apa in text citation 8th edition

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Apa quick citation guide.

• In-text Citation
• Citing Generative AI
• Citing Web Pages and Social Media
• Citing Articles
• Citing Books
• Citing Business Reports
• Other Formats
• APA Style Quiz

Using In-text Citation

Include an in-text citation when you refer to, summarize, paraphrase, or quote from another source. For every in-text citation in your paper, there must be a corresponding entry in your reference list.

APA in-text citation style uses the author's last name and the year of publication, for example: (Field, 2005). For direct quotations, include the page number as well, for example: (Field, 2005, p. 14). For sources such as websites and e-books that have no page numbers , use a paragraph number, for example: (Field, 2005, para. 1). More information on direct quotation of sources without pagination is given on the APA Style and Grammar Guidelines web page.

Example paragraph with in-text citation

A few researchers in the linguistics field have developed training programs designed to improve native speakers' ability to understand accented speech (Derwing et al., 2002; Thomas, 2004). Their training techniques are based on the research described above indicating that comprehension improves with exposure to non-native speech.   Derwing et al. (2002) conducted their training with students preparing to be social workers, but note that other professionals who work with non-native speakers could benefit from a similar program.

Derwing, T. M., Rossiter, M. J., & Munro, M. J. (2002). Teaching native speakers to listen to foreign-accented speech.  Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development , 23 (4), 245-259.

Thomas, H. K. (2004).  Training strategies for improving listeners' comprehension of foreign-accented speech  (Doctoral dissertation). University of Colorado, Boulder.

Citing Web Pages In Text

Cite web pages in text as you would any other source, using the author and date if known. Keep in mind that the author may be an organization rather than a person. For sources with no author, use the title in place of an author.

For sources with no date use n.d. (for no date) in place of the year: (Smith, n.d.). For more information on citations for sources with no date or other missing information see the page on missing reference information on the APA Style and Grammar Guidelines web page. 

Below are examples of using in-text citation with web pages.

Web page with author:

In-text citation

Heavy social media use can be linked to depression and other mental disorders in teens (Asmelash, 2019).

Reference entry

Asmelash, L. (2019, August 14). Social media use may harm teens' mental health by disrupting positive activities, study says . CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/13/health/social-media-mental-health-trnd/index.html

Web page with organizational author:

More than 300 million people worldwide are affected by depression (World Health Organization, 2018).

World Health Organization. (2018, March 22).  Depression . https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/depression

Web page with no date:

Establishing regular routines, such as exercise, can help survivors of disasters recover from trauma (American Psychological Association [APA], n.d.).

American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Recovering emotionally from disaste r. http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/recovering-disasters.aspx

General Guidelines

In-text references should immediately follow the title, word, or phrase to which they are directly relevant, rather than appearing at the end of long clauses or sentences. In-text references should always precede punctuation marks. Below are examples of using in-text citation.

Author's name in parentheses:

One study found that the most important element in comprehending non-native speech is familiarity with the topic (Gass & Varonis, 1984).

Author's name part of narrative:

Gass and Varonis (1984) found that the most important element in comprehending non-native speech is familiarity with the topic.

Group as author: First citation: (American Psychological Association [APA], 2015) Subsequent citation: (APA, 2015)

Multiple works: (separate each work with semi-colons)

Research shows that listening to a particular accent improves comprehension of accented speech in general (Gass & Varonis, 1984; Krech Thomas, 2004).

Direct quote: (include page number and place quotation marks around the direct quote)

One study found that “the listener's familiarity with the topic of discourse greatly facilitates the interpretation of the entire message” (Gass & Varonis, 1984, p. 85).

Gass and Varonis (1984) found that “the listener’s familiarity with the topic of discourse greatly facilitates the interpretation of the entire message” (p. 85).

Note:  For direct quotations of more than 40 words , display the quote as an indented block of text without quotation marks and include the authors’ names, year, and page number in parentheses at the end of the quote. For example:

This suggests that familiarity with nonnative speech in general, although it is clearly not as important a variable as topic familiarity, may indeed have some effect. That is, prior experience with nonnative speech, such as that gained by listening to the reading, facilitates comprehension. (Gass & Varonis, 1984, p. 77)

Works by Multiple Authors

APA style has specific rules for citing works by multiple authors. Use the following guidelines to determine how to correctly cite works by multiple authors in text. For more information on citing works by multiple authors see the APA Style and Grammar Guidelines page on in-text citation .

Note: When using multiple authors' names as part of your narrative, rather than in parentheses, always spell out the word and. For multiple authors' names within a parenthetic citation, use &.

One author: (Field, 2005)

Two authors: (Gass & Varonis, 1984)

Three or more authors:   (Tremblay et al., 2010)

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Book & eBook

• Author: Karen Huffman
• Publication Date: 2007
• Title: Psychology in action
• Edition: 8th edition
• Publisher: Wiley

APA Reference

Huffman, K. (2007). Psychology in action (8th ed.). Wiley.

In-Text Citation

(Huffman, 2007, p. 16)

Chapter in an Edited Book

• Author(s) of Chapter: Kara Harris, Angel D. Armenta, Christine Reyna, Michael A. Zárate
• Publication Date: 2020
• Title of Chapter: Latinx stereotypes: myths and realities in the twenty-first century
• Editor(s) of Book: Joel T. Nadler and Elora C. Voyles
• Title of Book: Stereotypes : the incidence and impacts of bias
• Page Range: 128-145
• Publisher: Praeger

Harris, K., Armenta, A. D., Reyna, C., & Zárate, M. A. (2020). Latinx stereotypes: Myths and realities in the twenty-first century. In J. T. Nadler & E. C. Voyles (Eds.), Stereotypes: The incidence and impacts of bias (pp. 128–145). Praeger.

(Harris et al., 2020, p. 130)

For works with three or more authors, only list the first author's last name and the abbreviation et al. in the in-text citation.

APA: Citing Books & eBooks from Lawrence W. Tyree Library on Vimeo .

View Transcript

This video tutorial will demonstrate how to cite books and eBooks using the APA citation style.

In this tutorial, you will learn the basics for citing a book, how to cite if there is more than one author or if a book is not a first edition, and how to cite a chapter from an edited book. Regardless if you use a print book or an eBook, you will cite it in the same way. There is no differentiation.

Every APA reference needs four parts: author, date, title, and source . As you go through these examples, you will learn how to identify these four parts and how to place and format them into a proper APA reference.

Example 1: A Book With One Author

For the first example, you will learn how to cite this book: Betting the Farm on a Drought: Stories from the Front Lines of Climate Change .

The first step is to identify the author of the book. This can usually be found on the cover or title page.

To list an author, write the last name , a comma , and the first and middle initials , followed by a period .

Example: McGraw, S.

Next, identify when this book was written. In this case, you will need to open the book and look inside, usually on the back of the title page, to find the date, 2015 .

List the date after the author, in parentheses , followed by a period .

Example: McGraw, S. (2015).

Next, identify the title . Even though there is no colon on the page, Stories from the Front Lines of Climate Change is styled differently and in a smaller font. This shows that it is the subtitle , and should be separated from the title with a colon .

List the title of the book after the date, in italics . Make sure you only capitalize the first word of the title , the first word of the subtitle , which comes after the colon, and any proper nouns .

Example: McGraw, S. (2015). Betting the farm on a drought: Stories from the front lines of climate change .

Next, you need to identify the source . For books, you need the publisher . The book's title page shows that the publisher is University of Texas Press .

Type the name of the publisher , and end with a period .

Example: McGraw, S. (2015). Betting the farm on a drought: Stories from the front lines of climate change . University of Texas Press.

The last piece of information you need is the DOI , which stands for digital object identifier. You can find a book’s DOI on the back of the title page. Not every book and eBook will have a DOI available. If there is no DOI, then this element can be omitted.

If the book contains a DOI, then include it after the publisher. First, type https://doi.org/ and then the book’s DOI. Otherwise, end after the publisher. This concludes the reference.

Example: McGraw, S. (2015). Betting the farm on a drought: Stories from the front lines of climate change . University of Texas Press. https://doi.org/10.7560/756618

If you refer to a work in your paper, either by directly quoting, paraphrasing, or by referring to main ideas, you will need to include an in-text parenthetical citation. There are a number of ways to do this. In this example, a signal phrase is used to introduce a direct quote. Note that the author's name is given in the text, and the publication date and page number(s) are enclosed in parentheses at the beginning and end of the sentence.

Example: As McGraw (2015) writes, "As with the nuclear danger in the 1960s, the potential risks of global climate change are staggering" (p. 39) .

Example 2: Multiple Authors; Editions

For this next book, there are two authors . You can obtain the date, the title, and the publisher from the book, using the steps illustrated in the first example. Note that this book is a eighth edition . You will need to include that information in your citation as well.

When citing multiple authors, list the first author as normal, followed by a comma , an ampersand (&) , and then the second author. In this example, the first author has a middle initial, so this is included. The edition is placed right after the title but before the period .

Example: Wald, K. D. , & Calhoun-Brown, A. (2018). Religion and politics in the United States (8th ed.). Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Example 3: A Chapter in an Edited Book

In this example, the entire book is overseen by editors , but each chapter has a different author. If you are only using information from a single chapter, you will need to cite it a certain way.

