Stuckey and Nobel (2010) noted, "it has been shown that music can calm neural activity in the brain, which may lead to reductions in anxiety, and that it may help to restore effective functioning in the immune system." |
|
Note: This example is a direct quote. It is an exact quotation directly from the text of the article. All direct quotes should appear in quotation marks: "...."
Try keeping direct quotes to a minimum in your writing. You need to show your understanding of the source material by being able to paraphrase or summarize it.
List the author’s last name only (no initials) and the year the information was published, like this:
(Dodge, 2008 ). ( Author , Date).
IF you use a direct quote, add the page number to your citation, like this:
( Dodge , 2008 , p. 125 ).
( Author , Date , page number )
Credit these sources when you mention their information in any way: direct quotation, paraphrase, or summarize.
What should you credit?
Any information that you learned from another source, including:
● statistics
EXCEPTION: Information that is common knowledge: e.g., The Bronx is a borough of New York City.
Quick help with apa 7 citations.
Download the In-text Citations presentation (above) for an in-depth look at how to correctly cite your sources in the text of your paper.
Paraphrasing activity from the excelsior owl, in-text citation quiz.
In-text citations are brief, unobtrusive references that direct readers to the works-cited-list entries for the sources you consulted and, where relevant, to the location in the source being cited.
An in-text citation begins with the shortest piece of information that directs your reader to the entry in the works-cited list. Thus, it begins with what ever comes first in the entry: the author’s name or the title (or description) of the work. The citation can appear in your prose or in parentheses.
Citation in prose Naomi Baron broke new ground on the subject. Parenthetical citation At least one researcher has broken new ground on the subject (Baron). Work cited Baron, Naomi S. “Redefining Reading: The Impact of Digital Communication Media.” PMLA , vol. 128, no. 1, Jan. 2013, pp. 193–200.
When relevant, an in-text citation also has a second component: if a specific part of a work is quoted or paraphrased and the work includes a page number, line number, time stamp, or other way to point readers to the place in the work where the information can be found, that location marker must be included in parentheses.
Parenthetical citation According to Naomi Baron, reading is “just half of literacy. The other half is writing” (194).
The author or title can also appear alongside the page number or other location marker in parentheses.
Parenthetical citation Reading is “just half of literacy. The other half is writing” (Baron 194).
All in-text references should be concise. Avoid, for instance, providing the author’s name or title of a work in both your prose and parentheses.
Citation (incorrect) According to Naomi Baron, reading is “just half of literacy. The other half is writing” (Baron 194). Citation (correct) According to Naomi Baron, reading is “just half of literacy. The other half is writing” (194).
For more on what to include in an in-text citation and how to style it, see sections 6.3–6.30 of the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook ).
Brandi unruh 10 april 2021 at 11:04 am.
Hello! I am a high school English teacher trying to answer a question that came up during our research unit. I can’t seem to find a definitive answer online. When using a shortened title in an in-text citation, does an ellipsis need to be included? For example, if the title was “The Problem of Poverty in America: A Historical and Cultural Analysis”, would the in-text citation be (“The Problem of Poverty in America...”) or (“The Problem of Poverty in America”)? Thank you for your time and expertise!
Your e-mail address will not be published
No, an ellipsis would not be used in an in-text citation. We provide extensive guidance on shortening titles in 6.10 of the new ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .
hii How to write an in text citation of an entry from encyclopedia which has an editor but no separate authors for each entry ?
I see no mention of paragraph numbers for unpaginated prose or sections/lines for drama. are these practices gone?
This post provides a general overview of our approach to in-text citations. The complete guidelines appear in sections 6.1–6.30 of the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .
Dear MLA Staff, A professor at my College demands students to provide paragraph number in the in-text citation for online articles that have no page number nor paragraph number. Do we just count the paragraph number and put them in the parenthesis, for example: (para. 3)?
Thank you for your question. Your approach to modifying our style in accordance with your professor's instructions works, but we would suggest confirming that styling with your professor.
How to write an in text citation of an unsigned entry from a reference work?
If the entry was in a print work, the in-text citation would include the entry’s title or a shortened version of the entry’s title and the page number of the quotation. If the entry was in a reference work without page numbers, the in-text citation should just contain the title or shortened title of the entry.
For example: Can I give an in-text citation like the following: Shakespeare, in his work Hamlet, quotes: "To be or not to be" (7).
For citing commonly studied verse works, see 6.22 in the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .
Can you please help with proper in-text citation placement for an embedded quotation? Does the citation come immediately after the quotation or at the very end of the sentence? For example, is this correct: He asks her to take him home “in the voice of a child afraid of the dark” which comes as a shock to Scout because he has so long held a bold and rebellious reputation (372). Or should the (372) come immediately after ...dark"...? Thank you!
For more information about the placement of a parenthetical citations, see 6.43 in the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .
Dear MLA staff, 1) In case i am quoting from multiple sources by the same author, am i required to introduce again the source i am quoting from in the beginning of my sentence? (Quotes are used in multiple paragraphs)
For guidance on citing multiple sources by the same author, see 6.8 in the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .
Hello, is there a specific rule about how to format a range of page numbers in the parenthetical citation? For example, could (Eden 44-45) be written as (Eden 44-5), or is only one example correct?
For information about styling number ranges, see section 2.139 of the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .
Good morning MLA team, My professor insists that I include the year of publication for in-text citations. Is it going to be okay if I insert the year between the author and the page number?
Thank you very much for your consideration.
Your approach to modifying our style in accordance with your professor’s instructions works, but we would suggest confirming that styling with your professor.
How do I cite an entire work. For example, if I want to say Toni Morrison's the "Bluest Eye" has been used as a textbook for many English literature classes, I suppose I shouldn't put any page number in the parenthetical citation. But I can't find any MLA references on this.
See section 4.14 of the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .
if source is the whole book, how do I cite in text and in works cited pages. e.g. freud (no page number) Freud , ( 1892) The Pleasure Principle.
There is no section 4.14 in the ninth edition. Do you have any updated information? Thank you.
Section 4.14, which is titled "Passing Mentions," can be found in chapter 4 of the ninth edition of the handbook.
Students often refer to the same source consecutively across more than one sentence. I'm having a hard time finding information about the preferred approach according to the MLA. As a parallel, APA makes a specific recommendation - "cite the source in the first sentence in which it is relevant and do not repeat the citation in subsequent sentences as long as the source remains clear and unchanged" https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/citations/appropriate-citation
See 6.45 of the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .
6.45 out of the MLA Handbook's ninth edition does not provide an example of how to cite a multi-sentence paraphrase when using an unpaginated source. Can you give an example of how to cite a multi-sentence paraphrase where the source does not have published page numbering?
Should I introduce the source in my prose and then again at the end of the multi-sentence paraphrase in parentheses when I have finished citing the paraphrase? Example: John Smith from Smith Architecture explains that crawl space foundations are...blah blah blah. These foundations are most commonly used in midwestern constructions where the frost line is...blah, blah, blah. Keep writing the paraphrase and then at the end of the final sentence instead of a page citation write the author's last name (Smith). This way if you switch to a different source, at least the reader knows that you have finished with the Smith source and have moved on to your own commentary or another source's information. Usually, I'd use a page citation at the end of the paraphrase, but when dealing with a source that does not have page numbering, I'm unsure what to do.
