APA uses an author-date citation system for all in-text citations. In-text citations can be in parentheses at the end of the sentence or included within the narrative. Page numbers must also be included when directly quoting a source. A good rule to follow is if you use specific information that cannot be paraphrased (statistics, quotes, definitions), put in the page number.
| Author Type | Citation in Parentheses at End of Narrative | Citation Within the Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Author | (Jones, 2020) | Jones (2020) stated... |
| 2 Authors | (Wayne & Grayson, 2021) | Wayne and Grayson (2021) found... |
| 3 or More Authors | (Allen et al., 2023) | Allen et al. (2023) hypothesized... |
| Group or Organization with an Abbreviation | Citation in Parentheses at End of Narrative | Citation Within the Narrative |
| When First Citing | (American Library Association [ALA], 2020) | American Library Association (ALA, 2020) states... |
| Subsequent Citations | (ALA, 2020) | ALA (2020) recorded that.... |
| Short Quotations (Less than 40 words) | Citation in Parentheses at End of Narrative | Citation Within the Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| Direct Quotation from a Single Page | (Bennett, 2020, p. 20) | Bennett (2020) states "..." (p. 20) |
| Direct Quotation from a Span of Pages | (Bennett, 2020, pp. 20-21) | Bennett (2020) related that "...." (pp. 20-21) |
|
Direct Quotation That Has No Page Number- Use another identifier: paragraph number, chapter, table, etc. |
(Shaw, 2020, para. 2) | Shaw (2020) discovered that "..." (para. 2). |