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HD Thesis Course Guide: In-Text Citations

Citing Sources

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.

Chart of In-Text Examples

Type of Citation

First Citation in Text

Subsequent Citations
in Text

Parenthetical Format, First Citation in Text

Parenthetical Format, Subsequent Citations
in Text

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 (readily identified through 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
Smith (2001)


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)
 Secondary Source  Freud (as cited in Jones, 2003) Freud (as cited in Jones, 2003) (Freud, as cited in Jones, 2003) (Freud, as cited in Jones, 2003)
Personal Communication (Do not include 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.

Training Videos

Posted with permission from University of Maryland, Baltimore Writing Center (2015) APA Citations: In-text Citations: The Basics

Handout mentioned in tutorial.

Posted with permission from University of Maryland, Baltimore Writing Center (2015) APA Citations: In-text Citations: Multiple Authors

Handout mentioned in tutorial.

Posted with permission from University of Maryland, Baltimore Writing Center (2015) APA Citations: In-text Citations: Groups as Authors

Handout mentioned in tutorial.

Posted with permission from University of Maryland, Baltimore Writing Center (2015) APA Citations: In-text Citations: No Author

Handout mentioned in tutorial.

Posted with permission from University of Maryland, Baltimore Writing Center (2015) APA Citations: In-text Citations: No Date

Handout mentioned in tutorial.

Posted with permission from University of Maryland, Baltimore Writing Center (2015) APA Citations: In-text Citations: No Page Number

Handout mentioned in tutorial.

How to Reference a Citation within a Citation in APA Style by Memorial University Libraries.  Creative Commons reuse license.

Do I Have to Cite EVERYTHING?

Image reproduced from "APA Style Guide" by Alexis Carlson Indian River State College, licensed under CC 4.0