There are many different formats for citations, so it’s helpful to use a guide. The examples below are some of the most common formats, but for a complete list, see the Writing Center’s APA Handbook.  (Notice that some portions of the Handbook state that they are using APA edition 6 still rather than edition 7.)

In-Text Citations: Within the Sentence & At the End of a Sentence

When you include a paraphrase or quotation from an outside source in your writing, you need to acknowledge the source. This is referred to as citing the source. Some teachers may refer to this as attributing the source, or source attribution.

In-text citations include:

1. The author’s name (if known) or the article title (if the author’s name is unknown).
2. The date of publication.
3. The page or paragraph number (required for quotations), BUT in 117 we require it in all instances.

In-text citation for a source with a known author

These citations include the author’s last name, publication date, and the page or paragraph number where the information was found.

Citations within the sentence focus on the person, while those at the end of a sentence focus more on the idea. We can therefore infer that:

• Citations within the sentence may be more appropriate for experts or scholarly article authors.
• Citations at the end of a sentence are preferable when citing information from newspaper article authors (although it may be acceptable to use citations with the sentence when such authors are very well known and/or considered authorities on the subject and/or if they draw important conclusions).

Direct Quotations

If you use a quotation, you must:

1. Put the EXACT words within quotation marks.
2. Include the page number or paragraph number.
3. Put the period OUTSIDE the parentheses.

In-text citation for a source with an unknown author

Use the title of the source if the author’s name is unknown.

1. Put quotation marks around the title for an article or webpage. Underline the title of a book.
2. Include the date of publication.
3. Use the full title the first time you include the citation. In subsequent citations, use only the first 2-4 words of the title.

In-text citation for source with multiple authors

These citations need to include the authors’ last names, the date of publication, and the page/paragraph number on which the information was found. If the source has two authors, both authors’ last names must be included.

If the source has three or more authors, use only the first author’s last name followed by “et al.” for all citations.  (If doing that causes confusion with another similar source, there is an extra rule; you can look it up online by searching for “APA edition 7 in-text citation multiple authors”.)

Idea from more than one source

Sometimes you will find that multiple sources contain the same information, so it may strengthen your argument to include more than one source. To do this:

1. Use the end-of-sentence format.
2. Alphabetize the authors (A, B, C, etc.).
3. Separate the sources with a semicolon.

Organizations as authors

Information that comes from organizations, government agencies, corporations, or some other type of group can be expressed without an author’s name. To do this:

1. Include the full title of the organization the first time you use the citation. You may follow this with an abbreviation, e.g. United Nations (UN) or World Health Organization (WHO).
2. In subsequent citations, just use the abbreviation.
3. Include the year.

 Indirect sources

You will often read an article which quotes or references an expert. (In other words, this expert is not the author of the article you are reading.) If you want to paraphrase this information, you need to indicate who said the original information and you need to provide the details of the article you read. To do this:

1. Include the credential for the person whose ideas you are paraphrasing (or quoting).
2. Use the end-of-sentence format.
3. Include “as cited in” along with the last name of the article’s author.
4. Include the year and page number.

A few notes about indirect sources

• Here, the author of the article is Patel, and Patel included information from Wang. Wang is not the author of the article, but if you want to use Wang’s ideas, you need to use this special format.
• The first time you use this format, include the cited author’s full name and credential. In subsequent mentions, you can simply use the family name.
  • o Example: Wang goes on to say…. (as cited in Patel, 2016, p. 8).
• When citing authors of scholarly articles or citing experts mentioned in scholarly articles, do not include the full name or the credential; simply use the family name.

Webpage without an author

When there is no author for a web page, follow the directions below:

1. Put the citation at the end of the sentence in parentheses.
2. If the title is short, use the full title and put it in quotes. If the title is long, just include the first few words of the title and put it in quotes.
3. Include the year (if known) or write n.d. (for “no date”) if the date is unknown.

How to Cite Generative AI

The standards for citing AI tools are still evolving. It is important that you confirm your instructor’s expectations for both using AI and documenting that use.

To learn more about how to cite your use of AI Tools see the UW Libraries’ Research Guides on Citing Generative AI.

Video on APA(7th Edition) Citations for an academic paper

Note that in this course you will include the page number or paragraph number for ALL information you cite, not just for quotations.

From Excelsior Online Writing Lab, APA In-Text Citations