First, find the general information for this book, as demonstrated in the previous examples. Then you need to locate the author , title, and page numbers of the chapter you are citing.

To cite, list the author of the chapter first, followed by the date and then the title of the chapter . Note that the title of the chapter is not in italics. Then type the word In , and list the editors of the book , with the initials first. At the end of their names, list Ed. or Eds. in parentheses , which is the abbreviation for editor or editors. Then, type a comma , the title of the book , and include the page numbers in parentheses . End with the publisher.

Example: Landes, D. (2000). Culture makes almost all the difference. In L. E. Harrison & S. P. Huntington (Eds.), Culture matters: How values shape human progress (pp. 2–13). Basic Books.

For more examples and additional situations you may encounter when citing books, visit the Tyree Library's APA Citations research guide. This can be found by visiting the Library's website, clicking Guides and then Citation Guides .

This concludes the video tutorial on citing books and eBooks using APA style. If you still have questions, please contact a librarian:

352-395-5409 [email protected] Building Y, NW Campus sfcollege.edu/library

Journal Article (DOI)

• Authors: Kara Ng, Karen Niven, and Guy Notelaers
• Article Title: Does bystander behavior make a difference? How passive and active bystanders in the group moderate the effects of bullying exposure
• Publication Date: 2021
• Journal Title: Journal of Occupational Health Psychology
• Volume number: none provided
• Issue number: none provided
• Pages: none provided
• DOI: 10.1037/ocp0000296

Ng, K., Niven, K., & Notelaers, G. (2021). Does bystander behavior make a difference? How passive and active bystanders in the group moderate the effects of bullying exposure. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology . https://doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000296

(Ng et al., 2021)

Journal Article (no DOI)

• Author(s): Sigmund Freud
• Publication Date: 1910
• Article Title:  The Origin and Development of Psychoanalysis
• Journal Title: The American Journal of Psychology
• Volume number: 21
• Issue number: 2
• Pages: 181-218

Freud, S. (1910). The origin and development of psychoanalysis. The American Journal of Psychology, 21 (2), 181–218.

(Freud, 1910, p. 192)

Newspaper Article

• Author: Dr. Sandy Washburn
• Article Title: Social Emotional Learning and public education
• Publication Date: December 13, 2021
• Newspaper Title: Greensburg Daily News

Washburn, S. (2021, December 13). Social Emotional Learning and public education. Greensburg Daily News .

(Washburn, 2021)

APA: Citing Journal Articles from Lawrence W. Tyree Library on Vimeo .

This video tutorial will demonstrate how to cite journal articles using the APA citation style.

In this tutorial, you will learn the basics for citing journal articles with and without a DOI and how to cite open access journal articles.

Example 1: A Journal Article with a DOI

For the first example, you will learn how to cite a journal article with a DOI. Often, you will find journal articles online using the library's databases or other online resources. This article was found online using the database Academic Search Complete.

The first step is to identify the  author  of the article. The author of this article is Alon Confino.

To list an author, write the last name , a comma , and the first and middle initials .

Example: Confino, A.

Next, identify when this article was published. For journal articles, you typically only need the year . In this case, this article was published in 2012. You can usually find the date at the top of the article, the cover of the journal, or, for online articles, the article's record.

List the date after the author(s), in parentheses , followed by a period .

Example: Confino, A. (2012).

Now, identify the title of the article . The title will usually be at the very top of the article, in a larger size font.

List the title of the article after the date. Make sure you only capitalize the first word of the title , the first word of the subtitle , which comes after a colon, and any proper nouns . End with a period. In this title, only the words Miracles , Palestine , Israel , and Tantura are capitalized.

Example: Confino, A. (2012). Miracles and snow in Palestine and Israel: Tantura, a history of 1948.

For the last component, you need the source . For an article, this is the title of the journal, volume, issue , which is sometimes called number , and page numbers of the article. Usually this information can be found on the cover of the journal, on the table of contents, or at the top of the article. For the page numbers, you should look at the first and last pages of the article. For online articles, this information is usually found in the article's record.

Type the journal title , in italics , capitalizing all major words, a comma, the volume , also in italics , the number or issue in parentheses, a comma, and then the page numbers of the article.

Example: Confino, A. (2012). Miracles and snow in Palestine and Israel: Tantura, a history of 1948. Israel Studies, 17 (2), 25–61.

The last element of the source is the DOI , which stands for Digital Object Identifier. A DOI can be found in the article’s record or on the first page of the article.

Type the DOI , using the prefix https://doi.org/ . There is no period after the DOI.

Example: Confino, A. (2012). Miracles and snow in Palestine and Israel: Tantura, a history of 1948. Israel Studies, 17 (2), 25–61. https://doi.org/10.2979/israelstudies.17.2.25

If you refer to a work in your paper, either by directly quoting, paraphrasing, or by referring to main ideas, you will need to include an in-text parenthetical citation. There are a number of ways to do this. In this example, a signal phrase is used to introduce a direct quote. The author's name is given in the text, and the publication date and page number(s) are enclosed in parentheses at the beginning and end of the sentence.

Example: Confino (2012) notes "For Jews during the 1948 war sentiments of post-extermination existential anxiety mixed with a sense of wonder that was connected, but not reduced, to the foundation of the state of Israel" (p. 25) .

Example 2: Multiple Authors and No DOI

In this example, most of the components needed for the reference can be found in the article’s record. This article, however, has multiple authors and does not have a DOI listed in its record or in the article itself.

Format all the citation components of this journal article like the first example. For multiple authors, list the authors in the order they are listed in the article. Use a comma to separate each author and an ampersand (&) should be placed before the last author’s name. This applies for articles with up to twenty authors. Since there is no DOI listed for this article, simply omit that element. The reference will conclude after the page numbers.  

Example: Penprase, B., Mileto, L., Bittinger, A., Hranchook, A. M., Atchley, J. A., Bergakker, S., Eimers, T., & Franson, H. (2012). The use of high-fidelity simulation in the admissions process: One nurse anesthesia program’s experience. AANA Journal, 80 (1), 43–48.

If you refer to a work in your paper that has three or more authors, the in-text citation will include the first author's name only, followed by  et al. which means "and all the rest."

Example: Penprase et al. (2012) states that "Admission into nurse anesthesia programs is known to be a competitive process among a diverse pool of candidates" (p. 43) .

Example 3: An Open Access Journal Article

This article was found in PLOS One which is an open access journal. Open access journal articles are articles with the full text freely available online and do not require logging in.

You will need all of the same information from the previous examples to cite an open access article. In this example, most of this information can be found at the top of the article.

In this example, the article's volume, issue, and the article number are found in the citation provided by the journal. Article numbers are used in place of page numbers in some online journals.

The format for open access journals is the same as the other examples. In this example, an article number is used in place of the page numbers. After the issue number, type Article and then the article number. If an open access journal does not provide a DOI, you may provide the URL of the article instead. Only include the URL if it directly brings you to the full text of the article without logging in.

Example: Francis, H. M., Stevenson, R. J., Chambers, J. R., Gupta, D., Newey, B., & Lim, C. K. (2019). A brief diet intervention can reduce symptoms of depression in young adults – A randomised controlled trial. PLOS ONE, 14 (1), Article e0222768. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0222768

For more examples and additional situations you may encounter when citing articles, visit the Tyree Library’s APA Citations research guide. This can be found by visiting the Library’s website and clicking Guides and then Citation Guides .

This concludes the video tutorial on citing journal articles using APA style. If you still have questions, please contact a librarian:

• Author: Wendy L. Moss
• Webpage Title: Helping Students Deal with Academic Stress
• Publication Date: October 8, 2018
• Website Title: Psych Learning Curve
• URL of Web Page: http://psychlearningcurve.org/helping-students-deal-with-academic-stress/

Moss, W. L. (2018, October 8). Helping students deal with academic stress . Psych Learning Curve. http://psychlearningcurve.org/helping-students-deal-with-academic-stress/

(Moss, 2018)

Webpage with Organizational Author and No Date

• Author: The Ohio State University Department of Psychology
• Publication Date: none listed
• Webpage Title: What is Psychology?
• Website Title: The Ohio State University Department of Psychology
• URL of Webpage: https://psychology.osu.edu/about/what-psychology

The Ohio State University Department of Psychology. (n.d.). What is psychology? https://psychology.osu.edu/about/what-psychology

(The Ohio State University Department of Psychology, n.d.)

APA: Citing Web Resources from Lawrence W. Tyree Library on Vimeo .

This video tutorial will demonstrate how to cite Web resources using the APA citation style.

In this tutorial, you will learn the basics for citing a web page, a blog post, and what you should do if you are missing a date.

Example 1: A Webpage

For the first example, you will learn how to cite a webpage. The first step is to identify who wrote the content. In this example, the author is Ashley Strickland.

To list a specific author, write the last name , a comma , and the initials , followed by a period .

Example: Strickland, A.

Next, identify when this webpage was published. Dates are usually found near the top or the bottom of the page. Do not use a general copyright date for an overall website.

Unless an item is a newspaper, newsletter, magazine article, or blog post, you only need to provide the year. Since this example is an online news article, you should provide the whole date. After the author, list the entire date in parentheses , starting with the year , a comma , and then the month and day . End with a period.

