APA Style, 7th edition - Guide for Setting Up In-text Citations
General Information about In-text Citations
Use APA format citations when writing
about research or any idea that is not your
own. These are found throughout the body
of your paper.
Avoid direct quotations whenever possible!
If you cannot avoid a quotation, you must
include the page number in the citation and
use quotation marks. See the APA manual
or a reputable website.
Style tip: Avoid referring to outside
information by using phrases such as “the
article,” “the book,” or “the paper,” and
avoid using the article’s title! Also, notice
that authors’ first names are not used in
APA.
In short, there are 2 types of parenthetical
citations:
1. At end of the sentence – In this case,
both the author’s surname (or the authors’
surnames) and the year of publication go in
the parentheses.
If using a citation at the end of your
sentence, the period goes outside the
citations closing parenthesis.
2. In signal sentence / as part of the
sentence – In this case, the author’s
surname or authors’ surnames go in your
sentence, and only the year of publication
goes in the parentheses.
If your citation is at the end of the
sentence, use the ampersand (&). If
your citation is in the sentence, use the
word “and”.
In-Text Citations & Number of Authors
Single Author
If there is only one author, use the author’s
surname every time you cite the source:
(Koch, 2020).
Two Authors
If there are two authors, use both authors’
surnames every time you cite the source:
(McCormick & Francis, 2005).
Notice when there are two authors, there is
no comma before the ampersand (&) when
using a citation at the end of your sentence.
APA Style, 7th edition - Guide for Setting Up In-text Citations
Three or More Authors
With three or more authors, use the first
author’s surname and “et al.” every time
you cite the source: (Austen et al., 2016).
Notice there is always a period after the
“al” portion of “et al.” – and it comes before
a comma if used in a citation at the end of
your sentence.
Citations & Multiple Sources
Citations may include multiple sources.
If multiple citations are included for a single
statement, they appear in the same order
as the reference page and are separated by
a semicolon or semicolons.
(Alphabetical by first author's surname)
Source of the example sentence above:
Roberts, L. D., & Allen, P. J. (2018). A call for the
inclusion of mixed methods research in the
undergraduate curriculum. Frontiers in
Psychology, 9, 1-4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.
nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6331522/
