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Citation Style

APA (7th ed.) In-Text Citations: Basics

When you quote or paraphrase from a source (book, article, or webpage) in your paper, you need to insert an in-text citation in parentheses.

This citation typically consists of the author’s name, year of publication, and page number in parentheses at the end of the sentence. For example:

“Caffeine consumption enhances the retention of recently learned information” (Jackson, 2017, p. 21).

Another option is to use the author’s name in the sentence, followed directly by the year in parentheses, with the page numbers in parentheses at the end of the sentence.

According to Jackson (2017), "Caffeine consumption enhances the retention of recently learned information" (p. 21).

When paraphrasing an idea in your own words, do not use quotation marks. A page number is optional, but include it if it will help your reader identify the source that you are paraphrasing. Examples:

  • A peer reviewed study found that caffeine can improve long-term memory (Jackson, 2017, p. 21).
  • Jackson (2017) found that caffeine can improve long-term memory (p. 21).

Authors' Names: In-Text Citations (APA 7th ed.)

Two authors

  • If the authors' names are in your sentence, use and between their last names.
  • If the authors' names are in your parenthetical citation, use & between their last names.
  • Add the year and page numbers (if there are any). 

Examples:

  • A recent study examined the impact of citations in medical literature (Pence & Chapman, 2017).
  • Pence and Chapman (2017) wrote a definitive work on citation style.

Three or more authors

  • Include the name of only the first author plus “et al.” in every citation. Add the year and page numbers (if there are any). For example:
    (Emerson et al., 1993, p. 76)

No author

  • Include the title and year of publication. If the title is long (more than 3 words), shorten it.
  • If the title of the work is not italicized in the reference (article, book chapter, page or section on a website), use the first word or two of the title in quotation marks.
  • If the title of the work is italicized in the reference (book, entire website), use the first word or two of the title in italics.
  • For example, if you had an article with the title Practical oral care for people with intellectual disability, the parenthetical citation would look like ("Practical oral," 2014).