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APA 6th Referencing: In-Text Citations

In-Text Citations: Format

In-text citations include the details of the author/s (usually just the surname or organisation name), and the year of publication in the (author, date) format.

Format

(Author, date)

e.g. (Giroux, 2000)
        (Mihrshahi & Baur, 2018)
        (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2011)
      
You must always include an in-text citation when you support your own work with another author’s work (either to provide an example or to provide evidence for an argument):

  • Paraphrase, summarize or synthesize another author’s work in your own words
    • In-text citations, when paraphrasing, can take a number of forms, depending on how you choose to structure your sentence. For example:
      • Kessler (2014) found that among epidemiological samples . . .
      • Early onset results in a more persistent and severe course (Kessler, 2014) showed . . .
      • In 2014, Kessler's study of epidemiological samples showed that . . .
         
  • Quote another author (word for word)
    • Note: you must also include a page number for quotations. For electronic sources where there is no page number, use the paragraph number or section heading.
       
  • When paraphrasing, the APA 6th manual (p.171), encourages you to provide a page or paragraph number when it would help the reader locate the relevant passage in a long or complex text.
    Note: Some Schools prefer that you only provide a page number for a quotation, so check with your lecturers for their expectations.

In-Text Citations

Authors

Sample in-text and end-text reference citations are outlined throughout this Library Guide and in the APA Style Central Database.

It is important to take note of the following general rules.

Authors can be individual people or a group (such as corporations, associations, government agencies).

  • Personal authors: For individual people, the information you provide in a citation about an author depends upon the number of authors.
    • Single author: When citing a single author in an in-text citation, insert the surname of the author.
    • Two authors: Where there are two authors, both surnames should be used:
      • Davidson and Porter (2012) demonstrated that . . .
      • It has been demonstrated that . . . (Davidson & Porter, 2012).
    • Three, four, or five authors: Where there are three, four, or five authors, all surnames should be used the first time the in-text reference appears in the document. For all subsequent citations, include only the surname of the first author followed by “et al.”
      • First mention:
        • Smith, Grierson, Malthus, and Nicholson (2015) found . . .
        • According to evidence . . . (Smith, Grierson, Malthus, & Nicholson, 2015).
      • Subsequent mention:
        • Smith et al. (2015) suggest . . .
        • The study concluded . . . (Smith et al., 2015).
    • Six to seven authors: Where there are six or seven authors, use the first surname only followed by et al.
      • According to Abercrombe et al. (2008) . . .
      • It was shown that . . . (Abercrombe et al., 2008).
    • Eight or more authors: Where there are eight or more authors, use the first surname only followed by et al. in the in-text reference. For the End-text reference, include the first six authors, followed by and ellipsis ( . . . ) then the last author’s name.
      • In-text:
        • According to Owen et al. (2014) . . .
        • It was shown that . . . (Owen et al., 2014).
      • End Text:
        • Owen, A., Dufes, C., Moscatelli, D., Mayes, E., Lovell, J., Katti, K., . . . Stone, V. (2014). The application of nanotechnology in medicine: Treatment and diagnostics. Nanomedicine, 9(9), 1291-1294. doi:10.2217/NNM.14.93
  • Corporate authors: For a group, the name of the group is written in full the first time they occur in an in-text citation.
    • If you wish to abbreviate names, write the name in full the first time that it occurs, and place the abbreviated form in brackets. In subsequent citations, you can then just use the abbreviation.
      • First mention:
        • (Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS], 2014).
      • Subsequent mentions:
        • (ABS, 2014).
           
  • More than one work by the same author in the same year: If there is more than one work by the same author, the end-text references are to be listed in date order. If the author has more than one work in the one year, use lower case letters of the alphabet.
    • (Jones, 2016a, 2016b)
       
  • Two authors with the same surname: If two authors being cited in text share the same surname, use their initials in all citations, for example:
           This was confirmed by J. J. Smith (2012), who.....
           R. A. Smith (2009) considered.....
     

          (G. Roberts & Kuridrani, 2007)
          (P. Roberts et al., 2019)

    Notes: If a reference list includes publications by two or more primary authors with the same surname, include the first author’s initials in all text citations, even if the year of publication differs. Initials help the reader to avoid confusion within the text and to locate the entry in the list of references. See APA publication manual, section 6.14 "Authors with the Same Surname" and section 6.25 "Order of References in the Reference List".
     
