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APA 7th edition - Citations: In-Text Citations

APA 7th edition

In-Text Citations

In-text citations appear in the body of your paper. They give credit to your sources and lead your reader to the full reference citation. 


In-text citations follow the format: 

  • (Author, Year)

Direct quotations require "quotation marks" and a page, paragraph, section heading or time stamp. Review the 'In-Text Citation - Examples' chart below for more examples of in-text citations for direct quotes. 

  • (Author, Year, Page)

Note: Some instructors require page numbers for all in-text citations. If unsure, check your assignment requirements or ask your instructor. 

Notes on paraphrasing

You must include an in-text citation for both paraphrased information and direct quotes.

Most of the content in your assignment should be paraphrased rather than directly quoted. Some instructors may actually limit the number or length of direct quotations used in an assignment. Consult with your instructor or visit the Writing Centre if you are concerned about the number of direct quotations in your paper.

In-Text Citation - Examples

*use the pages of this guide to find more examples of in-text citations, organized by source type.  

Examples of APA in-text citations for different types of sources. The table includes examples for both parenthetical and narrative in-text citations.
Source Parenthetical In-Text Citation Narrative In-Text Citation
With 1 author (Geller, 2021) Geller (2021) noted that ... 
With 2 authors (O'Connor & Zaidi, 2021) According to O'Connor and Zaidi (2021), ... 
With 3 or more authors (Rush et al., 2013) Rush et al. (2013) state ... 
With no author*

(The First Few Words of the Book Title, 2018)

("The First Few Words of the Article Title", 2020)

As stated in The First Few Words of the Book Title (2018), ... 

"The First Few Words of the Article Title" (2020) explains that ... 
With no date (Shepherd & Shaughnessy, n.d.) Shepherd and Shaughnessy (n.d.) ... 

Group author with abbreviation

First citation:

Subsequent citation:


(National Defense and the Canadian Forces [NDCF], 2021)

(NDCF, 2021)

 

According to the National Defense and the Canadian Forces (NDCF, 2021) ...

The NDCF (2021) states that ... 
Direct quotation

(Jackson, 2016, p. 74)

(Giovanetti, 2019, pp. 13-15)

(Whitelaw et al., 2004, para. 7)

(Cain, 2012, 2:30) 

Jackson (2016) ...  (p. 74)

Giovanetti (2019) ... (pp. 13-15)

Whitelaw et al. (2004) ... (para. 7)

Cain (2012) ... (2:30)
Multiple sources (Brown, 2018; Cain, 2012; Porter et al., 2007) Brown (2018); Cain (2012); Porter et al. (2007) ... 
Multiple sources - same author and date (Smith, 2021a) and (Smith, 2021b)

According to Smith (2021a) ... 

Smith (2021b) argues that ... 

*If there is no author, use a short version of the title of the work.

  • If the work is a book, movie, or full journal, italicize the title.
  • If the work is an article or book chapter, use "quotation marks".

Titles used in-text follow Title Case - all words longer than four letters are capitalized, which is different from the full reference list, where titles use Sentence case - only the first word of the title, first word of the subtitle, and common nouns are capitalized. (APA Manual 6.7, 6.17, 6.22)

Types of In-Text Citations

There are two types of in-text citations.

(1) Parenthetical 

A parenthetical in-text citation comes at the end of a source's information. All information is in parentheses. If at the end of a sentence, the closing punctuation comes after the parenthesis.

  • (Walsh & Kosson, 2007, p. 210).

(2) Narrative

In narrative in-text citations, the author's name is part of the sentence and is followed by the date in parentheses. If a page number is included (i.e. direct quote), this comes at the end of the paraphrase or direct quote, and before the period.

  • Walsh and Kosson (2007) claim that "direct quote" (p. 212).

See the 'Examples' box for more parenthetical and narrative in-text citation examples.

How often should I cite?

  • It should be clear what source your information comes from throughout your paper. 
  • If you paraphrase multiple sentences in a row, cite the work at first mention. There is no need to repeat the citation if it is clear the same work continues to be paraphrased.
  • Reintroduce the citation if the information continues into a new paragraph.
  • If a paragraph includes multiple sources, include a citation each time the sources changes. 
  • When a large section of information comes from one source, it is helpful to use a narrative citation to introduce the source at the beginning of the information, and a parenthetical citation at the end to remind your reader what source the information is from.
  • It should be clear what source you are citing. If it is not, re-cite the source.

Citing Secondary Sources

In scholarly work, a primary source reports original content; a secondary source refers to content first reported in another source. As good practice, always try to find, read, and cite the primary source before citing a secondary source. 

Only cite a secondary source when the original work is out of print, unavailable, or available only in a language that you do not understand. 

When it is necessary to cite a secondary source, follow these directions: 

  • Only provide a reference entry for the secondary source
  • In the in-text, identify the primary source and write "as cited in" the secondary source that you used

For example: (Thompson, 2008, as cited in Lyon et al., 2014).

In the above example, you would only have a reference entry to Lyon et al. 

More information available on the APA Style Blog.