If I only use textual evidence from the novel I'm examining, do I need to include the authors name with each in text citation? There are no other works cited, so it seems redundant/clutter-y to me
If I'm trying to cite multiple paragraphs from the same source would it be correct to say (par. 3 and 13) or should it be (par. 3, 13) and is it different if they are next to each other too like (par. 6-7) or (par. 6 and 7).
See sections 6.18–6.20 of the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .
When citing from an online source without pagination, if you include the author's name in the introduction to the quote, do you need to include anything in parentheses like the article title?
See section 6.26 of the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .
When quoting an online source (e.g. a website), do I have to indicate the fact that it's an online source in the in-text-citations as in (Name [online]) or is the author's name enough?
Thank you in advance for your answer.
According to MLA style, an in-text citation for an online work should not note that the work is online.
If I'm writing a response paper, and I need to summarize the whole article to introduce it, then should I use in-text citation?
For guidance on paraphrasing, see sections 4.5–4.8 of the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .
Hi, am I supposed to include the DOI when one is available in the citation? If I cite the print version of a journal article that has a DOI, still include the DOI in the citation? Thank you!
Thank you for your questions. For guidance on including a DOI in your works-cited-list entry, see sections 5.84 and 5.93 in the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .
Website in-text Citation...
When I'm writing an in-text citation for a website, I'm seeing all manner of different things to include. Do I need to add the author name and year of publishing for the article?\ Do I just need the website name? I'm not really understanding what I need to add or obtain for such a citation within the text I'm writing.
I'm writing a book on my life, and I'm quoting a particular webpage to show one particular angle of an argument I'm making, and, of course, it's not common knowledge, so I want to make sure that I follow all the rules for this kind of thing, so I don't get in trouble with the author(s) of the sources I have quoted from...
Thank you for your questions about MLA style. For guidance on in-text citations for web pages, see section 6.26 of the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .
When you're doing an In-text citations do you put the quotations over the chapter title and then quotations over what you get from the text or do you italicize the title?
Thank you for your question. For guidance on how to style chapter titles, see 2.109 of the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .
I'm trying to find how to put in the in-text citation for a UN declaration article but can only find the "Resolutions of International Governing Bodies" on page 446 of the 9th edition but not how to out it in without an author.
I'm quoting a passage from an unpublished manuscript, and it is not the only work I'm citing by the author, but the only one without a year. So using "Smith 1995, 82" is not possible. What would an in-text citation for this case look like?
How do I cite a news cast for in-text citation like ABC News?
Hi, For MLA format, should a quote where you need to de-capitalize the first letter be written as "you want" or "(y)ou want". Thanks!
Thank you for your question. For guidance on how to indicate that you have lowercased the first letter of a quotation, see 6.56 of the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .
Stewart, David W. Focus groups. In: Frey, B.B. (ed.) The SAGE Encyclopedia of Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation, vol. 2, pp. 687–692. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications 2018 In this case, how is the correct form to write, because the article is IN the the book?
If we have a sentence that is a statement, but at the end we quote a question, which punctuation mark do we keep, the question mark or the period; maybe both? Example: (1) The author ends his poem with the following question on purpose: "Or does it explode?" (Hughes 11). (2) The author ends his poem with the following question on purpose: "Or does it explode" (Hughes 11)?
Which would be correct, or maybe both are wrong?
Thank you in advance!
Thank you for your question. For guidance on quotations ending in a question mark, see section 6.53 of the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .
What about online articles with no known author or multiple authors? What should the in-text citation look like?
Please settle a dispute with my colleagues. I encourage composition students to avoid listing the title of journal articles within the essay unless it is especially relevant because it clutters their arguments. I came to this conclusion from my interpretation of this statement from MLA: "All in-text references should be concise. Avoid, for instance, providing the author’s name or title of a work in both your prose and parentheses." Could someone please provide an answer or further clarification?
You are right to identify a principle of concision in our guidelines. That said, it is not wrong to mention a title in prose, but it should be done, as you note, when relevant–not as a de rigeur practice or for “filler.” As Eric Hayot notes in The Elements of Academic Style: Writing for the Humanities (Columbia UP, 2014), “giving the title” in prose “suggests fuller forthcoming treatment” (159). Another reason for including the title in prose might be to call attention to something about it. Many writers who do mention a title in prose fear having an incomplete citation and are tempted also to include the title in a parenthetical reference, which is unnecessary.
How do I in-text cite a direct quote from the introduction of an ebook with no page numbers? Would I write (Author "Introduction") or just write (Author)?
Hello! I am a university student who is currently creating works cited entries and in-text citations for a reflection essay. How do I properly cite professor and peer comments?
What is the proper way to write MLA in-text citattion from a website for this: According to an article titled “Caitlin Clark: Changing the Game” (McCord, 2024), Clark put women’s basketball on the map and taught millions what it meant to love the sport. She has shown off her iconic logo shot and her ability to control the court when needed, all while maintaining a professional image.
We invite you to comment on this post and exchange ideas with other site visitors. Comments are moderated and subject to terms of service.
If you have a question for the MLA's editors, submit it to Ask the MLA!
Mla quick citation guide.
Include an in-text citation when you refer to, summarize, paraphrase, or quote from another source. For every in-text citation in your paper, there must be a corresponding entry in your reference list.
MLA in-text citation style uses the author's last name and the page number from which the quotation or paraphrase is taken, for example: (Smith 163). If the source does not use page numbers, do not include a number in the parenthetical citation: (Smith).
For more information on in-text citation, see the MLA Style Center .
Example paragraph with in-text citation
A few researchers in the linguistics field have developed training programs designed to improve native speakers' ability to understand accented speech (Derwing et al. 246; Thomas 15). Their training techniques are based on the research described above indicating that comprehension improves with exposure to non-native speech. Derwing and others conducted their training with students preparing to be social workers, but note that other professionals who work with non-native speakers could benefit from a similar program (258).
Works Cited List
Derwing, Tracey M., et al. "Teaching Native Speakers to Listen to Foreign-accented Speech." Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, vol. 23, no. 4, 2002, pp. 245-259.
Thomas, Holly K. Training Strategies for Improving Listeners' Comprehension of Foreign-accented Speech. University of Colorado, Boulder, 2004.
Cite web pages in text as you would any other source, using the author if known. If the author is not known, use the title as the in-text citation.
Your in-text citation should lead your reader to the corresponding entry in the reference list. Below are examples of using in-text citation with web pages.
Entire website with author: In-text citation Parents play an important role in helping children learn techniques for coping with bullying (Kraizer).
Works cited entry Kraizer, Sherryll. Safe Child. Coalition for Children, 2011, www.safechild.org.
Web page with no author: In-text citation The term Nittany Lion was coined by Penn State football player Joe Mason in 1904 ("All Things Nittany").
