parenthetical citation 2 authors apa

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In-Text Citations: Author/Authors

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Though the APA's author-date system for citations is fairly straightforward, author categories can vary significantly from the standard "one author, one source" configuration. There are also additional rules for citing authors of indirect sources, electronic sources, and sources without page numbers.

A Work by One Author 

The APA manual recommends the use of the author-date citation structure for in-text citation references. This structure requires that any in-text citation (i.e., within the body of the text) be accompanied by a corresponding reference list entry. In the in-text citation provide the surname of the author but do not include suffixes such as "Jr.". 

Citing Non-Standard Author Categories

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.

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.

In  et al. , et  should not be followed by a period. Only "al" should be followed by a period.

If you’re citing multiple works with similar groups of authors, and the shortened “et al” citation form of each source would be the same, you’ll need to avoid ambiguity by writing out more names. If you cited works with these authors:

They would be cited in-text as follows to avoid ambiguity:

Since et al. is plural, it should always be a substitute for more than one name. In the case that et al. would stand in for just one author, write the author’s name instead.

Unknown Author

If the work does not have an author, cite the source by its title in the signal phrase or use the first word or two in the parentheses. Titles of books and reports are italicized; titles of articles, chapters, and web pages are in quotation marks. APA style calls for capitalizing important words in titles when they are written in the text (but not when they are written in reference lists).

Note : In the rare case that "Anonymous" is used for the author, treat it as the author's name (Anonymous, 2001). In the reference list, use the name Anonymous as the author.

Organization as an Author

If the author is an organization or a government agency, mention the organization in the signal phrase or in the parenthetical citation the first time you cite the source, just as you would an individual person.

If the organization has a well-known abbreviation, you may include the abbreviation in brackets the first time the source is cited and then use only the abbreviation in later citations. However, if you cite work from multiple organizations whose abbreviations are the same, do not use abbreviations (to avoid ambiguity).

Two or More Works in the Same Parentheses

When your parenthetical citation includes two or more works, order them the same way they appear in the reference list (viz., alphabetically), separated by a semi-colon.

If you cite multiple works by the same author in the same parenthetical citation, give the author’s name only once and follow with dates. No date citations go first, then years, then in-press citations.

Authors with the Same Last Name

To prevent confusion, use first initials with the last names.

Two or More Works by the Same Author in the Same Year

If you have two sources by the same author in the same year, use lower-case letters (a, b, c) with the year to order the entries in the reference list. Use the lower-case letters with the year in the in-text citation.

Introductions, Prefaces, Forewords, and Afterwords

When citing an Introduction, Preface, Foreword, or Afterword in-text, cite the appropriate author and year as usual.

Personal Communication

For interviews, letters, e-mails, and other person-to-person communication, cite the communicator's name, the fact that it was personal communication, and the date of the communication. Do not include personal communication in the reference list.

If using a footnote to reference personal communication, handle citations the same way.

Traditional Knowledge of Indigenous Peoples

When citing information you learned from a conversation with an Indigenous person who was not your research participant, use a variation of the personal communication citation above. Include the person’s full name, nation or Indigenous group, location, and any other relevant details before the “personal communication, date” part of the citation.

Citing Indirect Sources

Generally, writers should endeavor to read primary sources (original sources) and cite those rather than secondary sources (works that report on original sources). Sometimes, however, this is impossible. If you use a source that was cited in another source, name the original source in your signal phrase. List the secondary source in your reference list and include the secondary source in the parentheses. If you know the year of the original source, include it in the citation.

Electronic Sources

If possible, cite an electronic document the same as any other document by using the author-date style.

Unknown Author and Unknown Date

If no author or date is given, use the title in your signal phrase or the first word or two of the title in the parentheses and use the abbreviation "n.d." (for "no date").

Sources Without Page Numbers

When an electronic source lacks page numbers, you should try to include information that will help readers find the passage being cited. Use the heading or section name, an abbreviated heading or section name, a paragraph number (para. 1), or a combination of these.

Note:  Never use the page numbers of webpages you print out; different computers print webpages with different pagination. Do not use Kindle location numbers; instead, use the page number (available in many Kindle books) or the method above. 

Other Sources

The  APA Publication Manual  describes how to cite many different kinds of authors and content creators. However, you may occasionally encounter a source or author category that the manual does not describe, making the best way to proceed unclear.

In these cases, it's typically acceptable to apply the general principles of APA citation to the new kind of source in a way that's consistent and sensible. A good way to do this is to simply use the standard APA directions for a type of source that resembles the source you want to cite. For example, a sensible way to cite a virtual reality program would be to mimic the APA's guidelines for computer software.

You may also want to investigate whether a third-party organization has provided directions for how to cite this kind of source.

Home / Guides / Citation Guides / APA Format / How to cite in APA when there are multiple authors

How to cite in APA when there are multiple authors

This article covers how to cite a reference in APA style (7th ed.) when there are multiple authors. Broadly speaking, in an APA style “the author” refers to the person(s) or group(s) who should be given credit for the work being referenced.

Here’s a run-through of everything this page includes:

In-text citations when there are multiple authors

Reference list entries when there are multiple authors, troubleshooting.

APA 7th ed. uses the author-date citation system for citing references in text. Unless you are citing a source with no author in APA , the structure in parenthetical citations includes placing the author’s last name/surname, followed by a comma, and the publication year in parentheses. In narrative citations, this information is incorporated into the sentence.

Parenthetical citation for one author:

(Author Last Name, Year Published)

(Curtis, 2020)

Narrative citation for one author:

Author Last Name (Year Published)

Curtis (2020)

Two authors

For a work with two authors, include both authors’ last names in every in-text citation, whether narrative or parenthetical. In parenthetical citations, use an ampersand (&) between the authors’ last names.

Parenthetical citation for two authors:

(1st Author & 2nd Author, Year Published)

(Curtis & Williams, 2020)

Narrative citation for two authors:

1st Author & 2nd Author (Year Published)

Curtis & Williams (2020)

Three or more authors

When citing a journal paper in APA with three or more authors, only enter the last name of the first author listed and add “et al.” after it. “Et al.” is Latin for the phrase “and others,” which is why it is used as a substitute for two or more authors’ last names.

Parenthetical citation for three or more authors:

(1st Author et al., Year Published)

(Harris et al., 2020)

Narrative citation for three or more authors:

1st Author et al. (Year Published)

Harris et al. (2020)

Here is a page with more information on when to use “et al.” in APA style .

Group authors

The same guidelines for in-text citations apply when the authors of a source are a distinct group or organization such as a government agency, association, nonprofit organization, business, hospital, task force, or study group. To confirm whether a reference was written by individual author(s) or a group, check the cover or title page.

Hint: for an online resource, the author could be the name of the organization hosting the webpage or website, rather than the name of just one content contributor.

Before using an abbreviated group name as the author of your citation, spell out the abbreviation and define the group one time first in the text. Afterward, use the abbreviation of the group name throughout the rest of the paper.

