (Smith, n.d.). For more information on citations for sources with no date or other missing information see the page on missing reference information on the APA Style and Grammar Guidelines web page. 

Below are examples of using in-text citation with web pages.

Web page with author:

In-text citation

Heavy social media use can be linked to depression and other mental disorders in teens (Asmelash, 2019).

Reference entry

Asmelash, L. (2019, August 14). Social media use may harm teens' mental health by disrupting positive activities, study says . CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/13/health/social-media-mental-health-trnd/index.html

Web page with organizational author:

More than 300 million people worldwide are affected by depression (World Health Organization, 2018).

World Health Organization. (2018, March 22).  Depression . https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/depression

Web page with no date:

Establishing regular routines, such as exercise, can help survivors of disasters recover from trauma (American Psychological Association [APA], n.d.).

American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Recovering emotionally from disaste r. http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/recovering-disasters.aspx

General Guidelines

In-text references should immediately follow the title, word, or phrase to which they are directly relevant, rather than appearing at the end of long clauses or sentences. In-text references should always precede punctuation marks. Below are examples of using in-text citation.

Author's name in parentheses:

One study found that the most important element in comprehending non-native speech is familiarity with the topic (Gass & Varonis, 1984).

Author's name part of narrative:

Gass and Varonis (1984) found that the most important element in comprehending non-native speech is familiarity with the topic.

Group as author: First citation: (American Psychological Association [APA], 2015) Subsequent citation: (APA, 2015)

Multiple works: (separate each work with semi-colons)

Research shows that listening to a particular accent improves comprehension of accented speech in general (Gass & Varonis, 1984; Krech Thomas, 2004).

Direct quote: (include page number and place quotation marks around the direct quote)

One study found that “the listener's familiarity with the topic of discourse greatly facilitates the interpretation of the entire message” (Gass & Varonis, 1984, p. 85).

Gass and Varonis (1984) found that “the listener’s familiarity with the topic of discourse greatly facilitates the interpretation of the entire message” (p. 85).

Note:  For direct quotations of more than 40 words , display the quote as an indented block of text without quotation marks and include the authors’ names, year, and page number in parentheses at the end of the quote. For example:

This suggests that familiarity with nonnative speech in general, although it is clearly not as important a variable as topic familiarity, may indeed have some effect. That is, prior experience with nonnative speech, such as that gained by listening to the reading, facilitates comprehension. (Gass & Varonis, 1984, p. 77)

Works by Multiple Authors

APA style has specific rules for citing works by multiple authors. Use the following guidelines to determine how to correctly cite works by multiple authors in text. For more information on citing works by multiple authors see the APA Style and Grammar Guidelines page on in-text citation .

Note: When using multiple authors' names as part of your narrative, rather than in parentheses, always spell out the word and. For multiple authors' names within a parenthetic citation, use &.

One author: (Field, 2005)

Two authors: (Gass & Varonis, 1984)

Three or more authors:   (Tremblay et al., 2010)

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APA Citation Guide (7th Edition): In-Text Citation

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In-Text Citation

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What Is In-Text Citation?

In APA, in-text citations are inserted in the text of your research paper to briefly document the source of your information. Brief in-text citations point the reader to more complete information in the Reference list.

When using APA format, follow the author-date method of in-text citation. In the author-date method, the writer includes the author and date within the body of the paper and includes a corresponding reference in the Reference list. This method allows the reader to identify sources used in the paper by reviewing the author and date within the text of the paper, and then easily locate the corresponding reference in the alphabetical Reference list.

Create an in-text citation whenever you quote another work, or whenever you paraphrase another work in your own words.

In-text Citations Have Two Formats

• Parenthetical - the author name and publication date (or equivalent information) appear in parentheses. For example: Falsely balanced news coverage can distort the public's perception of expert consensus on an issue (Burnside, 2016).
• Narrative - the author name appears in running text and the date appears in parentheses immediately after the author name. For example: Burnside (2016) noted the dangers of falsely balanced news coverage.

If you are referring to an idea from another work (paraphrasing or summarizing) but NOT directly quoting the material, you only have to make reference to the author and year of publication and not the page number in your in-text reference.

If you are directly quoting or borrowing from another work, you should include the page number at the end of the parenthetical citation. For example, (Burnside, 2016, p. 199).

In-Text Citation Styles

The table below shows several examples of parenthetical and narrative citations.

Paraphrasing and Quoting: What Is the Difference?

There are two ways to integrate sources into your assignment:

• Paraphrasing  is used to show that you understand what the author wrote. You must reword the passage, expressing the ideas in your own words, and not just change a few words here and there. Make sure to also include an in-text citation.
• Quoting is copying a selection from someone else's work, phrasing it exactly as it was originally written. When quoting, place quotation marks (" ") around the selected passage to show where the quote begins and where it ends. Make sure to include an in-text citation.

Signal Phrases

If you refer to the author's name in a sentence, you do not have to include the name again as part of your in-text citation; instead, include the date after the name and the page number (if there is one) at the end of the quotation or the paraphrased section. For example:

Hunt (2011) explains that mother-infant attachment has been a leading topic of developmental research since John Bowlby found that "children raised in institutions were deficient in emotional and personality development" (p. 358).

Short Quotations

If a quotation consists of fewer than 40 words , treat it as a short quotation:

• Incorporate the quote into the text and enclose it within double quotation marks.
• Include the author, year of publication, and page number for the reference.
• For example, Smith (2019) demonstrated how to "..." (p. 112).
• For example, "..." (Smith, 2019, p. 112).

Long (Block) Quotations

If a quotation contains 40 words or more , treat it as a long (block) quotation:

• Do not use quotation marks to enclose a block quotation.
• Start a block quotation on a new line and indent the whole block 0.5 inches from the left margin.
• If there are additional paragraphs within the quotation, indent the first line of each subsequent paragraph an additional 0.5 inches.
• Double-space the entire block quotation; do not add extra space before or after it.
• Either (1) cite the source in parentheses after the quotation's final punctuation, or (2) cite the author and year in the narrative before the quotation and place only the page number in parentheses after the quotation's final punctuation. Do NOT add a period after the closing parenthesis in either case.
• See section 8.27 in the Publication Manual for examples of the block quotation.

Direct Quotation Without Page Numbers

When you quote from electronic sources that do not provide page numbers (e.g., webpages, websites, some e-books), provide readers with another way of locating the quoted passage. Use any of the following approaches that will best help readers find the quotation:

• Provide a heading or a section name.
• Provide a paragraph number (count the paragraphs manually if they are not numbered).
• Provide a heading or section name in combination with a paragraph number.

In-Text Citation for More than One Source

If you would like to cite more than one source within the same in-text citation, simply record the in-text citations as normal and separate them with a semi-colon. List the sources alphabetically by author's last name or first word used from the title if no author is given, in the same order they would appear in the Reference list. For example:

(Jones, 2015; Smith, 2014). 

( Beckworth, 2016;  "Nursing,"  2015).

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Basic Principles of Citation

APA Style uses the author–date citation system , in which a brief in-text citation directs readers to a full reference list entry. The in-text citation appears within the body of the paper (or in a table, figure, footnote, or appendix) and briefly identifies the cited work by its author and date of publication. This enables readers to locate the corresponding entry in the alphabetical reference list at the end of the paper.

