In-Text Citations
APA Style uses parenthetical, author-date citations. After a quote, add parentheses containing the author's name, the year of publication, and the page number of the work.
Example: "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog" (Seuss, 2007, pp. 7-8).
If you use more than one work by the same author, use the letters a, b, etc., after the year.
Example: "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog" (Seuss, 2007a, pp. 7-8).
If more than one author has the same last name, add their first initial.
Example: "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog" (D. Seuss, 2007, pp. 7-8).
If two or more authors wrote the work, see the chart below.
If using the author's name in your text, do not include it in the parentheses.
Example: In his scholarly study, Dr. Seuss observed that "the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog" (2007, pp. 7-8).
Example: In 2007, Dr. Seuss suggested that "the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog" (pp. 708).
If no pagination information is available, use paragraph numbers instead.
Example: "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog" (Seuss, 2007, para. 5).
Note: When paraphrasing or mentioning another work, it is helpful to still provide pagination information if the source text is long or difficult, or if it would help the reader find the text being paraphrased.
| Type of Citation | Parenthetical | Narrative in Text |
|---|---|---|
| One work by one author | (Luna, 2020) | Luna (2020) |
| One work by two authors | (Sales & D'Agostino, 2020) | Sales and D'Agostino (2020) |
| One work by three or more | (Martin et al., 2020) | Martin et al. (2020) |
|
Groups as authors -First citation Subsequent citations |
(National Institute of Mental Health NIMH, 2020) (NIMH, 2020) |
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH, 2020) NIMH (2003) |
| Groups as authors (no abbreviation) | (Stanford University, 2020) | Stanford University (2020) |
Source: American Psychological Association (2019). Page 266