In-Text Citations: A Brief Guide to APA (Sixth Edition)

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APA is an author-date citation system for documenting sources that uses in-text citations, whereby the surname of the author, the year of publication, and, if required, the page number(s) or paragraph number(s) are inserted directly into the text of the paper. In-Text Citations are used in the body of a paper to link specific ideas to their sources; full bibliographical details of sources must be provided within a Reference List that appears at the end of the paper. Each reference cited in the text must appear in the reference list, and each entry in the reference list must be cited in the text.

Refer to UNB Libraries' The Reference List: A Brief Guide to APA (Sixth Edition) for proper formatting of basic entries in the reference list.

General Guidelines

The numbers in the { } refer to the relevant section(s) of the APA Manual. For more detailed explanations and additional examples, consult the APA Manual in one of the libraries (HIL-REFDSK, ENGRESERVE, SCI-REF, Call Number: BF76.7 .P83 2010b), or see the tips and FAQs on the APA Style website.

  • Provide only the surname of author(s) within in-text citations; do not include first names or suffixes.
  • Insert the surname of the author and the date of publication within parentheses at the appropriate point in the text. [e.g. (Brown, 2008)]
  • You can choose to include the author's name and/or the date of publication within your sentence instead of within parentheses. [e.g. "In 2008, Brown conducted a study that..."] However, see the note on subsequent citations below.
  • Multiple Authors {6.12}:
    • If a work has two authors, cite both names every time the reference occurs in the text.
    • If a work has three, four, or five authors, cite all authors the first time the reference occurs; in subsequent citations, include only the surname of the first author followed by et al. (not italicized and with a period after al). However, if two references of more than three surnames with the same year shorten to the same form, cite the surnames of the first and as many of the subsequent authors as necessary to distinguish the two references, followed by a comma and et al.
    • If a work has six or more authors, cite only the surname of the first author followed by et al. (not italicized and with a period after al) for the first and subsequent citations. If two references with six or more authors shorten to the same form, cite the surnames of the first authors and of as many of the subsequent authors as necessary to distinguish the two references, followed by a comma and et al.
  • Multiple Authors with the Same Surname {6.14}: If a reference list includes publications by two or more primary authors with the same surname, include the first author's initials in all text citations, even if the year of publication differs. [e.g. "We reviewed studies by M. A. Light, Smith, and Khan (2008) and J. Light (2006)."]
  • Multiple Works by the Same Author(s) {6.16}: Arrange two or more works by the same author (or the same two or more authors in the same order) by year of publication, and place in-press citations last. Give the author's surname once; for each subsequent work, give only the date. [e.g. "...past research (Gogel, 1990, 2006, in press)]
  • Multiple Works by the Same Author(s) with the Same Publication Date {6.16}: Identify works by the same author (or the same two or more authors in the same order) with the same publication date by the suffixes a, b, c, and so forth, after the year; repeat the year. [e.g. "Several Studies (Dayberry & Reed, 2005a, 2005b; Rothbart, 2003a, 2003b)...")] Suffixes are assigned in the reference list, where references are ordered alphabetically by title (of the article, chapter, or complete work).
  • Multiple Works Within the Same Parentheses {6.16}: List two or more works by different authors who are cited within the same parentheses in alphabetical order by the first author's surname. Separate the citations with semicolons. [e.g. "Several studies (Miller, 1999; Shafranske & Mahoney, 1998) have shown...".] Exception: You may separate a major citation from other citations within parentheses by inserting a phrase, such as see also, before the first of the remaining citations, which should be in alphabetical order. [e.g. (Minor, 2001; see also Adams, 1999; Storandt, 2007)]
  • Anonymous Authors {6.15}: If a work has no identified author, cite in text the first few words of the reference list entry (usually the title) and the year. Cite legal materials like anonymous works. However, if a work is designated as "Anonymous," cite in text the word Anonymous (unitalicized) followed by a comma and the date. [e.g. (Anonymous, 1998)]
  • Groups as Authors {6.13}: Spell out the full name in the first citation, either parenthetical or nonparenthetical. If the name is long and an abbreviation readily understandable, abbreviate the name immediately following the first citation and use the abbreviation consistently thereafter in the running text and in subsequent parenthetical citations. If the name is short or the abbreviation not readily understandable, write out the name in full each time it occurs. For examples, see Table 6.1 (p. 177) of the APA Manual (6th ed.).
  • And/& {6.12}: Precede the final name in a multiple-author citation in running text with the word and. In parentheses, tables, and captions use an ampersand [&]. [e.g. "Kosslyn and Koenig (2005) found that...". OR "...contradicted other results (Kosslyn & Koenig, 2005)]
  • First Citations: APA distinguishes the first citation in text, the subsequent first citation per paragraph, and subsequent citations per paragraph. Formats are determined by the number of authors, any special considerations about authors' names (e.g. same surnames), and whether the first citation is parenthetical or nonparenthetical.
  • Subsequent Citations {6.12}: Within each paragraph, if the first citation is parenthetical, include the year in subsequent citations. [e.g. First citation: "Kessler (2003) found that...". Subsequent citations within the same paragraph: "...different from the study conducted by Kessler (2003)."] If the first citation within a paragraph is nonparenthetical, omit the year from subsequent citations in the same paragraph as long as the source cannot be confused with another source cited in your essay. [e.g. First citation: "In 2003, Kessler's study showed that...". Subsequent citations within the same paragraph: "Similarly, Kessler found that...".]
  • Page Numbers: Precede page numbers with "p." or "pp." (without quotation marks). Always put page numbers in parentheses.
  • Other: See the APA Manual {6.18-6.21} for citing classical works, specific parts of a source, personal communications, and parenthetical material.

