There are two components of an APA style citation: the in-text citation (parenthetical or narrative), as well as the full Reference List entry at the end of the paper. Both components provide the information necessary for the reader to locate and retrieve the source(s) used to inform a paper. Each cited source in the text of your paper (in-text citation), must also appear in the Reference List. The following tabs contain examples of both parts of an APA citation.
Complete Citation
Your complete citation should include the name of the author, date of publication, the title of the source, the title of the journal/website, identifying information such as volume, issue, and page numbers, and either a DOI or a URL if available. This gets alphabetized and placed in the References section at the end of your paper.
Example:
Hanauer, N. (2019, July). Education isn't enough. Atlantic, 324(1), 19-22.
In-Text Citation
Your in-text citation contains the last name of the author, the publication year, and page number (for direct quotes only), and is placed in the text of the sentence to which it relates. There are a few ways to do this, parenthetically, narratively, and using a direct quote. Parenthetical citations place the relevant information at the end of your sentence in parentheses, while narrative citations allow for the relevant information to be conveyed in the body of your sentence. As for direct quotes, there are a variety of ways to use them in your paper. APA style prefers that you frame them using your own words rather than simply dropping a quote in as its own sentence. See below for examples of each.
Parenthetical Citation Example:
The percentage of Americans with high-school diplomas has increased from approximately 50% in 1970 to 90% today (Hanauer, 2019).
Narrative Citation Example:
Hanauer (2019) found that the percentage of Americans with high-school diplomas has increased from approximately 50% in 1970 to 90% today.
Direct Quote Example:
One way to increase the quality of public schools is to “pay people enough to afford dignified middle-class lives” (Hanauer, 2019, p. 20).
Citing Multiple Works
When citing two or more sources in the same parentheses, alphabetize the citations, and separate each with a semicolon.
Example: (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, n.d.; Everly & Lating, 2017; Shukman, 2019)
In-text citations can change based upon the number of authors that a source has. Follow the examples below for creating accurate in-text citations for your references.
Reference List |
Shukman, D. (2019, April 2). What does air pollution do to our bodies?. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-47777103 |
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| In-Text Citation |
Parenthetical (Shukman, 2019) |
Narrative Shukman (2019) |
Direct Quote (Shukman, 2019) |
Reference List |
Everly, G.S., Jr., & Lating, J. M. (2017). The Johns Hopkins guide to psychological first aid. Johns Hopkins University Press. |
||
| In-Text Citation |
Parenthetical (Everly & Lating, 2017) |
Narrative Everly & Lating (2017) |
Direct Quote (Everly & Lating, 2017, p. 86) |
Reference List |
Schwartz, J., Bind, M.-A., & Koutrakis, P. (2017). Estimating causal effects of local air pollution on daily deaths: Effect of low levels. Environmental Health Perspectives, 125(1), 23–29. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP232 |
||
| In-Text Citation |
Parenthetical (Schwartz et al., 2017) |
Narrative Schwartz et al. (2017) |
Direct Quote (Schwartz et al., 2017, p. 24) |
*If there are 21 or more authors, consult section 9.8 of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th Edition.
Some sources will not have individual authors, but rather group authors. In these instances, you will still need to cite the item as you would any source with an author. Follow the example below for an accurate in-text citation of a source with a group author.
It is important to note that you should always define the abbreviation for a group author only once in the text. Thereafter, use the abbreviation for all mentions of the group in the text. See sections 8.21 and 9.11 of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th Edition for more information.
Reference List |
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.) About high blood pressure. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.cdc.gov/bloodpressure/about.htm |
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| First In-Text Citation | Parenthetical (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], n.d.) |
Narrative Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] (n.d.) |
Direct Quote n/a |
| Subsequent In-Text Citations | Parenthetical (CDC, n.d.) |
Narrative CDC (n.d.) |
Direct Quote n/a |
At times you will come across sources where there is no author listed. If this happens, use a shortened version of the title in your in-text citation. If the title is italicized in the reference entry, italicize it in your in-text citation. If the title is not italicized in the reference entry, place it in quotation marks. See section 8.14 of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th Edition for more information.
| Reference List |
Charles Hull. (n.d.). National Inventors Hall of Fame. https://www.invent.org/inductees/charles-hull Where angels no longer fear to tread. (2008, March 19). The Economist, 386(8572), pp. 89-92. https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2008/03/19/where-angels-no-longer-fear-to-tread |
||
| In-Text Citation |
Parenthetical |
Narrative |
Direct Quote (Charles Hull, n.d.) (“Where angels,” 2008, p. 91) |
There are different ways to format quotes when they are used in your paper. Follow the guidelines below for proper formatting.
Short Quotations (Fewer than 40 words)
Include the quotation in the regular text of your paper. Be sure to use quotation marks and add an in-text citation with a page number (if applicable).
Example:
She stated, "Students often had difficulty using APA style," (Jones, 1998, p. 199), but she did not offer an explanation as to why.
Block Quotations (40 words or more)
If a quote has 40 or more words, treat it as a block quote. Start the block quote on its own line and indent the entire quote 0.5” from the left margin, be sure that it is also double-spaced, with no extra spaces before or after it. Do not use quotation marks for block quotes.
Use a parenthetical citation after the closing punctuation for the sentence or use the author and year in a narrative introduction before the quote. If you choose to use a narrative introduction, be sure to include the page number of the quote after the final punctuation.
Example 1:
There are a variety of barriers to student success when working on research assignments. An example of these barriers is citation style and formatting. Jones (1998) argues the following based on her experience as an instructor:
Students often had difficulty using APA style, especially when it was their first time citing sources. This difficulty could be
attributed to the fact that many students failed to purchase a style manual or to ask their teacher for help. (p. 199)
Example 2:
There are a variety of barriers to student success when working on research assignments. An example of these barriers is citation style and formatting. Based on their experiences, some instructors found that:
Students often had difficulty using APA style, especially when it was their first time citing sources. This difficulty could be attributed to the fact that many students failed to purchase a style manual or to ask their teacher for help (Jones, 1998, p. 199).
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