Each work cited must appear in the reference list, and each work in the reference list must be cited in the text (or in a table, figure, footnote, or appendix).

Both paraphrases and quotations require citations.

The following are guidelines to follow when writing in-text citations:

• Ensure that the spelling of author names and the publication dates in reference list entries match those in the corresponding in-text citations.
• Cite only works that you have read and ideas that you have incorporated into your writing. The works you cite may provide key background information, support or dispute your thesis, or offer critical definitions and data.
• Readers may find a long string of citations difficult to understand, especially if they are using assistive technology such as a screen reader; therefore, include only those citations needed to support your immediate point.
• Cite primary sources when possible, and cite secondary sources sparingly.
• Cite sources to document all facts and figures that you mention that are not common knowledge.
• To cite a specific part of a source , provide an author–date citation for the work plus information about the specific part.
• Even when sources cannot be retrieved (e.g., because they are personal communications ), still credit them in the text (however, avoid using online sources that are no longer recoverable).

Basic principles of citation are covered in the seventh edition APA Style manuals in the Publication Manual Sections 8.1 to 8.36 and the Concise Guide Sections 8.1 to 8.34

Related handouts

• In-Text Citation Checklist (PDF, 227KB)
• Six Steps to Proper Citation (PDF, 112KB)

From the APA Style blog

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If you translate a passage from one language into another on your own in your paper, your translation is considered a paraphrase, not a direct quotation.

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This blog post describes key tasks in writing an effective literature review and provides strategies for approaching those tasks.

How to cite a work with a nonrecoverable source

In most cases, nonrecoverable sources such as personal emails, nonarchived social media livestreams (or deleted and unarchived social media posts), classroom lectures, unrecorded webinars or presentations, and intranet sources should be cited only in the text as personal communications.

The “outdated sources” myth

The “outdated sources” myth is that sources must have been published recently, such as the last 5 to 10 years. There is no timeliness requirement in APA Style.

From COVID-19 to demands for social justice: Citing contemporary sources for current events

The guidance in the seventh edition of the Publication Manual makes the process of citing contemporary sources found online easier than ever before.

Citing classical and religious works

A classical or religious work is cited as either a book or a webpage, depending on what version of the source you are using. This post includes details and examples.

Academic Writer—APA’s essential teaching resource for higher education instructors

Academic Writer’s advanced authoring technology and digital learning tools allow students to take a hands-on approach to learning the scholarly research and writing process.

APA Style webinar on citing works in text

Attend the webinar, “Citing Works in Text Using Seventh Edition APA Style,” on July 14, 2020, to learn the keys to accurately and consistently citing sources in APA Style.

APA Citation Style Guide (7th Edition)

• In-text: Multiple Authors
• In-text: First and Subsequent Citations
• In-text: Authors and Dates Matching
• APA Examples- Print
• APA Examples- Electronic
• APA Examples- Multimedia
• Step 1- Author
• Step 2- Date
• Step 3- Title
• Step 4- Source
• Guide to Citing Sources This link opens in a new window

How to Use This Guide

Citations are a two-part system: in-text citations connected to reference list citations .

This guide will help you create in-text citations that correlate with the corresponding reference list citations.

Follow the assignment formatting instructions provided by your professors.  They often dictate which style and edition they prefer you use.  If you are uncertain, it's usually best to ask them directly what they prefer. 

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Handling In-text Citations:

• When mentioning the author in the text of your sentence, provide the author's last name, immediately followed by the date in parentheses. Example : Johnson (2019) argues that...
• When not mentioning the author in the text of your sentence, provide the author and date at the end of the sentence in parentheses.  Example : ... hypothetical results (Johnson, 2019).
• When quoting or paraphrasing a specific detail, include the page number in parentheses at the end of the sentence. Example : "... forgetfulness" (p. 678). Alternative example : "... forgetfulness (Johnson, 2019, p. 678).   

When writing your paper, you have two basic choices to make when presenting a source to the reader.   You can choose to refer to a work in general or you can specifically quote or paraphrase the words and content of that source.  You can also choose to mention the author in the text of your sentences or you can choose to leave his or her name out. 

* Source: Gackenbach, J. (2009). Electronic media and lucid-control dreams: Morning after reports. Dreaming 19 (1), 1-6. doi : 10.1037/a0013781

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APA Citation Style Guide (7th Edition)

• In-Text Citations
• Formatting a Paper

About In-text Citations

Two or more authors, corporate author, secondary sources, citing a source multiple times in one paragraph.

• Reference List
• Audiovisual Media
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• Citing Business Resources

An in-text citation appears in parentheses within the text of a paper, in order to indicate that a source is being cited. Every in-text citation must correspond to a reference at the end of the paper.

In-text citations include the author's last name and the publication date. 

If the author's name is already given in the text of the paper, then it is not given again inside the parentheses.

Example: Williams (2002) claims that keeping pets is beneficial for seniors.

If the author's name is not   in the text of the paper, then it is given inside the parentheses.

Example: Research suggests that keeping pets is beneficial for seniors (Williams, 2002).

If the citation is for a direct quotation, then the page number is included at the end of the quotation.

Example (with author's name already given in the text): According to Williams (2008),  "keeping companion animals has been shown to have a positive impact on the general well being of older adults" (p. 10).

Example (with author's name not already given in the text): Research on seniors and pets suggests that that keeping pets has a "positive impact on the general well being of older adults" (Williams, 2008, p. 10).

Two Authors:

When the authors' names occur inside of the parentheses, they are connected with the symbol "&”; but when they occur outside of the parentheses, they are connected with the English word “and".

It has been found that sleep is related to academic performance (Gray & Watson, 2002).

Gray and Watson (2002) found that when students had good quality sleep, they performed better academically.

Three or more Authors:

Cite only the last name of the first author followed by "et al." and a year

Elagra et al. (2016) found that poor sleep quality in dental students related to poor academic performance.

Poor sleep quality in dental students is related to poor academic performance (Elagra et al., 2016).

• APAStyle Authors in In-Text Citations In-depth description of how to use authors' names in in-text citations.

When an organization, rather than an individual, takes responsibility for the creation of a work, that organization is treated as a collective or corporate author.

Example: ...(Statistics Canada, 2013).

Examples with corporate author already named in the text:

According to Statistics Canada (2013) ...

Figures from Statistics Canada (2013) indicate that..

Example of a corporate author with an abbreviation:

First citation:

...(Secwépemc Child & Family Services Agency [SCFS], 2020).

or, named in the text:

Secwépemc Child & Family Services Agency (SCFS, 2020)...

Subsequent citations:

...(SCFS, 2020).

SCFS (2020)...

Note: Only use an abbreviation in the in-text citation. Full corporate name must be used in the reference list.

• APAStyle Corporate Authors in In-Text Citations Examples of using corporate authors in in-text citations.

Sometimes an author will refer to another author's research.  If the original source is relevant to your research, then you should make every effort to find it and read it.  If this is not possible, then the in-text citation should include both the source that you have read and the source that you have not read, but only the source that you have actually read should be included in the references.