Works cited entry "All Things Nittany." About Penn State. Penn State University, 2006, www.psu.edu/ur/about/nittanymascot.html.
In MLA style the author's name can be included either in the narrative text of your paper, or in parentheses following the reference to the source.
Author's name part of narrative:
Gass and Varonis found that the most important element in comprehending non-native speech is familiarity with the topic (163).
Author's name in parentheses:
One study found that the most important element in comprehending non-native speech is familiarity with the topic (Gass and Varonis 163).
Group as author: (American Psychological Association 123)
Multiple works: (separate each work with semi-colons)
Research shows that listening to a particular accent improves comprehension of accented speech in general (Gass and Varonis 143; Thomas 24).
Direct quote:
One study found that “the listener's familiarity with the topic of discourse greatly facilitates the interpretation of the entire message” (Gass and Varonis 85).
Gass and Varonis found that “the listener’s familiarity with the topic of discourse greatly facilitates the interpretation of the entire message” (85).
Note: For quotations that are more than four lines of prose or three lines of verse, display quotations as an indented block of text (one inch from left margin) and omit quotation marks. Place your parenthetical citation at the end of the block of text, after the final punctuation mark.
In addition to awareness-raising, practicing listening to accented speech has been shown to improve listening comprehension. This article recommends developing listening training programs for library faculty and staff, based on research from the linguistics and language teaching fields. Even brief exposure to accented speech can help listeners improve their comprehension, thereby improving the level of service to international patrons. (O'Malley 19)
When citing works by multiple authors, always spell out the word "and." When a source has three or more authors, only the first one shown in the source is normally given followed by et al.
One author: (Field 399)
Works Cited entry: Field, John. "Intelligibility and the Listener: The Role of Lexical Stress." TESOL Quarterly , vol. 39, no. 3, 2005, pp. 399-423.
Two authors: (Gass and Varonis 67)
Works Cited entry: Gass, Susan, and Evangeline M. Varonis. "The Effect of Familiarity on the Comprehensibility of Nonnative Speech." Language Learning , vol. 34, no. 1, 1984, pp. 65-89.
Three or more authors: (Munro et al. 70)
Works Cited entry: Munro, Murray J., et al. "Salient Accents, Covert Attitudes: Consciousness-raising for Pre-service Second Language Teachers." Prospect , vol. 21, no. 1, 2006, pp. 67-79.
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MLA Style specifies guidelines for formatting manuscripts and citing research in writing. MLA Style also provides writers with a system for referencing their sources through parenthetical citation in their essays and Works Cited pages.
Writers who properly use MLA also build their credibility by demonstrating accountability to their source material. Most importantly, the use of MLA style can protect writers from accusations of plagiarism, which is the purposeful or accidental uncredited use of source material produced by other writers.
If you are asked to use MLA format, be sure to consult the MLA Handbook (9th edition). Publishing scholars and graduate students should also consult the MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing (3rd edition). The MLA Handbook is available in most writing centers and reference libraries. It is also widely available in bookstores, libraries, and at the MLA web site. See the Additional Resources section of this page for a list of helpful books and sites about using MLA Style.
The preparation of papers and manuscripts in MLA Style is covered in part four of the MLA Style Manual . Below are some basic guidelines for formatting a paper in MLA Style :
Here is a sample of the first page of a paper in MLA style:
The First Page of an MLA Paper
Writers sometimes use section headings to improve a document’s readability. These sections may include individual chapters or other named parts of a book or essay.
MLA recommends that when dividing an essay into sections you number those sections with an Arabic number and a period followed by a space and the section name.
MLA does not have a prescribed system of headings for books (for more information on headings, please see page 146 in the MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing , 3rd edition). If you are only using one level of headings, meaning that all of the sections are distinct and parallel and have no additional sections that fit within them, MLA recommends that these sections resemble one another grammatically. For instance, if your headings are typically short phrases, make all of the headings short phrases (and not, for example, full sentences). Otherwise, the formatting is up to you. It should, however, be consistent throughout the document.
If you employ multiple levels of headings (some of your sections have sections within sections), you may want to provide a key of your chosen level headings and their formatting to your instructor or editor.
The following sample headings are meant to be used only as a reference. You may employ whatever system of formatting that works best for you so long as it remains consistent throughout the document.
Formatted, unnumbered:
Level 1 Heading: bold, flush left
Level 2 Heading: italics, flush left
Level 3 Heading: centered, bold
Level 4 Heading: centered, italics
Level 5 Heading: underlined, flush left
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Written by Scribendi
If you're wondering how to write an academic essay with references, look no further. In this article, we'll discuss how to use in-text citations and references, including how to cite a website, how to cite a book, and how to cite a Tweet, according to various style guides.
You might need to cite sources when writing a paper that references other sources. For example, when writing an essay, you may use information from other works, such as books, articles, or websites. You must then inform readers where this information came from. Failure to do so, even accidentally, is plagiarism—passing off another person's work as your own.
You can avoid plagiarism and show readers where to find information by using citations and references.
Citations tell readers where a piece of information came from. They take the form of footnotes, endnotes, or parenthetical elements, depending on your style guide. In-text citations are usually placed at the end of a sentence containing the relevant information.
A reference list , bibliography, or works cited list at the end of a text provides additional details about these cited sources. This list includes enough publication information allowing readers to look up these sources themselves.
Referencing is important for more than simply avoiding plagiarism. Referring to a trustworthy source shows that the information is reliable. Referring to reliable information can also support your major points and back up your argument.
Learning how to write an academic essay with references and how to use in-text citations will allow you to cite authors who have made similar arguments. This helps show that your argument is objective and not entirely based on personal biases.
Often, a professor will assign a style guide. The purpose of a style guide is to provide writers with formatting instructions. If your professor has not assigned a style guide, they should still be able to recommend one.
If you are entirely free to choose, pick one that aligns with your field (for example, APA is frequently used for scientific writing).
Some of the most common style guides are as follows:
AP style for journalism
Chicago style for publishing
APA style for scholarly writing (commonly used in scientific fields)
MLA style for scholarly citations (commonly used in English literature fields)
Some journals have their own style guides, so if you plan to publish, check which guide your target journal uses. You can do this by locating your target journal's website and searching for author guidelines.
When learning how to write an academic essay with references, you must identify reliable sources that support your argument.
As you read, think critically and evaluate sources for:
Objectivity
Keep detailed notes on the sources so that you can easily find them again, if needed.
Tip: Record these notes in the format of your style guide—your reference list will then be ready to go.
An in-text citation in MLA includes the author's last name and the relevant page number:
(Author 123)
Here's how to cite a website in MLA:
Author's last name, First name. "Title of page."
Website. Website Publisher, date. Web. Date
retrieved. <URL>
With information from a real website, this looks like:
Morris, Nancy. "How to Cite a Tweet in APA,
Chicago, and MLA." Scribendi. Scribendi
Inc., n.d. Web. 22 Dec. 2021.