Direct Quotation {1.10; 6.03; 6.03-6.10}

Each time you quote an author directly (i.e., reproduce the author's exact words in the exact order), you must not only ensure that the direct quotation is accurate in terms of the wording, spelling, and interior punctuation, even if the source is incorrect {6.06}, but also credit the source by providing the surname of the author(s), the year of publication, and the page number(s) or paragraph number(s). You need to provide this bibliographical information about the source within the text of your paper (in-text citation); while the specific details about author(s), publication date, and page/paragraph number(s) can be provided within parentheses, it is also acceptable to incorporate the name of the author(s) and/or the date of publication within the structure of your sentence. Additionally, you must indicate precisely which words were used by the original author. If the quotation comprises fewer than 40 words, incorporate it into the text and enclose the quotation within double quotation marks. If the quotation appears in mid-sentence, end the passage with quotation marks, cite the source in parentheses immediately after the quotation marks, and continue the sentence. Here is an example:

Interpreting these results, Robbins et al. (2003) suggested that the "therapists in dropout cases may have inadvertently validated parental negativity about the adolescent without adequately responding to the adolescent's needs or concerns" (p. 541), contributing to an overall climate of negativity.

If the quotation appears at the end of a sentence, close the quoted passage with quotation marks, cite the source in parentheses immmediately after the quotation marks, and end with a period or other punctuation outside the final parenthesis. Here is an example:

Confusing this issue is the overlapping nature of roles in palliative care, whereby "medical needs are met by those in the medical disciplines; nonmedical needs may be addressed by anyone on the team" (Csikai & Chaitin, 2006, p. 112).

If the quotation comprises 40 or more words, display it in a freestanding block of text and omit the quotation marks. Start the block quotation on a new line and indent the block about a half inch from the left margin (in the same position as a new paragraph). If there are additional paragraphs within the quotation, indent the first line of each an additional half inch. Double-space the entire quotation. At the end of a block quotation, cite the quoted source and the page or paragraph number in parentheses after the final punctuation mark (usually, a final period). Here is an example:

Others have contradicted this view:

Co-presence does not ensure intimate interaction among all group members. Consider large-scale social gatherings in which hundreds or thousands of people gather in a location to perform a ritual or celebrate an event.

