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Cite Your Sources: In-Text Citations

FORMATTING IN-TEXT CITATIONS IN APA

Format

(Last Name, Year of Publication)

 

Parenthetical In-Text Citation

The moon is made of green cheese (Smith, 2022).

 

Narrative In-Text Citation

Smith (2022) argues the moon is made of green cheese.

Format

(Last Name & Last Name, Year of Publication)

 

Parenthetical In-Text Citation

The moon is made of green cheese (Blair & Jackson, 1982).

 

Narrative In-Text Citation

Blair & Jackson (1982) argue the moon is made of green cheese.

Format

(Last Name et al., Year of Publication)

 

Parenthetical In-Text Citation

The moon is made of green cheese (Vetter et al., 1990).

 

Narrative In-Text Citation

Vetter et al. (1990) argue the moon is made of green cheese.

 

Format

First In-Text Citation:
(Full Organization Name [Abbreviation], Year of Publication)

Following In-Text Citations:
(Abbreviation, Year of Publication)

 

Parenthetical In-Text Citation

First In-Text Citation:
The moon is made of green cheese (National Aeronautics and Space Administration [NASA], 1968).

Following In-Text Citations:
Astronauts will visit the moon to test this hypothesis (NASA, 1968).

 

Narrative In-Text Citation

First In-Text Citation:
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA, 1968) argues the moon is made of green cheese.

Following In-Text Citations:
NASA (1968) will send astronauts to the moon to test this hypothesis.

Anonymous Author:

Use when the author of a work is identified specifically as "Anonymous."

Format

(Anonymous, Year of Publication)

 

Parenthetical In-Text Citation

The moon is made of green cheese (Anonymous, 1974).

 

Narrative In-Text Citation

Anonymous (1974) argues the moon is made of green cheese.

 

Unknown Author:

Use when the author of a work is not named.

Format

Article:
("Shortened Title," Year of Publication)

Book:
(Shortened Title, Year of Publication)

 

Parenthetical In-Text Citation

Article:
The moon is made of green cheese ("Lunar Composition," 2001).

Book:
The moon is made of green cheese (Lunar Composition, 2001).

 

Narrative In-Text Citation

Article:
In "Lunar Composition of Earth's Moon" (2001), experts argue the moon is made of green cheese. 

Book:
In Lunar Composition of Earth's Moon (2001), experts argue the moon is made of green cheese. 

 

Multiple Authors, Same Sentence:

Arrange in alphabetical order, just like your Reference List.

Format

(Last Name, Year of Publication; Last Name & Last Name, Year of Publication; Last Name et al., Year of Publication)

 

Parenthetical In-Text Citation

The moon is made of green cheese (Blair & Jackson, 1982; Smith, 2022; Vetter et al., 1990).

 

Narrative In-Text Citation

Blair & Jackson (1982), Smith (2022), and Vetter et al. (1990) argue the moon is made of green cheese.

 

Same Author, Different Sources, Same Year:

Assign lowercase letter suffix (a, b, c, d, etc.) to the year in Reference List entries and in-text citations.

Format

(Last Name, Year of Publication + a)

(Last Name, Year of Publication + b)

 

Parenthetical In-Text Citation

The moon is made of green cheese (Perez, 2010a). However, it is not recommended astronauts eat the surface (Perez, 2010b).

 

Narrative In-Text Citation

Perez (2010a) argues the moon is made of green cheese. However, Perez (2010b) does not recommend astronauts eat the surface. 

 

Different Authors, Same Name:

Include full first names if authors happen to share their first initial.

Format

(First Initial. Last Name, Year of Publication)

 

Parenthetical In-Text Citation

The moon is made of green cheese (C. Nguyen, 1999). However, it is not recommended astronauts eat the surface (T. Nguyen, 2008).

 

Narrative In-Text Citation

Dr. Cathy Nguyen (1999) argues the moon is made of green cheese. However, Professor Timothy Nguyen (2008) does not recommend astronauts eat the surface.

 

GUIDELINES FOR APA STYLE IN-TEXT CITATIONS

The purpose of the in-text citation is to briefly identify a source used within your paper. The in-text citation directs readers to the full reference list citation, which provides the information needed to locate the exact source.

Guidelines

  • Each in-text citation must have a corresponding citation in the reference list, and each reference list citation must have a corresponding in-text citation.
  • At a minimum, each in-text citation will include the author and year of publication.
    • If there is no author, your in-text citation will refer to a shortened source title.
    • If there is no year of publication, use the abbreviation "n.d." for "no date"
      • (Smith, n.d.)
  • When citing specific pieces of information such as direct quotes, you will include the page number (or equivalent) from which the information was pulled.
    • For a single page, use the abbreviation "p."
      • (Smith, 2022, p. 24)
    • For multiple pages, use the abbreviation "pp." and separate the page range with a dash
      • (Smith, 2022, pp. 24-25)
    • For pages that are disconnected, use the abbreviation "pp." and a comma between the page numbers
      • (Smith, 2022, pp. 24, 26)
    • For sources without page numbers, provide readers with another way (paragraphs, sections, tables, figures, timestamps, slide numbers, etc.) of locating the original information
      • (Smith, 2022, paras. 2-3)
      • (Smith, 2022, Table 4)
  • An in-text citation can be parenthetical or narrative.
    • In a parenthetical in-text citation, the author and publication date (or equivalent information) appear in parentheses within or at the end of a sentence.
    • In a narrative in-text citation, the author appears in running text and the date appears in parentheses immediately after the author name.
  • Integrate sources into your assignment by paraphrasing or quoting. Both situations require an in-text citation.
    • 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.
    • Quoting is copying a selection from someone else's work and phrasing it exactly as it was originally written. Keep just what you need – you have no obligation to use the author's whole sentence if you don't need it. If you need to change something about the quote for clarity or to fit your own sentence, place the changed word(s) in square brackets. Quotes should always be framed by your own words before and/or after.
Short Quotations (less than 40 words): Block Quotations (40 or more words):

  • Incorporate the quote into the text, and enclose it within double quotation marks.

  • Include author, year of publication, and page number(s).

  • If the author and date are introduced in the sentence as a narrative citation, then add the page number in parentheses at the end of the quote.

    • For example, Smith (2022) demonstrated how to "..." (p. 24).

  • If the author and date are not introduced as part of the text (parenthetical citation), then include the author and date with the page number. The period should come after the parentheses.

    • For example, "..." (Smith, 2022, p. 24).

  • Do not use quotation marks.

  • 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.

  • Use either parenthetical or narrative in-text citations. In either case, do not add a period after the closing parenthesis for block quotations.