Example: Strickland, A. (2019, November 19).

Next, identify the title of the page . The title will usually be above the text, in a larger size font.

List the title of the page in italics after the date. Make sure you only capitalize the first word of the title , the first word of the subtitle , which comes after a colon, and any proper nouns . End with a period.

Example: Strickland, A. (2019, November 19). Neptune's moons perform a strange orbit dance around each other .

The last information you need is the source For webpages, this is the website title and the URL , or Web address. In this case, the website is CNN. If you are having trouble locating the name of the website, try looking at the URL, which is located in the address bar at the top of the browser.

The  title of the website is listed after the title of the webpage, with a period at the end. Type the website title, a period, and then the URL . There is no period after the URL. This completes your reference.

Example: Strickland, A. (2019, November 19). Neptune's moons perform a strange orbit dance around each other . CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/19/world/neptune-moons-orbit-scn-trnd/index.html

If you refer to a work in your paper, either by directly quoting, paraphrasing, or by referring to main ideas, you will need to include an in-text parenthetical citation. There are a number of ways to do this. In this example, a signal phrase is used to introduce a direct quote. Note that the author's name is given in the text, and the publication date and location are enclosed in parentheses at the beginning and end of the sentence. Since there are no page numbers, you should describe where the information is located, either by paragraph number or section.

Example: Strickland (2019) explains that "Naiad is in a tilted, varying orbit that resembles an oddly zigzagging pattern" (para. 2) .

Example 2: No Date

Sometimes a webpage may not provide all the information you need for a citation. This example shows how to cite a webpage with no date. Start with the author. While resources are often written by specific people, sometimes an entire organization is the author. In this case,  Santa Fe College  is the author. Most webpages with no personal author will have an organizational author.

For organizational authors, simply list the name of the organization, capitalizing all important words. Because there is no date, use the abbreviation n.d. in place of a year. This stands for no date.

Example: Santa Fe College. (n.d.).

Next, find the title and the source for this webpage.

Type the title of the webpage in italics and end with a period. Since the website title is the same as the author, this component can be omitted.

Example: Santa Fe College. (n.d.). History of the college . Santa Fe College.

Finally, add the URL. Do not include a period at the end. This concludes the reference.

Example: Santa Fe College. (n.d.). History of the college . https://www.sfcollege.edu/about/history-of-the-college/index

For in-text citations with no date, use the abbreviation n.d.

Example: Santa Fe College (n.d.) states that "community colleges are a uniquely American creation" (para. 2) .

Example 3: A Blog Post

Blog posts are cited similarly to webpages. You will need to identify the author of the post, the title of the post, the blog name, date, and URL.

Assemble your citation components in the same order as the previous examples. The only difference in the formatting is that the title of the blog is italicized, and the title of the blog post is not. You will also want to include the entire date.

Example: Kaplan, H. (2017, October 4). Lumia: The art of light.  Eye Level . https://americanart.si.edu/blog/eye-level/2017/04/56195/lumia-art-light

For more examples and additional situations you may encounter when citing web resources, visit the Tyree Library’s APA Citations research guide. This can be found by visiting the Library’s website and clicking Guides and then Citation Guides .

This concludes the video tutorial on citing web resources using APA style. If you still have questions, please contact a librarian:

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Santa Fe College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). For more information, visit sfcollege.edu/sacscoc .

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In APA style, in-text citations are abridged citations that indicate that sourced information is being used by the author. Each in-text citation corresponds to an entry in the APA reference list, which has additional information so the reader can locate and the source further research. To provide in-text citations, you must have the following two important elements:

Author name or organization name

Publication year

Types of in-text citations

APA citation prefers the author-date system of citation. The in-text citation is given in two styles. However, the style depends on how you construct your text. The two types of in-text citations are

Citations that are included in the narration

Citations that are used in a parenthetical sense

Narrative citation

The citation that is read as a part of the sentence is a narrative citation. In the below examples, the author names are read along with the sentence:

Narrative citation with the author name in the sentence

Schubert (2007) emphasizes the cultural variation among nations.

Narrative citation with the organization name in the sentence

NCDPI (2021) released the dual-language program.

Note that only the publication year is enclosed in parenthesis for narrative citations.

Parenthetical citation

Unlike narrative citations, parenthetical citations do not act as a part of the sentence. They usually appear at the end of the sentence inside parenthesis. As both the author name and the year are enclosed in parenthesis, a comma separates them as shown in the below examples.

Parenthetical citation with the author name in parenthesis

The culture variation among nations is emphasized (Schubert, 2007).

Parenthetical citation with the organization name in parenthesis

The dual language program was released (NCDPI, 2021).

If you want to include further details, such as the page number, add them after the year. You can use phrases and words (e.g., “see,” “for instance,” “for more information”), along with parenthetical citations. They come before the author’s name. These are illustrated below.

With author

The culture variation among nations is emphasized (Schubert, 2007, p. 12).

The culture variation among nations is emphasized (see Schubert, 2007, p. 12).

In the above cases, the separator used after the year is a comma. However, when a citation appears along with some text in parenthesis, use a semicolon as a separator as in the below example.

The culture variation among nations is emphasized (e.g., the culture enrichment program; Schubert, 2007, p. 12).

Examples of in-text citations:

Narrative template & example:

Author Surname (Publication Year) Petrovic (2005)

Parenthetical template & example:

(Author Surname, Publication Year)

(Petrovic, 2005)

Two authors

The surnames of the two authors are separated by “and” in narrative citations and an ampersand symbol in parenthetical citations.

Author Surname1 and Author Surname2 (Publication Year)

Shin and Park (2015)

(Author Surname1 & Author Surname2, Publication Year)

(Shin & Park, 2013)

Three or more authors

This is new for APA 7th edition. If a reference-list entry has three or more authors, use only the first author’s surname and “et al.” in both types of citations.

Author Surname1 et al. (Publication Year)

Roberts et al. (2018)

(Author Surname et al., Publication Year)

(Roberts et al., 2018)

Group author

If any reference has a group author, the in-text citations take the group author’s name. It is allowed to abbreviate the group author if you wish to do so. There is a difference in treating the abbreviation between the two citation styles.

If the first occurrence of an abbreviation appears in a narrative citation, include it inside parenthesis. If the abbreviation first occurs in a parenthetical citation, include it inside square brackets.

Group author (Abbreviation, Publication Year)

Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE, 2015)

(Group author [Abbreviation], Publication Year)

Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation [OPRE], 2015)

No author/Anonymous author

The title of the work is written for in-text citations if there are no authors in a work. In general, citations with no authors are included as parenthetical citations. The title in the in-text citation is formatted as how it is formatted in the reference-list entry. If no formatting is found in the reference-list entry, add double quotes around the title and write the title in title case.

(“Title of the Work,” Publication Year)

(“Environmental Changes,” 2018)

Write “Anonymous” if the author name is given as “Anonymous.”

(Anonymous, 2004)

Other citations

Multiple citations in one sentence.

If you need to include multiple in-text citations as a group, sort them in alphabetical order in parenthetical citations. Use semicolons to separate different sources.

(Ballard, 2017; Bottom & Tom, 2012; Serena, 2004)

If you need to include multiple in-text citations with some sources having the same author group, arrange the sources with the same author group chronologically with a comma separator. For chronological citation, the arrangement takes the following order: citations with “n.d.” first, publications with dates in chronological order next, and “in press” citations finally. “n.d.” stands for “no date.”

(Alex, 2012, 2014a, 2014b; Ben & Bailey, 2012, in press; Simond, n.d., 2004)

Do not sort in-text citations if the citation is narrative. Follow the order as given.

Same surname, same publication year, different initials

If multiple entries possess the same surname and date, but different initials, include initials to the in-text citations to distinguish the sources. Some examples are shown here as illustrations:

Narrative templates & examples:

F. Author Surname (Publication Year)

M. Author Surname (Publication Year)

T. Longman (2016)

K. Longman (2016)

Parenthetical templates & examples:

(F. Author Surname, Publication Year)

(M. Author Surname, Publication Year)

(T. Longman, 2016)

(K. Longman, 2016)

Same surname, same initials, same publication year

If multiple entries possess the same surname, initials, and date, a lowercase letter is added to the year to differentiate them. This is to help the reader identify which source is referred to in the citation. Some examples are given below:

Author Surname (Publication Year + lowercased letter)

Garland (2014a)

Garland (2014b)

(Author Surname, Publication Year + lowercased letter)

(Garland, 2014a)

(Garland, 2014b)

Translated work

Unlike other works, translated titles possess two publication dates (the date of the original work and the date of the translated work). Both dates are included for in-text citations. The order should be chronological. The two dates are separated with a slash.

Author Surname (Publication Year of the original work/Publication Year of the translated work)

Frost (1994/1997)

(Author Surname, Publication Year of the original work/Publication Year of the translated work)

(Frost, 1994/1997)

Personal communication

Some works do not have sources to cite. Examples of such works include interviews, messages, chats, talk on the telephone, and emails. Such works are included under the category of personal communication. The information of such works is not retrievable; therefore, they cannot be included in the reference list. However, you can add an in-text citation. When writing in-text citations, use initials along with the author’s name.

