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16.6: APA In-Text Citations

  • Page ID
    223570
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    APA in-text citations usually consist of three parts: author, year published, and page or paragraph number. Depending on your sentence construction, these could appear separately or together. Typically, your writing will use either a signal phrase or a parenthetical citation to indicate your source. See below for definitions and examples.

    Page numbers are preceded by p. (a single page) or pp. (two or more pages). Paragraph numbers are preceded by para. (an abbreviation for paragraph).

    Signal Phrase

    Format: Signal phrase with author name (year published), "quote" or paraphrase (page number).

    A signal phrase lets your reader know that you are paraphrasing or quoting an idea from someone else's work. If your paper relies heavily on the work of one or more sources, a signal phrase introducing the source is recommended.

    Note that if you are quoting a source, in-text citation always comes after the closing quotation mark.

    Examples

    In her work Pride and Prejudice, Austen (1995) makes the famous observation that "it is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife" (p. 3).

    Duhigg (2012) argues that we can change our habits, but because they are deeply ingrained into the brain, it can be a struggle to do so (p. 20).

    Parenthetical Citations

    Format: "Quote" or paraphrase (author, year, page).

    When an author's name is not included in the text of your paper, a complete parenthetical citation is necessary. Note that when you quote from a source, your paper will flow better if you integrate the quote into a sentence.

    Note that if a quote falls in the middle of a sentence, the page where you found it comes immediately after it. The author and year would still go at the end of the sentence.

    Examples

    We can change our habits, but because they are deeply ingrained into the brain, it can be a struggle to do so (Duhigg, 2012, p. 20).

    Although "research is a collective process, one shared and added to by all researchers" (p. 90), it is not OK to plagiarize someone else's work (Upson, Hall, & Cannon, 2015).

    It is not OK to plagiarize someone else's work, even though "research is a collective process, one shared and added to by all researchers" (Upson, Hall, & Cannon, 2015, p. 90).


    16.6: APA In-Text Citations is shared under a not declared license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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