<https://www.scribendi.com/academy/articles/how_to_cite_a_website.en.html>
MLA uses the full text of a short Tweet (under 140 characters) as its title. Longer Tweets can be shortened using ellipses.
MLA Tweet references should be formatted as follows:
@twitterhandle (Author Name). "Text of Tweet." Twitter, Date Month, Year, time of
publication, URL.
With information from an actual Tweet, this looks like:
@neiltyson (Neil deGrasse Tyson). "You can't use reason to convince anyone out of an
argument that they didn't use reason to get into." Twitter, 29 Sept. 2020, 10:15 p.m.,
https://twitter.com/neiltyson/status/1311127369785192449 .
Here's how to cite a book in MLA:
Author's last name, First name. Book Title. Publisher, Year.
With publication information from a real book, this looks like:
Montgomery, L.M. Rainbow Valley. Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1919.
Author's last name, First name. "Title of Chapter." Book Title , edited by Editor Name,
Publisher, Year, pp. page range.
With publication information from an actual book, this looks like:
Ezell, Margaret J.M. "The Social Author: Manuscript Culture, Writers, and Readers." The
Broadview Reader in Book History , edited by Michelle Levy and Tom Mole, Broadview
Press, 2015,pp. 375–394.
You can cite a paraphrase in MLA exactly the same way as you would cite a direct quotation.
Make sure to include the author's name (either in the text or in the parenthetical citation) and the relevant page number.
In APA, in-text citations include the author's last name and the year of publication; a page number is included only if a direct quotation is used:
(Author, 2021, p. 123)
Here's how to cite a website in APA:
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year, Month. date of publication). Title of page. https://URL
Morris, N. (n.d.). How to cite a Tweet in APA, Chicago, and MLA.
https://www.scribendi.com/academy/articles/how_to_cite_a_website.en.html
Tip: Learn more about how to write an academic essay with references to websites .
APA refers to Tweets using their first 20 words.
Tweet references should be formatted as follows:
Author, A. A. [@twitterhandle). (Year, Month. date of publication). First 20 words of the
Tweet. [Tweet] Twitter. URL
When we input information from a real Tweet, this looks like:
deGrasse Tyson, N. [@neiltyson]. (2020, Sept. 29). You can't use reason to convince anyone
out of an argument that they didn't use reason to get into. [Tweet] Twitter.
https://twitter.com/neiltyson/status/1311127369785192449
Here's how to cite a book in APA:
Author, A. A. (Year). Book title. Publisher.
For a real book, this looks like:
Montgomery, L. M. (1919). Rainbow valley.
Frederick A. Stokes Company.
Author, A. A. (Year). Chapter title. In Editor Name (Ed.), Book Title (pp. page range).
With information from a real book, this looks like:
Ezell, M. J. M. (2014). The social author: Manuscript culture, writers, and readers. In
Michelle Levy and Tom Mole (Eds.), The Broadview Reader in Book History (pp. 375–
394). Broadview Press.
Knowing how to cite a book and how to cite a chapter in a book correctly will take you a long way in creating an effective reference list.
You can cite a paraphrase in APA the same way as you would cite a direct quotation, including the author's name and year of publication.
In APA, you may also choose to pinpoint the page from which the information is taken.
Referencing is an essential part of academic integrity. Learning how to write an academic essay with references and how to use in-text citations shows readers that you did your research and helps them locate your sources.
Learning how to cite a website, how to cite a book, and how to cite a paraphrase can also help you avoid plagiarism —an academic offense with serious consequences for your education or professional reputation.
Scribendi can help format your citations or review your whole paper with our Academic Editing services .
Hire an expert academic editor , or get a free sample, about the author.
Scribendi's in-house editors work with writers from all over the globe to perfect their writing. They know that no piece of writing is complete without a professional edit, and they love to see a good piece of writing transformed into a great one. Scribendi's in-house editors are unrivaled in both experience and education, having collectively edited millions of words and obtained numerous degrees. They love consuming caffeinated beverages, reading books of various genres, and relaxing in quiet, dimly lit spaces.
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Home / Guides / Citation Guides / APA Format / APA In-text Citations
Welcome to our guide on in-text citations! If you’re looking to learn the ins and outs of APA style in-text citations and how to do in-text citations APA, we’ve got you covered in this thorough guide.
The information below follows the 7th edition of the Publication manual of the American Psychological Association .
Here’s a run through of everything this page includes:
If you’re simply looking for a quick guide, check out our APA parenthetical citation guide, which serves as a lite-version of this page.
Let’s get started!
This is a term that you might hear your teacher, professor, or librarian throw around a lot. This abbreviation stands for
P sychological
A ssociation
This association is kind of a big deal. They do a lot of things related to psychology, but they’re also famous for creating one of the most popular citation styles, APA format . There are other big names on campus, such as MLA format , and Chicago, but this particular style is commonly used by individuals who are writing a science-related paper.
Even if your paper doesn’t necessarily fall into a “science” category, many educators ask their students to cite in this style since it’s so commonly used.
If you’re trying to find information about other commonly used styles, there are more styles on EasyBib.com.
In plain and simple terms, APA in-text citations are found in the text of a project. Get it? In text. The purpose of an in-text citation in APA is to show the reader, while they’re reading your work, that a piece of information in your project was found elsewhere. They’re placed IN the wording or body of a project, not on the last page; the last page has full references. To learn more about those types of references, check out APA citation .
We’ve all heard about the word plagiarism , and you already know what it means. Simply put, including APA in-text citations are one way to prevent plagiarism.
Here’s what’s included in an APA 7th edition in-text citation:
Depending on the number of authors and the source type, some in-text citations look different than others. Read on to learn how to structure an in-text citation for APA. In fact, if you’re looking for an easy route, EasyBib.com has an in-text citation APA generator, which does the work for you. Use our automatic generator to create your full references, and you’ll see an option on the final screen to format your APA in-text citations. An APA in-text citation generator and full reference generator all in one. What could beat that?
When you do a research project, you’re probably going to include facts from websites, databases, books, and other sources. When you add those facts into your project, you must show where those facts came from. It’s the responsible thing to do. It prevents plagiarism. You always give credit to the original author. It’s kind of like thanking them for their contribution to your paper.
Here’s the neat thing about in-text citations. Since they’re IN your project, readers get a quick idea as to where the information you included came from. In-text citations APA are not long and lengthy, like the full references on the APA reference page or APA bibliography . In-text citations are cute, little, and give us the perfect amount of information we need to understand where a fact came from. If you want to get the full information about the source, then you can flip to the back page of the paper, where the full reference is listed. The in-text citation APA style provides us with a tidbit of information. Just enough to glance at it and keep on going with reading the paper.
To recap, in-text citations are great because:
If you’re looking to learn more about footnotes in Chicago format , MLA in-text & parenthetical citations , or want to learn how to cite websites in MLA , EasyBib.com has the information you need to be a citing superstar.
Just like there are two days in the weekend, two types of peanut butter (creamy and nutty), and two types of foods we crave (salty and sweet), there are (you guessed it) two types of in-text citations.