Communicator’s name (personal communication, Month Day, Year)

T. Paul (personal communication, August 12, 1998)  

(Communicator’s name, personal communication, Month Day, Year)

(T. Paul, personal communication, August 12, 1998)

Popular APA Citation Examples

• Dictionary entry 
• Edited book 
• Image or video online
• PDF or E-book
• Presentation or lecture
• Video, film, or DVD

University Libraries      University of Nevada, Reno

• Skill Guides
• Subject Guides

APA Citation Guide (7th Edition): In-Text Citation

• Audiovisual Media
• Books and eBooks
• Dictionaries, Thesauruses and Encyclopedias
• Figures and Tables
• Government Documents
• Journal, Magazine and Newspaper Articles
• Personal Communications
• Presentations and Class Notes
• Social Media
• Websites and Webpages
• Generative AI

In-Text Citation

• Reference List and Sample Papers
• Annotated Bibliography
• Citation Software

What Is In-Text Citation?

In APA, in-text citations are inserted in the text of your research paper to briefly document the source of your information. Brief in-text citations point the reader to more complete information in the Reference list.

When using APA format, follow the author-date method of in-text citation. In the author-date method, the writer includes the author and date within the body of the paper and includes a corresponding reference in the Reference list. This method 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.

Create an in-text citation whenever you quote another work, or whenever you paraphrase another work in your own words.

In-text Citations Have Two Formats

• Parenthetical - the author name and publication date (or equivalent information) appear in parentheses. For example: Falsely balanced news coverage can distort the public's perception of expert consensus on an issue (Burnside, 2016).
• Narrative - the author name appears in running text and the date appears in parentheses immediately after the author name. For example: Burnside (2016) noted the dangers of falsely balanced news coverage.

If you are referring to an idea from another work (paraphrasing or summarizing) but NOT directly quoting the material, you only have to make reference to the author and year of publication and not the page number in your in-text reference.

If you are directly quoting or borrowing from another work, you should include the page number at the end of the parenthetical citation. For example, (Burnside, 2016, p. 199).

In-Text Citation Styles

The table below shows several examples of parenthetical and narrative citations.

Paraphrasing and Quoting: What Is the Difference?

There are two ways to integrate sources into your assignment:

• Paraphrasing  is used to show that you understand what the author wrote. You must reword the passage, expressing the ideas in your own words, and not just change a few words here and there. Make sure to also include an in-text citation.
• Quoting is copying a selection from someone else's work, phrasing it exactly as it was originally written. When quoting, place quotation marks (" ") around the selected passage to show where the quote begins and where it ends. Make sure to include an in-text citation.

Signal Phrases

If you refer to the author's name in a sentence, you do not have to include the name again as part of your in-text citation; instead, include the date after the name and the page number (if there is one) at the end of the quotation or the paraphrased section. For example:

Hunt (2011) explains that mother-infant attachment has been a leading topic of developmental research since John Bowlby found that "children raised in institutions were deficient in emotional and personality development" (p. 358).

Short Quotations

If a quotation consists of fewer than 40 words , treat it as a short quotation:

• Incorporate the quote into the text and enclose it within double quotation marks.
• Include the author, year of publication, and page number for the reference.
• For example, Smith (2019) demonstrated how to "..." (p. 112).
• For example, "..." (Smith, 2019, p. 112).

Long (Block) Quotations

If a quotation contains 40 words or more , treat it as a long (block) quotation:

• Do not use quotation marks to enclose a block quotation.
• Start a block quotation on a new line and indent the whole block 0.5 inches from the left margin.
• If there are additional paragraphs within the quotation, indent the first line of each subsequent paragraph an additional 0.5 inches.
• Double-space the entire block quotation; do not add extra space before or after it.
• Either (1) cite the source in parentheses after the quotation's final punctuation, or (2) cite the author and year in the narrative before the quotation and place only the page number in parentheses after the quotation's final punctuation. Do NOT add a period after the closing parenthesis in either case.
• See section 8.27 in the Publication Manual for examples of the block quotation.

Direct Quotation Without Page Numbers

When you quote from electronic sources that do not provide page numbers (e.g., webpages, websites, some e-books), provide readers with another way of locating the quoted passage. Use any of the following approaches that will best help readers find the quotation:

• Provide a heading or a section name.
• Provide a paragraph number (count the paragraphs manually if they are not numbered).
• Provide a heading or section name in combination with a paragraph number.

In-Text Citation for More than One Source

If you would like to cite more than one source within the same in-text citation, simply record the in-text citations as normal and separate them with a semi-colon. List the sources alphabetically by author's last name or first word used from the title if no author is given, in the same order they would appear in the Reference list. For example:

(Jones, 2015; Smith, 2014). 

( Beckworth, 2016;  "Nursing,"  2015).

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• Plagiarism and grammar
• Citation guides

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A comprehensive guide to apa citations and format, overview of this guide:.

This page provides you with an overview of APA format, 7th edition. Included is information about referencing, various citation formats with examples for each source type, and other helpful information.

If you’re looking for MLA format , check out the Citation Machine MLA Guide. Also, visit the Citation Machine homepage to use the APA formatter, which is an APA citation generator, and to see more styles .

Being responsible while researching

When you’re writing a research paper or creating a research project, you will probably use another individual’s work to help develop your own assignment. A good researcher or scholar uses another individual’s work in a responsible way. This involves indicating that the work of other individuals is included in your project (i.e., citing), which is one way to prevent plagiarism.

Plagiarism? What is it?

The word plagiarism is derived from the Latin word, plagiare , which means “to kidnap.” The term has evolved over the years to now mean the act of taking another individual’s work and using it as your own, without acknowledging the original author (American Psychological Association, 2020 p. 21). Plagiarism can be illegal and there can be serious ramifications for plagiarizing someone else’s work. Thankfully, plagiarism can be prevented. One way it can be prevented is by including citations and references in your research project. Want to make them quickly and easily? Try the Citation Machine citation generator, which is found on our homepage.

All about citations & references

Citations and references should be included anytime you use another individual’s work in your own assignment. When including a quote, paraphrased information, images, or any other piece of information from another’s work, you need to show where you found it by including a citation and a reference. This guide explains how to make them.

APA style citations are added in the body of a research paper or project and references are added to the last page.

Citations , which are called in-text citations, are included when you’re adding information from another individual’s work into your own project. When you add text word-for-word from another source into your project, or take information from another source and place it in your own words and writing style (known as paraphrasing), you create an in-text citation. These citations are short in length and are placed in the main part of your project, directly after the borrowed information.

References are found at the end of your research project, usually on the last page. Included on this reference list page is the full information for any in-text citations found in the body of the project. These references are listed in alphabetical order by the author's last name.

An APA in-text citation includes only three items: the last name(s) of the author(s), the year the source was published, and sometimes the page or location of the information. References include more information such as the name of the author(s), the year the source was published, the full title of the source, and the URL or page range.

Why is it important to include citations & references

Including APA citations and references in your research projects is a very important component of the research process. When you include citations, you’re being a responsible researcher. You’re showing readers that you were able to find valuable, high-quality information from other sources, place them into your project where appropriate, all while acknowledging the original authors and their work.

Common ways students and scholars accidentally plagiarize

Believe it or not, there are instances when you could attempt to include in-text and full references in the appropriate places, but still accidentally plagiarize. Here are some common mistakes to be aware of:

Mistake #1 - Misquoting sources: If you plan to use a direct quote, make sure you copy it exactly as is. Sure, you can use part of the full quote or sentence, but if you decide to put quotation marks around any words, those words should match exactly what was found in the original source. Here’s a line from The Little Prince , by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry:

“Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.”

Here’s an acceptable option:

“Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves,” stated de Saint-Exupéry (1943, p. 3).

Here’s a misquote:

“Grown-ups barely ever understand anything by themselves,” stated de Saint-Exupéry (1943, p. 3).

Notice the slight change in the words. The incorrect phrasing is an instance of accidental plagiarism.

Mistake #2 - Problems with paraphrasing: When we paraphrase, we restate information using our own words and writing style. It’s not acceptable to substitute words from the original source with synonyms.

Let’s use the same sentence from The Little Prince .

A correct paraphrase could be:

de Saint-Exupéry (1943) shares various ways adults frustrate children. One of the biggest being that kids have to explain everything. It’s too bad adults are unable to comprehend anything on their own (p. 3).

An incorrect paraphrase would be:

de Saint-Exupéry (1943) shares that adults never understand anything by themselves, and it is exhausting for kids to be always and forever clarifying things to them (p.3).

Notice how close the incorrect paraphrase is from the original. This is an instance of accidental plagiarism.

Make sure you quote and paraphrase properly in order to prevent accidental plagiarism.

If you’re having a difficult time paraphrasing properly, it is acceptable to paraphrase part of the text AND use a direct quote. Here’s an example:

de Saint-Exupery (1943) shares various ways adults frustrate children. One of the biggest being that kids have to explain everything, and “it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them” (p. 3).

Information About APA

Who created it.

The American Psychological Association is an organization created for individuals in the psychology field. With close to 121,000 members, they provide educational opportunities, funding, guidance, and research information for everything psychology-related. They also have numerous high-quality databases, peer-reviewed journals, and books that revolve around mental health.