Group author in-text citation examples:

First parenthetical citation with group abbreviation included: (Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities [AJCU], 2020)

Subsequent parenthetical citations: (AJCU, 2020)

First narrative citation with group abbreviation included: The Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities [AJCU] (2020)

Subsequent narrative citations: The AJCU (2020)

Avoiding ambiguity in in-text citations

Sometimes, in-text citations that have three or more authors, some of whom have the same last name, and the same publication year can look like they are the same reference when using the et al. abbreviation. For example, Curtis et al. (2020) could refer to

Curtis, Acres, Thomas, Henderson, and Tyler (2020)

Curtis, Acres, Thomas, Henderson, Maxey, Key, Smith, and Esparza (2020)

To avoid this ambiguity and confusion for the reader, write out as many names as possible for the in-text citation until the references are distinguished, and then add “et. al” to abbreviate the other authors’ names.

Curtis, Acres, Thomas, Henderson, et al. (2020)

Curtis, Acres, Thomas, Henderson, Maxey, et al. (2020)

When only the final author is different, list all of the names in every citation to avoid any confusion.

Curtis, Acres, Thomas, Henderson, and Esparza (2020)

APA has slightly different reference structures for different source types (e.g., book, website, journal article, etc.), but each structure generally includes the following:

Author last name, Author initials. (Date Published). Title. URL or DOI if available .

Need more help with citing a particular source? Find further guidance in this APA citations guide.

One or two authors

For references with one or two authors, cite using the four-part structure.

Two individual authors example:

Smith, J., & Jones, S. (1994). Making a movie star. Behind the Scenes Stories: A Journal of Celebrity Life, 44 (2), 192–200. https://doi.org/l4nds0r

One group author example:

The American Marine Society. (2003). Whale mating patterns in the new millennium. The American Marine Society Magazine , 17-20 . https://fams.gov/article/2003/whale-mating-patterns-in-the-new-millennium

2 – 20 authors

In APA 7th ed., up to 20 authors should be included in a reference list entry. Write out the last name and first initial(s) for each contributor.

2–20 authors example:

Wright, A., Komal, G., Siddharth, D., Boyd, G., Cayson, N., Beverley, K., Travers, K., Begum, A., Redmond, M., Mills, M., Cherry, D., Finley, B., Fox, M., Ferry, F., Almond, B., Howell, E., Gould, T., Berger, B., Bostock, T., Fountain, A. (2020). Styling royalty. London Bridge Press.

21+ authors

For references with more than 20 authors, after listing the 19th author replace any additional author names with an ellipsis ( … ) followed by the final listed author’s last name and first initial(s).

21+ authors example:

Wright, A., Komal, G., Siddharth, D., Boyd, G., Cayson, N., Beverley, K., Travers, K., Begum, A., Redmond, M., Mills, M., Cherry, D., Finley, B., Fox, M., Ferry, F., Almond, B., Howell, E., Gould, T., Berger, B., Bostock, T., . . . Booker, T. (2020). Eating well: Tips from 23 lifestyle authors. Food Magazine. https://foodmag.com/article/2020/tips-from-22-lifestyle-authors

Solution #1: How to order the names of multiple authors in an APA reference

Authors should be cited in the exact order that they are listed by the source, even if they have not been listed alphabetically.

Solution #2: How to cite an article with more than 20 authors in APA style

If an article has more than 20 authors, all authors do not need to be listed in the reference. Instead, name the first 19, then use an ellipsis (…), then add the name of the final author listed. The ellipsis acts as a substitute for all the names between the first 19 and the final authors. No ampersand (&) is needed before the final name.

For example:

Richards, B.A., Lillicrap, T. P., Beaudoin, P., Bengio, Y., Bogacz, R., Christensen, A., Clopath, C.

Costa, R. P., de Berker, A., Ganguli, S., Gillon, C. J., Hafner, D., Kepecs, A., Kriegeskorte,

N., Latham, P., Lindsay, G. W., Miller, K. D., Naud, R., Pack, C. C., … Kording, K. P. (2019). A deep learning framework for neuroscience. Nature Neuroscience ,  22 (11), 1761–1770. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-019-0520-2

When making an in-text citation, only write the first author’s last name followed by “et. al.” This applies to both parenthetical and narrative citations.

(Richard et al., 2019)

Richard et al. (2019)

Solution #3: How to cite an article written by an organization in APA style

• Organization as author

When an article is written by an organization, use the typical four-part APA structure (author, date, title, publisher) and cite the organization as the author.

American Nurses Association. (2019). 2018 Annual Report, American Nurse Today, 14 (6), 29-36.

https://www.nursingworld.org/~49d621/globalassets/docs/ana/ana-annual-report-for-

• Organization as author and publisher

If the organization that authored an article is also its publisher , omit the publisher’s name in the citation.

• In-text citation when an organization is an author

Use the organization’s name as the author. For example:

American Nurses Association [ANA] (2019)

If an organization’s name is long, abbreviate it by doing the following:

• First, write the organization’s name in full the first time, followed by the abbreviation in parenthesis.
• After this, you may use the abbreviation without including the complete name.

1 st in-text narrative citation: American Nurses Association [ANA] (2019)

1 st in-text parenthetical citation: (American Nurses Association [ANA] (2019)

After this distinction is made, abbreviations in-text can be used as demonstrated below:

Narrative citations: The ANA (2019)

Parenthetical citations: (ANA, 2019)

Published October 28, 2020.

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To cite a source with multiple authors and an edition number in APA style, you need to know the names of the authors, title of the book, edition number, and publisher. The in-text citation of a book with multiple authors and an edition number is similar to citing a journal or a book reference with multiple authors. An example of a book reference with three authors and an edition number, along with a template, is given below:

In-text citation template and example:

Author Surname et al. (Publication Year)

LeBuffe et al. (2012)

Parenthetical

(Author Surname et al., Publication Year)

(LeBuffe et al., 2012)

Reference list entry template and example:

Author Surname, F. M., Author Surname, F. M., & Author Surname, F. M. (Publication Year). Book title (edition number). Publisher

LeBuffe, P. A., Naglieri, J. A., & Manderth, A. (2012). Devereux early childhood assessment for preschoolers (2nd ed.). Kaplan Early Learning Company.

Use numerals to indicate an edition number. The word “edition” is abbreviated as “ed.” Italicize the book title and follow sentence case for capitalization.

Citing a source that has multiple authors with the same last name and same initials is the same as citing a source with different authors. There is no need to add the initials of the authors in in-text citations as all surnames (although the same) appear in a single source. Examples of a book reference with three authors with the same last name and initials and their templates are given below:

Dunn et al. (2007)

(Dunn et al., 2007)

Author Surname, F. & Author Surname, F. (Publication Year). Book title. Publisher.

Dunn, L. M., Dunn, L. M., & Dunn, L. M. (2007). Peabody picture vocabulary test-IV. American Guidance Service.

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APA 7th Edition Citation Guide

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• In-Text (Parenthetical) Examples
• Annotated Bibliography
• Other Citation Styles

Good to know

The punctuation at the end of the sentence goes after and outside the parenthesis.

I am paraphrasing (Smith, 2019). 

If you are using a direct quote, there is no comma between the end of the quotation and the in-text citation. 

"this is a quote" (Smith, 2019, p. 263). 

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• Parenthetical Citation | APA, MLA & Chicago Examples

Parenthetical Citation | APA, MLA & Chicago Examples

Published on May 9, 2022 by Eoghan Ryan . Revised on August 23, 2022.

