Skip to Main Content

APA Citation and Format

Learn how to cite and format your papers according to APA.

In-text Citations

General Rules for In-Text Citations

 

When should I cite?

Whenever you:

  • quote a source
  • paraphrase a source (even if it's in your own words)
  • summarize a source
  • borrow an image, graph, statistic, etc.

 

Where do I cite?

Always cite the source in two places:

1. An abbreviated citation goes in the text of your paper immediately adjacent to the borrowed material (see In-Text Citations page)

2. The full citation should be listed in the References at the end of your paper (see References page)

 

How do I cite in-text?

  • Include the author's last name, year of publication, and page/paragraph number
  • Quotes (using an author's exact words): use quotation marks around the quoted material
  • Paraphrases and summaries: do not include quotation marks
  • You can use a signal phrase to introduce the author in a sentence, OR place the author's last name, the year of publication, and the page number in parentheses after the borrowed information.

 

Page versus Paragraph

When citing a book, journal article, or other paged source, use the page number of the borrowed material.

  • For one page, use p. 
  • For more than one page, use pp. 
  • If summarizing an entire work, page numbers may be omitted.

When citing a source without page numbers (such as websites), use the paragraph number.

  • Regardless of how many paragraphs you are citing, use para.

 

Examples: 

Spencer (2006) notes that it is acceptable "to state the author's name at the beginning of the sentence, rather than always putting it in the parenthetical citation" (pp. 5-6). 

Many students still refuse to "separate the author from the citation at the end of the quoted material" (Spencer, 2006, pp. 5-6).

Acquiring effective study habits is the most important indicator of first-year college student success ("Students," 2002, para. 3).

According to the World Health Organization (2016), 5-10% of all cancer-related deaths in Bangladesh stem from arsenic poisoning that pollutes the region (para. 9-10).

 

Unknown Date

If a date cannot be found for a source, use n.d. ( = no date).

  • Example: Not every source, especially web sources, provide a concrete publication date (Smith, n.d., p. 3).

Author Type If Using Signal Phrase  In-Text Citation
Single author Hatch (2017) (Hatch, 2017, p.7)
Two authors Hatch and Wesson (2017) (Hatch & Wesson, 2017, p.7)
Three or more authors

Hatch et al. (2017)

*note that the in-text citation will only list the first author, but the reference list entry must include all authors, up to 20 names.

 (Hatch et al., 2017, p.7)
Two authors with same last name

R. Mariano (2011) 

A. Mariano (2004)

(R. Mariano, 2011)

(A. Mariano, 2004)
Two works by same author

Diaz (2003)

Diaz (2010)

(Diaz, 2003, para. 5)

(Diaz, 2010, pp. 12-13)
Two works by same author in same year

Probst (2016a)

Probst (2016b)

(Probst, 2016a)

(Probst, 2016b)
Different works in same citation Hatch (2017) and Diaz (2010) (Hatch, 2017; Diaz, 2010)
Organization as Author World Health Organization (2016) (World Health Organization, 2016, para.9-10)
Unknown Author

Mention the work's title in the text or give the first word or two of the title in the in-text citation (2017)

If the author is listed as Anonymous, or uses a screen name, treat it as a real name.

("Title of article in quotes", 2017, p.1)

(Title of book, journal, or other publication in italics, 2017, p.1)

(Anonymous, 2017, para. 3)
No Date Provided Smith (n.d.) (Smith, n.d., p.3)

*Note: Date can only be excluded if there are no other works by the same author(s) cited in the paper.