The American Psychological Association is also credited with creating their own specific citation and reference style. Today, this format is used by individuals not only in the psychology field, but many other subject areas as well. Education, economics, business, and social sciences also use APA style quite frequently. Click here for more information . This guide covers general information about the style, but is not affiliated with the American Psychological Association.

Why was this style created?

This format was first developed in 1929 to form a standardized way for researchers in science fields to document their sources. Prior to the inception of these standards and guidelines, individuals were recognizing the work of other authors by including bits and pieces of information in random order. There wasn’t a set way to format citations and references. You can probably imagine how difficult it was to understand the sources that were used for research projects!

Having a standard format for citing sources allows readers to glance at a citation or APA reference and easily locate the title, author, year published, and other critical pieces of information needed to understand a source.

The evolution of this style

The guide below is based on APA style 7th edition, which was released in 2020. In previous versions of APA format, researchers and scholars were required to include the publisher location for books and the date that an electronic resource was accessed. Both are no longer required to be included.

Details on the differences between the 6th and 7th editions is addressed later in this guide.

Citations & References

The appearance of citations & references.

The format for references varies, but most use this general format:

%%Author’s Last name, First initial. (Date published). Title . URL

Researchers and scholars must look up the proper format for the source that they’re attempting to cite. Books have a certain format, websites have a different format, periodicals have a different format, and so on. Scroll down to find the proper format for the source you’re citing or referencing.

If you would like help citing your sources, CitationMachine.com has a citation generator that will help make the APA citation process much easier for you. To start, simply click on the source type you're citing:

• Journal articles

In-text citations

An APA in-text citation is included in research projects in three instances: When using a direct quote, paraphrasing information, or simply referring to a piece of information from another source.

Quite often, researchers and scholars use a small amount of text, word for word, from another source and include it in their own research projects. This is done for many reasons. Sometimes, another author’s words are so eloquently written that there isn’t a better way to rephrase it yourself. Other times, the author’s words can help prove a point or establish an understanding for something in your research project. When using another author’s exact words in your research project, include an APA in-text citation directly following it.

In addition to using the exact words from another source and placing them into your project, these citations are also added anytime you paraphrase information. Paraphrasing is when you take information from another source and rephrase it, in your own words.

When simply referring to another piece of information from another source, also include a citation directly following it.

Citations in the text are found near a direct quote, paraphrased information, or next to a mention of another source. To see examples of some narrative/ parenthetical citations in action, look at the image above, under “All About Citations & References.”

Note: *Only include the page or paragraph number when using a direct quote or paraphrase. Page numbers have a p. before the number, pp. before the page range, and para. before the paragraph number. This information is included to help the reader locate the exact portion of text themselves. It is unnecessary to include this information when you’re simply referring to another source.

Examples of APA in-text citations:

“Well, you’re about to enter the land of the free and the brave. And I don’t know how you got that stamp on your passport. The priest must know someone” (Tóibín, 2009, p. 52).

Student teachers who use technology in their lessons tend to continue using technology tools throughout their teaching careers (Kent & Giles, 2017, p. 12).

If including the author’s name in the sentence, place the year in the parentheses directly next to his or her name. Add the page number at the end, unless it’s a source without any pages or paragraph numbers (See Section 8.10 of the Publication manual for more details).

In-text citation APA example:

According to a study done by Kent and Giles (2017), student teachers who use technology in their lessons tend to continue using technology tools throughout their teaching careers.

The full references, or citations, for these sources can be found on the last part of a research project, titled the “References.”

Here’s how to create in-text citations for specific amounts of authors:

APA citation with no author

When the source lacks an author’s name, place the title, year, and page number (if available) in the text. The title should be in italics if it sits alone (such as a movie, brochure, or report). If the source is part of a whole (as many web pages and articles are), place the title in quotation marks without italics (See Section 8.14 of the Publication manual ).

Structure of an APA format citation in the text narratively, with the author's name missing:

Title of Source (Year) or “Title of Source” (Year)

Structure of an APA style format citation, in parentheses at the end of the sentence, with the author’s name missing: (Title of Source, Year) or (“Title of Source,” Year)

Structure for one author

In the text, narratively: Last name of Author (Year)...(page number).

In parentheses, at the end of the sentence: (Last name of Author, Year, page number).

Structure for two authors

Place the authors in the order they appear on the source. Only use the ampersand in the parenthetical citations (see Section 8.17 of the Publication manual ). Use ‘and’ to separate the author names if they’re in the text of the sentence.

In the text, narratively: Last name of Author 1 and Last name of Author 2 (Year)....(page number).

In parentheses, at the end of the sentence: (Last name of Author 1 & Last name of Author 2, Year, page number).

Structure for three or more authors

Only include the first listed author’s name in the first and any subsequent citations. Follow it with et al.

(Last name Author 1 et al., Year, page number)

(Agbayani et al., 2020, p. 99)

Last name of Author 1 et al. (Year)...(page).

Agbayani et al. (2020)...(p. 99)

One author, multiple works, same year

What do you do when you want to cite multiple works by an author, and the sources all written in the same year?

Include the letters ‘a’ ‘b’ ‘c’ and so on after the year in the citation.

(Jackson, 2013a)

Jackson (2013a)

Writers can even lump dates together.

Example: Jackson often studied mammals while in Africa (2013a, 2013b).

On the APA reference page, include the same letters in the full references.

Groups and organizations

Write out the full name of the group or organization in the first citation and place the abbreviation next to it in brackets. If the group or organization is cited again, only include the abbreviation. If it doesn’t have an abbreviation associated with it, write out the entire organization’s name each and every time (see Section 8.21 of the Publication manual ).

First APA citation for an organization with an abbreviation: (World Health Organization [WHO], Year)

World Health Organization (WHO, Year)

Notice in the example directly above, the name of the organization is written out in full in the text of the sentence, and the abbreviation is placed in parentheses next to it.

Subsequent APA citations in the text for an organization with an abbreviation: (WHO, Year) OR WHO (Year)

All citations in the text for an organization without an abbreviation: (Citation Machine, Year) or Citation Machine (Year)

One in-text citation, multiple works

Sometimes you’ll need to cite more than one work within an in-text citation. Follow the same format (author, year) format but place semicolons between works (p. 263).

(Obama, 2016; Monroe et al., 1820; Hoover & Coolidge, 1928)

Reminder: There are many citation tools available on CitationMachine.com. Head to our homepage to learn more, check out our APA citation website, and cite your sources easily! The most useful resource on our website? Our APA citation generator, which doesn’t just create full references, it’s also an APA in-text citation website! It’ll do both for you!

Click here to learn more about crediting work .

Reference list citation components

References display the full information for all the citations found in the body of a research project.

Some things to keep in mind when it comes to the references:

• All references sit together on their own page, which is usually the last page(s) of a paper.
• Title the page ‘References’
• Place ‘References’ in the center of the page and bold it. Keep the title in the same font and size as the references. Do not italicize, underline, place the title in quotation marks, or increase the font size.
• The entire page is double spaced.
• All references are listed in alphabetical order by the first word in the reference, which is usually the author’s last name. If the source lacks an author, alphabetize the source by the title (ignore A, An, or The)
• All references have a hanging indent, meaning that the second line of text is indented in half an inch. See examples throughout this guide.
• Remember, each and every citation in the text of the paper MUST have a full reference displayed in the reference list. The citations in the text provide the reader with a quick glimpse about the sources used, but the references in the reference list provide the reader with all the information needed to seek out the source themselves.

Learn more about each component of the reference citation and how to format it in the sections that follow. See an APA sample paper reference list at the end of this entire section.

Author’s names

The names of authors are written in reverse order. Include the initials for the first and middle names. End this information with a period (see Section 9.8 of the Publication manual ).

Format: Last name, F. M.

• Angelou, M.
• Doyle, A. C.

Two or more authors

When two or more authors work together on a source, write them in the order in which they appear on the source. You can name up to 20 authors in the reference. For sources with 2 to 20 authors, place an ampersand (&) before the final author. Use this format:

Last name, F. M., & Last name, F. M.

Last name, F. M., Last name, F. M., Last name, F. M., Last name, F. M., & Last name, F. M.

Kent, A. G., Giles, R. M., Thorpe, A., Lukes, R., Bever, D. J., & He, Y.

If there are 21 or more authors listed on a source, only include the first 19 authors, add three ellipses, and then add the last author’s name.

Roberts, A., Johnson, M. C., Klein, J., Cheng, E. V., Sherman, A., Levin, K. K. , ...Lopez, G. S.

If you plan on using a free APA citation tool, like the one at CitationMachine.com, the names of the authors will format properly for you.

###No authors

If the source lacks an author, place the title in the first position in the reference (Section 9.12 of the Publication manual ). When the source’s title begins with a number (Such as 101 Dalmatians ), place the reference alphabetically as if the number was spelled out. 101 Dalmatians would be placed in the spot where ‘One hundred’ would go, but keep the numbers in their place.

Additionally, if the title begins with the words ‘A’, ‘An,’ or ‘The,’ ignore these words and place the title alphabetically according to the next word.

See the “Titles” section below for more information on formatting the title of sources.

###Corporate/Organization authors

On an APA reference page, corporate authors are always written out in full. In the text of your paper, you may have some abbreviations (such as UN for United Nations), but in the full references, always include the full names of the corporation or organization (following Section 9.11 of the official Publication manual ).