The in-text citation APA option you include in your paper depends on how you craft your sentences.
In-text citation APA format, in narrative form, is one that shows the author’s name in the sentence itself.
Tyson, Strauss, and Gott (2016) encourage the use of simplified terms when it comes to discussing and defining the universe. For example, a small white star is simply called a white dwarf. Keep it short and sweet because the universe is confusing enough (p. 22).
This is a type of APA in-text citation where the author’s name(s) are in parentheses, usually at the end of the fact or quote.
Use simplified terms when discussing and defining the universe. For example, a small white star is simply called a white dwarf. Keep it short and sweet because the universe is confusing enough (Tyson, Strauss, & Gott, 2016, p. 22).
As you can see, the type of APA in-text citation you include, whether it’s a narrative one or one in parentheses, depends on how you decide to structure your sentences. It doesn’t matter if you use all narrative, all parentheses, or a mix of both.
What is important is that you’re a responsible researcher and you properly cite your sources!
Remember, most facts, quotes, stats, and copied and pasted information NEED an APA in-text citation next to it.
What’s the only type of information you don’t need to create an in-text citation APA for? Anything that’s common knowledge. For example, paper is made from trees. You and most people already knew that. That’s an example of common knowledge. It’s a piece of information that everyone already knows.
Now, before you simply include the author’s name(s), the date, and the page number in your project and think you’ve covered all your bases, you’re not quite done yet. In-text citations APA are only part of the puzzle.
The other piece of the puzzle is found on the last page of the project: the reference page. That’s where all of the full references are found in their entirety. In-text citations only include the author’s name, year published, and the page number.
The reference page, on the other hand, includes the title of each source, the publishers, the website addresses, and other information. Continue reading to learn why in-text citations and references on the reference page are the perfect match.
Before we continue, MLA works cited pages are very similar to the ones in this style. EasyBib.com has resources for many styles, to help you learn the ins and outs of referencing your work. We even have full pages on grammar topics too, to keep your paper in tip-top shape. Brush up on your noun , conjunction , and interjection skills with our easy-to-follow, comprehensive guides.
Would you ever put on one shoe and walk around without the other? Of course not. The same goes with in-text citations and full references. You must include both in your paper. Where there’s one there has to be the other.
Each and every in-text citation APA must have a matching full reference on the reference page (American Psychological Association, p. 262 ).
If you’re wondering why, it’s to allow the reader to get that sneak peek about the source while reading your paper (the APA in-text citation), and then learn all about it on the final page (the reference page). If the reader wants to get their hands on a copy of the sources you used, all of the information they need can be found on the reference page.
Remember those APA style in-text citation examples found above? Let’s take a peek at them again.
Here’s the one with the authors’ names in parentheses: Use simplified terms when discussing and defining the universe. For example, a small white star is simply called a white dwarf. Keep it short and sweet because the universe is confusing enough (deGrasse, Strauss, & Gott, 2016, p. 22).
Here’s the full reference, which would be found on the final page of the project:
Tyson, N. D., Strauss, M. A., and Gott, J. R. (2016). Welcome to the universe: An astrophysical tour. Princeton University Press.
Notice that in the above in-text citation APA example, the full title of the book, the place the book was published, and the publisher are displayed. If the reader wants to locate the book themselves, all of the information they need is found in the full reference.
One other important thing we’d like to point out is that the same information from the in-text citation APA (Tyson, Strauss, & Gott) matches the first part of the full reference. This is done to allow the reader to easily find the full reference on the final page.
Remember, always include both in-text citations AND full references in your projects.
In the body of projects, in-text citations APA serve an important purpose. They give the reader a snippet of understanding as to the origin of information. It’s just enough information to allow the reader to continue reading the paper in a natural and fluid manner, without having to trip over long, clunky references. If the reader wants to get a detailed understanding of a source, they can flip to the back page, the reference page, to scope out all of the nitty gritty details.
In the next two sections of this page, we’re going to switch gears and share how to properly format direct quotes and paraphrases.
If you’re looking for specific source types, check out APA citation website and APA book citation . These two resources will explain how to format those specific types of references. If you’re stuck and not sure how to start, check out Chapter 10 of the Publication manual for some sample citations.
As Drake states in his lyrics, “We don’t like to do too much explaining,” so we’re going to keep this one short and to the point.
“Direct quotes” are a fancy term used for any text that has been copied and pasted into your paper. That Drake quote above is a direct quote.
Direct quotes are any words or sentences copied and pasted into your project, but they don’t necessarily have to be a person’s quote. Anytime you copy and paste text into your assignment, you must include an APA in-text citation next to it. This shows the reader that:
Here are some guidelines to keep in mind when it comes to direct quotes:
To create a narrative APA in-text citation, include the author’s last name in the sentence like this:
Or, you include the author’s name in parentheses:
If you are looking for more examples, go to page 272 of the American Psychological Association’s official Publication manual .
We said above that your entire paper shouldn’t have direct quotes everywhere. So, another way to include information from a source is by adding a paraphrase . Simply put, a paraphrase is restated information, but formed using your own words and writing style
APA paraphrases still need an in-text citation since the information was obtained elsewhere. Check out this quote from the song, “For Time,” by Drake:
“I like it when money makes a difference, but don’t make you different.”
To include it in your paper, without using the exact quote, make a paraphrase. Here’s one that would work:
Money has the ability to benefit things in your life, but it’s truly great when it doesn’t cause the person to act differently or change who they are (Drake, 2013).
The above APA in-text citation example is one with Drake’s name in parentheses. If you’d like to include the author’s name narratively, here’s an option:
In Drake’s (2013) lyrics, he shares that money has the ability to benefit things in your life. It’s truly great when it doesn’t cause the person to act differently or change who they are.
It is recommended to include page numbers for paraphrased material, but isn’t required.
Here’s more on paraphrases and direct quotes.
Ready to learn how to structure your in-text citations? The next section dives deep into developing them and answers “How to do in-text citations APA.” Keep in mind that how each one is formed depends on the number of authors and other factors. All the examples below follow rules laid out in Chapter 8 of the Publication manual.
Even though the structure varies, most in-text citations APA are placed in this manner for narrative in-text citations:
Author’s Last Name (Year) “Quote or Paraphrase” (p. number).
For ones in parentheses, most are placed in this manner:
“Quote” or Paraphrase (Author’s Last Name, Year, p. number).
Notice that whether you choose to include a narrative in-text citation APA or one in parentheses, the author names and the year published are always together. They’re pretty much holding hands. Cute, huh?
Read on to learn the ins and outs of structuring various in-text citations.
Don’t forget, EasyBib.com has an in-text citation APA generator. Wondering what it’s all about? Here’s a quick explanation: We work for you so citing is easy for you. Yep, you read that correctly.
Our tools structure your in-text citations the way they’re supposed to be structured. Use our automatic generator to create your full references, and on the final screen you’ll see the option to create your in-text citations. An APA in-text citation generator that’s easy as pie!