In-text citation:

...(Author Surname, as cited in Author Surname [of the source you read] , Year)

...(as cited in Author Surname [of the source you read] , Year)

If you read Jones' work, in which Culver was cited, cite Culver's work as the original source, and Jones' as the secondary source. Only Jones' work is in the reference list.

The mastery of APA increases an author's chance of scoring well on an assignment (Culver, as cited in Jones, 2009).

According to Culver (as cited in Jones, 2009), learning APA "can be tough, but like any skill, it just takes practice" (p. 23).

Note: Cite only the secondary source [the source you read] in the reference list.

Jones, J. (2009). Scholarly writing tips. Minneapolis, MN: Publishing House.

• APAStyle Secondary Sources In-depth description of how to cite secondary sources.

When citing the work of the same author multiple times in one paragraph, you do not need to reference the author at the end of each sentence. That would look clunky and make your writing stilted. Instead, introduce the author with a full in-text citation at the beginning of the paragraph and then, again, at the end. For the body of the paragraph, you can refer to the author by name or pronoun.

According to Spitzer's (2010) study the effects of radiation on humans presents...Spitzer's study developed the guidelines needed to test...The most important find in his study was that....Spitzer concluded the benefit of radiation...The evidence that proves these guidelines work (Spitzer, 2010).

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APA Citation Style 7th Edition: In-Text Citation

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On This Page

• About In-Text Citations
• Video: APA 7th Edition: In-Text Citations
• How do I cite two or more works by the same author with the same year of publication?
• Do I need to cite after each sentence in a paragraph?
• How do I cite a work quoted in another source?
• How do I cite more than one source in one in-text citation?
• Quoting and Paraphrasing: What's the Difference?
• In-text citations for two or more authors

APA 7th Edition: In-Text Citations

About In-Text Citation

In APA, in-text citations are inserted in the body of your research paper to briefly document the source of your information. Brief in-text citations point the reader to more complete information in the reference list at the end of the paper.

• In-text citations include the last name of the author followed by a comma and the publication year enclosed in parentheses: (Smith, 2007).
• If you are quoting directly the page number should be included, if given. If you are paraphrasing the page number is not required.
• If the author's name is not given, then use the first word or words of the title. Follow the same formatting that was used in the title, such as italics: ( Naturopathic , 2007).

Signal Phrase

If you refer to the author's name in a sentence you do not have to include the name again as part of your in-text citation. Instead include the date after the name and the page number (if there is one) at the end of the quotation or paraphrased section. For example:

Hunt (2011) explains that mother-infant attachment has been a leading topic of developmental research since John Bowlby found that "children raised in institutions were deficient in emotional and personality development" (p. 358).

FAQ - How do I cite two or more works by the same author with the same year of publication?

When you are citing two different sources that share the same author and year of publication, assign lowercase letters after the year of publication (a, b, c, etc.). Assign these letters according to which title comes first alphabetically. Use these letters in both in-text citations and the Reference list.

Example In-Text :

Paraphrasing content from first source by this author (Daristotle, 2015a). "Now I am quoting from the second source by the same author" (Daristotle, 2015b, p. 50).

Example Reference List entries:

Daristotle, J. (2015a). Name of book used as first source . Toronto, ON: Fancy Publisher.

Daristotle, J. (2015b). Title of book used as second source . Toronto, ON: Very Fancy Publisher.

FAQ - Do I need to cite after each sentence in a paragraph?

Unfortunately citing only once at the end of the paragraph isn't enough, as it doesn't clearly show where you started using information from another person's work or ideas. The good news is you can avoid having to write full in-text citations each and every time by using a lead-in to your paragraph. For a detailed example of how to use lead-in sentences, please see  Rasmussen College's FAQ page .

FAQ - How do I cite a work quoted in another source?

Sometimes an author of a book, article or website will mention another person’s work by using a quotation or paraphrased idea from that source. The work that is mentioned in the article you are reading is called the primary source. The article you are reading is called the secondary source.

For example, suppose you are reading an article by Brown (2014) that cites information from an article by Snow (1982) that you would like to include in your essay. For the reference list, you will only make a citation for the secondary source (Brown). You do not put in a citation for the primary source (Snow) in the reference list. For the in-text citation, you identify the primary source (Snow) and then write "as cited in" the secondary source (Brown). If you know the year of the publication of the primary source, include it in the in-text citation. Otherwise, you can omit it. See below for examples.

Examples of in-text citations:

According to a study by Snow (1982, as cited in Brown, 2014), 75% of students believe that teachers should not assign nightly homework.

Note: If you don't have the publication date of Snow's article, you just omit it like this: According to a study by Snow (as cited in Brown, 2014), 75% of students believe that teachers should not assign nightly homework.

In fact, 75% of students believe that teachers should not assign nightly homework (Snow, 1982, as cited in Brown, 2014).

Snow (1982, as cited in Brown, 2014) concluded that "nightly homework is a great stressor for many students" (p.34).

Example of Reference list citation:

Brown, S. (2014). Trends in homework assignments.  Journal of Secondary Studies ,  12(3) , 29-38. http://doi.org/fsfsbit

FAQ: How do I cite more than one source in one in-text citation

If you would like to cite more than one source within the same in-text citation, simply record the in-text citations as normal and separate them with a semi-colon. List the sources alphabetically by author's last name or first word used from the title if no author is given, in the same order they would appear on the References List.

(Bennett, 2015; Smith, 2014). 

( Brock, 2016;  "It Takes Two,"  2015).

Quoting and Paraphrasing: What's the Difference?

There are two ways to integrate others' research into your assignment: you can paraphrase or you can quote.

Paraphrasing  is used to show that you understand what the author wrote. You must reword the passage, expressing the ideas in your own words, and not just change a few words here and there. Make sure to also include an in-text citation.

Quoting  is copying a selection from someone else's work, phrasing it exactly it was originally written. When quoting place quotation marks (" ") around the selected passage to show where the quote begins and where it ends. Make sure to include an in-text citation.

In-Text Citation For Two or More Authors/Editors

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APA 7: In-Text Citations

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• Quote & Paraphrase
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• In-Text Citations
• Reference List
• Sample Paper

General Guidelines

The in-text citation appears within the body of the paper and briefly identifies the cited work by its author and date of publication. This enables readers to locate the entry in the reference list at the end of the paper.

• In-text citations must be in the reference list. Each source in the reference list must be cited in the text.
• Even if a source is cited multiple times in the text, it should only be cited once on the reference list.
• Both paraphrases and quotations require citations.
• Common knowledge does not need to be cited.
• Cite only works that you have read and ideas that you have incorporated into your writing. The works you cite may provide key background information, support or dispute your thesis, or offer critical definitions and data.
• Even when sources cannot be retrieved (e.g., because they are personal communications), still credit them in the text.

There are two formats for in-text citations:

• Example: "Very few people have 20/20 vision. Being able to see well is crucial to success in some sports" (Caplan, 2005, p. 593). 
• Example: According to Caplan (2005), "very few people have 20/20 vision. Being able to see well is crucial to success in some sports" (p. 593).  
• In-Text Citations: APA Style

In-Text Citations by Type

• Direct Quotes
• Two or More Authors
• Same author for multiple works
• Group Author
• Personal Communication

Indirect Citations

Direct quotation with page numbers.