A parenthetical citation gives credit in parentheses to a source that you’re quoting or paraphrasing . It contains information such as the author’s name, the publication date, and the page number(s) if relevant.

Parenthetical citations are used in many citation styles, including MLA , APA , and Chicago .

Parenthetical citations should be placed at the end of the sentence or clause that contains the cited material, and they must always correspond to a full entry in your reference list.

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Table of contents

Parenthetical citations in mla, parenthetical citations in apa, parenthetical citations in chicago, frequently asked questions about parenthetical citations.

MLA in-text citations are described as author-page citations. This means that the parentheses contain the author’s last name and a page number or page range.

When a source has two authors , include both names and put “and” between them. For sources with more than two authors , include only the first author’s name, followed by “ et al. ”

Cite page numbers using a page range if you are citing multiple consecutive pages. If the pages are not consecutive, include all relevant page numbers, separated by commas.

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APA in-text citations   are described as author-date citations. This means that parenthetical citations should contain the author’s last name , the publication date , and, if applicable, a page number or page range. These elements should be separated by commas.

When a source has two authors , include both names and separate them using an ampersand (&). When a source has more than two authors , include only the first author’s name, followed by “et al.”

When citing specific pages, write “p.” before a single page number and “pp.” before a page range or series of nonconsecutive pages.

Narrative vs. parenthetical

APA also makes a distinction between parenthetical and narrative citations . You can use a mixture of the two in your text.

In a narrative citation, the author’s name appears as part of your sentence, introducing the cited information with a signal phrase. Only the publication date (and page numbers if included) appears in parentheses.

Both parenthetical and narrative citations are automatically generated when you cite a source using Scribbr’s Citation Generator .

Chicago author-date style (not to be confused with Chicago notes and bibliography ) uses author-date citations.

These are parenthetical citations containing the author’s last name , the publication date , and, if applicable, a page number or page range. Include a comma after the year, but not after the author’s name.

When a source has two or three authors , include each of their names in your in-text citation. For more than four authors , include the name of the first author only, followed by “et al.”

A parenthetical citation gives credit in parentheses to a source that you’re quoting or paraphrasing . It provides relevant information such as the author’s name, the publication date, and the page number(s) cited.

How you use parenthetical citations will depend on your chosen citation style . It will also depend on the type of source you are citing and the number of authors.

In a parenthetical citation in MLA style , include the author’s last name and the relevant page number or range in parentheses .

For example: (Eliot 21)

APA Style distinguishes between parenthetical and narrative citations.

In parenthetical citations , you include all relevant source information in parentheses at the end of the sentence or clause: “Parts of the human body reflect the principles of tensegrity (Levin, 2002).”

In narrative citations , you include the author’s name in the text itself, followed by the publication date in parentheses: “Levin (2002) argues that parts of the human body reflect the principles of tensegrity.”

A parenthetical citation in Chicago author-date style includes the author’s last name, the publication date, and, if applicable, the relevant page number or page range in parentheses . Include a comma after the year, but not after the author’s name.

For example: (Swan 2003, 6)

To automatically generate accurate Chicago references, you can use Scribbr’s free Chicago reference generator .

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Ryan, E. (2022, August 23). Parenthetical Citation | APA, MLA & Chicago Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved April 1, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/citing-sources/parenthetical-citation/

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APA Citation Guide: In-Text/Parenthetical Citations (7E)

• APA 7th Edition
• References, Templates, and Examples for APA 7E
• In-Text/Parenthetical Citations (7E)
• Paper Formatting 7E: Student Paper
• Paper Formatting 7E: Professional Paper
• Annotated Bibliography 7E
• Difference Between 6th & 7th
• Introduction
• Collecting Citations
• Backing-Up/Syncing
• Placing Citations in a Document

Printable PDF Guide to In-Text Citations

• APA 7E In-Text Citations PDF Two-page, printable PDF of this tab.
• APA 7E In-Text Citations Powerpoint Used the the 25-minute workshop.
• APA 7E In-Text Citations video Edited from a live workshop, this video shows you the basics (19m37s).

APA 7E In-Text/Parenthetical Citations

In-text citations, or parenthetical citations, are those that are inside the running text, or narrative of your text, and act as pointers to the more complete reference list at the end of the paper. In-text citations can follow very different rules than citations found in the reference list, so it’s important to place them in separate mental compartments.

The in-text citation needs the author and the year of the document.  The basic template looks like this:

( Author, year )

(Author, year, p. x)

(Author, year, pp. xx-xx)

Research by Garcia (2017) found blah.

Research found blah (Garcia, 2017).

Two Authors 

Garcia and Bartle (2017) found blah.

Research found blah (Garcia & Bartle, 2017).

Three or More Authors 

Et al. is an abbreviation of a latin phrase that means "and others." it stands in for two or more other names you haven't typed..

Garcia  et al.  (2017) found blah .

Research found  blah (Garcia et al. , 2017).

Garcia et al. (2017) found "blah" (p.25). 

No Author (Not Anonymous, Not Corporate Author) 

Research found blah ( “ Title of A rticle in Q uotation M arks and T itle C ase ,”  2017)

Research found blah ( Title of B ook in I talics and T itle C ase , 2017)

In “ Title of  A rticle in  Q uotation  M arks and  T itle  C ase ” (2017)

In  Title of  B ook in  I talics and  T itle  C ase  (2017) the author states "blah" (p. 45).

Multiple Sources

Several studies (Lowe, 2015 ; Mancha, 2007 ; Smith & Jones ; 1993) have found blah.

In a multiple sources, in-text citation order the different citations alphabetically as they appear in the reference list, so the reader can find them easily. Each is separated by a semi-colon.

Same Author/Same Year/Different Works

Research found (Garcia, 1981a)

In your reference list, these would look like:

Garcia, C. (1981a). Article title.   [other article citation information].

Garcia, C. (1981b). Book title .   [other book citation information].

Citing Someone Who is Being Cited by Someone

Petry (as cited in Quarton, 2017) found that

Some research showed blah (Petry, 1975, as cited in Quarton, 2017).

Big Quotations/Small Quotations

If you have a direct quotation that is less than 40 words, blend the quotation smoothly into your writing and use quotation marks.  If the quotation is 40 words or more, place it in a free-standing, indented text block, do not use quotation marks, and do maintain double spacing. End with a period, then place the in-text citation.

Garcia’s (2017) work found that

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Duis dolor nunc, eleifend nec placerat vel, rhoncus et sem. Fusce ullamcorper scelerisque libero, nec eleifend felis tristique vitae. Fusce varius luctus nisi, ut mattis ligula. Nam a tincidunt magna, vitae volutpat mauris. elit . (p. 215)

Direct Quotation or Paraphrase?

APA 7E makes a strong statement about paraphrasing almost everything. Any text that you are quoting exactly from the original should be enclosed in quotation marks, and the in-text citation should include a page number. As a courtesy, you may include a page number for a paraphrase from a long work, such as a book.

