APA In-text citations

unknown author

cite the source by its title in either the signal phrase or use the first word or two of the title in the parentheses.

Long quotation

direct quotations that are 40 words, or longer, in a free-standing block with no quotation marks. Citation is after the final mark of punctuation in the block.

Two or more citations for same information

order them the same way they appear in the reference list (viz., alphabetically), separated by a semi-colon. (Berndt, 2002; Harlow, 1983)

author-date method

For summaries and paraphrases: author's last name and the year of publication for the source should appear in the text, for example, (Jones, 1998), and a complete reference should appear in the reference list at the end of the paper.

Period

Goes after the last parenthesis of the in text citation.

Paraphrase (same idea, different words)

APA style is a difficult citation format for first-time learners (Jones, 1998, p. 199).

"According to" signal phrase

According to Jones (1998), "Students often had difficulty using APA style, especially when it was their first time" (p. 199).

Summary (summary of someone's idea)

According to Jones (1998), APA style is a difficult citation format for first-time learners.

Direct quotation

Include the author, year of publication, and the page number for the reference (preceded by "p."). Introduce the quotation with a signal phrase that includes the author's last name followed by the date of publication in parentheses.

Longer works

Italicize or underline books, edited collections, movies, television series, documentaries, or albums

Author attribution signal phrase

Jones (1998) found "students often had difficulty using APA style" (p. 199).

Shorter works

Put quotation marks around the titles of poems, journal articles, articles from edited collections, television series episodes, and song titles

Format

Your essay should be typed, double-spaced on standard-sized paper (8.5" x 11") with 1" margins on all sides. Use a clear font such as 12 pt. Times New Roman font or Arial.

No signal phrase

if the author is not named in a sentence containing material that requires a citation, include the author's last name, the year of publication, and the page number in the citation.

organization as author

mention the organization in the signal phrase or in the parenthetical citation the first time you cite the source.

indirect source

name the original source in your signal phrase and where you found it in the citation using 'as cited by' Johnson argued that cats are dogs (as cited in Smith, 2003, p. 102).

no date

use the abbreviation "n.d." (for "no date").

Capitalization of titles in the text of the paper

within your paper, capitalize all words of a title that are four letters long or greater within the title of a source. This is different for the Reference section of your paper.