  • In-text citations (2 or more works):
  • Order two or more authors cited within the same parentheses alphabetically in the same order in which they appear in the reference list. Separate references with a semicolon;
    • (Cooper & Carver, 2012; Douziech, Hellweg, & Verones, 2016; Pandey, Shukla, & Habibi, 2015)
       
  • Order two or more works by the same author by the year of publication.
    • (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2010, 2013)
       
  • Identify works by the same author (or same two or more authors), with the same publication date, by the suffixes a, b, c, etc. after the year. Repeat the year each time. 
    • (Australian Bureau of Statistics, n.d.-a, 2010a, 2010b, 2010c)
       
  • Formatting Names With Multiple Parts:
    If the surname is hyphenated, include both names and the hyphen in the reference list entry and in-text citation.
    If the surname has two parts separated by a space and no hyphen, include both names in the reference list entry and in-text citation.
    If the surname includes a particle (e.g., de, de la, der, van, von), include the particle before the surname in the reference list entry and in-text citation.
    If the surname includes a suffix (e.g., Jr., Sr., III), include the suffix after the initials in the reference list entry but do not include it in the in-text citation.
     

    If the surname includes a particle (e.g., de, de la, der, van, von), keep the author’s original capitalization even in reference list entries:

    de Haan, A. D., Deković, M., & Prinzie, P. (2012). Longitudinal impact of parental and adolescent personality on parenting. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102, 189-199. doi:10.1037/a0025254

    However, capitalize the name if it (a) begins a sentence or (b) is the first word after a colon when what follows the colon is an independent clause.

    See APA style blog entry: http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2017/05/whats-in-a-name-two-part-surnames-in-apa-style.html

Quotations

It is important to take note of the following general rules regarding quotations:

  • All direct quotations from a work should be reproduced word for word, keeping the original spelling and internal punctuation (even where it is incorrect).
     
  • Short direct quotations must be followed by a reference to the page number or specific location of the quote in the original work in the following format (author, date, page number).
     
  • If you are adding information to a quote, adding emphasis, correcting errors, or clarifying ambiguous place names, identify this by using square brackets [ ].
     
  • If you are omitting parts of a quote, use an ellipsis (. . .) to indicate that you have removed material. Use the ellipsis (. . .) at the beginning or end of a quotation if you are not quoting a complete sentence.   
     

Short quotations of fewer than 40 words are incorporated within the text of your work, and are enclosed with “double quotation marks”.

  • Use one of two formatting options for the citation:
    Include author/s, year and page number after the quote in parentheses followed by punctuation or separate author/s, year and page number, for example:
    In fact, “a flexible mind is a healthy mind” (Palladino & Wade, 2010, p. 147).
    According to Palladino and Wade (2010), “a flexible mind is a healthy mind” (p. 147).

     

Long quotations of 40 words or more are displayed in block format without quotation marks. Block format means that the quote should start on a new line and be indented from the left margin. Long (block) quotes should be double spaced.

  • Provide the author/s, year and page number/s after the final punctuation, using one of two formatting options for the citation:

    Use one of two formatting options for the citation:

    Provide the author’s, year and page number/s in parentheses after the quotation’s final punctuation. i.e. citation follows the full stop.
    Provide the author and year in the narrative and include the page number/s in parentheses after the quotation’s final punctuation.

    Example: Long quotation:

    Gardner (1994) writes:
    Different disciplines call on different analytic styles, approaches to problem solving and findings, temperaments, and intelligences. Therefore, a keen assessment must be alert for these disciplinary differences. By the same token, an effective teacher should help youngsters to appreciate that what counts as cause and effect, data and explanation, use of language and argument, varies across the disciplines. (p. 18)


    If the author's name and date are not given before the quote:
    ...varies across the disciplines. (Gardner, 1994, p. 18)

    For further information and examples see the APA style blog post on Block Quotations and the APA Style Central database tutorial on Direct Quotations and Paraphrasing.
Titles

APA Style has special formatting rules for the titles of the sources you use in your paper, such as the titles of books, articles, book chapters, reports, and webpages.

The formatting of the titles of sources you use in your paper depends on two factors: (a) the independence of the source (stands alone vs. part of a greater whole) and (b) the location of the title (in the text of the paper vs. in the reference list entry).

