Lesson 26: APA Citation: In-text and Reference Citation

American Psychological Association (APA) referencing style is the most commonly used referencing style in the field of education. It is also known as “author-date referencing”.

However, this is not the only referencing style available. There are Chicago manual of style (CMOS), Modern Language Association Style (MLA), Modern Humanities Research Association (MHRA), American Sociological Association (ASA), and the like. But in the meantime, your focus is on APA 6th Edition Manual of Style. 

There are two (2) things that you need to remember in using APA. First, it is used as an intext citation and second, it is used in reference citation.  

The in-text citation is a reference citation that is made within the body of the text or essay (Waikato Institute of Technology, 2010). The main question now is when are we going to use intext citation? Practically, we use in-text citations every time we quote, summarize, and paraphrase statements, information, and ideas that came from others. It is a scholarly acknowledgment through giving credit who stipulated the ideas and concepts.  

In-text citation with single author used in the beginning 

Fernandez (2020), stressed that proper citation has to be observed among novice researchers.

In-text citation with single author used at the end 

Proper usage of citation styles promotes integrity among novice researchers (Fernandez, 2020).  

• How about if the writer wanted to indicate the title of the source? Of course, you can do it. However, title has to be in quotation marks.  

In-text citation with article title 

In Fernandez’s (2020) article, “Plagiarism: Writers’ Crime”, stressed that proper citation has to be observed among novice researchers.

Another example: 

In Fernandez’s (2020) book, “The Secrets of Plagiarism”, discussed on ways plagiarism can be avoided.  

• In some cases, the title of book, articles, proceedings, journal articles and the like are italicized. However, when you italicized the title, omit the quotation marks.  

In-text citation without quotation  

In Fernandez’s (2020) book, The Secrets of Plagiarism, discussed on ways plagiarism can be avoided.  

• Can we use citation in the middle?   It is a common practice to see citation at the beginning or at the end of the referenced statement. However, there are instances that citation appears in the middle of the cited statement.  

In-text citation in the middle of the statement 

Fernandez (2020) attested that citation can be used only at the beginning and end of the sentence, whereas Munez (2020) claimed otherwise.  

Another example: 

Conduct of research enables novice researchers to deal on practical aspect of education (Fernandez, 2020), as well as the theoretical foundations of different philosophies.  

• When do we use “et al.” in our citation? “et al.” is a Latin term for “et alia” which means “and others”. This is used when you have multiple authors. Multiple authorship is authorship composed of six (6) or more authors. Thus, when you have less than six authors, you need to write their surname. If you use in-text citation at the beginning, just connect their surname with a comma and “and”. However, if it is at the end of the statement, you connect the authors’ surname with the use of comma and ampersand.  

In-text citation with three (3) authors (beginning) 

Fernandez, Munez, and Valencia (2020), attested that citation can be used only at the beginning and end of the statement. 

In-text citation with three (3) authors (end) 

It was attested that citation can be used only at the beginning and end of the statement (Fernandez, Munez, & Valencia, 2020). 

In-text citation with six (6) or more authors 

Fernandez et al. (2020), attested that citation can be used only at the beginning and end of the statement.  

In-text citation with six (6) authors (end) 

It was attested that citation can be used only at the beginning and end of the statement (Fernandez, et al., 2020). 

• What if you have two or more authors with similar facts or information?  In dealing with this scenario, all of them are placed on the same parenthesis. However, they are separated with a semicolon (;). Likewise, authors’ name has to be listed in alphabetical order. 

Multiple entry with similar information 

It was attested that citation can be used only at the beginning and end of the statement (Fernandez, 2020; Munez, 2019; Valencia & Montemayor, 2018). 

• What if the idea that you are going to cite was already cited by an author? In circumstance like this, it can be done it two (2) ways.  

In-text citation already cited by an author 

Montemayor as cited in Fernandez (2020) that citation can be used only at the beginning and end of the statement. 

Another example:  

Montemayor (2001) attested that citation can be used only at the beginning and end of the statement (as cited in Pitt, 2020) 

• How about when you are going to cite a website article without authorship or organizational author? If you are going to cite a website article without authorship, you need to use the webpage title or few words of the title in the parentheses.  

In-text citation using website article without author 

“Man in need” (2020), eating healthy foods gives us more time for our love ones.

Another example:  

Eating healthy foods gives us more time for our love ones (“Man in need,” 2020).  

• How about page number, are we going to include it? Many of the in-text citations omit page numbers. However, it is encouraged to declare even the page number.  Aside from it, this adds credibility to your sources if you are going to declare it.  

In-text citation with page number 

Fernandez (2020), eating healthy foods gives us more time for our love ones (p. 99).  

In-text citation using paragraph number 

According to Fernandez (2020), eating healthy foods gives us more time for our love ones (para. 99).  

Another example: 

It was highlighted that eating healthy foods gives us more time for our love ones (Fernandez, 2020, para. 99).  

