APA Style provides guidelines to help writers determine the appropriate level of citation and how to avoid plagiarism and self-plagiarism.
In-text citations have two formats: parenthetical and narrative.
Example:
Falsely balanced news coverage can distort the public’s perception of expert consensus on an issue (Koehler, 2016).
Examples:
Koehler (2016) noted the dangers of falsely balanced news coverage.
In 2016, Koehler noted the dangers of falsely balanced news coverage.
From APA Style "Parenthetical Versus Narrative In-Text Citations"
APA Section 8.16
In general, include the author and date in every in-text citation. If you need to repeat a citation (see Section 8.1), repeat the entire citation; do not, for example, include only a page number (the abbreviation "ibid." is not used in APA Style). The year can be omitted from a citation only when multiple narrative citations to a work appear within a single paragraph (see Figure 8.3 for an example).
Once you have provided a narrative citation to a work in a paragraph, do not repeat the year in subsequent narrative citations in that same paragraph. Follow this guideline with each paragraph (i.e., include the year in the first narrative citation in a new paragraph). Include the year in every parenthetical citation.
However, if you cite multiple works by the same author or authors, regardless of the publication years, include the date in every in-text citation to prevent ambiguity.
For example, if you cite Mohammed and Mahfouz {2017) and Mohammed and Mahfouz {2019), include the year with every citation, even when one of the references is cited multiple times in a single paragraph.
APA Section 8.13
To cite a specific part of a source, provide an author-date citation for the work plus information about the specific part. There are many possible parts to cite, including
Examples:
(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2019, p. 10)
(Shimamura, 2017, Chapter 3)
(Armstrong, 2015, pp. 3-17)
(Shadid, 2020, paras. 2-3)
(Kovacic & Horvat, 2019, Table 1)
(Thompson, 2020, Slide 7)
(Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy, 2012, 1 :30:40)
In the reference list, provide an entry for the entire work (not only the part that you used).
It is possible to cite a specific part of a source whether you are paraphrasing (see Sections 8.23-8.24) or directly quoting (see Sections 8.25-8.27). For further guidance on quoting works without page numbers (e.g., webpages, websites, audiovisual works) and religious and classical works with canonically numbered sections, see Section 8.28.
APA Section 8.14
When the author of a work is not named, the author may be unknown (i.e., no author is listed on the work, as with a religious work) or identified specifically as "Anonymous." For works with an unknown author (see Section 9.12), include the title and year of publication in the in-text citation (note that the title moves to the author position in the reference list entry as well).
If the title of the work is italicized in the reference, also italicize the title in the in-text citation. If the title of the work is not italicized in the reference, use double quotation marks around the title in the in-text citation. Capitalize these titles in the text using title case (see Section 6.1 7), even though sentence case is used in the reference list entry. If the title is long, shorten it for the in-text citation.
Book with no author: (Interpersonal Skills, 2019)
Magazine article with no author: ("Understanding Sensory Memory," 2018)
When the author of a work is overtly designated as "Anonymous" (see Section 9.12), "Anonymous" takes the place of the author name in the in-text citation.
(Anonymous, 2017)
APA Section 8.17
| Author type | Parenthetical citation | Narrative citation |
|---|---|---|
| One author | (Luna, 2020) | Luna (2020) |
| Two authors | (Salas & D'Agostino, 2020) | Salas and D'Agostino (2020) |
| Three or more authors | (Martin et al., 2020) | Martin et al. (2020) |
|
Group author with abbreviation Subsequent citations |
(National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH]. 2020) (NIMH, 2020) |
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH, 2020) NIMH (2020) |
| Group author without abbreviation | (Stanford University, 2020) | Stanford University (2020) |
* Define the abbreviation for a group author only once in the text, choosing either the parenthetical or the narrative format. Thereafter, use the abbreviation for all mentions of the group in the text (see Section 8.21).
In parenthetical citations, use an ampersand(&) between names for a work with two authors or before the last author when all names must be included to avoid ambiguity (see Section 8.18). In narrative citations, spell out the word "and."
(Joreskog & Sorbom, 2007)
Eifert and Yildiz (2018)
In tables and figures, use an ampersand between names in both parenthetical and narrative citations.
The same guidelines apply when any of the authors are groups. For example, if a work is authored by three groups, the in-text citation would include the name of the first group plus "et al."
(American Educational Research Association et al., 2014)
APA Section 8.16
In general, include the author and date in every in-text citation. If you need to repeat a citation (see Section 8.1), repeat the entire citation; do not, for example, include only a page number (the abbreviation "ibid." is not used in APA Style). The year can be omitted from a citation only when multiple narrative citations to a work appear within a single paragraph (see Figure 8.3 for an example).
Once you have provided a narrative citation to a work in a paragraph, do not repeat the year in subsequent narrative citations in that same paragraph. Follow this guideline with each paragraph (i.e., include the year in the first narrative citation in a new paragraph). Include the year in every parenthetical citation.
However, if you cite multiple works by the same author or authors, regardless of the publication years, include the date in every in-text citation to prevent ambiguity.
For example, if you cite Mohammed and Mahfouz {2017) and Mohammed and Mahfouz {2019), include the year with every citation, even when one of the references is cited multiple times in a single paragraph.
In scholarly work, a primary source reports original content; a secondary source refers to content first reported in another source.
Follow these directions when citing a secondary source:
If the year of publication of the primary source is known, also include it in the text citation.
For example, if you read a work by Lyon et al. (2014) in which Rabbitt (1982) was cited, and you were unable to read Rabbitt’s work yourself, cite Rabbitt’s work as the original source, followed by Lyon et al.’s work as the secondary source. Only Lyon et al.’s work appears in the reference list.
(Rabbitt, 1982, as cited in Lyon et al., 2014)
If the year of the primary source is unknown, omit it from the in-text citation.
Allport’s diary (as cited in Nicholson, 2003)
Publication Manual (OFFICIAL) 7th Edition of the American Psychological Association by See also APA Style, which includes instructional aids (a student title page guide, reference quick guide, and more) and a searchable blog.
The following also may be of help, but always verify with the latest edition of the official style manual.
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