When quoting directly, always provide the author, year, and page number of the quotation (in both parenthetical and narrative in-text citations).

• For a single page, use the abbreviation “p.” (e.g., p. 25, p. S41, p. e221).
• For multiple pages, use the abbreviation “pp.” and separate the page range with an en dash (e.g., pp. 34–36).
• If pages are discontinuous, use a comma between the page numbers (e.g., pp. 67, 72).

If the work does not have page numbers, provide another way for the reader to locate the quotation.

Parenthetical Citation

• (Stanford University, 2020, p. 150)
• (Martin, 2022, pp. 10–20)

Narrative Citation

• Stanford University (2020, p. 150)
• Martin (2022, pp. 10–20)
• Direct Quotations with Page Numbers: APA Style

For a work with one or two authors, include the author name(s) in every citation.

• (Luna, 2020)
• Luna (2020) concluded that...
• Author-Date Citation System: APA Style

Two Authors

For a work with two authors, include the author names in every citation.

• (Salas & D’Agostino, 2020)
• Salas and D’Agostino (2020) concluded that...

Three or More Authors

For a work with three or more authors, include the name of only the first author plus “et al.” in every citation (even the first citation).

• (Martin et al., 2020)
• Martin et al. (2020) said...

Same author of multiple works

Parenthetical Citation If you cite multiple works by the same author or authors, regardless of the publication years, include the date in every in-text citation.

• (Mohammed and Mahfouz, 2017)
• (Mohammed and Mahfouz, 2019)

Narrative Citation Include the year with every citation, even when one of the references is cited multiple times in a single paragraph.

• Mohammed and Mahfouz (2017)
• Mohammed and Mahfouz (2019)

Same author and same date

When multiple works have the same author(s) and publication year, include a lowercase letter after the year. These letters are assigned when the references are placed in order in the reference list (alphabetically by title). The year–letter combination is used in both the in-text citation and the reference list entry.

• (Blondaux & O’Hanrahan, 2018a)
• (Blondaux & O’Hanrahan, 2018b)
• Blondaux & O’Hanrahan (2018a)
• Blondaux & O’Hanrahan (2018b)

Group author with abbreviation

Define the abbreviation for a group author only once in the text, choosing either the parenthetical or the narrative format. Thereafter, use the abbreviation for all mentions of the group in the text. P

• (National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2020)
• (NIMH, 2020)
• National Institute of Mental Health ([NIMH], 2020)
• NIMH (2020)

Group author without abbreviation

• (Stanford University, 2022)
• Stanford University (2022)

Personal communication

For conversations and interviews with another person, include the person's name, personal communication, and the date.

• (E. Roberts, personal communication, July 21, 2020)
• E. Roberts (personal communication, July 21, 2020)
• Personal Communications: APA Style

An indirect citation uses information from a source that is cited in-text in another source (the secondary source). For example, an article that you are reading contains a cited quote from another article. You want to use the quote in your paper but cannot find the original article.

The use of an indirect citation is not encouraged, but is sometimes necessary when the original article or book cannot be located.

To create an indirect citation, use the author(s) of the original source, followed by "as cited in" and the in-text citation of the secondary source (the source that the original source is cited in). The secondary source is listed on the references page of your paper.

• Author of the original source: Britton
• Source that the original is cited in: Smith

Repeating a Citation

When repeating a citation, show the entire citation; do not, for example, include only a page number. Instead:

• Include the author(s) and year for every parenthetical in-text citation.
• Do not repeat the year for narrative in-text citations after the first time they appear in a single paragraph. When you start a new paragraph, include the year in the first narrative citation in the new paragraph.
• If you cite multiple works by the same author or authors, include the date in every in-text citation.
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APA in-text citations

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In-text citations are short versions of citations that give a brief indication of the sources used in the paper. They are written in the text and inform the reader that full details are available in the reference list. The information available in the list will help the reader to find and use the sources listed. To write in-text citations, you should know two important components:

Author or organization’s name

Publication date

In-text citations overview

APA uses the author-date system for in-text citations. This means that in-text citations usually include information on the author, then the date published. For example, if Harold King wrote a book in 2021, his in-text citations would look like this:

(King, 2021)

King (2021)

There are two kinds of in-text citations are available in APA style: narrative citations and parenthetical citations. Let’s review them both.

Narrative citation

A narrative citation includes the name of the author or the organization as part of sentence text and includes the year published in parentheses. Here are two examples:

Blanchard (2020) argues that the development of a country depends on the growth of the village in the country.

API (2007) revised the guidelines for oil and natural gas field.

Parenthetical citation

A parenthetical citation includes both the name of the author or the organization and the date of publication inside parentheses. A comma comes between the author and the publication date.

For quotes, parenthetical citations must also include a page number. Use “p.” for a single page and “pp.” for a page range. Here are examples:

With the author

It is argued that the development of a country depends on the growth of the village in the country (Blanchard, 2020).

It is argued that the development of a country depends on the growth of the village in the country (Blanchard, 2020, p. 17).

Organization treated as the author

It was concluded to release the revised guidelines for the oil and natural gas field (AIP, 2007).

In-text citation examples

Narrative: Author Surname (Publication date)

Parenthetical: (Author Surname, Publication date)

Narrative: Coleman (2011)

Parenthetical: (Coleman, 2011)

Two authors

In narrative citations, the word “and” separates the surnames of the two authors. In parenthetical citations, use an ampersand between the two authors.

Narrative: First author Surname and Second author Surname (Publication date)

Parenthetical: (First author Surname & Second author Surname, Publication date)

Narrative: Francis and RIchter (2007)

Parenthetical: (Francis & RIchter, 2007)

Three or more authors

If the number of authors is more than two, use “et al.” in both narrative and parenthetical citations.

Narrative: First author Surname et al. (Publication date)

Parenthetical: (First author Surname et al., Publication date)

Narrative: Rolph et al. (2017)

Parenthetical: (Rolph et al., 2017)

Group author

If a source is by a group author, use the group author name in the author’s name field. Abbreviations are allowed in a group author name. If the group name first occurs in citations, you can still abbreviate it in citations. Note that a narrative citation and a parenthetical citation have different formats in using the abbreviation when included.

If the first occurrence of an abbreviation comes in a narrative citation, include the abbreviation inside the parenthesis before the date. If your abbreviation comes first in a parenthetical citation, add the abbreviation in square brackets after the group author name as shown below:

Narrative: Group author (Abbreviation, Publication date)

Parenthetical: (Group author [Abbreviation], Publication date)

Narrative: Indian Association of Clinical Psychologists (IACP, 2008)

Parenthetical: (Indian Association of Clinical Psychologists [IACP], 2018)

No author/Anonymous author

For a reference with no author, you need to include the title of the paper for the in-text citations. Usually, they appear as parenthetical citations. The title is written in the same way as it is mentioned in the reference list. For example, if the title is written in italics in the list, you need to italicize it in the in-text citation as well. However, if the title is plain in the list, write using title case, meaning that you must capitalize significant words of the title and enclose it in double quotes.

Parenthetical: (“Title of the Work,” Publication date)

Parenthetical: (“Human Behavior,” 2018)

If the author of a work is given as “Anonymous,” use “Anonymous” in place of the author.

