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APA Style 7th Edition: Citing Your Sources

Provide guidance on APA format style based on the 7th edition of the APA Publication Manual.

In-text Citation Examples

APA In-text Citations follow an author and date model.  Direct quotes require the inclusion of a page number.  When no page number is available, substitute with a paragraph number (Ex. Hernandez, 2010, para. 4).

Type of Citation

First Citation in Text

Subsequent Citations
in Text

Parenthetical Format, First Citation in Text

Parenthetical Format, Subsequent Citations
in Text

1 work by 1 author

Siegel (2004)

Siegel (2004)

(Siegel, 2004)

(Siegel, 2004)

1 work by 2 authors

Hunt and Wilkins (2007)

Hunt and Wilkins (2007)

(Hunt & Wilkins, 2007)

(Hunt & Wilkins, 2007)

1 work by 3 or more authors

Baxter et al. (2005)

Baxter et al. (2005)

(Baxter et al., 2005)

(Baxter et al., 2005)

Groups (readily identified through abbreviations) as authors

Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC, 2007)

CDC (2007)

(Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention [CDC], 2007)

(CDC, 2007)

Groups (no abbreviation) as authors

University of Southern California (2010)

University of Southern California (2010)

(University of Southern California, 2010)

(University of Southern California, 2010)


2 or more works

Harlow (1999) and
Smith (2001)


Harlow (1999) and
Smith (2001)


  (Harlow, 1999; Smith, 2001)


  (Harlow, 1999; Smith, 2001)

2 or more works by 1 author in the same year

Jones (2009a)
Jones (2009b)

Jones (2009a)
Jones (2009b)

(Jones, 2009a)
(Jones, 2009b)

(Jones, 2009a)
(Jones, 2009b)

Work with no author "Understanding information overload" (n.d.) "Understanding information overload" (n.d.) ("Understanding information overload," n.d.) ("Understanding information overload," n.d.)
Work with no author (Drug database, Encyclopedia, Dictionary, etc.) "Drospirenone" (2019) "Drospirenone" (2019) ("Drospirenone," 2019) ("Drospirenone," 2019)

 Secondary Source with year of primary source

 Freud (1916) ... (as cited in Jones, 2003)

Freud (1916) ... (as cited in Jones, 2003)

(Freud, 1916, as cited in Jones, 2003)

(Freud, 1916, as cited in Jones, 2003)

Secondary Source without year of primary source

 Freud (as cited in Jones, 2003)  Freud  (as cited in Jones, 2003) (Freud, as cited in Jones, 2003) (Freud, as cited in Jones, 2003)

Personal Communication (Do not include in
Reference page)

J.Smith (personal communication, March 19, 2016)

J.Smith (personal communication, March 19, 2016)

(J. Smith, personal communication, March 19, 2016)

(J. Smith, personal communication, March 19, 2016)

 Court Decision

Brown v. Board of
Education
(1954)

Brown v. Board of
Education
(1954)
(Brown v. Board of Education, 1954) (Brown v. Board of Education, 1954)
Federal Statue Violence Against Women (1994) Violence Against Women (1994) (Violence Against Women, 1994) (Violence Against Women, 1994)

Adapted from American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed).  https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000