Citing Sources in APA Style 7th edition: In-Text Citations

Whenever you use someone else's ideas in your own work, whether it be a direct quote or paraphrase, you must cite that source in your text. The in-text citation should include the authors last name, and year published, and should correspond with an entry in your references list.

Falsely balanced news coverage can distort the public's perception of expert consensus on an issue (Koehler, 2016).

Koehler (2016) noted the dangers of falsely balanced news coverage.

When to Include Page Numbers

If your paper has a direct quotation, you must also include a page number where the quotation can be found (see the Quotations page).

Although it is not required to provide a page number for a paraphrase, you may include one when it would help the reader locate the relevant passage in a long or complex work.

 

Specific examples from a source

If the passage in your paper refers to a quote, statistic, chart, or similar specific example from a source, indicate the page (or paragraph, web page section, chapter, figure, etc.) where the example is found.

(Armstrong, 2015, p. 172).

    or

Armstrong (2015) found a wide range of communication preferences among various age groups (p. 172).

Non-page examples

(Shadid, 2020, para. 8)

(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2019, Vaccine Benefits section)

(Kovacic & Horvat, 2017, Table 1)

 

One author

This point has already been argued (Tannen, 2012).   or   Tannen (2012) has argued this point...

 

Two authors

(Salas & D'Agostino, 2018)  or   Salas and D'Agostino (2018) observed the same results.

 

Three or more authors

Use the first author and et al.

(Martin et al., 2013)  or   The study by Martin et al. (2013) found that....

 

Group authors

(Stanford University, 2016)

Group author with abbreviation

First citation: (National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2020)

Subsequent citations: (NIMH, 2020)

 

Works without authors

Use the title and the year of publication.  If the title is italicized in the reference list, also italicize it in the in-text citation. If the title is not italicized in the reference list, use double quotation marks around the title.

Book with no author:  (Interpersonal Skills, 2019)

Magazine article with no author:  ("Understanding Sensory Memory," 2018)

 

Works without a date

If the publication date of a work us unknown or cannot be determined, use "n.d." (which stands for "no date").

(Gagnon, n.d.)   or   A similar theory was developed by Gagnon (n.d.).

 

Different works with the same author and date

Include a lowercase letter after the year (in both the in-text citation and the reference entries).

(Judge & Kammeyer-Mueller, 2012a)
(Judge & Kammeyer-Mueller, 2012b)

 

Citing multiple works

When citing multiple works parenthetically, place the citations in alphabetical order, separating them with semicolons.

(Adams et al., 2019; Shumway & Shulman, 2015; Westinghouse, 2017)

 

Citing a secondary source

If possible, find the original source, and cite that directly. If the original source is unavailable, provide a reference entry for the secondary source you used.  In the in-text citation, identify the primary source and then write "as cited in" and the secondary source you used.

(Rabbitt, 1982, as cited in Lyon et al., 2014).

 

Personal communication (in person & electronic)

Give the initial(s) and last name of the communicator, the words "personal communication", and an exact date as possible.

(T. Nguyen, personal communication, August 8, 2019)

    or

T. Nguyen indicated that... (personal communication, August 8, 2019).

Do not include personal communication in the references list.