APA In-text citations

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 (main points of someone's idea)

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

Authors With the Same Last Name

To prevent confusion, use first initials followed by the last names. (E. Johnson, 2001; L. Johnson, 1998)

Six or More Authors

Use the first author's name followed by et al. in the signal phrase or in parentheses. Harris et al. (2001) states that... (Harris et al., 2001)

Unknown Author and Unknown Date

If no author or date is given, use the title in your signal phrase or the first word or two of the title in the parentheses and use the abbreviation "n.d." (for "no date"). Another study of students and research decisions discovered that students succeeded with tutoring ("Tutoring and APA," n.d.).

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

If you have two sources by the same author in the same year, use lower-case letters (a, b, c) with the year to order the entries in the reference list. Use the lower-case letters with the year in the in-text citation. Research by Berndt (1981a) illustrated that...

"Anonymous" Author

In the RARE case the word "Anonymous" is used for the author, treat it as the author's name (Anonymous, 2001). In the reference list, use the name Anonymous as the author.

Longer works

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

Author quotation signal phrase

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

Work by Three to Five Authors

List all the authors in the signal phrase or in parentheses the first time you cite the source. Use the word "and" between the authors' names within the text and use the ampersand in the parentheses. (Kernis, Cornell, Sun, Berry, & Harlow, 1993) In subsequent (after the first) citations, only use the first author's last name followed by "et al." in the signal phrase or in parentheses. (Kernis et al., 1993)

A Work by Two Authors

Name both authors in the signal phrase or in the parentheses EACH TIME you cite the work. Use the word "and" between the authors' names within the text and use the ampersand in the parentheses. According to Wegener and Petty (1994), ... (Wegener & Petty, 1994)

Shorter works

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

Sources Without Page Numbers

When an electronic source lacks page numbers, you should try to include information that will help readers find the passage being cited. When an electronic document has numbered paragraphs, use the abbreviation "para." followed by the paragraph number (Hall, 2001, para. 5). According to Smith (1997), ... (Mind over Matter section, para. 6).

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.

author-date method

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.

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. ("Using APA Handbook," 2001).

Long quotation

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

secondary source

identify the source in the signal phrase

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 acronym

include the acronym in brackets the first time the source is cited and then use only the acronym in later citations. First citation: (Mothers Against Drunk Driving [MADD], 2000) Second citation: (MADD, 2000)

organization/company as author

mention the organization/company 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).

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)

personal communication (interview, letter, email)

parenthetically cite the communicator's name, the phrase "personal communication," and the date of the communication in your main text only, not in the reference list (E. Robbins, personal communication, January 4, 2001).

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