If you are making a very general reference to the overall subject of an article/essay, then you do not need quotation marks and you also do not need a page number. Examples of this are common in the introduction to research articles:

There have been several areas of investigation, including measures of disposition (Zhang, 2000; Garcia & Smith, 2009), measures of decision-making (Lejuez et al., 2004; Macapagal & Janssen, 2011), and measures of impulsivity (Lee, 2014). 

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APA 7th Edition Citation Guide Multiple Authors

Source with two authors.

Rules for citing more than one author apply to all sources, regardless of format. Below is an example of a book with two authors.

Use the word "and" between the authors' names within the text and use an ampersand (&) for parenthetical citations.

Reference Page Format:

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year of Publication). Format the remainder according to resource type.

Reference Page Example:

Loveless, D., & Griffith, B. (2014).  Critical pedagogy for a polymodal world . Birkhäuser.

In-text Citation Examples:

According to Loveless and Griffith (2014) ... ...(Loveless & Griffith, 2014). ...(Loveless & Griffith, 2014, p. 121).

Source with Three to Twenty Authors

For all sources with three to twenty authors, include all of the authors on your References page. 

For in-text citations, sources with three or more authors can be abbreviated to only the first author's last name followed by "et al." For example, (Author et al., Year).

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., Author, C. C. (Year of Publication).  Format the remainder according to resource type .

Somerville, I., Purcell, A., & Morrison, F. (2011). Public relations education in a divided society: PR, terrorism and critical pedagogy in post-conflict Northern Ireland.  Public Relations Review, 37 (5), 548-555. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2011.09.008

According to Somerville et al. (2011) ... ... (Somerville et al., 2011). ... (Somerville et al., 2011, p. 549).

Source with Twenty-One or More Authors

For sources with twenty-one or more authors, write out the first twenty authors on the References page, add an ellipsis (...), and end with the last author. 

For in-text citations, sources with more than twenty authors can be abbreviated to only the first author's last name followed by "et al." For example, (Author et al., Year).

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., Author, C. C., Author, D. D., Author, E. E., Author, F. F., Author, G. G., Author, H. H., Author, I. I., Author, J. J., Author, K. K., Author, L. L., Author, M. M., Author, N. N., Author, O. O., Author, P. P., Author, Q. Q., Author, R. R., Author, S. S., Author, T. T., . . . Author, Z. Z. (Year of Publication).  Format the remainder according to resource type .

Aad, G., Abbott, B., Abdallah, J., Abdinov, O., Aben, R., Abolins, M., AbouZeid, O. S., Abramowicz, H., Abreu, H., Abreu, R., Abulaiti, Y., Acharya, B. S., Adamczyk, L., Adams, D. L., Adelman, J., Adomeit, S., Adye, T., Affolder, A. A., Agatonovic-Jovin, T., Aguilar-Saavedra, J. A., Alen, S. P., . . . Woods, N. (2015). Combined measurement of the Higgs boson mass in pp collisions at √s=7 and 8 TeV with the ATLAS and CMS experiments.  Physical Review Letters, 114 (19), 1-33. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.191803

According to Aad et al. (2015) ... ... (Aad et al., 2015). ... (Aad et al., 2015, p. 20).

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APA Style, 7th Edition

• Introduction
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• Parenthetical or In-text Citations

Parenthetical and Narrative Citations in APA

8.12 multiple works in one citation, 8.14 unknown or anonymous author, 8.17 number of authors in in-text citations, 8.19 works with the same author and date, 8.20 authors with the same name, 8.21 group authors.

• Quoting and Paraphrasing
• Additional Resources

It is very important to insure that any item listed in a parenthetical or in-text citation corresponds to an item in your reference list.  Make certain that author, title, and publication information are listed exactly the same in both citation types.

APA uses parenthetical or in text citations where the last name of the author, date of publication, and specific page or chapter are placed in parentheses within the text. Examples may be found in  APA section 8. 

Most parenthetical citations, placed immediately after a quotation or paraphrase, must include the following elements as shown in section 8.10-11.

• Include only the author's last name without any initials or suffixes followed by a comma.
• Include only the year of publication.
• When citing a specific quotation, idea, or figure from a specific page of the source, indicate the page number, chapter, or figure or table number after the publication year with a comma in between.  The word page may be abbreviated but not chapter or figure. See 8.13 for additional examples.
• Place all elements in parentheses with the period after the closing parentheses.

Narrative citations incorporate the author and publication date within the sentence. In most instances, the author's name will be given and the publication date placed in parentheses immediately after. In some instances, the date may be included in the sentence without parentheses. 

When utilizing multiple sources in a single instance, group all of the sources together in a single note. Sources should be listed alphabetically in the order found in the reference list and separated by semicolons. 

List two or more works by the same author in chronological order

To highlight specific works that are particularly relevant to your point, place those works first in alphabetical order. Then use a semi-colon and the phrase see also before listing additional citations also in alphabetical order.

If citing multiple sources in a sentence as a narrative citation, no specific order is required.

If no author is listed, refer to the work by title within the text and parenthetical citation.

If the author is officially listed as "anonymous," APA indicates that word should be treated as the author's real name in both the parenthetical citation and reference list.

• For one or two authors, include both author names in every citation. 
• For three or more authors, include the name of the first author followed by et al.
• The exception is when using et al would create confusion because more than one reference begins with the same authors.
• In those cases, write out all of the names until there is a difference. 
• If there are multiple authors remaining, use et al.
• If there is only one additional author, write out that name as well.
• Use an ampersand (&) between names for two authors and before the last author's name when multiple authors are listed.
• In a narrative citation, write out the word and .

References by the same author with the same publication date should be listed in chronological order by the specific date and then place a lower case letter immediately after the year in the in-text citation. 

When citing more than one work by authors with the same last name, include the author's initials in all text and parenthetical citations in order to differentiate between works.

If a group name has a familiar abbreviation, include the abbreviation in brackets after the full name for the first usage and then utilize the abbreviation for the following citations. 

If two groups share the same abbreviation and both groups are cited in a paper, spell out both group names every time. 

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APA Formatting and Style (7th ed.) for Student Papers

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Citations with Two Authors

List both authors for all in-text citations., goldstein and bowers (2015) have asserted that using the term “consumer” to describe patients might “eliminate the most crucial element in the effective delivery of care: compassion” (p. 164)., parenthetical:, when using the term “consumer” to describe patients, it might “eliminate the most crucial element in the effective delivery of care: compassion” (goldstein & bowers, 2015, p. 164)., paraphrase/summary, goldstein and bowers (2015) have asserted that when using the term “consumer” to describe patients, it might compromise healthcare services by deemphasizing compassion. , when using the term “consumer” to describe patients, it might compromise healthcare services by deemphasizing compassion (goldstein & bowers, 2015)., * ** remember: each source listed on the reference page must correspond to at least one in-text citation in the body of the paper; each in-text citation must correspond to a source listed on the reference page..

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APA Style 7th Edition

Citation Basics

Citing Quoted Material

Quoting a source with no page numbers, when to use page numbers in an in-text citation.

• Using "et al." in Parenthetical Citations

Citing One Author Throughout One Paragraph

Using signal phrases, citing multiple sources in the same parentheses.

• Direct Quote From a Slide Presentation

Citing an Item in a Museum

Citing images in a presentation.

