APA In-Text Citations: The Basics
When using APA format, follow the author-date method of in-text citation. This means that the author’s last name and the year of publication for the source should appear in the text, like, for example, (Jones, 1998).
The APA in-text citation style uses the author’s last name and the year of publication, for example: (Field, 2005).
For directly quoted material, include the page number in the citation as well, like this: (Recht, 2016, p. 7).
Multiple sources by the same author(s) in the same year should be identified with lower case letters (a, b, c, etc.) after the year. For example: (Argamon et al., 2011a); (Argamon et al., 2011b).
A basic in-text citation for a direct quote from a source would follow the conventions of:
(Haines, 2005, para. 9).
Multiple citations by the same author in the same year should be cited as (Jones, 2019a) and (Jones, 2019b) to differentiate between sources.
When citing indirect sources (an idea from one text that is quoted in another source), use “as cited in” and cite both sources:
(Smith, 2006, as cited in Johnson, 2009).
For sources without page numbers such as website pages, in-text citations just include the author and year of publication:
(Melrose, 2020).
Specifics to Remember About In-Text Citations
Incorporate author names and years of publication smoothly into your sentences to reduce awkward phrasing. Here are some examples:
Smith (2020) found that…
As recently shown (Morris, 2019),…
Research in this area (Teller et al., 2018) has investigated…
According to recent findings on memory and recall (Jones, 2020),…
Page numbers are required for direct quotes but not for indirect references or paraphrases. This citation would include the page number:
“Memory is malleable and can be distorted over time” (Thompson, 2016, p. 27).
For two author names in the same in-text citation, connect with and:
(Brown and King, 2019)
For three, four or five authors in the in-text citation, list all authors the first time and use “et al.” for subsequent citations:
(Black et al., 2018)
(Black et al., 2018)
If the work has six or more authors, use the first author followed by “et al.”:
(Smith et al., 2017)
Citing Specific Parts of a Source
To cite a specific part of a source (figure, table, equation, etc.), include the label “Figure” and the number of the figure/table in your in-text citation:
(As illustrated in Figure 1,)
When citing statistics, page numbers are not required but you should provide as much descriptive information within the text as possible to help readers locate the information:
In 2019, over 45% of the population reported feelings of isolation (Smith, 2019).
Secondary Sources in APA Format
If you use a source that was cited in another source, name the original source in your signal phrase. List the secondary source in your reference list and cite it in parentheses:
As Kennedy (as cited in Smith, 2020) noted…
(Kennedy as cited in Smith, 2020).
Citing Groups or Organizations
Cite the full name of the group or organization the first time as well as the year:
(American Psychological Association [APA], 2020)
Subsequent in-text citations can use only the acronym:
(APA, 2020)
How to Cite Legal and Official Sources
Cite government agencies and other organizations using the following format:
(U.S. Department of Education, 2021)
Include document numbers or report numbers if available:
(Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI], 2020)
Government sources do not require digital object identifiers (DOIs). Page numbers are not always provided so omit them from in-text citations if unavailable.
Group Author Citations
Group authors may be referenced with the name of the group:
(World Health Organization [WHO], 2018)
Abbreviate the group name after the first mention:
(WHO, 2018)
Citing and Formatting References
Remember that APA format establishes clear guidelines for citing sources in the text of your paper as well as on the references page. Be sure to check that all citations and references match perfectly between text and list.
Section Wrap-Up on APA In-Text Citations
To wrap up, APA in-text citations contain basic information about a source such as the author name and date of publication or just the date. Page numbers are included for verbatim quotes. Variations exist for citing specific parts of a source or indirect sources. Remember to check each in-text citation matches its full reference at the end. Careful use of APA format ensures proper credit and accountability in scholarly communication.