In-text citations are essential when writing a research paper. They allow you to give credit to those individuals or organizations whose ideas, theories, and research you have relied on in your own work. In-text citations are brief and are included within the body of your paper, right after you have cited a source. The formatting of in-text citations differs depending on whether you are directly quoting or paraphrasing a source. This guide will provide an overview of how to format both types of in-text citations in APA style.
Direct Quotations
For direct word-for-word quotes, you need to include both the author’s last name and the year of publication in your in-text citation. The page number from which the quote is taken also needs to be included. For example:
According to Jones (2020), “Students often have difficulty formatting in-text citations correctly” (p. 200).
The page number is essential for direct quotes to allow readers to verify the cited information themselves if necessary. If the author’s name is mentioned in the text, only include the year in parentheses:
As Jones (2020) stated, “Students often have difficulty formatting in-text citations correctly” (p. 200).
If you cite back-to-back sentences from the same source, list the page number only for the first quote and omit it for subsequent quotes:
“Students often have difficulty formatting in-text citations correctly” (Jones, 2020, p. 200). Jones further notes that “failure to cite sources properly can result in accusations of plagiarism” (2020).
Paraphrasing or Referencing Ideas
When paraphrasing or referencing an idea or piece of information from a source, include only the author’s last name and year of publication in parentheses:
Research shows that proper citation is important (Jones, 2020).
If the author’s name is mentioned in the text, only include the year:
Jones (2020) found that proper citation is important.
You do not need to include the page number for a paraphrase since it is not a word-for-word quote. The in-text citation is still necessary to give credit to the original author.
Citing Multiple Sources
When citing multiple sources to support a single point, separate the in-text citations with semicolons:
Correct citation is an important skill (Jones, 2020; Smith, 2018; Davis, 2016).
List the in-text citations alphabetically by the authors’ last names. If sources with the same publication year are cited, organize them alphabetically by their authors’ surnames and use lowercase letters after the date to differentiate between them:
Research on citation has been conducted (Brown, 2020a; Brown, 2020b; Smith, 2020).
Citing Sources with No Author
If a source does not list an individual author, use an abbreviated version of the source title in place of the author’s name in the in-text citation. Use double quotation marks around the title:
Proper formatting is essential (“Citation Guidelines,” 2020).
Citing Indirect Sources
If you are referring to or quoting a source that was originally cited within another source, you need to cite the original source but make it clear that you have not read that work directly. Use “as cited in” and include the secondary source in the reference list:
Wilson (2020) argued that students frequently misunderstand APA style citations (as cited in Smith, 2018).
Reference List
All sources cited in the text must correspond to full references in the reference list at the end of the paper. List references alphabetically by author last name. Include the author(s), publication year, title of source, publication details for books or journals. Single space, but add an extra blank line between each reference. Correct formatting of in-text citations and reference list entries are required for the reader to be able to easily locate and retrieve your cited sources.
In-text citations allow a reader to locate sources cited within the body of your paper. They play an important role in academic writing by giving credit to original authors and ideas. Formatting citations correctly according to APA style guidelines is necessary to comply with scholarly writing standards and avoid plagiarism accusations. Paying careful attention to details such as capitalization, punctuation and author information leads to citations that are seamless and allow readers to validate your cited sources themselves. Proper in-text citations are achievable by following the APA Manual and the guidelines summarized in this article.