Using In-text Citation
Include an in-text citation when you refer to, summarize, paraphrase, or quote from
another source. For every in-text citation in your paper, there must be a corresponding
entry in your reference list.
APA in-text citation style uses the author's last name and the year of publication, for
example: (Field, 2005). For direct quotations, include the page number as well, for
example: (Field, 2005, p. 14). For sources such as websites and e-books that have
no page numbers, use a paragraph number. More information on citing sources
without pagination is given on the APA Style web page.
Example paragraph with in-text citation
A few researchers in the linguistics field have developed training programs designed to
improve native speakers' ability to understand accented speech (Derwing, Rossiter, &
Munro, 2002; Thomas, 2004). Their training techniques are based on the research
described above indicating that comprehension improves with exposure to non-native
speech. Derwing et al. (2002) conducted their training with students preparing to be
social workers, but note that other professionals who work with non-native speakers
could benefit from a similar program.
References
Derwing, T. M., Rossiter, M. J., & Munro, M. J. (2002). Teaching native speakers to listen
to foreign-accented speech. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural
Development, 23(4), 245-259.
Thomas, H. K. (2004). Training strategies for improving listeners' comprehension of
foreign-accented speech (Doctoral dissertation). University of Colorado, Boulder.
Citing Web Pages In Text
Cite web pages in text as you would any other source, using the author and date if
known. If the author is not known, use the title and the date as the in-text citation (for
long titles just use the first few words). Your in-text citation should lead your reader to
the corresponding entry in the reference list. For sources with no date use n.d. (for no
date) in place of the year: (Smith, n.d.). Below are examples of using in-text citation with
web pages.
Web page with author:
In-text citation
Role-play can help children learn techniques for coping with bullying (Kraiser, 2011).
Reference entry
Kraizer, S. (2011). Preventing bullying. Retrieved from
http://safechild.org/categoryparents/preventing-bullying/
Web page with no author:
In-text citation
The term Nittany Lion was coined by Penn State football player Joe Mason in 1904 ("All
things Nittany," 2006).
Reference entry
All things Nittany. (2006). Retrieved from http://www.psu.edu/ur/about/nittanymascot.html
Web page with no date:
In-text citation
Establishing regular routines, such as exercise, can help survivors of disasters recover
from trauma (American Psychological Association [APA], n.d.).
Reference entry
American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Recovering emotionally from disaster.
Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/recovering-disasters.aspx
General Guidelines
In-text references should immediately follow the title, word, or phrase to which they are
directly relevant, rather than appearing at the end of long clauses or sentences. In-text
references should always precede punctuation marks. Below are examples of using in-
text citation.
Author's name in parentheses:
One study found that the most important element in comprehending non-native speech
is familiarity with the topic (Gass & Varonis, 1984).
Author's name part of narrative:
Gass and Varonis (1984) found that the most important element in comprehending non-
native speech is familiarity with the topic.
Group as author:
First citation: (American Psychological Association [APA], 2015)
Subsequent citation: (APA, 2015)
Multiple works: (separate each work with semi-colons)
Research shows that listening to a particular accent improves comprehension of
accented speech in general (Gass & Varonis, 1984; Krech Thomas, 2004).
Direct quote: (include page number and place quotation marks around the direct
quote)
One study found that “the listener's familiarity with the topic of discourse greatly
facilitates the interpretation of the entire message” (Gass & Varonis, 1984, p. 85).
Gass and Varonis (1984) found that “the listener’s familiarity with the topic of discourse
greatly facilitates the interpretation of the entire message” (p. 85).
Note: For direct quotations of more than 40 words, display the quote as an indented
block of text without quotation marks and include the authors’ names, year, and page
number in parentheses at the end of the quote. For example:
This suggests that familiarity with nonnative speech in general, although it is
clearly not as important a variable as topic familiarity, may indeed have some
effect. That is, prior experience with nonnative speech, such as that gained by
listening to the reading, facilitates comprehension. (Gass & Varonis, 1984, p. 77)
Works by Multiple Authors
APA style has specific rules for citing works by multiple authors. Use the following
guidelines to determine how to correctly cite works by multiple authors in text.
Note: When using multiple authors' names as part of your narrative, rather than in
parentheses, always spell out the word and. For multiple authors' names within a
parenthetic citation, use &.
One author: (Field, 2005)
Two authors: (Gass & Varonis, 1984)
Three to five authors:
First citation: (Tremblay, Richer, Lachance, & Cote, 2010)
Subsequent citations: (Tremblay et al., 2010)
Six or more authors: (Norris-Shortle et al., 2006)
Web Pages
If you are citing an entire website, it is not necessary to include a citation for the website
in your reference list. Simply include the title and address within the text of your paper.
Example:
The Safe Child website includes practical information for parents on how to help their
children cope with bullying (http://safechild.org).
When citing specific information from individual web pages, use the following elements
to create your citation. For more information on creating citations when some of the
elements are missing, see the APA Style Blog post on Missing Pieces.
Note: Citations with more than one line of text should have a hanging indent of
1/2 inch or 5 spaces.
Important Elements
Author (if known). If no author, use title
Date of publication. If no date, use n.d.
Title of Web page
URL (Web address) of the Web page
Note on titles: only italicize the title of a document that stands alone (books, reports,
etc.), but not the title of a document that is part of a greater whole. If you are not sure
whether something stands alone (such as a document on a website), choose not to
italicize.
Web page with author
Kraizer, S. (2011). Safety on the Internet. Retrieved from
http://safechild.org/categoryparents/safety-on-the-internet/
Web page with group author
American Cancer Society. (2015). Genetics and cancer. Retrieved from
http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/geneticsandcancer/index
Web page with no author
Claustrophobia. (2014). Retrieved from
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/claustrophobia/Pages/Introduction.aspx
Social Media
For more information on citing social media such as Facebook and Twitter, see the APA
Style blog post on How to Cite Social Media.
Blog Post:
McAdoo, T. (2014, February 4). How to cite a hashtag in #APA Style [Blog post]. Retrieved
from http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/social-media/
YouTube Video:
Clarkson, R.G. (2009, July 20). [RobertGClarkson]. Claustrophobia: 7 quick tactics to stop
the panic [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jOXKzwM-Ns
Howcast. (2019, October 29). How to recognize claustrophoba symptoms [Video file].
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6t5QL3ksAPA