• Citing an Article or Website with Unknown Author

Abbreviating Organizational Authors

Multiple sources from the same author with the same publication year.

• Non Recoverable Information (personal communication)

Secondary Citation

• Reference List Citations
• Reference List - Web Resources
• Changes from APA 6th ed.
• Bias-Free Language
• Slide Decks: Citations and References

In-text (also called parenthetical) citations follow the author-date citation system in APA style. The author and date of a reference appear in parentheses when referred to in the text of a paper, like this (Smith, 2016) .

When a work does not have an author, use the first few words of the title of the reference in its place.  

(Do not pull words from the middle of the title; it needs to be the first few because this is how readers will match your in-text citation to the reference list.)

For articles, chapters, and web pages, put the title in quotation marks.  For books, brochures, and reports, put the title in italics. Examples:

(“Article title beginning”, 2016) or ( Book title , 2011) .

You can also work a citation into the flow of the sentence, but the author (or title) and year always stay together. For instance:

As Garcia (2016) states in her groundbreaking work...

If the author of a work is named as "Anonymous," this title takes the place of the author name in the citation. For example:

(Anonymous, 2019)

Read on for more guidelines and tips for citing specific types of sources in-text.

Paraphrasing is preferred to direct quotations, but occasionally using an author’s exact words is desirable.  In that situation, you want to direct the reader to the exact location of the quote by including a page number in the parenthetical notation :

(Garcia, 2016, p. 57)

If you use the author’s name in the text of the paper, wait until the end of the quote to insert the page number:

As Garcia (2016) states in her groundbreaking work, “hallucinations provide windows into the neural underpinnings of visual awareness in these patients” (p. 57).

If the quote spans multiple pages, use "pp." instead, like this

(Wong, 2014, pp. 21-22)

If you need to quote a website or other material that does not have page numbers or chapters, use any of the following location information instead: (p. 273)

• Consistent with data from recent flu seasons, "the overall hospitalization rate for the season increased to 29.7 per 100,000" (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020, Severe Disease section).
• In the Federal Drug Administration's (FDA) Technology Modernization Action Plan (2020), "[modernization] of FDA's technology infrastructure will involve dynamic, enterprise-wide collaboration among Agency programs" ("Building the Foundation" section).
• Western countries are experiencing problems on where to send their recyclable waste. Until 2018, "China used to accept 55% of the world's plastic and paper waste" (British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) 2020, para. 2).
• Makena, a drug to prevent premature birth, may be taken off the market because "Makena's manufacturer struggled to compete with the cheaper, compounded 17P" (Huetteman 2020, "How Makena cornered the market" section, para. 26).

Note: Kindle location numbers are no longer required with in-text citations. Instead, provide the page number or any of the information listed above. 

For audiovisual works, cite the time stamp of when the quotation began in place of where you would normally cite a page number. 

• Habits are "mental associations that we form when we repeat an action over and over again in a given context and then get a reward" (Wood, 2020, 15:15).

Page numbers are only required for direct quotations. However, there may be times when you may want to refer to a specific part of a source, in which case you can include page numbers in your parenthetical citation. It is not mandatory, though, to include page numbers for segments that do not have a direct quotation.

... the study dropout rate was a disappointing 50% (Smith & Jones, 2016, p. 3).

For more see page 269 in the APA manual.

Using "et al." in Parenthetical Citations

If you are citing a source with three or more authors, you need to use "et al." in your citations. In APA 6, a work with between three and five authors would be listed the first time, with the use of "et al." each subsequent time the in-text citation was used. In APA 7, any in-text citation with three or more authors will use "et al.".  

In text, a citation with more than three authors can be parenthetical:

Reference list errors are prevalent in scholarly journals (Onwuegbuzie et al., 2011).

Or it can be part of the narrative:

Onwuegbuzie et al. (2011) used content analysis to determine that reference list errors are prevalent in scholarly journals.

Similar to APA 6, for works with a group author with an abbreviation, the first citation will spell out the author, followed by the abbreviation in brackets. For example: 

(American Psychological Association [APA], 2020)  or  American Psychological Association (APA, 2020)

Subsequent citations will use the abbreviation only. For instance,

(APA, 2020)  or  APA (2020) 

If you’re citing the same author/source repeatedly throughout one paragraph, inserting multiple citations is technically correct but lacks flow and readability. For example,

Dogs are man’s best friend (Smith, 2015). In a randomized controlled trial, dogs preferred their owners to all other people (Smith, 2015). The results of this study have implications for dog behavior (Smith, 2015). However, the study also had a small sample size, so more research into this area is necessary (Smith, 2015).

Alternatively, using the author's name in your writing can make the paragraph flow better and prevent you from having to repeat the citation subsequent sentences. (Also see p. 174 in the APA manual.) For example,

Smith (2015) notes that dogs are man’s best friend. In a randomized controlled trial conducted by Smith, dogs preferred their owners to all other people. The results of his study have implications for dog behavior. However, his study also had a small sample size, so more research into this area is necessary.

The technique of using authors' names in the text of your paper is also helpful when you want to  compare the work of two or more authors  and make be citing them alternately throughout a paragraph. For example,

Smith (2015) notes that dogs are man’s best friend. In a randomized controlled trial conducted by Smith, dogs preferred their owners to all other people. Lincoln's (2016) work built on this idea even further and provided some evidence of variation in levels of preference based on amount and type of training the dog had received. Her study revealed that dogs who had spent time in formal training programs with their owners showed a higher the preference for those owners than dogs who had participated in more informal training. The results of both studies have implications for dog behavior and the possible causes for variations in that behavior (Lincoln, 2016; Smith, 2015). However, both studies also had small sample sizes, so more research into this area is necessary.

The examples above for  Citing one Author Throughout a Paragraph  use what are called  signal phrases  to alert the reader that the writer is about to use information from an outside source. For example:

According to Smith (2017)... As noted by Watson and Holmes (1884)... Roberts (2000) discovered...

Signal phrases are a handy tool to help you indicate what content of your paper is coming from an outside source and which parts are your own original analysis. 

For more on using signal phrases, read  this short guide  from the GMU Writing Center.

And  see suggested words  to use in your signal phrases.

Sometimes you will want to make a general statement about two or more of the studies you read, especially if they had similar conclusions. To do that, just include each set of authors and dates in your parentheses, in the same order they appear in your reference list (i.e. alphabetically), and separated by semicolons.

The research shows an increase in birth rates for this particular population (Farhad & Engel, 2015; Pak, 2013; Sanchez, Chopra, & Martin, 2016).

Direct Quote from a Slide Presentation

If you are directly quoting text from a slide presentation, include a slide number and a paragraph number (if necessary), so that anyone reading your paper will be able to quickly and easily find your source.

(Smith, 2015, slide 12, para. 2)

If the item in a work of art or other piece with a known creator, use the same structure as you would for a written work with an author:

(Van Gogh,1889)

If the item's creator is unknown, use the same structure as you would for a written work with an unknown author, and use the title/description in its place:

(Gastroscope, ca. 1940)

("ca" stands for circa, for dates that have been approximated)

Citing A Museum Wall Sign

(Museum of Fine Arts, 2015)

All images in a presentation must be treated the same as figures would be in a written paper. You can think of each presentation slide as a page in an APA style paper. An image should have a caption. A caption contains :

• The title of the image, i.e. Figure 1, Figure 2, etc.
• A brief description of the image, followed by (optional) any additional information necessary to explain the figure.
• Adapted from Original Work, by Creator, Year, URL
• A copyright statement.