Titles: whole works that stand alone (e.g. book, report): Use italics for all stand-alone titles, in text and end references.
e.g. Using the title in the text of your work (capitalise main words):

  • Gone With the Wind
  • Risk Management: Principles and Guidelines

Title in reference list (sentence case):

  • Gone with the wind
  • Risk management: Principles and guidelines

Titles: part of a whole work (e.g. chapter)
e.g. Using the title in the text of your work (inside double quotation marks, capitalise main words). “Longitudinal Impact of Parental and Adolescent Personality on Parenting”
        Reference list (sentence case): Longitudinal impact of parental and adolescent personality on parenting

From the APA Style blog "How to Capitalize and Format Reference titles in APA Style" .

When to capitalize words in names, from the APA style blog: Do I Capitalize This Word?

Secondary Sources

If you wish to use a quote from an author referred to in another source that you've read (secondary source), you only list the secondary source in the reference list. Name the original source in the text of your paper, and cite the secondary source in parentheses, for example: Allport’s diary (as cited in Nicholson, 2003).


Note: Use this type of reference sparingly - only if the original (primary) source is unavailable.
 

Academic Writer tutorial on citing secondary sources

Secondary Sources

Learn how to use and cite secondary sources, that is, sources that discuss or cite material originally presented in another, or primary, source.

Academic Writer

© 2016 American Psychological Association.

Citing Specific Parts of a Source

To cite a specific part of a source, indicate the page, chapter, or paragraph (for online material without page numbers). Use abbreviations for page/s (p. or pp.) and paragraph (para.), but not chapter, which should be written in full (Chapter), for example:
       Chapter in an authored book, in-text citation:    (Baum, 2016, Chapter 3)
       Note: If referencing a chapter from an edited book, use the format for a chapter from an edited book (see Book references).

See the APA style blog for additional information and examples: https://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2013/11/how-to-cite-part-of-a-work.html

Citing References in Text
Academic Writer tutorial on citing references in-text

Citing References in Text

Learn how to cite references in the text, including how to implement the basic formats, cite multiple works, achieve clarity, and format references with missing author and/or date information.

Academic Writer

© 2016 American Psychological Association.

Direct Quotations and Paraphrasing
Academic Writer tutorial on citing and formatting quotations in APA style

Direct Quotations and Paraphrasing

Learn how to cite and format direct quotations and block quotations, make and indicate changes to direct quotations, and cite paraphrased material.

Academic Writer

© 2016 American Psychological Association.

Quotation Marks
Academic Writer tutorial on when to use quotation marks

Quotation Marks

Learn how to use quotation marks, including in quotations of fewer than 40 words, for ironic comments or invented expressions, for titles of articles or chapters in the text, and for test items and verbatim participant instructions.

Academic Writer

© 2016 American Psychological Association.

Italics
Academic Writer tutorial on when to use italics

Italics

Learn how to use italics, including in reference list entries and for key terms, scientific names, linguistic examples, emphasis, statistics, and tests or scales.

Academic Writer

© 2016 American Psychological Association.

Abbreviations
Academic Writer tutorial on how to use abbreviations

Abbreviations

Learn how to use abbreviations, including how to introduce them and how to use Latin and scientific abbreviations.

Academic Writer

© 2016 American Psychological Association.

 

Further information from the APA Style Blog, Abbreviations FAQs: https://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/abbreviations/

How do I abbreviate group authors in in-text citations and reference list entries?

If your reference has a group author, the name of the group can sometimes be abbreviated—for example, American Psychological Association can be abbreviated to APA. You are not obligated to abbreviate the name of a group author, but you can if the abbreviation would help avoid cumbersome repetition and will appear more than three times in the paper.

As with other abbreviations, spell out the name of the group upon first mention in the text and then provide the abbreviation.

If the name of the group first appears in the narrative, put the abbreviation, a comma, and the year for the citation in parentheses after it.

  • Example: The American Psychological Association (APA, 2011) suggested that parents talk to their children about family finances in age-appropriate ways.

If the name of the group first appears in parentheses, put the abbreviation in brackets after it, followed by a comma and the year for the citation.

  • Example: Children should learn about family finances in age-appropriate ways (American Psychological Association [APA], 2011).

In the reference list entry, do not include the abbreviation for the group author. Instead, spell out the full name of the group.

Citing References In-Text (Tutorial From Academic Writer)

Academic Writer tutorial on citing references in-text

Citing References in Text

Learn how to cite references in the text, including how to implement the basic formats, cite multiple works, achieve clarity, and format references with missing author and/or date information.

Academic Writer

© 2016 American Psychological Association.