%%United Nations. (2019). Libya: $202 million needed to bring life-saving aid to half a million people hit by humanitarian crisis. https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/02/1031981

Publication date & retrieval date

Directly after the author’s name is the date the source was published. Include the full date for newspapers and magazine articles, and only the year for journals and all other sources. If no date is found on the source, include the initials, n.d. for “no date.”

%% Narducci, M. (2017, May 19). City renames part of 11th Street Ed Snider Way to honor Flyers founder. The Philadelphia Inquirer . http://www.philly.com/

If using our APA Citation Machine, our citation generator will add the correct format for you automatically.

Giving a retrieval date is not needed unless the online content is likely to be frequently updated and changed (e.g., encyclopedia article, dictionary entry, Twitter profile, etc.).

%%Citation Machine [@CiteMachine]. (n.d.). Tweets [Twitter profile]. Twitter. Retrieved October 10, 2019, from https://twitter.com/CiteMachine

When writing out titles for books, articles, chapters, or other non-periodical sources, only capitalize the first word of the title and the first word of the subtitle. Names of people, places, organizations, and other proper nouns also have the first letter capitalized. For books and reports, italicize the title in the APA citation.

Strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Roots: The saga of an American family.

For articles and chapters in APA referencing, do not italicize the title.

Wake up the nation: Public libraries, policy making, and political discourse.

For newspapers, magazines, journals, newsletters, and other periodicals, capitalize the first letter in each word and italicize the title.

The Seattle Times.

A common question is whether to underline your title or place it in italics or quotation marks in the reference list. Here’s a good general rule: When a source sits alone and is not part of a larger whole, place the title in italics. If the source does not sit alone and is part of a larger whole, do not place it in italics.

Books, movies, journals, and television shows are placed in italics since they stand alone. Songs on an album, episodes of television shows, chapters in books, and articles in journals are not placed in italics since they are smaller pieces of larger wholes.

The Citation Machine citation generator will format the title in your citations automatically.

Additional information about the title

If you feel it would be helpful to include additional information about the source type, include a descriptive noun or two in brackets immediately following the title. Capitalize the first letter.

%%Kennedy, K., & Molen, G. R. (Producers), & Spielberg, S. (Director). (1993). Jurassic Park [Film]. USA: Universal.

Besides [Film], other common notations include:

• [Audio podcast]
• [Letter to the editor]
• [Television series episode]
• [Facebook page]
• [Blog post]
• [Lecture notes]
• [PowerPoint presentation]
• [Video file]

If you are using Citation Machine citing tools, additional information about the title is automatically added for you.

Publisher information

For books and reports, include the publisher name but not the location (see Section 9.29 of the Publication manual ). Older editions of the style required the city, state and/or country, but this hasn't been the case since the 7th edition was released.

It is not necessary to include the entire name of the publisher. It is acceptable to use a brief, intelligible form. However, if Books or Press are part of the publisher’s names, keep these words in the reference. Other common terms, such as Inc., Co., Publishers, and others can be omitted.

For newspapers, journals, magazines, and other periodicals, include the volume and issue number after the title. The volume number is listed first, by itself, in italics. The issue number is in parentheses immediately after it, not italicized. There is no space after the closing parenthesis and before the volume number.

%%Giannoukos, G., Besas, G., Hictour, V., & Georgas, T. (2016). A study on the role of computers in adult education. Educational Research and Reviews , 11 (9), 907-923. https://doi.org/10.5897/ERR2016.2688

After including the publisher information, end this section with a period.

Perseus Books.

Electronic source information:

For online sources, the URL or DOI (Direct Object Identifier) are included at the end of an APA citation.

DOI numbers are often created by publishers for journal articles and other periodical sources. They were created in response to the problem of broken or outdated links and URLs. When a journal article is assigned a DOI number, it is static and will never change. Because of its permanent characteristic, DOIs are the preferred type of electronic information to include in APA citations. When a DOI number is not available, include the source’s URL (see Section 9.34 in the Publication manual ).

For DOIs, include the number in this format:

http://doi.org/xxxx

For URLs, type them in this format:

http:// or https://

Other information about electronic sources:

• If the URL is longer than a line, break it up before a punctuation mark.
• Do not place a period at the end of the citation/URL.
• It is unnecessary to include retrieval dates, unless the source changes often over time (like in a Wikipedia article).
• It is not necessary to include the names of databases

If using the Citation Machine APA citation website autocite features, the online publication information will be automatically replaced by the DOI. The Citation Machine APA template will properly cite your online sources for you.

Make sure you run your completed paper through the Citation Machine Plus smart proofreader, which scans for grammar, spelling, and plagiarism. Whether it’s an adjective , verb , or pronoun out-of-place, our technology helps edits your paper for you!

Annotated bibliographies:

An APA annotated bibliography is a full bibliography that includes a small note for each reference citation. Each note should be short (1-2 paragraphs) and contain a summary or your evaluation about each source. When creating your citations on CitationMachine.net, there is a field at the bottom of each form to add your own annotations.

Follow the publication manual guidelines on paper format and writing style. Let your instructor guide other details about your annotations. Still confused? Read our guide on annotated bibliographies .

These types of projects look different depending on the style you’re using. Use the link at the top of the page to access resources related to the Modern Language Association’s style. Here’s information related to Chicago citation style .

Page formatting

Need help with the design and formatting of your paper? Look no further! This section provides the ins and outs of properly displaying the information in your APA essay.

• Times New Roman, 12-point size.
• Calibri, Arial, or Georgia, 11-point size
• Lucida, Sans Unicode, or Computer Modern, 10-point size
• Indents = Every paragraph should start with an indent.
• Margins = 1 inch around the entire document
• Spacing = Double space everything!

Arrange your pages in this order:

• Page 1 - APA Title Page (see below for information on the title page)
• Page 2 - Abstract (If your professor requests one)
• Page 3 - First page of text
• References begin on their own page. Include the list of references on the page after the text.
• Tables and figures

Keep in mind that the order above is the recommendation for papers being submitted for peer review. If you’re writing an APA style paper for a class, your professor may be more lenient about the requirements. Also, if you’re submitting your paper for a specific journal, check the requirements on the journal’s website. Each journal has different rules and procedures.

Just a little nudge to remind you about the Citation Machine Plus smart proofreader. Whether it’s a conjunction or interjection out of place, a misspelled word, or an out of place citation, we’ll offer suggestions for improvement! Don’t forget to check out our APA citation maker while you’re at it!

Running heads

In older editions of APA, running heads were required for all papers. Since the 7th edition, that’s changed.

• Student paper: No running head
• Professional paper: Include a running head

The running head displays the title of the paper and the page number on all pages of the paper. This header is found on every page of a professional paper (not a student paper), even on the title page (sometimes called an APA cover page) and reference list (taken from Section 2.8 of the Publication manual ).

It's displayed all in capital letters at the top of the page. Across from the running head, along the right margin, is the page number.

• Use the header feature in your word processor. Both Google Docs and Word have these features available.
• Use one for the recommended fonts mentioned under "Page formatting."

Title pages

A title page, sometimes called an APA cover page, graces the cover of an essay or paper. An APA title page should follow rules from Section 2.3 of the official Publication manual and include:

• Page number, which is page 1
• Use title case and bold font
• The title should be under 12 words in length
• The title should be a direct explanation of the focus of the paper. Do not include any unnecessary descriptors such as “An Analysis of…” or “A Study of…”
• Exclude any labels such as Mr., Ms., Dr, PhD...
• Name of the school or institution
• Course number and/or class name
• Name of your instructor, including their preferred honorifics (e.g., PhD, Dr., etc.)
• Paper’s due date
• If this is a professional paper, also include a running head. If this is a student paper, do not include one.

Follow the directions for the running head and page number in the section above. Below the running head, a few lines beneath, and centered in the middle of the page, should be the title. The next line below is the author’s name(s), followed by the name of the school or institution, the class or course name, your instructor’s name, and the paper’s due date.

All components on this page should be written in the same font and size as the rest of your paper. Double space the title, names, name of school or institution, and all other information on the page (except for the running head and page number).

Example - Student Title Page APA:

Example - Professional Title Page APA:

If you’re submitting your paper to a journal for publication, check the journal’s website for exact requirements. Each journal is different and some may request a different type of APA format cover page.

Looking to create an APA format title page? Head to CitationMachine.com’s homepage and choose “Title Page” at the top of the screen.

An abstract briefly but thoroughly summarizes dissertation contents. It’s found in the beginning of a professional paper, right after the title page. Abstracts are meant to help readers determine whether to continue reading the entire document. With that in mind, try to craft the lead sentence to entice the reader to continue reading.