Here is an example of a figure with a caption that you might put in a presentation:

That is the information that goes on the slide where the image appears. You must also cite the image in your reference list. Please see  Citing Digital Images .

These are the basics of using and citing images. For complete rules and details, see section 7.26 in the official APA manual. 

Citing an Article or Website with an Unknown Author

When an article or webpage doesn’t have an author listed, use the title of the article in place of the author, both in-text and in your reference list. See above for more info on citing websites without an author.

(“Ativan (Lorazepam),” 2012)

When citing an organization as author, such as the CDC or WHO, you may use the organization’s acronym throughout the paper after you’ve spelled it out completely at least once. For example,

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2016), asthma is…

One in 13 people has asthma (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2016).

Whether you spell it out in text or in a parenthetical citation, it only needs to be done once, with the acronym immediately following in parentheses or brackets.

Occasionally, you may have multiple sources with the same author and the same publication year. To distinguish these sources from each other, you add a lowercase letter after the year, in alphabetical order of where the references appear in the reference list. For example,

(CDC, 2017a)

According to the CDC (2017b)

Non Recoverable Information (Personal Communication)

When citing a source that cannot be recovered, such as your personal notes or a conversation, cite the source in a parenthetical citation with the author, followed by a personal communication designation and the date:

(J. Smith, personal communication, August 8, 2016)

Do not cite personal communication in the reference list.

Quoting something that is quoted in a paper you’ve read is called a secondary citation .  They are not recommended in APA; so it would be better if you could find the original source and quote directly from it.  However, if you have to because the original document is out of print, no longer exists as it did at the time of citing, not in English, or is otherwise unattainable, put the article you actually read in the reference list.  

Then in the text of the paper, the primary citation would appear in the reference list, but the secondary citation would not. Cite the secondary citation as you normally would in author-date format.

Alternatively your text could mention the original source, and it would look something like this:

The Transcultural Nursing Society’s mission statement (Ray, 2013, p. 143) states “to enhance the quality of culturally congruent, competent, and equitable care that results in improved health and well-being for people worldwide”…

Note: APA 6 used the term "as cited in" to cite secondary sources. APA 7 no longer uses this term.

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Citation Help for APA, 7th Edition: In-text Citations

• Books & Ebooks
• Book Chapter & Ebook Chapter
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• In-text Citations
• Ethically Use Sources

In-text Citation Introduction

What is an in-text citation.

In APA Style, an in-text citation tells the reader where you got any and all information that did not come from inside your own head.  This is more obvious when you are directly quoting from a source, but it is also needed when you have summarized or paraphrased from a source and even if you got an idea from somewhere else.  In order to avoid plagiarism, it is extremely important that you cite all the words and ideas that you got from somewhere else. To learn more about plagiarism and how to avoid it, see Ethically Use Sources   and Plagiarism guidance from APA.

When citing sources in an APA Style paper, APA uses the author-date citation system. In this system, the writer includes the author and date within the body of the paper and includes a corresponding reference in the reference list. This citation system allows the reader to identify sources used in the paper by reviewing the author and date within the text of the paper, and then easily locate the corresponding reference in the alphabetical reference list. 

 There are two types of in-text citations that are used within the body of an APA paper to help the reader locate the corresponding reference in the reference list. T he two types of in-text citations are  parenthetical citations and narrative citations . A narrative citation is a type of citation where the author's name is used within the text of the sentence; whereas, a parenthetical citation is a type of citation where the author and date are in parentheses at the end of the sentence.   

How do I create narrative or parenthetical citations?

In  APA Style, cite your sources by putting the information about the source in parentheses at the end of a sentence or in the text of your paper as opposed to a footnote where the source information is at the bottom of the page or an endnote where it goes at the end of your paper.  There are slight differences depending on which style you are using.

Give the author’s last name and the publication year.

Only use page numbers or paragraph numbers for a direct quote.

Make sure the source information in parentheses matches with your reference in the reference list. 

The punctuation for the sentence goes AFTER the parentheses.

For a quote less than forty words  put quotation marks around the quoted words. For sources with designated page numbers - if the author and date are introduced in the sentence as a narrative citation, then add the page number in parentheses at the end of the quote. If the source does not have designated page numbers, then add the paragraph number, heading, or a combination of both the heading and paragraph number. If the author and date are not introduced as part of the text, then include the author and date with the page or paragraph number. The period should come after the parentheses.

If your quote is more than forty words , set it off in a block text by beginning the block quote on a new line, indent 0.5 inches (one-half), and do not add quotation marks around the block quote.  At the end of the quote put the period after the last word of the sentence followed by the parentheses. For more information, see Block Quote .

Additional Resources

• Basic Principles of Citation Created by APA. This resource provides fundamental information about the basics of citations.
• Appropriate Level of Citations Created by APA - learn about how many references should be used in a paper and how many times to cite the same source in a paragraph.
• Paraphrasing This source provides the basics about paraphrasing, including the use of long paraphrases.
• Quotations Created by APA - learn about creating quotations for short quotes, block quotes, quotes for sources without page number, and more!

More Information

For more information about parenthetical and narrative citations, see pages 253-278 of the APA Manual 7th edition for further explanation and examples.

Basic In-Text Citation Styles

The basic in-text citation style for adding sources to the body of an APA style paper is to add the author and the date. There are a number of ways that can be done to aid in the readability and flow of the paper. However, the basic style for different authors types are listed in the table below.  

Printable version of the basic in-text citation styles are available here:

• Basic In-Text Citation Styles - Google Doc version 
• Basic In-Text Citation Styles - PDF version

 Note.   Adapted from the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association , by the American Psychological Association, 2020, Table 8.1, p. 266 ( https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000 ). Copyright 2020 by the American Psychological Association.  * Define the abbreviation for a group author only once in the text, choosing either the parenthetical or narrative citation. Once introduced, use only the abbreviation for all mentions of the group author in the text of your paper.

In-text Citation Examples

There are a number of ways that parenthetical and narrative citations can be added to the body of an APA style paper. Using variety helps with the readability and flow of the paper. The following table provides a few examples of common ways parenthetical and narrative citations are used for quotes and paraphrases.

For additional examples, see the following printable handouts:

• In-text Citation Examples - Google Doc version
• In-text Citation Examples - PDF version

Variations in APA References

See the following webpages for variations in your APA references:

• Sources with Multiple Authors
• Group Author
• Date Format
• Periodical Information
• Multiple Sources with the Same Author & Same Date
• Secondary Sources
• Personal Communication
• Missing Information

Variation - Multiple Sources in Same Citation?

Citing multiple works in the same citation.

Several studies report ... (D'Esposito & Gardner, 1999; Griffiths & Brophy, 2005; Kim & Sin, 2007).  

Explanation

Multiple sources within the same parenthetical citation should be listed alphabetically by author. Separate each citation with a semicolon.  

