Journal Article Citation Tutorial

In-text citations are the brief citations included in the body of your paper. They refer your reader to the full citation in the references section of your paper.

In APA, the in-text citation can either be a parenthetical citation or a narrative citation. Below are examples of each type of in-text citation.

In APA, the in-text citation is usually placed in parenthesis at the end of your sentence with the author's last name and year. The page number is also required if you are directly quoting from a source or paraphrasing a source.

• Precede a single page number with p.

• Precede a range of pages with pp.

• If page numbers are unavailable, you will need to use the paragraph number preceded by para. or paras.

• To direct quote from an article that has an article number, use the page numbering from the document in your in-text citations. For example, for information taken from “Page 4 of 9", use “p. 4” for the direct quote.

The period goes after/outside the parenthesis.

(Held, 2022).

(Hall, 2022, para. 5).

(Ricks, 2018, pp. 175-176).

Multiple Authors, Corporate Authors, No Authors:

Two Authors From the Same Source:

When referring to a source with two authors, join the authors' last names with an ampersand. For example:

(Hall & Ricks, 2016, p. 198).

Three or More Authors From the Same Source:

When referring to a source with three authors or more, list the first author's last name followed by et al. For example:

(Hall et al., 2022, pp. 201-202).

Corporate or Group Author:

If the author of a work is a business, organization, government agency, group, etc. that is referred to as a corporate or group author. Use the corporate author's name. For example:

(American Psychological Association, 2020, p. 277).

No Authors:

If there is no author listed, use the title of the work in place of the author's last name. If the title is long, it should be shortened for the in-text citation. The main words of the title should also be capitalized. If the title is not italicized within the reference, use quotation marks around the title. It the title is italicized within the reference, then the title also needs to be italicized in the in-text citation. For example:

("News Today," 2022)

(On This Day, 2022).

Examples in a Sentence:

Participating in professional organizations allows for career professionals to network (Held, 2022).

“Creating interactive lessons helps students retain information” (Hall, 2022, para. 5).

“Participating in water polo has a positive impact on high school students’ well-being” (Hall & Ricks, 2018, pp. 175-176).

"Participating in high school band correlates with higher math scores" (Hall et al., 2022, pp. 201-202).

Long Quotes:

Quotes longer than 40 words need to be formatted as a block quote. The quotation should begin on a new line and is indented 1/2 inch from the left margin, i.e., in the same place you would begin a new paragraph. Type the entire quotation on the new margin, and indent the first line of any subsequent paragraph within the quotation 1/2 inch from the new margin. The entire block quote is double-spaced. Do not add an extra line space before or after the block quote. The period goes before the in-text citation in a block quote.

Below is an example of a parenthetical block quote:

In narrative citations the author appears in running text and the date appears in parentheses immediately after the author’s name. For example:

Hall (2022) found that youth sports increase self-confidence.

If the narrative citation includes a direct quote or is a paraphrase then include the page or paragraph number(s) at the end of the sentence. For example:

Hall (2022) stated, “Networking helps improve employment prospects” (p. 205).

Multiple Authors, Corporate Authors, No Authors:

Two Authors From the Same Source:

When referring to a source with two authors, join the authors' last names using the word "and." For example:

Hall and Ricks (2016) stated, “…” (p. 198).

Three or More Authors From the Same Source:

When referring to a source with three authors or more, list the first author's last name followed by et al. For example:

According to Hall et al. (2022), “….” (pp. 201-202).

Corporate or Group Author:

If the author of a work is a business, organization, government agency, group, etc. that is referred to as a corporate or group author. Use the corporate author's name. For example:

The American Psychological Association (2020) stated, “…” (p. 277).

Long Quotes:

Quotes longer than 40 words need to be formatted as a block quote. The quotation should begin on a new line and is indented 1/2 inch from the left margin, i.e., in the same place you would begin a new paragraph. Type the entire quotation on the new margin, and indent the first line of any subsequent paragraph within the quotation 1/2 inch from the new margin. The entire block quote is double-spaced. Do not add an extra line space before or after the block quote. The period goes before the in-text citation in a block quote.

Below is an example of a narrative long quote: