In APA style, in-text citations are abridged citations that indicate that sourced information is being used by the author. Each in-text citation corresponds to an entry in the APA reference list, which has additional information so the reader can locate and the source further research. To provide in-text citations, you must have the following two important elements:
Author name or organization name
Publication year
APA citation prefers the author-date system of citation. The in-text citation is given in two styles. However, the style depends on how you construct your text. The two types of in-text citations are
Citations that are included in the narration
Citations that are used in a parenthetical sense
The citation that is read as a part of the sentence is a narrative citation. In the below examples, the author names are read along with the sentence:
Narrative citation with the author name in the sentence
Schubert (2007) emphasizes the cultural variation among nations.
Narrative citation with the organization name in the sentence
NCDPI (2021) released the dual-language program.
Note that only the publication year is enclosed in parenthesis for narrative citations.
Unlike narrative citations, parenthetical citations do not act as a part of the sentence. They usually appear at the end of the sentence inside parenthesis. As both the author name and the year are enclosed in parenthesis, a comma separates them as shown in the below examples.
Parenthetical citation with the author name in parenthesis
The culture variation among nations is emphasized (Schubert, 2007).
Parenthetical citation with the organization name in parenthesis
The dual language program was released (NCDPI, 2021).
If you want to include further details, such as the page number, add them after the year. You can use phrases and words (e.g., “see,” “for instance,” “for more information”), along with parenthetical citations. They come before the author’s name. These are illustrated below.
With author
The culture variation among nations is emphasized (Schubert, 2007, p. 12).
The culture variation among nations is emphasized (see Schubert, 2007, p. 12).
In the above cases, the separator used after the year is a comma. However, when a citation appears along with some text in parenthesis, use a semicolon as a separator as in the below example.
The culture variation among nations is emphasized (e.g., the culture enrichment program; Schubert, 2007, p. 12).
Narrative template & example:
Author Surname (Publication Year)
Petrovic (2005)
Parenthetical template & example:
(Author Surname, Publication Year)
(Petrovic, 2005)
The surnames of the two authors are separated by “and” in narrative citations and an ampersand symbol in parenthetical citations.
Narrative template & example:
Author Surname1 and Author Surname2 (Publication Year)
Shin and Park (2015)
Parenthetical template & example:
(Author Surname1 & Author Surname2, Publication Year)
(Shin & Park, 2013)
This is new for APA 7th edition. If a reference-list entry has three or more authors, use only the first author’s surname and “et al.” in both types of citations.
Narrative template & example:
Author Surname1 et al. (Publication Year)
Roberts et al. (2018)
Parenthetical template & example:
(Author Surname et al., Publication Year)
(Roberts et al., 2018)
If any reference has a group author, the in-text citations take the group author’s name. It is allowed to abbreviate the group author if you wish to do so. There is a difference in treating the abbreviation between the two citation styles.
If the first occurrence of an abbreviation appears in a narrative citation, include it inside parenthesis. If the abbreviation first occurs in a parenthetical citation, include it inside square brackets.
Narrative template & example:
Group author (Abbreviation, Publication Year)
Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE, 2015)
Parenthetical template & example:
(Group author [Abbreviation], Publication Year)
Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation [OPRE], 2015)
The title of the work is written for in-text citations if there are no authors in a work. In general, citations with no authors are included as parenthetical citations. The title in the in-text citation is formatted as how it is formatted in the reference-list entry. If no formatting is found in the reference-list entry, add double quotes around the title and write the title in title case.
Parenthetical template & example:
(“Title of the Work,” Publication Year)
(“Environmental Changes,” 2018)
Write “Anonymous” if the author name is given as “Anonymous.”
Example:
(Anonymous, 2004)
If you need to include multiple in-text citations as a group, sort them in alphabetical order in parenthetical citations. Use semicolons to separate different sources.
(Ballard, 2017; Bottom & Tom, 2012; Serena, 2004)
If you need to include multiple in-text citations with some sources having the same author group, arrange the sources with the same author group chronologically with a comma separator. For chronological citation, the arrangement takes the following order: citations with “n.d.” first, publications with dates in chronological order next, and “in press” citations finally. “n.d.” stands for “no date.”
(Alex, 2012, 2014a, 2014b; Ben & Bailey, 2012, in press; Simond, n.d., 2004)
Do not sort in-text citations if the citation is narrative. Follow the order as given.
If multiple entries possess the same surname and date, but different initials, include initials to the in-text citations to distinguish the sources. Some examples are shown here as illustrations:
Narrative templates & examples:
F. Author Surname (Publication Year)
M. Author Surname (Publication Year)
T. Longman (2016)
K. Longman (2016)
Parenthetical templates & examples:
(F. Author Surname, Publication Year)
(M. Author Surname, Publication Year)
(T. Longman, 2016)
(K. Longman, 2016)
If multiple entries possess the same surname, initials, and date, a lowercase letter is added to the year to differentiate them. This is to help the reader identify which source is referred to in the citation. Some examples are given below:
Narrative templates & examples:
Author Surname (Publication Year + lowercased letter)
Author Surname (Publication Year + lowercased letter)
Garland (2014a)
Garland (2014b)
Parenthetical templates & examples:
(Author Surname, Publication Year + lowercased letter)
(Author Surname, Publication Year + lowercased letter)
(Garland, 2014a)
(Garland, 2014b)
Unlike other works, translated titles possess two publication dates (the date of the original work and the date of the translated work). Both dates are included for in-text citations. The order should be chronological. The two dates are separated with a slash.
Narrative template & example:
Author Surname (Publication Year of the original work/Publication Year of the translated work)
Frost (1994/1997)
Parenthetical template & example:
(Author Surname, Publication Year of the original work/Publication Year of the translated work)
(Frost, 1994/1997)
Some works do not have sources to cite. Examples of such works include interviews, messages, chats, talk on the telephone, and emails. Such works are included under the category of personal communication. The information of such works is not retrievable; therefore, they cannot be included in the reference list. However, you can add an in-text citation. When writing in-text citations, use initials along with the author’s name.
Narrative template & example:
Communicator’s name (personal communication, Month Day, Year)
T. Paul (personal communication, August 12, 1998)
Parenthetical template & example:
(Communicator’s name, personal communication, Month Day, Year)
(T. Paul, personal communication, August 12, 1998)