How to Make In-text Citations in APA

Finally,

How to cite in text APA?

Remember these two words: author and date.

That’s all about in-text references in APA.

It means that the surname of the author (without suffixes such as Dr. or Jr.) appear in the text followed by the year of publication.

Direct quotations require page number as well.

For the sources not mentioned, follow general rules unless otherwise specified.

Example:

(Leary, 2009, p. 137).

In our citation examples we use the following color coding:

  • Red – Author
  • Blue – Title of book/article/charter/webpage
  • Pink – Date
  • Sienna – Pages

Author named in a signal phrase

APA format requires the use of the word “and” instead of the ampersand between the authors’ names of the book.

Example:

Greene and Kernis (2012) argue that every individual involved in the process of creation of software is responsible for its quality.

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Author not named in a phrase

Example:

The framework based on the categorization of racial attributes does not take into account numerous individual differences between ethnic groups (Holland, 2010).

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A work by two authors

Example:

The use of sterilization accounts for 3.2 percent of birth control methods in Christian communities (Purnell & Paulanka, 2016).

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A work by three to five authors

List all authors for the first time. However, in subsequent citations, place only the name of the first author followed by et al. as well as the year of publication.

Example:

The limitations of the classification system preclude its use for the determination of specific health needs of ethnic minorities (Flatman, Flemming, & Drewett, 2009). The belonging to a racial group requires the differentiation between racial needs and those of the society at large (Flatman et al., 2009).

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Six or more authors

Include only the name of the first author followed by et al. as well as the year of publication.

Example:

Baxter et al. (2014) argue that statewide statistics do not reflect real experiences of Muslims in the U.S. The belonging to a racial group requires the differentiation between racial needs and those of the society at large (Flatman et al., 2009).

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Unknown author

When the source does not identify an author, cite it by the first few words of its title. The titles of books and periodicals have to be italicized, whereas titles of book chapters and articles have to be placed inside quotation marks.

Example:

Naturalism and the improvement of health care outcomes are the main principles of the provision of biomedicine in the U.S. (Biomedicine and health care, 2015). The health care services in Australia are based on the long-standing culture of nursing as well as national models of health and illness (“Health care approaches,” 2011).

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Authors with the same last name

Include first initials followed by the last names in order to distinguish between authors with the same last name.

Example:

Religious and spiritual beliefs of Arab American Muslims significantly influence their health care practices and health-seeking behaviors (M. Berndt, 2016; L. Berndt, 2016).

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More than one work by the same author in the same year

In case you have a few works with the same author written in the same years, just use a,b,c letters to differentiate them.

Example:

Terminally ill patients find a source of strength in performing daily prayers and adhering to other religious duties described in their sacred texts such as Bible and Quran (Robbins, 2011a).

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Indirect sources

Provide the author of the original source in a signal phrase and include a citation of the secondary source in parenthesis. Note that only the secondary source has to be included in the reference list.

Example:

Smith argues that “personalistic systems provide the most accurate representation of a patient’s identity” (as cited in Wescot, 2014, p. 213).

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Sources without page numbers

If the source does not have page numbers, include a short version of a chapter’s title enclosed in quotation marks followed by the abbreviation para. Always use only the abbreviation para. for electronic sources.

Example:

Pinker and Smith (2013) went so far as to argue that “that Chinese cultures condone the use of invasive health care procedures” (“Health Care Practices,” para. 11).

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Further study