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APA Style (7th ed.)

In-Text Citations

In-text citations are brief notations within the body of your written assignment. They point your readers to the full citation in the reference list at the end of the paper. The in-text citation typically includes author(s) last name, date of publication, and sometimes pinpoints like page or paragraph number(s). The in-text citation leads your readers to the reference list which has further details about the sources cited in your assignment. Match the author and date of your in-text citations to your reference list entry.

Cite your sources in-text by using either the parenthetical or narrative format. The examples below demonstrate how to cite a direct quote in both formats.

Parenthetical Example

Among journalists, plagiarism has become a well known issue.  In fact, to a certain extent, “Every journalist lives in fear of inadvertent plagiarism” (Renzetti, 2010, para. 8).

Narrative Example

Renzetti (2010) attributes the rise in inadvertent plagiarism to a number of key developments. First, they claim that the widespread availability of technology has created a “mash-up generation” that assumes everything is free game (para. 3). In addition, they state that …

Table of Authors

NOTE: Page/paragraph numbers are only required for direct quotations unless otherwise requested by your instructor.

 

Narrative

Parenthetical

1 author

Smith (2020) showed ... (p. 5).

(Smith, 2020, p. 5).

2 authors

Smith and Singh (2020) stated ... (pp. 5-6).

(Smith & SIngh, 2020, pp. 5-6).

3+ authors

Smith et al. (2020) explained ... (para. 4).

(Smith et al., 2020, para. 4).

Group author

Sheridan College (2020) describes ... (Introduction section, para. 3).

(Sheridan College, 2020, Introduction section, para. 3).

Group author with common abbreviation

First citation: American Psychological Association (APA, 2020) points out ... (p. 20). 

Subsequent citations: APA (2020) asserts ... (p. 20).

(American Psychological Association [APA], 2020, p. 20).

(APA, 2020, p. 20)

No author

Replace the author name with the title. Capitalize each word of the title. Titles of books, webpages and reports are italicized, and titles of articles and other documents are put in quotation marks.
  

Works that stand alone:
(Finding Our Way at Sheridan College, Year, para. 2).

Works that are part of a whole:
("Finding Our Way at Sheridan College," Year, p. 3).

Table of Page Numbers & Alternate Locations

NOTE: Page/paragraph numbers are only required for direct quotations unless otherwise requested by your instructor. Page numbers are preferred. If there is no page number, an alternate location can be used.

 

In-text Citation

Page Number

(Author, Year, p. 25)

Multiple pages

(Author, Year, pp. 11-12)

(Author, Year, pp. 13, 24, 80)

Paragraph Number

(Author, Year, para. 8)

Section Heading

Use quotation marks only if shortening the title of the section heading

(Author, Year, Introduction section, para. 3)

(Author, Year, "History of Social Work", para. 5)

See section 8.10–8.36 of the Publication Manual

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