Parenthetical: (Anonymous, 2007)

Other citations

Multiple citations in one sentence.

Multiple citations appearing together are arranged alphabetically within the group. Note that alphabetical arrangement is applicable only for in-text citations. The citations are separated by semicolons. Example:

(Anna, 2021; Blume & Alex, 2012; Robert, 2004)

If you include many references contributed by the same group of authors, arrange them chronologically and separate them by commas. The order of chronological citation for the same author group is (1) n.d., (2) citation with a publication date, and (3) in press. “n.d.” refers to “no date.”

(Allen, 2016a, 2016b; Bennet & Bennet, 2012, in press; Peterson, n.d., 2002)

Same surname, same publication date, different initials

You may have to include initials within in-text citations if multiple entries in the reference list have the same surname of the first author and same publication date, but different initials. This will aid the reader to find out the correct source of the citation. A few examples are listed below for your understanding. “F” and “M” are the first initials of the authors.

Narrative: F. Author Surname (Publication date)

Narrative: M. Author Surname (Publication date)

Parenthetical: (F. Author Surname, Publication date)

Parenthetical: (M. Author Surname, Publication date)

Narrative: G. Beauchamp (2013)

Narrative: L. Beauchamp (2013)

Parenthetical: (G. Beauchamp, 2013)

Parenthetical: (L. Beauchamp, 2013)

Same surname, same initials, same publication date

You may have to include a lowercase letter after the date if you have multiple entries in the reference list with the same surname of the first author, same publication date, and same initials. This will help the reader locate the correct source of a citation. This will help the reader to identify the correct source of the citation. A few examples are listed below for your understanding.

Narrative: Author Surname (Publication date followed by a suffix)

Narrative: Author Surname (Publication date followed by a different suffix)

Parenthetical: (Author Surname, Publication date followed by a suffix)

Parenthetical: (Author Surname, Publication date followed by a different suffix)

Narrative: Ikehara (2011a)

Narrative: Ikehara (2011b)

Parenthetical: (Ikehara, 2011a)

Parenthetical: (Ikehara, 2011b)

Translated work

Two dates are used for a translated work: publication date of the original work and the publication date of the translated work. Both dates are added to the in-text citations. Add the publication date of the original work first followed by the date of the translated work. Use a slash as a separator between the dates.

Narrative: Author Surname (Original work’s date/Translated work’s date)

Parenthetical: (Author Surname, Original work’s date/Translated work’s date)

Narrative: Hopkins (1997/1999)

Parenthetical: (Hopkins, 1997/1999)

Personal communication

Works such as telephonic conversation, chat messages, personal interviews, text messages, and emails do not need any source. These are classified under personal communication. It is not possible to get the information again; therefore, they are not included in the reference list. When you want to cite personal communication, use the initials of the authors in the text. Give the exact date of personal communication.

Narrative: Communicator’s name (personal communication, Month Day, Year)

Parenthetical: (Communicator’s name, personal communication, Month Day, Year)

Narrative: T. Kirubakaran (personal communication, May 15, 2005)

Parenthetical: (T. Kirubakaran, personal communication, May 15, 2005)

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• View APA Formatting Guide

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In APA style, you use parenthetical citations within the text of your paper to credit your sources, to show how recently your sources were published, and to refer your reader to a more detailed citation of the source in the reference list at the end of your paper. You should use parenthetical citations when you paraphrase, quote, or make any reference to another author's work. A parenthetical citation in APA style includes the author's last name as well as the year in which the work was published, with a comma between them. If you are referring directly to a specific page in the source, you should also include the page number in your parenthetical citation. APA requires you to cite page numbers when you are quoting directly from the source. If you are paraphrasing, which is more common in the social sciences, you generally do not need to include a page number. If you have questions about whether you should include page numbers when citing in APA, you should consult your instructor.

If you mention the author's name and/or the year of publication in the sentence preceding the citation, you do not need to include them in the parenthetical citation. When you name the author in the sentence, you should include the publication year in parentheses right after the author’s name—do not wait until the end of the sentence to provide that information.

When you include a parenthetical citation at the end of a sentence, the punctuation for your sentence appears after the citation.

Citing author and date in a parenthetical citation

When you don’t mention either the author or the date of publication in your sentence, you should include both the author and the year, separated by a comma, in the parenthetical citation. 

Colleges and universities need to create policies that foster inclusion for low-income students (Jack, 2019).         

Citing when author’s name is mentioned in body of paper

When you mention the author’s name in your sentence, the year of publication should immediately follow the author’s name.

Anthony Jack’s (2019) study of low-income students on an elite college campus revealed that these schools are often unprepared to support the students they admit.

Jack (2019) studied the ways low-income students experience elite college campuses.

Citing page numbers

When you cite a direct quote from the source or paraphrase a specific point from the source, you should include the page number in the parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence. When you refer to a specific page or pages of the text, first list the year of publication and then list "p." followed by the page number or "pp." followed by the range of pages. If you refer to a specific chapter, indicate that chapter after the year.              

The author contends that “higher education in America is highly unequal and disturbingly stratified” (Jack, 2019, p. 4).

Jack (2019) contends that “higher education in America is highly unequal and disturbingly stratified” (p. 4).

Citing sources with more than one author

When you cite a source that has two authors, you should separate their names with an ampersand in the parenthetical citation.

The authors designed a study to determine if social belonging can be encouraged among college students (Walton & Cohen, 2011). 

If a work has three or more authors , you should only include the first author's name followed by et al. ( Et al. is the shortened form of the Latin et alia , which means “and others.”)

The implementation of postpartum contraceptive programs is both costly and time consuming (Ling et al., 2020).

Attributing a point to more than one source  

To attribute a point or idea to multiple sources, list them in one parenthetical citation, ordered alphabetically by author and separated by semicolons. Works by the same author should be ordered chronologically, from oldest to most recent, with the publication dates separated by commas.

Students who possess cultural capital, measured by proxies like involvement in literature, art, and classical music, tend to perform better in school (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977; Dumais, 2002; Orr, 2003).

Citing multiple works by the same author 

If your reference list includes multiple works by the same author in the same year, identify them in your parenthetical citations and in your reference list by a lowercase letter after the year, assigning each letter in alphabetical order by the title of the work. When establishing the alphabetical order of works in your reference list, do not count the words "A" or "The" when they appear as the first word in a title.

One union-endorsed candidate publicly disagreed with the teachers' union on a number of issues (Borsuk, 1999a).

Citing multiple authors with the same last name        

If your reference list includes sources by multiple authors with the same last name, list each author's initials before their last name, even when the works were published in different years.

The question of whether a computer can be considered an author has been asked for longer than we might expect (B. Sobel, 2017).

Citing when no author is listed           

To refer to a work that is listed in your reference list by title rather than by author, cite the title or the first few words of the title.

The New York Times painted a bleak picture of the climate crisis (“Climate Change Is Not Negotiable,” 2022).

Citing when no date is listed

If the work you are citing has no date listed, you should put “n.d.” for “no date” in the parenthetical citation.

Writing research papers is challenging (Lam, n.d.). 

Citing a specific part of a source that is not a page number

To refer to a specific part of a source other than page number, add that after the author-date part of your citation. If it is not clear whether you are referring to a chapter, a paragraph, a time stamp, or a slide number, or other labeled part of a source, you should indicate the part you are referring to (chapter, para., etc.).