Something else we do for you? We have a plagiarism checker that scans your paper for any instances of accidental copying. We also have tons of grammar pages to keep your page in check. Check out our adverb , preposition , and verb pages.
If your source has one author.
If your source has one author, lucky you! Your in-text citation is pretty simple to structure.
Author’s Last Name (Year published) are found in the sentence with a “direct quote” or paraphrase (p. number).
“Direct quote” or Paraphrase (Author’s Last Name, Year published, p. number).
You may have a bunch of case studies, articles, or books that you’re referencing, all by the same author. Let’s say you’re analyzing two works by Sigmund Freud, Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious and also Fragment of an Analysis of a Case of Hysteria , both of which were published in 1905. Placing (Freud, 1905) in the text would be confusing for the reader. How would the reader determine which source you’re referencing?
If this is the situation you’re in, there’s a pretty simple fix.
Place a lowercase a next to the year in the first source (Freud, 1905a). Place a lowercase b next to the second source (Freud, 1905b). Include those same lowercase letters in the full references on the reference page, like so:
Freud, S. (1905a). Fragment of an analysis of a case of hysteria . https://staferla.free.fr/Freud/Freud%20complete%20Works.pdf
Freud, S. (1905b). Jokes and their relation to the unconscious . https://staferla.free.fr/Freud/Freud%20complete%20Works.pdf
But there’s a catch. When you do this et al. can’t stand for only one author. After all it literally means “and others.” If you have two sources that are identical except for the last author, then you have to write out all the names every time. For example:
Gunderman, Slack, Rausch, and Smith (2017)
Gunderman, Slack, Rausch, and Johnston (2017)
These references are completely the same except for the very last name so you’d have to write all 4 names every time.
What if you had 2 sources with the same author(s) and same publication year? Lucky for us the solution here is a lot simpler. Just a letter to the publication year!
Gunderman, Slack, and Rausch (2017)
Gunderman, Slack, and Rausch (2017a)
Gunderman, Slack, and Rausch (2017b)
Just remember to also follow this format in your works cited page even if there is an exact publication date available. See page 267 of your Publication Manual (American Psychological Association, 2020) for a further breakdown.
Need to create an APA in-text citation for a source without an author? How about an APA in-text citation for multiple authors? Continue reading to see the other ways to structure an APA style in-text citation.
Apa in-text citation for sources with two authors.
If your source has two authors, place them in the order they appear on the source. Do not place them in alphabetical order.
Use the word “and” in between the authors’ names.
1st Author’s Last Name and 2nd Author’s Last Name (Year published) are found somewhere in the sentence with a “direct quote” or paraphrase (p. number).
If you choose to include both authors’ names in parentheses, use an ampersand in between their names.
“Here is the direct quote” or Here is the paraphrase (1st Author’s Last Name & 2nd Author’s Last name, Year, p. number).
Only include the first author’s last name and then add ‘et al.’ Et al. is a fancy way of saying “and others” in Latin.
1st Author’s Last Name et al. (Year published) are found somewhere in the sentence with a “direct quote” or paraphrase (p. number).
“Here is the direct quote” or Paraphrase (1st Author’s Last Name et al., Year published, p. number).
Now here is where things can get a tad bit tricky. Sometimes authors with multiple works can cause some confusion in your citations. Generally when that happens you can tell the difference by the publication year, but when you can’t, that’s when you have to list as many authors as necessary to clear up the confusion.
Say you had the two sources below:
Gunderman, Slack, Rausch, and Maule (2017)
Gunderman, Byrnes, Oxner, Wigginton, and Draeger (2017)
Normally, they’d be written as:
Gunderman et al. (2017)
If you reduced both sources to Gunderman et al. (2017) you wouldn’t be able to tell which source you’re talking about. Instead cite it this way:
Gunderman, Slack, Rausch et al. (2017)
Gunderman, Byrnes, Oxner et al. (2017)
If you’re looking for more information on structuring journal articles, check out our APA journal page.
If you’re looking for a simple solution to referencing multiple authors, EasyBib.com creates in-text citations APA for you! Whether you need to create a reference for one or two authors, or an APA in-text citation for multiple authors, we’ve got you covered!
It’s common to come across sources without any authors. Movies, brochures, website pages often do not have a visible author’s name.
If you find that the source you’re attempting to reference does not have an author, use the first few words from the reference list entry in the APA in-text citation with no author. Most often, it’s the title of the source.
Place the source name in quotation marks if the source is a:
Simply italicize the source name if the source is a:
Remember, you do not have to use the entire title in your in-text citation APA no author. You can use only the first few words from the reference list.
“First few words of the webpage, article, or chapter Title” (Year) along with the “direct quote” or paraphrase (p. number). OR First few words of book, newspaper, report, or brochure (Year) along with the “direct quote” or paraphrase (p. number).
“Here is the direct quote” or paraphrase (“Web page, Article, or Chapter Title,” Year, p. number). OR “Here is the direct quote” or paraphrase ( Book, Newspaper, Report, or Brochure Title , Year, p. number).
No date? No problem! An APA in-text citation no date situation is easier to solve than you think. Only include the author’s name and the page number.
(Foster, p. 35).
Source by a group, organization, company, or government agency.
There are two types of groups: Ones that are abbreviated often and ones that are not abbreviated.
For example, think about these two citation style types: APA and Chicago. One is abbreviated (for the American Psychological Association) and the other is usually written as is (Chicago style).
If the company is often abbreviated, in the first mention in text, display the full name and the abbreviation. In the second and any other subsequent mentions, only use the abbreviation.
1st mention:
Full Company’s Name (Abbreviation, Year) with the “direct quote” or paraphrase (p. number).
2nd mention:
Company Abbrev. (Year) “direct quote” or paraphrase (p. number).
“Direct quote” or paraphrase (Full Company’s Name [Abbreviation], Year, p. number).
“Direct quote” or paraphrase (Abbreviation, Year, p. number).
Always include the full group, company, or organization’s name in each and every mention in text.
Full Name of Group (Year) with the “direct quote” or paraphrase (p. number).
“Direct quote” or paraphrase (Full Name of Group, Year, p. number).
We’re not quite sure how the author of The Baby-Sitters Club (Ann M. Martin) could be used in a paper that’s also referencing the author of Game of Thrones (George R. R. Martin), but hey, it could happen! It’s a Martin party! It’s important to show the reader the difference between the two individuals to prevent any confusion. To differentiate between the two authors in the text, include their first initials.
Example of in-text citation APA:
“Here’s a quote” (A. Martin, Year, p. 6). G. Martin (Year) also states “this direct quote” (p. 45).
As always, keep the author names and the dates directly next to each other. They love being together and it’s a best practice.
List sources alphabetically and separate with a semicolon.
Be sure to list authors alphabetically.
Johnson (2019), Smith and Adams (2015), and Washington (2017), examined…
“Direct quote” or Paraphrase (Author 1 Last Name, Year published, p. number if needed; Author 2 Last Name, Year published, p. number if needed)
(Johnson et al., 2019; Smith & Adams, 2015; Washington, 2017)
(Honda, 2006, p. 107; Sato, 1980)
If you want to emphasize a source because it is particularly important or relevant, add “see also” before the source’s citation. Think of “see also” as synonymous with “for more information see…”
(Johnson et al., 2019; see also Smith & Adams, 2015; Washington, 2017).
