In-Text Citations

When using any source, you must credit the author(s). APA uses the author/date style which requires the following information:

1. The author’s last name
2. The publication date—For monthly publications (June 2006), for Weekly or Daily publications (2006,  June 4), for items with no date use (n.d.)
3.  The page number preceded by p. or pp. if you are quoting or paraphrasing. Page numbers are not required for summarizations. Page numbers may not be available for some online sources. In those instances, use paragraph numbers or section headings—see 3.39 in the Publication Manual.
4. APA requires you to use past tense or present perfect tense when using signal phrases to describe earlier research e.g. "Smith (2010) identified" or "Smith (2010) has identified."

There are a number of ways to incorporate this required information. You can include the author’s name and date into the sentence:

Bauer (2005) showed that a “federal agent’s job is never done” (p.5). or

In 2005, Bauer showed that a “federal agent’s job is never done” (p.5).

Or you may place the author’s last name, comma and year of publication in parentheses at the end of the sentence:

 A close look at the life of a federal agent shows that his or hers job is “never done” (Bauer, 2005, p.5).

Most books, journals and materials are cited using the above format, but there are some exceptions:

Multiple Authors (3.95)
Things to know: When you use the author’s names in your sentence, use “and” to connect the last two, but when citing in parentheses, use “&”.  Under certain circumstances, you may need to use “et.al.” which means “and others.”

•  2 authors – Cite both authors each time you reference the work.
•  3-5 authors – Cite all the authors the first time you refer to the work, but for subsequent references use the first author’s last name followed by et. al.
•  6 or more authors – Cite only the first author’s last name followed by et.al.
   

J. Seinfeld asserted that we can actually make a lot out of nothing (personal communication, June 1, 2006).

Interviews/Lectures/Phone Conversations (3.102)
Cite the items only in the body of the paper, not on the References page.

During the discussion, the instructor noted that plagiarism was a “real concern” (class lecture, April 13, 2004).

No Author/Anonymous (3.97)
For works without an author, use the first few words of the Reference list entry (usually the title) and the year. When an author is designated as “anonymous,” use Anonymous and the date.

1. Clarify in the parenthetical citation

Browning wrote “`A man’s reach should exceed his grasp’” (as cited in Williams, 1975, p. 201).

2. Clarify in your sentence or signal phrase using verbs in the past tense or present perfect tense to describe earlier research.

Williams has quoted one of Browning’s most famous lines: “A man’s reach should exceed his grasp’” (1975, p. 201). 

Although Browning is being quoted, you found the quote in a book by Williams, so the reference listing would look like this: 

Williams, T. (1975).  Browning’s poetry. New York: HarperCollins.