In the Stranger Things official trailer, the audience knows that something unusual is going to happen from the moment the boys get on their bicycles to ride off into the night (Duffer & Duffer, 0:16).

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A complete guide to APA in-text citation (6th edition)

Published on November 4, 2020 by Raimo Streefkerk . Revised on May 19, 2022.

An APA in-text citation consists of the author’s last name and year of publication, for example: (Smith, 2020). When quoting , also include page numbers, for example (Smith, 2020, p.170).

Here’s what an in-text citation looks like in a sentence:

• The author claims that “plagiarism is becoming a bigger problem” (Smith, 2014, p. 170) .
• As Smith (2014) has shown, plagiarism is a serious issue for universities.
• In 2014 , Smith found that plagiarism is becoming increasingly widespread.

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Table of contents, apa in-text citations with multiple authors, in-text citations explained in under 4 minutes, punctuation in apa in-text citations, when to include page numbers, apa in-text citations with lists, exceptions and missing information.

Multiple author names are separated using a comma. Only the final name in the list is preceded by an ampersand (“&”), for example: (Taylor, Johnson, & Parker, 2019) . Use “ et al .” to shorten in-text citations of sources with 6+ authors (first in-text citations) and 3+ authors (subsequent in-text citations), for example: (Taylor et al., 2019) .

Using “et al.” in APA in-text citations

Sources with three, four or five authors are shortened after the first citation. From the second citation onwards, include only the first author name followed by “et al.” (“and others”). Sources with six or more authors are always shortened, including in the first citation.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

• When using the abbreviation “et al . ,” always include a period (“.”).
• Include a comma between “et al.” and the publication date (e.g. Taylor et al., 2018).
• There should be no punctuation between “et al.” and the author’s name preceding it.
• The period ending the sentence always comes after the citation (even when quoting).

Never use an ampersand symbol (“&”) in the running text. Instead, use the full word “and.”

• According to research by Taylor & Kotler … (2018).
• Taylor and Kotler conclude … (2018).

Including the page number(s) in the in-text citation is required when quoting a source in APA . It is encouraged, but not required, when paraphrasing a source . Don’t include page numbers when referring to a work as a whole, e.g. “the study shows…”.

If the quote or paraphrase covers just one page, use “ p. 16. ” If it covers two or more pages, use a double ‘p’ followed by a page range (e.g.  pp. 16-18 ).

The in-text citation can be included in three different ways:

• This is also confirmed by the business plan: “creating an APA Citation Generator is a lot of work but many students benefit from it” (Smith, 2014, pp. 14-15) .
• Smith (2014) states: “making an APA Citation Generator is a lot of work but many students benefit from it” (pp. 14-15) .
• In 2014 , Smith wrote: “making an APA Citation Generator is a lot of work but many students benefit from it” (pp. 14-15) .

Sources with no page numbers

When quoting a source that has no pages or page numbers, you can include a chapter or paragraph number instead.

If the source uses headings, cite the heading and the paragraph number following it. Long headings may be shortened, but then they should be enclosed in quotation marks.

• (Johnson, 2019, Chapter 3)
• (McCombes, 2016, para. 4)
• (Smith, 2014, Conclusion, para. 2 )
• (Streefkerk, 2019, “No Page Numbers,” para. 2)

If the cited list originates from one source, put the in-text citation after the last list item. If the list comes from several different sources, add the in-text citations after each list item.

• Wired lifestyle
• Time pressure
• Risk aversion
• Internet experience
• Social interaction (Johnson, 2016, p. 18) .
• Consumers experience greater risk for online purchases (Writers et al., 2016, p. 47) .
• Young consumers experience no risk for online purchases (Porter, 2016, pp. 63-64) .

The basic APA guidelines are not applicable to every source. Information can be missing, confusing for the reader or simply different. The most common exceptions are listed below.

If the author is unknown, cite the first few words of the reference list entry instead (usually the title). Enclose the title in double quotation marks when citing an article, web page or book chapter. Italicize the title of periodicals, books, reports and brochures.

• ( “U.S. Flood Risk Could Be Worse Than We Thought,”  2015)
• ( Thinking, Fast and Slow , 2017)

For sources without a year of publication, use “n.d.” (no date) instead: (Johnson, n.d. ).

Multiple sources in the same parentheses

If you’re using multiple sources to support a statement, you can combine the in-text citations and separate them using semicolons. Order the sources alphabetically.

If you’re using multiple sources from the same author, you don’t have to repeat the author. Just add the other years and separate them with a comma.

Multiple publications from the same author(s) in the same year

To differentiate between two publications from the same author published in the same year, add a suffix after the publication year.

Repeated use of the same source

For citing the same source multiple times in a paragraph there are specific APA guidelines. The first mention should include the author and publication year. For subsequent mentions in the running text, you only have to include the author’s last name, not the year. However, citations in parentheses should always include the year.

Different authors with the same last name

To differentiate between two (or more) authors with the same last name, include the initials. This rule applies even if the year of publication is different.

Citing a source within a source (secondary source)

If you want to cite a source that you found in another source, you can do one of two things. First of all, you should try to find the original source ( primary source ). If you’re able to find it you can use regular APA guidelines.

If you are not able to find the primary source, you should cite it through the source that led you to it ( secondary source ). The in-text citation looks like this:

Note that you only need to include the publication year of the source you consulted (here Johnson).

Personal communication

Personal communication such as phone calls, emails and conversations are not cited in the reference list because they can’t be found anywhere. However, you should still cite them using an in-text citation.

Give the initials and the last name of the person you communicated with and provide as exact a date as possible.

Sales are declining in the second quarter  (P. G. Brown, personal communication, June 13, 2018).

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Streefkerk, R. (2022, May 19). A complete guide to APA in-text citation (6th edition). Scribbr. Retrieved July 15, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/apa-style/6th-edition/archived-in-text-citation/

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How To Do In-Text Citations with Multiple Authors in APA Format

APA (or American Psychological Association) Style   was introduced in 1929 to establish a consistent style guide for scientific writing. It sought to make scientific works easier to read and understand. However, the style guidelines have expanded to include many disciplines, such as the humanities and health care.

The APA’s Publication Manual does not cover the general writing style rules in other editorial style guides, such as the MLA Handbook . APA Style seeks to create uniformity of common writing styles relevant to behavior and social sciences primarily.

Consistent formatting allows the reader to engage with the presented ideas rather than be distracted by the author’s personal formatting preferences. It also helps readers quickly review the document for references and sources to aid their research. Using APA Style keeps authors transparent by providing rules about citing their sources and giving credit for others’ ideas.

How to do in-text citations in APA

• Understanding “et. al.” usage in APA

Citing multiple authors in APA

• In-text citations for various author types in APA

Best practices and common mistakes

APA Style allows writers to credit and cite other works appropriately and avoid plagiarism through in-text citations. APA Style uses the author–date citation system, which requires notations to be included within the document to reference ideas, paraphrases and quotations from other bodies of work. Each in-text citation within the paper (or chart, footnote or figure) briefly identifies the cited work and guides the reader to a longer list of cited sources at the end of the document, called the reference list.