Did you stumble upon the perfect quote that’s quoted in another source? It happens all of the time and it can be a little tricky to figure out how to quote a quote.
The American Psychological Association recommends locating the original quote, if possible. Instead of relying on secondary sources, take the time to locate the original source to make sure the quote is accurate. Finding and reading through the original source also provides you with further information on your research topic!
If finding the original source isn’t possible, due to out of print titles, web pages taken down, or other factors, then it’s okay to quote the secondary source. In your writing, use the phrase “as cited in Secondary Author’s Last name, Year.”
On the reference page, include the reference for the secondary source.
As cited in Shapiro’s (2019) article, Carranza stated, “Districts 3 and 15 are showing how we can have the important conversations and take bold action on this issue.”
Carranza stated, “Districts 3 and 15 are showing how we can have the important conversations and take bold action on this issue” (as cited in Shapiro, 2019).
On the reference page, Shapiro’s article would be referenced in its entirety.
APA in-text citations for YouTube videos , songs, podcasts, television shows, and other audiovisual materials look a bit different than other types of sources. They include an extra piece of information: a time stamp.
Bill Nye (2017) shares that the sun is over four-hundred septillion watts (13:15).
The sun is over four-hundred septillion watts (Bill Nye, 2017, 13:15).
If you’re still scratching your head, and feeling the urge to type “how to do in-text citations APA” into Google, click here for a website that we dig.
If you’re looking for a quick fix to developing your references, EasyBib.com has you covered! Our tools can help you create an APA in-text citation multiple authors, one author, no authors, plus more!
Here’s a quick overview of how to create an in-text citation for websites. Notice that since these are for online sources, the in-text citation has no page number.
Author | Narrative | Parenthetical |
---|---|---|
No author | “First few words of source title” (Year) “Explaining Fidget Spinners” (2020) | (“Source Title,” Year) (“Explaining Fidget Spinners,” 2020) |
1 Author | Last name (year) In the article Smith (2009) outlines… | (Last name, year) (Smith, 2009) |
2 Authors | Last name 1 “and” last name 2 (year) Researchers Vega and Cantrell (1999) | (Last name 1 & last name 2, year) (Vega & Cantrell, 1999) |
3+ Authors | Last name 1 et. al (year) It is according to Gentry et al. (2002) that… | (Last name 1 et al., year) (Gentry et al., 2002) |
Abbreviated group author | Unabbreviated group name (abbreviations, year) In a survey conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO, 2020) | (Longhand group name [abbreviation], year) (World Health Organization, [WHO], 2020) (abbreviations, year) |
Non-abbreviated group author | Unabbreviated group name (year) Most University of North Alabama students completed the program within 2 years (2018) | (Unabbreviated group name, year) (University of North Alabama, 2018) |
Multiple authors, same last name | Full name 1 and full name 2 (year) Ice cream is highly correlated with happiness according to studies by A. Kramer and B. Kramer (2005) | (First initial. Last name & first initial. Last name, year) (A. Kramer & B. Kramer, 2005) |
Multiple sources, same author, different years | Last name (year) Cane later duplicated these results in another study (2013) | (Last name, year) (Cane, 2013) |
Multiple sources, same author, same year | Last name (YEARa) Cane successfully duplicated these results (2012a) | (Last name, YEARa) (Cane, 2012a) |
Multiple sources, same in-text citation | All current research in the foundation of previous researches Cox (1989), McGee (2011), and Shaffer et al. (2019) | (Last name 1, year 1; last name 2, year 2…..) (Cox, 1989; McGee 2011; Shaffer et al., 2019) |
Once again, if grammar isn’t your thing, and you’re looking for help related to specific parts of speech, check out our adjective , pronoun , and determiner pages, among many, many others!
Follow our EasyBib Twitter feed to find more citing tips, fun grammar facts, and the latest product updates.
American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.) https:doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000
Published May 21, 2019. Updated October 25, 2020.
Written and edited by Michele Kirschenbaum and Elise Barbeau . Michele Kirschenbaum is a school library media specialist and one of the in-house EasyBib librarians. Elise Barbeau is the Citation Specialist at Chegg. She has worked in digital marketing, libraries, and publishing.
APA Formatting
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An in-text citation is a shortened version of the source being referred to in the paper. As the name implies, it appears in the text of the paper. A reference list entry, on the other hand, details the complete information of the source being cited and is listed at the end of the paper after the main text. An example of an in-text citation and the corresponding reference list entry for a journal article with one author is listed below for your understanding:
In-text citation template and example:
Only the author name and the publication year are used in in-text citations to direct the reader to the corresponding reference list entry.
Author Surname (Publication Year)
Elden (2003)
Parenthetical
(Author Surname, Publication Year)
(Elden, 2003)
Reference list entry template and example:
Complete information of the reference is used to guide the reader to locate the source for further reference. In the below template, “F” and “M” are first and middle initials, respectively. #–# denotes the page range.
Surname, F. M. (Publication Year). Title of the article: Subtitle. Journal Title, Volume (Issue), #–#. DOI
Elden, S. (2003). Plague, panopticon, police. Surveillance & Society, 1 (3), 240–253. https://doi:10.24908/ss.v1i3.3339
When you use APA style, all sources need to have in-text citations. In-text citations direct a reader to the reference entry to get more information on the source being cited in the text. If an in-text citation is not provided, your reader doesn’t know whether there is a source available in the reference list for the idea or topic being discussed in the text. Even if all the basic elements to cite a source are not available, try to provide an in-text citation with the information you do have. For example, if a source does not have an author, use a shortened version of the title in place of the author in your in-text citation. An example is given below for a parenthetical citation.
Author name available:
(Author Surname, Publication Year, p.# for direct quote)
Author name not available:
(“Title of the Work,” Publication Year, p.# for direct quote)
Therefore, in-text citations are essential to guide a reader to locate the corresponding sources in the reference list for the topics discussed in the text.
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Published on February 26, 2021 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on January 17, 2024.
To cite a book, you need a brief in-text citation and a corresponding reference listing the author’s name, the title, the year of publication, and the publisher. The order and format of information depends on the citation style you’re using. The most common styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago style .
Use the interactive example generator to explore the format of book citations in MLA and APA.
Upload your document to correct all your mistakes in minutes
Citing a book in mla style, citing a book in apa style, citing a book in chicago style, where to find source information in a book, frequently asked questions about citations.
An MLA book citation includes the author’s name , the book title (in italics, capitalized headline-style), the edition (if specified), the publisher, and the year of publication. If it’s an e-book , write “e-book” (or a more specific description, e.g. “Kindle ed.”) before the publisher name.
The corresponding in-text citation lists the author’s last name and the page number of the passage cited.
