APA Style: In-text Citations

About In-text Citations

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).

How to Cite References in Your Text

In the name-year system, in-text references contain the last name of the author(s) and the year of publication of the document. Enclose the name and year in parentheses. Leave a space between name and year. Place a comma after the author's name. In-text citations can be parenthetical or narrative, see below.

Example:

The most recent report on the use of experiments shows a correlation between results and participants (Brown, 2006).

OR

Brown's (2006) recent report on the use of experiments shows a correlation between results and participants.

Exceptions to this rule occur when no definitive author or publication date is present. This often occurs when citing websites. When no date is available use the abbreviation n.d. for no date. When no author is available you will use a corporation name, an editor, or a title of the webpage/website/chapter/encyclopedia entry. See in-text examples for a full explanation.

Page number(s) can be included to be more precise in your citations. When using a direct quote, page numbers are necessary.

Example: 

Ness, George, Turner, & Bolgatz (2010) describe social justice "as the process of confronting and dismantling oppressive structures and systems, the process of addressing inequalities of all kinds, and the process of developing recognition of and respect for the values and identities of all cultural groups" (pp. 89-90).

OR

The authors describe social justice "as the process of confronting and dismantling oppressive structures and systems, the process of addressing inequalities of all kinds, and the process of developing recognition of and respect for the values and identities of all cultural groups" (Ness, George, Turner, & Bolgatz, 2010, pp. 89-90).

When no page numbers are available use a paragraph number, section title, timestamp (for audiovisual materials), or use the chapter/verse/act/line/or canto instead. Use the abbreviation para. before a paragraph number.

APA 7th Edition: The Basics of APA In-text Citations