APA: In-Text Citation

When using APA citation style, you must utilize both in-text citations and references. This page provides an overview of how to formulate in-text citations and references for the most commonly used sources.

IN-TEXT CITATION EXAMPLES

This section provides examples of how to use in-text citations within the body of your essay. Some options for integrating In-Text Citations include:


CITATION TYPE

SAMPLE CITATION

In text, using a signal phrase

According to Miller (2002), horror movies during the 1950s were preoccupied with the post-WWII world order and the increasingly threatening nature of technology.

End of sentence, in a parenthetical

Horror movies during the 1950s were preoccupied with the post-WWII world order and the increasingly threatening nature of technology (Miller, 2002).

With a direct quotation

Lanning (2007) argues that “our most pressing fears tend to inform the genre of horror movies” (p. 37).

Or

When reviewing the history of horror as a genre of film, it is worth noting that “our most pressing fears tend to inform the genre of horror movies” (Lanning, 2007, p. 37).

With a direct quotation (no page number)

Lanning (2007) argues that “our most pressing fears tend to inform the genre of horror movies” (para. 2).

Or


Lanning (2007) argues that “our most pressing fears tend to inform the genre of horror movies” (Slide 8).


Or


Lanning (2007) argues that “our most pressing fears tend to inform the genre of horror movies” (Section 2).


Or


Lanning (2007) argues that “our most pressing fears tend to inform the genre of horror movies” (Introduction).

Personal Communication

Note: If information comes from an unpublished source, such as an interview or email communication, include the author’s first initial and last name as a part of the sentence. Address it as a personal communication and list the date in parenthesis after the idea.
NOTE: personal communications citations are only in the text of your paper and NOT in your reference list.

T. Jones stated that all ants crawl and snakes slither (personal communication, February 2, 2011).

*Note: For sources with no page numbers, you can use other information from the source to indicate where the information is located. For example, you can use paragraph numbers, chapter/section numbers or names, slide numbers, etc. Use your best judgment to decide what additional information would be most helpful for the reader to locate the quoted material within the source.

 

NUMBER OF AUTHORS FOR IN-TEXT CITATIONS

Number of Authors

In-Text Citation

One Author

(Zakaria, 2019)

2 Authors

Parenthetical: (Lunsford & Ede, 2015)
 

Narrative: Lunsford and Ede (2015)

3 or More Authors

Parenthetical: (Stiglitz et al., 2016)
 

Narrative: Stiglitz et al. (2016)

Group Author with Abbreviation

First Citation: (Colorado State University Global [CSUG], 2020)
 

Subsequent Citations: (CSUG, 2020)

Group Author without Abbreviation

(Harvard University, 2020)

Even if the month and day is included in the date element for your reference, you only need to include the year in the in-text citation.