In these instances, participants are able to see the visible manifestation of the group, the physical gathering, yet their ability to make direct, intimate connections with those around them is limited by the sheer magnitude of the assembly. (Purcell, 1997, pp. 111-112)

To find out more information about direct quotation (including how to deal with citations within quotations, changes from the source that do and do not require explanation, and direct quotation from online material without pagination), see Chapter 6 (pp. 170-174) of the APA Manual (6th ed.) in one of the libraries (HIL-REFDSK, ENGRESERVE, SCI-REF, Call Number: BF76.7 .P83 2010b).

Paraphrasing {1.10; 6.04-6.10}

Each time you paraphrase an author (i.e., summarize a passage or rearrange the order of a sentence and change some of the words), you need to credit the source in the text of your essay. Basically, you must never present the work of another as if it were your own work; this rule extends to ideas as well as words {1.10}. Here is an example of how one might paraphrase the direct quotation above:

In rituals or celebrations that involve large groups, people are not necessarily able to connect in a direct or intimate way with others (Purcell, 1997).

Not unlike direct quotation, paraphrasing requires you to provide the surname of the author(s) and the year of publication within parentheses (an in-text citation) that will correspond to an entry in the reference list. While direct quotation requires specific page or paragraph numbers to indicate the exact location of the quoted words in the original source, paraphrasing does not require specific page or paragraph numbers; that is, you can provide only the surname of the author(s) and the year of publication. However, do not think that the option to paraphrase allows sloppy or imprecise citation; APA recommends that, when paraphrasing or referring to an idea in another work, you provide a page or paragraph number to help readers locate the relevant passage, especially in a long or complex text {6.04}.

When you paraphrase an author, you can either provide the specific details about author(s), publication date, and, if deemed relevant, page or paragraph number(s) within parentheses or incorporate those details into the structure of your own sentence. Here is an example of how one might paraphrase an author and incorporate the relevant bibliographical details into the structure of the sentence:

In 2007, Francis, Craig, and Robbins found that two different systems of personality measurement are closely related.

To find out more information about paraphrasing, acknowledging sources, and avoiding charges of plagiarism, see Chapter 6 (pp. 169-192) of the APA Manual (6th ed.) in one of the libraries (HIL-REFDSK, ENGRESERVE, SCI-REF, Call Number: BF76.7 .P83 2010b).

Citing Secondary Sources {6.17}

In your research, you may come across a fact or idea that is cited in a journal article or book as coming from another source. Ideally, you would get a copy of the original book or article, examine it to confirm the information, and cite the original directly. Sometimes, however, obtaining the original is not possible, in which case you should name the original work but provide an in-text citation and an entry in the reference list for the secondary source. Here is an example of how one might cite a secondary source for an article written by Baum in 2005 that was unavailable but referenced in another article written by Karim, Zamzuri, and Nor in 2009:

Although the internet has been used in an education setting, scant attention has been paid to ethical issues in training students (Baum, as cited in Karim, Zamzuri, & Nor, 2009).

You may also incorporate parts of the in-text citation in the text. Here is an example of how one might cite a secondary source that incorporates part of the in-text citation into the structure of the sentence for a citation that comes after the first citation in the essay, but is the first citation within a new paragraph:

Baum (as cited in Karim et al., 2009) indicated that scant attention has been paid to ethical issues and the internet in education, in spite of heavy use.

Regarding this example, you would not list Baum in the reference list; you would only include details of the secondary source, the work which you read (Karim, Zamzuri, & Nor, 2009).

Use secondary sources sparingly. Whenever possible, take material from the original source, not a secondhand or indirect source. Further details on citing secondary sources may be found in the APA Style blog.

Note on Plagiarism

In academic writing, if you copy or paraphrase another person's words, or adopt ideas or data, without giving credit by citing the source, you are committing plagiarism, whether you intended to or not. Plagiarism is a serious academic offence. Consult the regulations prohibiting plagiarism as set out in the UNB Undergraduate Calendar and the St. Thomas University Calendar. For some tips on how to avoid plagiarism, please consult the UNB Libraries' Plagiarism: A How-NOT-To Guide.