APA In-Text Citations
This page gives a brief overview of how to cite your sources in your paper. Or check out the video on this page for more examples.
When citing your sources in the body of your paper, you will list the author’s last name and the publication date in parenthesis (Bauer, 2015). There is a comma between the last name and the year).
If your citation is at the end of your sentence, the period comes after the citation, outside the parenthesis. Your citation is part of the sentence.
Paraphrased material and direct quotes are cited differently, see the directions below for each type of citation. For more information on quoting and paraphrasing, click on the Quoting vs Paraphrasing tab at the top.
APA Paraphrased Citations
When you are paraphrasing information, you will use only the author's last name and the year of publication.
- If your source has more than one author, follow the chart below for the correct way to cite.
- If your source did not have a date, use n.d. for no date. Example: (Bauer, n.d.).
- If your source did not have an author, check to see if it is written by an organization, as shown in the bottom two rows in the chart below.
- The example also shows how to abbreviate organization names in the citations.
The chart below will show you how to cite your sources if you have more than one author or are using an organization/site name for a title.
*Parenthetical citations are the ones that go at the end of a sentence/paragraph where you paraphrased a source.
*Narrative citation is when you talk about an author in the sentence. Such as: According to Smith (2020) trees are a great source of shade.
APA Citations Check Your Work
Check Your Work!
Always check to see that your citations match up with your reference page! What you cite in-text should be a shortened version of what is on your reference page and what you have listed in your in-text citation should be the first thing listed for that source on the reference page. When your instructor reads your paper they will see Smith cited in-text so they will look for Smith as one of the first words listed in your references. See the example below:
In-text citation: (Smith, 2015)
Reference page: Smith, S. (2015). Sample article title. Retrieved from www.myawesomewebsite.com/susie
In-text citation, no date: (Smith, n.d.)
Reference page: Smith, S. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.myawesomewebsite.com/susie
APA Direct Quote Citations
When using a DIRECT QUOTE you must also include where the quote is located, such as the page or paragraph number.
- If it is a source with a page number it will be (Bauer, 2015, p. 32).
- If it is a source with no page number, you have a couple of options:
- Count the paragraphs from the beginning of the article (Bauer, 2015, para. 5).
- If the source has headings or sections, you can use the section name (Bauer, 2015, Direct Quote section).
- To quote from a movie/show, YouTube video, or audiobook, use the timestamp (Bauer, 2015, 2:12).
The page number is abbreviated as p. Paragraph number is abbreviated as para.
Be sure to pay attention to where periods go when you are citing. If your direct quote is the end of a sentence, the period is moved to AFTER your citation. See the Quoting vs Paraphrasing tab for more information.
APA Citations Unknown Author
When citing a source that does not have a listed author, you will use the title of the source.
- Shorten the title to about three words
- Use Title Case (capitalized like a book or movie title)
- This confuses a lot of people because this is NOT how it is capitalized on the Reference page!
- In most cases you will put the title "In Quotes".
Example: ("Understanding Sensory Memory," 2018).
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