Here are a few tips:

• Be factual and keep your opinions out. An abstract should accurately reflect the paper or dissertation and should not involve information or commentary not in the thesis.
• Communicate your main thesis. What was the examined problem or hypothesis? A reader should know this from reading your abstract.
• Keep it brief. Stick to the main points and don’t add unnecessary words or facts. It should not exceed 250 words.
• Consider your paper’s purpose. It’s important to cater your abstract to your paper type and think about what information the target audience for that paper type would want. For example, an empirical article may mention methodology or participant description. A quantitative or qualitative meta-analysis would mention the different variables considered and how information was synthesized.
• Use verbs over noun equivalents, and active voice. Example: “There was research into…” becomes “We researched…”

Formatting guidelines:

• The abstract goes after the title page.
• It should have the same font (size and type) as the rest of the paper.
• It should stick to one page.
• Double-space all page text.
• Center and bold the word “Abstract” at the top of the paper.
• Don’t indent the first line of the abstract body. The body should also be in plain text.
• For the keywords, place it on the line after the abstract and indent the first line (but not subsequent lines). The word “Keywords:” is capitalized, italicized, and followed by a colon. The actual keywords are sentence case and in plan font.
• List each keyword one after the other, and separate them by a comma.
• After the last keyword, no ending punctuation is needed.

Tables & Figures

If your paper includes a lot of numerical information or data, you may want to consider placing it into a table or a figure, rather than typing it all out. A visual figure or simple, organized table filled with numerical data is often easier for readers to digest and comprehend than tons of paragraphs filled with numbers. Chapter 7 of the Publication manual outlines formatting for tables and figures. Let's cover the basics below.

If you’d like to include a table or figure in your paper, here are a few key pieces of information to keep in mind:

• At the end of the paper after the APA reference page
• In the text after it is first mentioned
• The table first mentioned in the text should be titled ‘Table 1.’ The next table mentioned in the text is ‘Table 2,’ and so on. For figures, it would be 'Figure 1,' 'Figure 2,' and so forth.

• Even though every table and figure is numbered, also create a title for each that describes the information it contains. Capitalize all important words in the title.
• For tables, do not use any vertical lines, only use horizontal to break up information and headings.
• Single spacing is acceptable to use in tables and figures. If you prefer double spacing your information, that is okay too.
• Do not include extra information or “fluff.” Keep it simple!
• Do not include the same exact information in the paper. Only include the complete information in one area—the table or the text.
• All tables and figures must be referenced in the text. It is unacceptable to throw a table or figure into the back of the paper without first providing a brief summary or explanation of its relevance.

Publication Manual 6th Edition vs 7th Edition

The 6th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association was released in 2009. The current 7th edition came out in the fall of 2019 and was designed to be more student focused, provide more guidance on accessibility, and address changes that have developed over the last 10 years.

Below, we’ve listed what we feel are the most relevant changes related to APA format.

Journals and DOIs

DOI stands for “digital object identifier.” Many journal articles use and have a unique DOI that should be included in a full citation.

When including a DOI in a citation, format it as a URL. Do not label it “DOI.” Articles without DOIs from databases are treated as print works. For example:

6th edition:

%%Gänsicke, B. T., Schreiber, M. R., Toloza, O., Fusillo, N. P. G., Koester, D., & Manser, C. J. (2019). Accretion of a giant planet onto a white dwarf star. Nature, 576 (7785), 61–64. doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-1789-8

7th edition:

%%Gänsicke, B. T., Schreiber, M. R., Toloza, O., Fusillo, N. P. G., Koester, D., & Manser, C. J. (2019). Accretion of a giant planet onto a white dwarf star. Nature, 576 (7785), 61–64. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1789-8

Citing Books

There are few new guidelines when you are citing a book. First, the publisher location no longer needs to be indicated.

%%Zack, P. O. (2001). The shoals of time. Bloomington, IN: First Books Library.

%%Zack, P. O. (2001). The shoals of time. First Books Library.

Second, the format of an ebook (e.g., Kindle, etc.) no longer needs to be indicated.

%%Niven, J. (2012). Ada Blackjack: A true story of survival in the Arctic [Kindle].

%%Niven, J. (2012). Ada Blackjack: A true story of survival in the Arctic .

Lastly, books from research databases without DOIs are treated the same as print works.

When using a URL in a citation, you no longer need to include the term “Retrieved from” before URLs (except with retrieval dates). The font should be blue and underlined, or black and not underlined.

6th Edition:

%%Flood, A. (2019, December 6). Britain has closed almost 800 libraries since 2010, figures show. The Guardian . Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/dec/06/britain-has-closed-almost-800-libraries-since-2010-figures-show

7th Edition:

%%Flood, A. (2019, December 6). Britain has closed almost 800 libraries since 2010, figures show. The Guardian . https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/dec/06/britain-has-closed-almost-800-libraries-since-2010-figures-show

Within a full APA citation, you may spell out up to 20 author names. For two to 20 authors, include an ampersand (&) before the name of the last author. For sources with 21 or more authors, structure it as follows:

Structure: First 19 authors’ names, . . . Last author’s name.

7th edition example: Washington, G., Adams, J., Jefferson, T., Madison, J., Monroe, J., Adams, J. Q., Jackson, A., Van Buren, M., Harrison, W. H., Tyler, J., Polk, J. K., Taylor, Z., Filmore, M., Pierce, F., Buchanan, J., Lincoln, A., Johnson, A., Grant, U. S., Hayes, R. B., Garfield, . . . Trump, D.

When creating an in-text citation for a source with 3 or more authors, use “et al.” after the first author’s name. This helps abbreviate the mention.

6th Edition: (Honda, Johnson, Prosser, Rossi, 2019)

7th Edition: (Honda et al., 2019)

Tables and Figures

Instead of having different formats for tables and figures, both use one standardized format. Now both tables and figures have a number, a title, name of the table/figure, and a note at the bottom.

If you’re still typing into Google “how to cite a website APA” among other related questions and keywords, click here for further reading on the style .

When you’re through with your writing, toss your entire paper into the Citation Machine Plus plagiarism checker , which will scan your paper for grammar edits and give you up to 5 suggestions cards for free! Worry less about a determiner , preposition , or adverb out of place and focus on your research!

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.) (2020). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000

Updated March 3, 2020

Written and edited by Michele Kirschenbaum and Wendy Ikemoto. Michele Kirschenbaum has been an awesome school librarian since 2006 and is an expert in citing sources. Wendy Ikemoto has a master’s degree in library and information science and has been working for Citation Machine since 2012.

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APA, MLA, and Other Citation Styles

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Books on MLA 8th

MLA (Modern Language Association) - common in the humanities, especially History, Philosophy, Literature, Art, Music, and more. There are two editions: 7th and 8th.

Consult your instructor which edition he or she prefers, although it is better to use the more recent 8th Edition.

MLA Core Elements

When creating a citation, you must use the Core Elements by number importance:

Note: Format (such as "Print" or "Web") is not included and is not necessary in the 8th edition.

Format & Examples

Citation Format for In-Text Citations

For quoting somebody else's work, you must use parenthetical citations , which is giving credit of the originator of the source in parentheses. Generally, you must include the author(s) last name(s) and page number(s).

• "According to Hernandez, in preparing to work with the students at risk, establishing an environment of open communication from the first day is critical (8)"
• "In preparing to work with the students at risk, establishing an environment of open communication from the first day is critical (Hernandez 8)."

Common examples of citation formats for Works Cited/Bibliographies

At the end of your paper in MLA format, you must have a Works Cited list or Bibliography, listing your citations in alphabetical order. Be sure to indent the 2nd line and beyond.

Helpful Links

• EasyBib - MLA Format: Everything You Need to Know Here Welcome to an overview of “What is MLA Format?” in relation to paper formatting. You’ll find in-depth guidelines, examples, and visual samples to help you easily format your paper.
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APA Formatting and Style Guide (7th Edition)

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In-Text Citations

Resources on using in-text citations in APA style

Reference List

Resources on writing an APA style reference list, including citation formats

Other APA Resources

Home / Guides / Citation Guides / Book Citations / Learn how to cite “Notes on ‘Camp’” by Susan Sontag

Learn how to cite “Notes on ‘Camp’” by Susan Sontag

Learn how to create in-text citations and a full citation/reference/note for Notes on ‘Camp’ by Susan Sontag using the examples below. Notes on Camp  is cited in 14 different citation styles, including MLA, APA, Chicago, Harvard, APA, ACS, and many others.

If you are looking for additional help, try the EasyBib citation generator .

Popular Citation Styles

Here are Notes on Camp   citations for five popular citation styles: MLA, APA, Chicago (notes-bibliography), Chicago (author-date), and Harvard style.

Additional Styles

Here are Notes on Camp   citations for 14 popular citation styles including Turabian style, the American Medical Association (AMA) style, the Council of Science Editors (CSE) style, IEEE, and more.

Find citation guides for additional books linked here .

Popular Book Citations

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• Romeo and Juliet
• The Catcher in the Rye
• Fahrenheit 451
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• The Yellow Wallpaper
• Nineteen Eighty-Four
• The Epic of Gilgamesh
• ESV Study Bible
• The Bhagavad Gita
• There There
• Animal Farm
• A Raisin in the Sun
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• View Other Book Citations

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• FAQ & Answers

Q. What gets italicized in an APA citation for a website?

In APA 7th edition, when you cite a website, is the article name or the website that gets italicized? 

• 20 Academic Coaching
• 61 Campus Info
• 52 Citations
• 3 For Community Members
• 20 For Faculty
• 9 For Staff
• 17 For Students
• 69 Library Services
• 27 Research
• 40 Technology Help
• 29 Tools, Databases & Resources

Answered By: Elaine M. Patton Last Updated: Apr 01, 2024     Views: 4

APA 7th edition made this complicated. It does different formatting for the digital counterpart of a traditional medium, like The New York Times , and a purely digital source, like BBCNews or CNN.