For more information about citing multiple words in the same citation, see Section 8.12 on pages 263-264 fo the APA Manual, 7th edition.

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APA Citation Style, 7th edition: Journal Article with 2 Authors

• General Style Guidelines
• One Author or Editor
• Two Authors or Editors
• Three to Five Authors or Editors
• Article or Chapter in an Edited Book
• Article in a Reference Book
• Edition other than the First
• Translation
• Government Publication
• Journal Article with 1 Author
• Journal Article with 2 Authors
• Journal Article with 3–20 Authors
• Journal Article 21 or more Authors
• Magazine Article
• Newspaper Article
• Basic Web Page
• Web page from a University site
• Web Page with No Author
• Entry in a Reference Work
• Government Document
• Film and Television
• Youtube Video
• Audio Podcast
• Electronic Image
• Twitter/Instagram
• Lecture/PPT
• Conferences
• Secondary Sources
• Citation Support
• Avoiding Plagiarism
• Formatting Your Paper

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

What is a DOI? A DOI ( digital object identifier ) is a unique alphanumeric string assigned by a registration agency (the International DOI Foundation) to identify content and provide a persistent link to its location on the internet. 

NOTE: It is regarded as the most important part of the citation because it will accurately direct users to the specific article.

Think of it as a "digital fingerprint" or an article's DNA!

The rules for DOIs have been updated in the 7th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. They should be included as URLs, rather than just the alphanumeric string.

Correct:  

• http://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-12-114
• http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-12-114

Incorrect:     

• doi: 10.1186/1471-2288-12-114
• Retrieved from http://doi:10.1186/1471-2288-12-114
• FREE DOI Look-up (Cross-Ref)
• DOI System: FAQ
• Looking up a DOI
• DOI Flowchart

Journal Article with Two Authors (p. 198)

Helpful Tips:                 

DOI: If a journal article has a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) listed, you will always include this identifier in your reference as a URL.

Online Database: For works from databases that publish works of limited circulation (such as the ERIC database) or original, proprietary material available only in that database (such as UpToDate), include the name of the database or archive and the URL of the work. If the URL requires a login or is session specific, meaning it will not resolve for readers, provide the URL of the database or specific archive home page or login page instead of the URL for the work.

Print: If you viewed a journal article in its print format , be sure to check if it has a DOI listed. If it does not, your reference to the article would end after you provide the page range of the article.

Date: When possible, include the year, month, and date in references. If the month and date are not available, use the year of publication.

General Format 

In-Text Citation (Paraphrase): 

(Author Surname & Author Surname, Year)

In-Text Citation (Quotation):

(Author Surname & Author Surname, Year, page number)

References:

Author Surname, First Initial. Second Initial., & Author Surname, First Initial. Second Initial. (Year). Article title: Subtitle. Journal Title, Volume (issue), page range. http://dx.doi.org/xx.xxxxxxxxxx

In-Text Citation (Paraphrase):

(Sillick & Schutte, 2006)

(Sillick & Schutte, 2006, p. 43)

Sillick, T. J., & Schutte, N. S. (2006). Emotional intelligence and self-esteem mediate between perceived early parental love and adult happiness. E-Journal of Applied Psychology, 2 (2), 38-48. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182010800

ePub Ahead of Print

ePub Ahead of Print  articles, also labeled  Advanced Online Publication  articles, may not have a volume number, issue number, or page numbers assigned to them. If you cannot find a fully published version of the article that includes this information, you can cite the article as an advanced online publication, noting its status where you would usually include the volume, issue, and page numbers. If possible, update your reference to the final version of the source when it becomes available.

Muldoon, K., Towse, J., Simms, V., Perra, O., & Menzies, V. (2012). A longitudinal analysis of estimation, counting skills, and mathematical ability across the first school year.  Developmental Psychology . Advance online publication.  https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028240

Subject Guide

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• Next: Journal Article with 3–20 Authors >>

• Last Updated: Feb 6, 2024 11:45 AM
• URL: https://guides.himmelfarb.gwu.edu/APA

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In-Text Citations

The first step is to correctly cite each source you will use in your paper in your list of sources. Then, when you include a quote or a reference from a source, be sure to correctly cite the source in an in-text citation.

• Introduce your quote with a signal phrase (don’t just copy and paste something from your source!).
• Make sure the quote is in quotation marks.
• Properly cite the quote with an in-text citation. Before the end mark, in parenthesis, type the first word/words of the source listing (this will match your Reference list).
• Wrap up your quote by reiterating for readers what point the quote makes (analysis/evaluation).

The in-text citation must match the first word in the list of sources. So, if your source has an author, you would put the author’s name in the in-text citation and also at the end in the Works Cited. See the following example from a paper formatted using APA documentation style:

Signal Phrases (also known as transitions )

When you use others’ ideas, you have a variety of options for integrating these sources into your text. The main requirement is that you make it clear within your in-text reference that the information is not yours and that you clearly indicate where you got the idea. The following box shows some alternate phrases for signaling that the ideas you are using belong to another writer. Using a variety of wording makes writing more interesting.

Note: APA uses past tense for the signal phrase (“wrote” “argued” etc.), or past perfect tense (“has written”).

Phrases That Signal an Idea Belongs to Another Writer ( APA style includes the date of publication in parenthesis ):

• According to Starr (2010)…
• Acknowledging that…
• Starr (2010) stated…
• As Starr (2010) noted…
• In 2010, Starr reported…
• In the words of Starr (2010)…
• It is obvious, according to Starr (2010), that…
• Starr (2010) argued that…
• Starr (2010) disagreed when she said…
• Starr (2010) emphasized the importance of…
• Starr (2010) suggested…
• Starr observed in 2010 that…
• Technology specialist, Linda Starr, claimed that…(2010).
• …indicated Starr (2010).
• …wrote Starr (2010)

Integrating Sources (Using Direct Quotations):

The tables below shows some actual examples of integrating sources within the guidelines of APA. Note how the cited details are woven in with the author’s ideas.

Long quotations

In APA, a quotation longer than 40 words should be in block form, like this:

Examples 1:

Author’s Name Not in the Sentence:

If you don’t say the author’s name in the sentence, then the author’s name needs to go in the in-text citation. Remember that direct quotes require page numbers (except websites).

The author writes, “Not mine, not mine, not mine, but Mrs. Price is already turning to page thirty-two, and math problem number four” (Cisneros, 1991, p. 1).

Author’s Name in the Sentence:

If you do say the author’s name in the sentence (usually in the transition or signal phrase), then the author’s name doesn’t need to go in the in-text citation.

Cisneros (1991) writes, “Not mine, not mine, not mine, but Mrs. Price is already turning to page thirty-two, and math problem number four” (p. 1).

Since websites don’t have page numbers, you may manually count the paragraph numbers.

The author writes, “Not mine, not mine, not mine, but Mrs. Price is already turning to page thirty-two, and math problem number four” (Cisneros, 1991, para. 4).

There are other options for websites in the APA Manual. For example, you can provide a heading or section name, or abbreviate headings.

The author says that “masks provide protection from Covid-19” (Smith, 2020, “What You Can Do” section).

The author says that “masks provide protection from Covid-19” (Smith, 2020,  Further Information section).

