You must use in-text citations to cite all information that you obtained from other sources. APA uses an author-date style of parenthetical citations. For paraphrased information, the model is: (Author's last name, year of publication).
For example:
Coca-Cola was originally invented by an American pharmacist to be used as a stimulating tonic (Standage, 2005).
Direct quotes require a page number:
"Teacher-as-mediator is not simply managing behavior; she is teaching social skills and suggesting ideas to enrich play" (Jones & Reynolds, 2011, p. 36).
You do not need to include the title of the book or author's first names for in-text citations.
Type of Citation |
First Citation |
Subsequent Citations |
Parenthetical Format, First Citation |
Parenthetical Format, Subsequent Citations |
1 work by 1 author |
Marcuse (2003) |
Marcuse (2003) |
(Marcuse, 2003) |
(Marcuse, 2003) |
1 work by 2 authors |
Hunt and Wilkins (2007) |
Hunt and Wilkins (2007) |
(Hunt & Wilkins, 2007) |
(Hunt & Wilkins, 2007) |
1 work by 3-5 authors |
Baxter, Smith, Taylor, and Hunt (2005) |
Baxter et al. (2005) |
(Baxter, Smith, Taylor, & Hunt, 2005) |
(Baxter et al., 2005) |
1 work by 6 or more authors |
Johnson et al. (2010) |
Johnson et al. (2010) |
(Johnson et al., 2010) |
(Johnson et al., 2010) |
Groups (identified by abbreviations) as authors |
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2007) |
CDC (2007) |
(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2007) |
(CDC, 2007) |
Groups (no abbreviation) as authors |
University of Pittsburgh (2010) |
University of Pittsburgh (2010) |
(University of Pittsburgh, 2010) |
(University of Pittsburgh, 2010) |
2 or more works |
Harlow (1999) and |
Harlow (1999) and Smith (2001) |
(Harlow, 1999; Smith, 2001) | (Harlow, 1999; Smith, 2001) |
2 or more works by 1 author in the same year | Jones (2009a) Jones (2009b) |
Jones (2009a) Jones (2009b) |
(Jones, 2009a) (Jones, 2009b) |
(Jones, 2009a) (Jones, 2009b) |
Personal Communication (not included in Reference page) |
J. Smith (personal communication, March 19, 2016) | J. Smith (personal communication, March 19, 2016) | (J. Smith, personal communication, March 19, 2016) | (J. Smith, personal communication, March 19, 2016) |
Adapted from American Psychological Association. (2009). Crediting sources: Citing references in text. Publication manual of the American psychological association (6th ed., p. 177) Washington, D.C.: Author.
Image reproduced from "APA Style Guide" by Alexis Carlson Indian River State College, licensed under CC 4.0