APA Style Guide

Citing Sources in the Text

• You must provide an in-text citation when quoting or paraphrasing someone else’s work
• In-text citations direct the reader to the source’s entry in the reference list
• When using APA format, follow the author/date method of in-text citations

Examples

Author not named in text
One critic of Milgram’s experiments insisted that the subjects “should have been fully informed ofthe possible effects on them” (Baumrind, 2003, p. 34).

Author named in text
Baumrind insisted that the subjects in Milgrim’s study “should have been fully informed of the possible effects on them” (2003, p. 34).

Two authors
One study demonstrates that "non medical needs may be addressed by anyone on the team" (Csikai & Chaitin, 2006, p. 112).

Tips

• If a source has three to five authors, you must name all of the authors in the first citation of a work.
             Example: Pepinsky, Rentl, and Corson (2001), argue…

• In the second and subsequent references to a work with three to five authors, give only the first author’s name, followed by “et al."
             Example: According to Pepinsky et al. (2001)...

• For six or more authors, even in the first citation of the work, give only the first author’s name, followed by “et al.”

• Anonymous works are referred to by full or shortened title.
             Example: ("Study Finds," 1982).

• When an information source contains no page numbers, just include the author's name and the date of publication in the in-text citation.
             Example: One website describes the side effects of this drug (King, 2005).