 Integrating Sources (Summarized or Paraphrased Ideas):

Two authors:,  multiple authors:, personal communication:.

Examples with No Authors:

It is recommended that you always choose sources that have an author so that you can determine the author’s credibility; however, if your instructor allows you to use sources (usually websites) with no authors, then follow the formatting rules below.

If a source doesn’t have an author, use the title of the source (such as the title of the web page), or the name of the organization.

APA Summary or Paraphrase:

A dry desert is different from a coastal desert in several ways (Deserts, 2018).

According to Center for Disease Control (2020), wearing a mask helps to prevent one from getting Covid-19.

APA Direct Quote (use paragraph numbers (para.) for websites):

A dry desert “has specific characteristics that differentiate” it from a coastal desert (Deserts, 2018, para. 5).

According to Center for Disease Control (2020), the best way to “prevent transmission of Covid-19 is to wear a mask” (para. 4).

According to one organization, the best way to “prevent transmission of Covid-19 is to wear a mask” (Center for Disease Control, 2020, para. 4).

Video Overview

Apa citation.

1. Go through your essay rough draft and make sure that each in-text citation directly matches the Works Cited or Reference page. For example, if my in-text citation says this–

(Smith, 2019, p. 54)

–then “Smith” must be the first word in my Works Cited:

Smith, J. (2019). Staying safe during Covid-19….

Especially watch that your websites match as well. For example, in my in-text citation says this–

(Center for Disease Control, 2020).

–then “Center for Disease Control” must be the first word in my Works Cited:

Center for Disease Control. (2020). Staying safe during Covid-19….

The same goes for websites without authors. My in-text citation:

(Owl and Mouse Education Software, 2020, “Castles” heading).

My corresponding Reference page:

Owl and Mouse Educational Software. (2000). Castles in medieval times ….

1. Go through your essay and check all of your in-text citations that they are in the correct format.

Additional Resource:

The OWL at Purdue is one of the best websites you can use for how to do proper in-text citations. There are several rules about sources such as quoting a source within a source, citing multiple authors, and more. Because of this, it’s important you use this website to determine how to probably use the in-text citations. Also, check the appendix of this textbook for the MLA/APA guides.

APA: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/in_text_citations_the_basics.html

Attribution

• Content created by Dr. Sandi Van Lieu and Dr. Karen Palmer and licensed CC BY NC SA .

The RoughWriter's Guide Copyright © 2020 by Dr. Karen Palmer and Dr. Sandi Van Lieu is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Citations and Bibliographies

• APA Reference Lists
• APA In-text/Parenthetical Citations

General Notes about APA In-Text Citations

Examples: different numbers of authors, examples: missing or conflicting information, indirect sources and multiple sources.

• Chicago Notes-Bibliography Style
• Chicago Author-Date Style
• MLA Works-Cited Lists
• Other Styles
• Zotero This link opens in a new window
• While page numbers are not required for paraphrases, the APA manual recommends the use of page numbers for summaries or when the page number is needed to locate the information in a longer work. Check with your instructor about their expectations for the use of page numbers for paraphrases.
• When including an in‐text citation, always place the period after the parentheses, i.e. The cat jumped over the mouse (O’Hara, 2020, p. 1).
• In each citation list the authors’ names in the order they appear, not in alphabetical order.

Single author

• (Echterling, 2017, p. 5)

Two authors

• (Wood & Palmer, 2018, p. 2)

Three or more authors:

List only the first author’s name followed by et al., which is Latin for ‘and others’

• (Richardson et al., 2019, p. 3)

Nearly identical authors

If you cite multiple sources with nearly identical author names, you will need to add additional author names to avoid confusion:

• (O’Hara, Zacarola, Hanlon, et al., 2020, p. 3)
• (O’Hara, Zacarola, West, et al., 2020, p. 1)

Source with no author

If there is no author provided, list the first two words in the source’s title in quotation marks:

• (“Brain development,” 2017, para. 2)

Source with no author and no date

If there is no date provided in the source, use the abbreviation n.d. (short for ‘no date’)

• (“Tummy time,” n.d., para. 3).

Two or more sources with the same author and year

Add lower-case letters (a, b, c) next to the years in your reference list entries and use the same letters in your corresponding in-text citations.

Research by McCoy (2020a) demonstrated a correlation between social support and wellness. Additional research showed education was also a significant protective factor (McCoy, 2020b).

Organization/Agency/Corporate author with a recognizable name abbreviation

First time you cite the source, provide the organization’s name followed by brackets containing the organization’s abbreviation:

• (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2020, para. 3)

Subsequent times you cite the source, use the abbreviation you listed in your first in‐text citation

• (CDC, 2020, para. 3)

Corporate/organization author without a recognizable abbreviation

Provide the full name of the organization in all in‐text citations:

• (Clinton County Department of Social Services, 2019, para. 2)

Indirect sources

If you want to cite a source mentioned in another source, this is called citing an indirect source. The APA manual suggests using indirect sources only when you cannot locate the original source. However, if you cite an indirect source, you must provide both the original source (the source that first contained the idea) and the secondary source (the source in which you actually read the information). To do this, start your sentence with a signal phrase that notes the original source’s author & year and then end your sentence with an in‐text citation for the secondary source.

Rutter, Kim‐Cohen, and Maughan (2006) reported that untreated adolescent mental health problems tend to persist into adulthood (as cited in Hunt & Eisenberg, 2010, p. 5).

Citing multiple sources in the same parentheses

Separate the works with a semi-colon within the parentheses.

• (Lang, n.d., para. 3; O’Hara, 2020, p. 1).
• << Previous: APA Reference Lists
• Next: Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition / Turabian Handbook, 9th edition >>
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I do not find the option to use "Narrative" in-text citation according to APA style

I just find the option " parenthetical in-text citation" in Word so far. For example: Another study found similar data, showing that individuals as young as 18 displayed symptoms of the disease (Tang & Pierce, 2014,p. 231) . Please help me to be able to use both option, the " narrative in-text citation" and " parenthetical in-text citation Thanks you very much in advance

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• Independent Advisor

Hi, thank you for reaching out. My name is Deeksha and I'm a Microsoft user like yourself and I will try to help you as best as I can today. Insert Parenthetical Citation: Start by inserting the parenthetical citation using the citation tool. For example, to insert the parenthetical citation for "Tang & Pierce, 2014" with the page number, you would use the citation tool to insert it in your document. Edit the Citation: After inserting the parenthetical citation, click on the citation to select it. Right-click on the citation and choose "Edit Citation" from the context menu (or use the citation options available in the ribbon). In the citation editing window, you should see fields for the author names, year, and page number. Format as Narrative Citation: In the citation editing window, you can modify the citation format to create a narrative citation. Instead of the default parenthetical format, you can manually enter the author's name followed by the year in parentheses, as in your example: "Stein (2018)". You can also include the page number if necessary, following the APA guidelines for narrative citations. Update the Citation: After formatting the citation as desired, click "OK" or "Update" to apply the changes. The citation in your document should now appear as a narrative in-text citation, with the author's name followed by the year in parentheses. Try these steps and hopefully, it resolves your issue. In case you need further help or assistance, please let us know. You can also contact Microsoft Support if the problem persists. Best regards Deeksha

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