In-text citations can be written within a paper parenthetically or narratively. Both include the same information: the author’s last name and the publication date.

• Parenthetical citation : Great falls can be caused by sitting on tall walls (Dumpty, 1797).
• Narrative citation : Dumpty (1797) claims that great falls can be caused by sitting on tall walls.
• Reference list entry: Dumpty, Humpty (1797). Humpty Dumpty Sat on a Wall. Nursery Rhymes, 100.

APA Style requires citations to conform to a set of guidelines , which includes proper spelling of author names, consistency between the in-text citation information and its reference list entry and rules about crediting all facts and figures mentioned – especially those which are not common knowledge.

Understanding “et al.” usage in APA

Et al. is an abbreviation used to indicate multiple people. It’s the abbreviated version of “et alia,” a neutral plural version of “and others.” Most commonly, et al. indicates more than one contributor, such as multiple authors or editors, in a work.

In APA Style citations, et al. is used to indicate a cited work with three or more authors and serves as a way to condense the in-text citation to avoid confusion and unnecessary length. An APA in-text citation with three or more authors will include only the first author’s name plus “et al.” in every citation.

Citing multiple authors in APA Style is similar to MLA Style . For one or two authors, list the last name(s) followed by the year of publication. 

• One author: (Beyonce, 1997)
• Contributors: Daryl Hall and John Oates

To cite three or more authors using APA Style, use only the first author’s last name listed, plus “et al.” 

• Contributors: Earth, Wind and Fire

When two separate sources have the same abbreviated et al. form , spell out as many last names as needed to distinguish the sources from each other. It may include two last names followed by et al.

Similarly, when the first authors of separate sources share the same last name but have different initials, use their first initials in the in-text citations.

• Beyonce Knowles & Solange Knowles

In-text citation for various author types in APA

You may face a challenging situation where you must cite a group author , such as an institution or university, rather than a list of authors’ names. In this instance, you’ll list the group or organization.

• Group author: (Furman University, 2020)

If the group also has an abbreviation to its name, you may note the first and subsequent citations differently to be as concise as possible.

• Group author with abbreviation – 1st citation: (American Psychological Association [APA], 2024)
• Group author with abbreviation – 2nd citation : (APA, 2024)

The most common mistake when citing sources is forgetting to cite a source. One way to ensure you include all required sources is to document and manage your sources as you use their ideas within the document. This may mean you create the citations as you conduct your research, create your outline or type the final paper.

Some applications exist to help you manage and document citations, including EasyBib , Mendeley , EndNote and Zotero . Depending on your writing style, these applications can help you create citations, save your research sources, annotate documents and format references. 

Regarding best practices for in-text citations in APA Style, it’s good practice to proofread your citations and reference list together. When citing multiple authors, ensure all spellings are accurate and consistent throughout the document and reference list. Refer to the APA Style Publication Manual and other guideline reference documents to confirm your citing within the latest citation guidelines.

Giving credit to other authors who have shaped your research and ideas is incredibly important. You can do so without risking plagiarism accusations through in-text citations that are marked and referenced. Not only does it provide you with an honest and accurate reputation, but it also helps your readers gain more valuable knowledge from other sources.

Citing sources should not discourage you from sharing your knowledge within academic writing. Sooner or later, you’ll become a pro at in-text citations in APA style! The more you write, the more familiar you’ll become with the guidelines; you’ll no longer need to reference the style guides for help.

The perspectives and thoughts shared in the Furman Blog belong solely to the author and may not align with the official stance or policies of Furman University. All referenced sources were accurate as of the date of publication.

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Q. How do I refer to a book by title in-text in APA format?

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Answered By: Gabe Gossett Last Updated: Jun 22, 2023     Views: 647328

The basic format for an in-text citation is: Title of the Book (Author Last Name, year).

One author: Where the Wild Things Are (Sendak, 1963) is a depiction of a child coping with his anger towards his mom.

Two authors (cite both names every time): Brabant and Mooney (1986) have used the comic strip to examine evidence of sex role stereotyping. OR The comic strip has been used to examine evidence of sex role stereotyping (Brabant & Mooney, 1986).

Three or more authors (cite the first author plus et al.): Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy (Clare et al., 2016) depicts a young man's experience at the Shadowhunter Academy, a place where being a former vampire is looked down upon.OR Clare et al. (2016) have crafted a unique story about a young man's journey to find himself.

No author: Cite the first few words of the reference entry (usually the title) and the year. Use double quotation marks around the title of an article or chapter, and italicize the title of a periodical, book, brochure, or report. Examples: From the book Study Guide (2000) ... or ("Reading," 1999).

Note: Titles of periodicals, books, brochures, or reports should be in italics and use normal title capitalization rules.

If you are citing multiple sources by multiple authors in-text, you can list all of them by the author's last name and year of publication within the same set of parentheses, separated by semicolons.

Example: (Adams, 1999; Jones & James, 2000; Miller, 1999)

For more information on how to cite books in-text and as a reference entry, see the APA Publication Manual (7th edition) Section 10.2 on pages 321-325 .

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Comments (13)

• This was very useful for me! I was having a really hard time finding information on how to mention an article title AND the author in text in APA so this was very helpful!!! by Ryan Waddell on Jun 27, 2019
• If I just mention that I used a book to teach a topic do I have to include it in the reference list? by Franw on Oct 17, 2019
• @Franw, if it is a source that informs your paper in any way, or if your reader would have reason to look it up, then you should include a full reference list entry for the book. by Gabe [Research & Writing Studio] on Oct 18, 2019
• Maybe I'm misunderstanding the question, but I think the OP is asking how to refer to a book title, not how to cite one. I believe APA uses quotation marks around book titles and MLA uses italics. by AB on Dec 12, 2019
• @AB: The first sentence has been tweaked to clarify title of book usage, reflecting the examples given. For APA style you should use italics for book titles. It would be quotation marks. by Gabe [Research & Writing Studio] on Dec 12, 2019
• Hi, can any one help me with in-text-citation of this, how can i cite it in the text Panel, I. L. (2002). Digital transformation: A framework for ICT literacy. Educational Testing Service, 1-53. by Milad on Aug 20, 2021
• @Milad: In that case it would be (Panel, 2002). If you are quoting, or otherwise choosing to include page numbers, put a comma after the year, then p. and the page number(s). by Gabe Gossett on Aug 20, 2021
• Hey, I'm a little bit curious, what if I'm mentioning a book and paraphrasing it but still want to give credit. Would I put the information into parenthesis instead? Like: Paraphrased info. ("Title in Italics" Author, year) by Kai on Sep 14, 2023
• @Kai: Apologies for not seeing your question sooner! (Our academic year has not started yet). If I am understanding your question correctly, what I suggest is referring to the book title in the narrative of your writing, rather than in the in-text citation. I do not see an examples of using a book title in an in-text citation except for rare circumstances including citing a classic religious text or using the title when there is no author information because it is the start of your reference list entry. Basically, APA's in-text convention is supposed to make it easy for your reader to locate the source being cited in the reference list. So the first part of the in-text citation, usually authors, comes first to locate it alphabetically. Putting the book title first when you have an author name can throw that off. by Gabe Gossett on Sep 21, 2023
• Perhaps this is along the lines of the response to Kai - Can you reference a book title as a common point of social understanding to demonstrate a common concept? Is official citing required if you use widely known titles such as "Where's Waldo" and "Who Moved My Cheese?" to make a point of illustration? by Chez Renee on Sep 30, 2023
• @Chez: Aside from some classical religious texts, if it is a published book, I'd try to make sure that it is appropriately cited for APA style. That said, I think I understand where it gets tricky with things like Where's Waldo, since that is a series of books and stating "Where's Waldo" is a cultural reference many people would understand, though you can't reasonably cite the entire series. I don't believe that APA gives guidance for this particular issue. If it is being referred to in order to back up a claim, it would help to cite a particular book. If not, then it might work to use a statement such as, "Hanford's Where's Waldo series . . ." by Gabe Gossett on Oct 02, 2023
• How to cite a dissertation thesis in apa form? by Elizabeth on Feb 05, 2024
• @Elizabeth: For citing a dissertation or thesis you can check out our page answering that here https://askus.library.wwu.edu/faq/153308 by Gabe Gossett on Feb 05, 2024