Example: Source Without a Print Counterpart

Beaven, B. (2020, January 20).  The modern phenomenon of the weekend . BBC News.  https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200117-the-modern-phenomenon-of-the-weekend

• The article title is in italics
• The site name is plain

Example: Source With a Print Counterpart

Herrera, T. (2020, October 23). Don’t work on your party laptop or party on your work laptop. The New York Times . https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/23/smarter-living/what-not-to-do-work-computer.html

• The article title is plain
• The site name is in italics
• This is the more common standard in general and in MLA format

How am I supposed to know which is which?

For starters, don't worry too much about this: our faculty are unlikely to be super picky for this level of detail in most cases. 

That said, part of your research process and selecting your sources should involve doing a bit of research about your research -- i.e. before you settle on an article, take a look around to see what else is there, what kind of site/publication it is, and how reliable/credible you can gauge the info to be. 

If you aren't already familiar with a source...

• Look for an About page: does it mention a print publication? Was the company founded before the internet was even an option to publish on?
• Do a Google search for the name of the publication (website). Does their result have a blurb that mentions being e.g. a magazine?
• Look for mentions of subscribing -- what kind of access does a subscription provide, and is a physical item part of it? Is it the same content as on the site?
• Share on Facebook

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Citation Styles: APA, MLA, Chicago, & Beyond!: MLA 9th Edition

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MLA Style Handbook

Formatting your MLA Paper

What is MLA Style?

MLA (Modern Language Association) style for documentation is widely used in the humanities, especially in writing on language and literature. MLA style features brief parenthetical citations in the text keyed to an alphabetical list of works cited that appears at the end of the work. (Source: Official MLA website)

Core Elements

Each entry in the list of works cited is composed of facts common to most works—the MLA core elements. They are assembled in a specific order.

The concept of containers is crucial to MLA style. When the source being documented forms part of a larger whole, the larger whole can be thought of as a container that holds the source. For example, a short story may be contained in an anthology. The short story is the source, and the anthology is the container.  (Source: MLA)

Examples of MLA Style

In-text Citation

In-text citations provide relevant source information, usually in parentheses, whenever a sentence includes a direct quotation or paraphrase. The source information provided can depend on the type of source you are citing but MUST directly correspond to the source information in your Works Cited page. Typically you will provide Author and Location in your in-text citation.

Creating a Works Cited Page

With MLA style, you must include a Works Cited page at the end of your paper. A Works Cited page is an alphabetical listing of the resources cited in your paper. Below are some examples of MLA style citations.

These are examples of MLA style, there are many factors to consider for each citation and other types of sources that aren't covered on this site. Please consult the Handbook or a librarian for more authoritative assistance with citations

Online MLA Citation Resources

• Official MLA Style Center The official website for MLA style, hosted by the Modern Language Association. The MLA Style Center does not contain the full text of the handbook, although it walks users through the process of creating an entry in the works cited list. It also has a robust Q&A section for user-submitted questions.
• Excelsior Writing Lab Citation examples, videos, and formatting guides for MLA style.
• Purdue Online Writing Lab Online writing lab with formatting tips and sample papers. The "Cite your source automatically" feature on Purdue Owl pages is part of another website, and not recommended.
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• Last Updated: Apr 2, 2024 4:46 PM
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Generate accurate APA citations for free

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A complete guide to APA in-text citation (6th edition)

Published on November 4, 2020 by Raimo Streefkerk . Revised on May 19, 2022.

An APA in-text citation consists of the author’s last name and year of publication, for example: (Smith, 2020). When quoting , also include page numbers, for example (Smith, 2020, p.170).

Here’s what an in-text citation looks like in a sentence:

• The author claims that “plagiarism is becoming a bigger problem” (Smith, 2014, p. 170) .
• As Smith (2014) has shown, plagiarism is a serious issue for universities.
• In 2014 , Smith found that plagiarism is becoming increasingly widespread.

Generate accurate APA citations with Scribbr

Table of contents, apa in-text citations with multiple authors, in-text citations explained in under 4 minutes, punctuation in apa in-text citations, when to include page numbers, apa in-text citations with lists, exceptions and missing information.

Multiple author names are separated using a comma. Only the final name in the list is preceded by an ampersand (“&”), for example: (Taylor, Johnson, & Parker, 2019) . Use “ et al .” to shorten in-text citations of sources with 6+ authors (first in-text citations) and 3+ authors (subsequent in-text citations), for example: (Taylor et al., 2019) .

Using “et al.” in APA in-text citations

Sources with three, four or five authors are shortened after the first citation. From the second citation onwards, include only the first author name followed by “et al.” (“and others”). Sources with six or more authors are always shortened, including in the first citation.

Scribbr Citation Checker New

The AI-powered Citation Checker helps you avoid common mistakes such as:

• Missing commas and periods
• Incorrect usage of “et al.”
• Ampersands (&) in narrative citations
• Missing reference entries

• When using the abbreviation “et al . ,” always include a period (“.”).
• Include a comma between “et al.” and the publication date (e.g. Taylor et al., 2018).
• There should be no punctuation between “et al.” and the author’s name preceding it.
• The period ending the sentence always comes after the citation (even when quoting).

Never use an ampersand symbol (“&”) in the running text. Instead, use the full word “and.”

• According to research by Taylor & Kotler … (2018).
• Taylor and Kotler conclude … (2018).

Including the page number(s) in the in-text citation is required when quoting a source in APA . It is encouraged, but not required, when paraphrasing a source . Don’t include page numbers when referring to a work as a whole, e.g. “the study shows…”.

If the quote or paraphrase covers just one page, use “ p. 16. ” If it covers two or more pages, use a double ‘p’ followed by a page range (e.g.  pp. 16-18 ).

The in-text citation can be included in three different ways:

• This is also confirmed by the business plan: “creating an APA Citation Generator is a lot of work but many students benefit from it” (Smith, 2014, pp. 14-15) .
• Smith (2014) states: “making an APA Citation Generator is a lot of work but many students benefit from it” (pp. 14-15) .
• In 2014 , Smith wrote: “making an APA Citation Generator is a lot of work but many students benefit from it” (pp. 14-15) .

Sources with no page numbers

When quoting a source that has no pages or page numbers, you can include a chapter or paragraph number instead.

If the source uses headings, cite the heading and the paragraph number following it. Long headings may be shortened, but then they should be enclosed in quotation marks.

• (Johnson, 2019, Chapter 3)
• (McCombes, 2016, para. 4)
• (Smith, 2014, Conclusion, para. 2 )
• (Streefkerk, 2019, “No Page Numbers,” para. 2)

If the cited list originates from one source, put the in-text citation after the last list item. If the list comes from several different sources, add the in-text citations after each list item.

• Wired lifestyle
• Time pressure
• Risk aversion
• Internet experience
• Social interaction (Johnson, 2016, p. 18) .
• Consumers experience greater risk for online purchases (Writers et al., 2016, p. 47) .
• Young consumers experience no risk for online purchases (Porter, 2016, pp. 63-64) .

The basic APA guidelines are not applicable to every source. Information can be missing, confusing for the reader or simply different. The most common exceptions are listed below.

If the author is unknown, cite the first few words of the reference list entry instead (usually the title). Enclose the title in double quotation marks when citing an article, web page or book chapter. Italicize the title of periodicals, books, reports and brochures.

• ( “U.S. Flood Risk Could Be Worse Than We Thought,”  2015)
• ( Thinking, Fast and Slow , 2017)

For sources without a year of publication, use “n.d.” (no date) instead: (Johnson, n.d. ).

Multiple sources in the same parentheses

If you’re using multiple sources to support a statement, you can combine the in-text citations and separate them using semicolons. Order the sources alphabetically.

If you’re using multiple sources from the same author, you don’t have to repeat the author. Just add the other years and separate them with a comma.

Multiple publications from the same author(s) in the same year

To differentiate between two publications from the same author published in the same year, add a suffix after the publication year.

Repeated use of the same source

For citing the same source multiple times in a paragraph there are specific APA guidelines. The first mention should include the author and publication year. For subsequent mentions in the running text, you only have to include the author’s last name, not the year. However, citations in parentheses should always include the year.

Different authors with the same last name

To differentiate between two (or more) authors with the same last name, include the initials. This rule applies even if the year of publication is different.

Citing a source within a source (secondary source)

If you want to cite a source that you found in another source, you can do one of two things. First of all, you should try to find the original source ( primary source ). If you’re able to find it you can use regular APA guidelines.

If you are not able to find the primary source, you should cite it through the source that led you to it ( secondary source ). The in-text citation looks like this:

Note that you only need to include the publication year of the source you consulted (here Johnson).

Personal communication

Personal communication such as phone calls, emails and conversations are not cited in the reference list because they can’t be found anywhere. However, you should still cite them using an in-text citation.

Give the initials and the last name of the person you communicated with and provide as exact a date as possible.

Sales are declining in the second quarter  (P. G. Brown, personal communication, June 13, 2018).

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Streefkerk, R. (2022, May 19). A complete guide to APA in-text citation (6th edition). Scribbr. Retrieved April 2, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/apa-style/6th-edition/archived-in-text-citation/

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