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APA Quick Citation Guide

This guide contains examples of common citation formats in APA (American Psychological Association)
Style 7th edition

Overview Using In-text Citation

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,
Citing
there must be a corresponding entry in your reference list.
Generative AI
APA in-text citation style uses the author's last name and the year of
Citing Web
publication, for example: (Field, 2005). For direct quotations, include the
Pages and Social page number as well, for example: (Field, 2005, p. 14). For sources such
Media
as websites and e-books that have no page numbers, use a paragraph
number, for example: (Field, 2005, para. 1). More information on direct


Citing Articles

Citing Books
quotation of sources without pagination is given on the APA Style and 
Grammar Guidelines web page.
Citing Business Example paragraph with in-text citation
Reports
A few researchers in the linguistics field have developed training
Other Formats programs designed to improve native speakers' ability to understand
APA Style Quiz accented speech (Derwing et al., 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. Keep in mind that the author may be an organization
rather than a person. For sources with no author, use the title in place of
an author.

For sources with no date use n.d. (for no date) in place of the year:
(Smith, n.d.). For more information on citations for sources with no date
or other missing information see the page on missing reference
information on the APA Style and Grammar Guidelines web page.

Below are examples of using in-text citation with web pages.

Web page with author:

In-text citation

Heavy social media use can be linked to depression and other mental
disorders in teens (Asmelash, 2019).

Reference entry

Asmelash, L. (2019, August 14). Social media use may harm teens' mental


health by disrupting positive activities, study says.
CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/13/health/social-media-
mental-health-trnd/index.html

Web page with organizational author:

In-text citation

More than 300 million people worldwide are affected by depression

(World Health Organization, 2018).

Reference entry

World Health Organization. (2018, March

22). Depression. https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-
sheets/detail/depression

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. http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/recovering-disasters.aspx

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
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. For more information on citing works by
multiple authors see the APA Style and Grammar Guidelines page on in-
text citation.

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 or more authors: (Tremblay et al., 2010)

Last Updated: Jul 19, 2023 2:50 PM URL: https://guides.libraries.psu.edu/apaquickguide  Print Page

Subjects: Citation help 

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