In-Text Citations
A Work by One Author
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). One complete reference for each source should
appear in the reference list at the end of the paper.
If you are referring to an idea from another work but NOT directly quoting the material,
or making reference to an entire book, article or other work, you only have to make
reference to the author and year of publication and not the page number in your in-text
reference.
On the other hand, if you are directly quoting or borrowing from another work, you
should include the page number at the end of the parenthetical citation. Use the
abbreviation “p.” (for one page) or “pp.” (for multiple pages) before listing the page
number(s). Use an en dash for page ranges. For example, you might write (Jones, 1998,
p. 199) or (Jones, 1998, pp. 199–201). Regardless of how they are referenced, all sources
that are cited in the text must appear in the reference list at the end of the paper.
A Work by Two Authors
Name both authors in the signal phrase or in parentheses each time you cite the work.
Use the word "and" between the authors' names within the text and use the ampersand
in parentheses.
Research by Wegener and Petty (1994) supports...
(Wegener & Petty, 1994)
A Work by Three or More Authors
List only the first author’s name followed by “et al.” in every citation, even the first, unless
doing so would create ambiguity between different sources.
(Kernis et al., 1993)
Kernis et al. (1993) suggest...
In et al., et should not be followed by a period. Only "al" should be followed by a period.
Short quotations
If you are directly quoting from a work, you will need to include the author, year of
publication, and page number for the reference (preceded by "p." for a single page and
“pp.” for a span of multiple pages, with the page numbers separated by an en dash).
You can introduce the quotation with a signal phrase that includes the author's last name
followed by the date of publication in parentheses.
According to Jones (1998), “students often had difficulty using APA style, especially when it
was their first time” (p. 199).
Jones (1998) found “students often had difficulty using APA style” (p. 199); what implications
does this have for teachers?
If you do not include the author’s name in the text of the sentence, place the author's
last name, the year of publication, and the page number in parentheses after the
quotation.
She stated, “students often had difficulty using APA style” (Jones, 1998, p. 199), but she did
not offer an explanation as to why.
Long quotations
Place direct quotations that are 40 words or longer in a free-standing block of typewritten
lines and omit quotation marks. Start the quotation on a new line, indented 1/2 inch from
the left margin, i.e., in the same place you would begin a new paragraph. Type the entire
quotation on the new margin, and indent the first line of any subsequent paragraph
within the quotation 1/2 inch from the new margin. Maintain double-spacing throughout,
but do not add an extra blank line before or after it. The parenthetical citation should
come after the closing punctuation mark.
Summary or paraphrase
If you are paraphrasing an idea from another work, you only have to make reference to
the author and year of publication in your in-text reference and may omit the page
numbers.
According to Jones (1998), APA style is a difficult citation format for first-time
learners.Purdue OWL