After learning how in-text citation is done, let us move on to reference citation. This provides authority to your statements by providing your readers' access to those sources. Likewise, it is an acknowledgment of the information you have brought out on your research. Of course, intext citations need to appear in the reference section of your paper.  

Practically, it is the list of the sources you have cited throughout your paper. This will provide your readers access to all the sources you have considered in your research. Because we have used the APA 6th edition citation style in your in-text citation, we use also APA 6th edition reference style in your reference entry. However, this only limited to the reference citations you will be using on your study. These are reference citation on books, journals, online sources and theses and dissertations in single authorship, multiple authorship, without author and date.  

Reference Citation Style 

1. Books 

Fernandez, D. V. (2020). Quest for happiness. New York: Fern Publishing Company Press.  

• If you can notice, the structure of this is the author’s name (surname, first letter of the name, middle initial) then followed by a period. After that, the date of publication and then a period are included. Next is the title of the book (remember that the whole title is italicized and the first letter is capitalized). There is an exemption, all proper names are capitalized. After the title, write the publishing company.

a. Single Author 

Fernandez, D. V. (2020). Quest for happiness. New York: Fern Publishing Company Press.  

Fernandez, D. V. (2020)                                          Author

Quest for happiness                                                Title

2020                                                                        Date of Publication

New York                                                                 Place of Publication

Fern Publishing Company Press                         Publisher

b. Three authors 

Fernandez, D. V., Munez, E. M., & Fernandez, Y. M. (2020). Quest for happiness. New York: Fern Publishing Company Press.  

Note: Each author is joined with comma. Before the last author, there is a comma and ampersand.  

c. Six or more authors 

Fernandez, D. V., et al. (2020). Quest for happiness. New York: Fern Publishing Company Press.   Note: After the first author, the word et al. is attached.

Note: The Latin term means “et alia” which means “and others”. Thus, it represents the other authors of the book.  

2. Journal Articles 

a. Single Author 

Fernandez, D. V. (2020). Lived experiences of students engaged community services. Journal for Young Filipino, 44(6), 88-95. doi: 10.13140/RG.2.2.34763.75047 

§  If you notice, it is similar to the reference citation for book, however, what makes it different is that it includes the journal publication (first letter of the word is capitalized) then followed by volume, issue and page number and digital object identifier (doi). Remember two (2) things. First is that journal publication is italicized and second if doi is not present, you can just omit that part.

Fernandez, D. V. (2020). Lived experiences of students engaged community services. Journal for Young Filipino, 44(6), 88-95. doi: 10.13140/RG.2.2.34763.75047 

Fernandez, D. V. (2020)                                                                          Author

Lived experiences of students engaged community services              Title
Journal for Young Filipino                                                                       Journal Publication

44                                                                                                            Issue

(6)                                                                                                            Volume

88-95                                                                                                       Page number

doi: 10.13140/RG.2.2.34763.75047                                                        Digital Object Identifier (Doi)

b. Three authors 

Fernandez, D. V., Munez, E. M., & Fernandez, P. Y. M. (2020). Lived experiences of students engaged community services. Journal for Young Filipino, 44(6), 88-95. doi: 10.13140/RG.2.2.34763.75047 

c. Six or more authors 

Fernandez, D. V, et al. (2020). Lived experiences of students engaged community services. Journal for Young Filipino, 44(6), 88-95. doi:  10.13140/RG.2.2.34763.75047 

3. Thesis and Dissertation 

a. Thesis or Dissertation in Hardcopy 

Fernandez, D. V. (2020). Development of reading comprehension through contextualized graphic novel. (Unpublished master’s thesis). Bataan Peninsula State University, Philippines.  

• This citation for thesis or dissertation follows the same format with books. It starts with the author, date published, title of the thesis or dissertation. Take note that the title needs to be italicized. Then, there is parenthesis, inside it is the description of what reference is being cited, is it a master’s thesis or dissertation? Last part is the institution where it is made and the location of the institution (commonly writers write the country).  

b. Thesis or Dissertation from Repository 

Fernandez, D. V. (2020). Development of reading comprehension through contextualized graphic novel. (Master’s thesis, Bataan Peninsula State University, Philippines). Retrieved from http://hdl.thesismasters.net/109287/99 

• The format still follows similar with the hardcopy. However, the last part should indicate the link of the thesis.  

c. Thesis or Dissertation from Database 

ProQuest is an example of online database for theses and dissertation. 

Fernandez, D. V. (2020). Development of reading comprehension through contextualized graphic novel. (Master’s thesis). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global database. (UMI No. 3371229) Note: 

• UMI is the name of publishing company that stands for University Microfilm International. The services it offers is storage of theses and dissertations.  

4. Online Sources 

These are articles from credible website. 

Fernandez, D. V. (2020). Reading comprehension and graphic novel. Retrieved from https://www.easybib.com/reference/guide/apa/website 

• Notice that on the last part of the entry, it includes the link where the article was retrieved. Remember not to put period (.) at the end of the entry. Remember, when you make a reference list, it should be arranged in alphabetical order using the first letter of the surname.