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Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Reference List: Author/Authors

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

Note:  This page reflects the latest version of the APA Publication Manual (i.e., APA 7), which released in October 2019. The equivalent resource for the older APA 6 style  can be found here .

The following rules for handling works by a single author or multiple authors apply to all APA-style references in your reference list, regardless of the type of work (book, article, electronic resource, etc.).

Note:  Because the information on this page pertains to virtually all citations, we've highlighted a few important differences between APA 6 and APA 7 with underlined notes written in red.

Single Author

Last name first, followed by author initials.

Ahmed, S. (2012).  On being included: Racism and diversity in institutional life . Duke University Press.

Two Authors

List by their last names and initials. Separate author names with a comma. Use the ampersand instead of "and."

Soto, C. J., & John, O. P. (2017). The next big five inventory (BFI-2): Developing and assessing a hierarchical model with 15 facets to enhance bandwidth, fidelity, and predictive power. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 113 (1), 117-143. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000096

Three to Twenty Authors

List by last names and initials; commas separate author names, while the last author name is preceded again by ampersand.  This is a departure from APA 6, which only required listing the first six authors before an ellipsis and the final author's name.

Nguyen, T., Carnevale, J. J., Scholer, A. A., Miele, D. B., & Fujita, K. (2019). Metamotivational knowledge of the role of high-level and low-level construal in goal-relevant task performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 117 (5), 879-899. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000166

More Than Twenty Authors

List by last names and initials; commas separate author names. After the first 19 authors’ names, use an ellipsis in place of the remaining author names. Then, end with the final author's name (do not place an ampersand before it). There should be no more than twenty names in the citation in total.

Pegion, K., Kirtman, B. P., Becker, E., Collins, D. C., LaJoie, E., Burgman, R., Bell, R., DelSole, R., Min, D., Zhu, Y., Li, W., Sinsky, E., Guan, H., Gottschalck, J., Metzger, E. J., Barton, N. P., Achuthavarier, D., Marshak, J., Koster, R., . . .  Kim, H. (2019). The subseasonal experiment (SubX): A multimodel subseasonal prediction experiment. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society , 100 (10), 2043-2061. https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-18-0270.1

Group Author

Group authors can include corporations, government agencies, organizations, etc; and a group may publish in coordination with individuals. Here, you simply treat the publishing organization the same way you'd treat the author's name and format the rest of the citation as normal. Be sure to give the full name of the group author in your reference list, although abbreviations may be used in your text.

Entries in reference works (  e.g. dictionaries, thesauruses, and encyclopedias) without credited authors are also considered works with group authors.

Merriam-Webster. (2008). Braggadocio. In Merriam-Webster’s Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary . Merriam-Webster.

When a work has multiple layers of group authorship (e.g. The Office of the Historian, which is a part of the Department of State, publishes something), list the most specific agency as the author and the parent agency as the publisher.

Bureau of International Organization Affairs. (2018). U.S. contributions to international organizations, 2017 [Annual report]. U.S. Department of State. https://www.state.gov/u-s-contributions-to-international-organizations/

Unknown Author

When the work does not have an author move the title of the work to the beginning of the references and follow with the date of publication. Only use “Anonymous ” if the author is the work is signed “Anonymous.” This is a new addition to APA 7.

Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary (11th ed.). (2003). Merriam-Webster.

NOTE : When your essay includes parenthetical citations of sources with no author named, use a shortened version of the source's title instead of an author's name. Use quotation marks and italics as appropriate. For example, parenthetical citations of the source above would appear as follows: ( Merriam-Webster's , 2003).

Two or More Works by the Same Author

Use the author's name for all entries and list the entries by the year (earliest comes first). List references with no dates before references with dates.

Urcuioli, P. J. (n.d.).

Urcuioli, P. J. (2011). 

Urcuioli, P. J.  (2015).

When an author appears both as a sole author and, in another citation, as the first author of a group, list the one-author entries first.

Agnew, C. R. (Ed.). (2014). Social influences on romantic relationships: Beyond the dyad . Cambridge University Press.

Agnew, C. R., & South, S. C. (Eds.). (2014). Interpersonal relationships and health: Social and clinical psychological mechanisms. Oxford University Press.

References that have the same first author and different second and/or third authors are arranged alphabetically by the last name of the second author, or the last name of the third if the first and second authors are the same.

Arriaga, X. B., Capezza, N. M., Reed, J. T., Wesselman, E. D., & Williams, K. D. (2014). With partners like you, who needs strangers?: Ostracism involving a romantic partner. Personal Relationships, 21(4) , 557-569.

Arriaga, X. B., Kumashiro, M., Finkel, E. J., VanderDrift, L. E., & Luchies, L. B. (2014). Filling the void: Bolstering attachment security in committed relationships. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 5 (4), 398-405.

Two or More Works by the Same Author in the Same Year

If you are using more than one reference by the same author—or the same group of authors listed in the same order—published in the same year, first check to see if they have more specific dates ( this recommendation is new to APA 7) . Works with only a year should be listed before those with a more specific date. List specific dates chronologically.  If two works have the same publication date, organize them in the reference list alphabetically by the title of the article or chapter. If references with the same date are identified as parts of a series (e.g. Part 1 and Part 2), list them in order of their place in the series. Then assign letter suffixes to the year. Refer to these sources in your essay as they appear in your reference list, e.g.: "Berndt (2004a) makes similar claims..."

Berndt, T. J. (2004a).  Children’s friendships: Shifts over a half-century in perspectives on their development and their effects.  Merrill Palmer Quarterly, 50 (3) , 206-223.

Berndt, T. J. (2004b).  Friendship and three A’s (aggression, adjustment, and attachment).  Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 88 (1) , 1-4.

Introductions, Prefaces, Forewords, and Afterwords

Cite the publishing information about a book as usual, but cite Introduction, Preface, Foreword, or Afterword (whatever title is applicable) as the chapter of the book.

Lang, J. M. (2018). Introduction. In Dujardin, G., Lang, J. M., & Staunton, J. A. (Eds.), Teaching the literature survey course (pp. 1-8). West Virginia University Press.

Depressive Disorders

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