MLA format | Author last name, First name. : Subtitle. Edition, Publisher, Year. |
---|---|
Donaldson, Bruce. . 3rd ed., Routledge, 2017. | |
(Donaldson 73) |
You can also use our free MLA Citation Generator to create your book citations.
Citing a book chapter in mla.
To cite a book chapter , first give the author and title (in quotation marks) of the chapter cited, then information about the book as a whole and the page range of the specific chapter.
The in-text citation lists the author of the chapter and the page number of the relevant passage.
MLA format | Author last name, First name. “Chapter Title.” : Subtitle, edited by Editor name, Publisher, Year, pp. Page range. |
---|---|
Nussbaum, Martha C. “Legal Reasoning.” , edited by John Tasioulas, Cambridge University Press, 2020, pp. 59–77. | |
(Nussbaum 65) |
The AI-powered Citation Checker helps you avoid common mistakes such as:
An APA Style book citation lists the author’s last name and initials, the year of publication, the title and any subtitle (in italics, capitalizing only the first word), the edition (if specified), and the publisher. Add a DOI or URL to the end of the entry if available (e.g. for e-books or books accessed online ).
In an in-text citation, state the author’s last name and the publication year, and a page number if you need to show the location of a specific quote or paraphrase .
APA format | Author last name, Initials. (Year). : Subtitle (Edition). Publisher. DOI or URL |
---|---|
Donaldson, B. (2017). (3rd ed.). Routledge. | |
(Donaldson, 2017, p. 73) |
You can also use our free APA Citation Generator to automatically generate your book citations. Search for a title, DOI, or ISBN to retrieve the details.
Citing a book chapter in apa.
To cite a book chapter , list information about the chapter first, followed by information about the book, including the book’s editor(s) and the chapter’s page range within the book.
The author of the chapter, not the editor of the book, is listed in the in-text citation.
APA format | Author last name, Initials. (Year). Title of chapter. In Editor initials. Last name (Ed. or Eds.), : Subtitle (pp. Page range). Publisher. |
---|---|
Nussbaum, M. C. (2020). Legal reasoning. In Tasioulas, J. (Ed.), (pp. 59–77). Cambridge University Press. | |
(Nussbaum, 2020, p. 65) |
Chicago notes and bibliography style uses footnotes to cite sources instead of parenthetical citations. These notes refer to a bibliography at the end giving full source details.
A Chicago bibliography entry for a book includes the author’s name, the book title and subtitle, the edition (if stated), the location and name of the publisher, and the year of publication. For an e-book , add the e-book format (e.g. “Kindle”) at the end.
Chicago format | Author last name, First name. : Subtitle. Edition. Place of publication: Publisher, Year. E-book format. |
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Donaldson, Bruce. . 3rd ed. Abingdon-on-Thames: Routledge, 2017. | |
1. Bruce Donaldson, , 3rd ed. (Abingdon-on-Thames: Routledge, 2017), 35. 2. Donaldson, , 73. |
Chicago also has an alternative style, Chicago author-date . You can see examples of book citations in this style here .
To cite a book chapter , start with the author and the title of the chapter (in quotation marks), then give the title (in italics) and editor of the book, the page range of the chapter, the location and name of the publisher, and the year of publication.
Chicago format | Author last name, First name. “Chapter Title.” In : Subtitle, edited by Editor first name Last name, Page range. Place of publication: Publisher, Year. |
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Nussbaum, Martha C. “Legal Reasoning.” In , edited by John Tasioulas, 59–77. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020. | |
1. Martha C. Nussbaum, “Legal Reasoning,” in , ed. John Tasioulas (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), 60. 2. Nussbaum, “Legal Reasoning,” 65. |
All the information you need for a book citation can usually be found on the book’s title page and copyright page. The main things you’re looking for are:
You should also check if the book specifies an edition (e.g. 2nd edition, revised edition) and if any other contributors are named (e.g. editor, translator).
The image below shows where to find the relevant information on the title and copyright pages of a typical book.
The main elements included in all book citations across APA , MLA , and Chicago style are the author, the title, the year of publication, and the name of the publisher. A page number is also included in in-text citations to highlight the specific passage cited.
In Chicago style and in the 6th edition of APA Style , the location of the publisher is also included, e.g. London: Penguin.
When a book’s chapters are written by different authors, you should cite the specific chapter you are referring to.
When all the chapters are written by the same author (or group of authors), you should usually cite the entire book, but some styles include exceptions to this.
Check if your university or course guidelines specify which citation style to use. If the choice is left up to you, consider which style is most commonly used in your field.
Other more specialized styles exist for certain fields, such as Bluebook and OSCOLA for law.
The most important thing is to choose one style and use it consistently throughout your text.
The abbreviation “ et al. ” (Latin for “and others”) is used to shorten citations of sources with multiple authors.
“Et al.” is used in APA in-text citations of sources with 3+ authors, e.g. (Smith et al., 2019). It is not used in APA reference entries .
Use “et al.” for 3+ authors in MLA in-text citations and Works Cited entries.
Use “et al.” for 4+ authors in a Chicago in-text citation , and for 10+ authors in a Chicago bibliography entry.
When you want to cite a specific passage in a source without page numbers (e.g. an e-book or website ), all the main citation styles recommend using an alternate locator in your in-text citation . You might use a heading or chapter number, e.g. (Smith, 2016, ch. 1)
In APA Style , you can count the paragraph numbers in a text to identify a location by paragraph number. MLA and Chicago recommend that you only use paragraph numbers if they’re explicitly marked in the text.
For audiovisual sources (e.g. videos ), all styles recommend using a timestamp to show a specific point in the video when relevant.
If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.
Caulfield, J. (2024, January 17). How to Cite a Book | APA, MLA, & Chicago Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved September 3, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/citing-sources/cite-a-book/
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The Modern Language Association uses the MLA Handbook to provide guidelines on MLA Style, which is the citation style you will be using in this class to format your papers and cite your sources.Included on this page are important documents and links that will help you to use MLA properly. New MLA 9 rules state that the citation should NOT include http:\\
Formatting APA citations: Basic principles. The citation style followed by the APA style guide is called the "author-date style." Here, you have a brief in-text citation containing the author(s)' surnames and year of publication. And this is accompanied by a full entry in the reference list at the end of the paper.
Quotes should always be cited (and indicated with quotation marks), and you should include a page number indicating where in the source the quote can be found. Example: Quote with APA Style in-text citation. Evolution is a gradual process that "can act only by very short and slow steps" (Darwin, 1859, p. 510).
In-text citations: Author-page style. MLA format follows the author-page method of in-text citation. This means that the author's last name and the page number (s) from which the quotation or paraphrase is taken must appear in the text, and a complete reference should appear on your Works Cited page. The author's name may appear either in the ...
When using APA format, follow the author-date method of in-text citation. This means that the author's last name and the year of publication for the source should appear in the text, like, for example, (Jones, 1998). One complete reference for each source should appear in the reference list at the end of the paper.
Revised on March 5, 2024. An MLA in-text citation provides the author's last name and a page number in parentheses. If a source has two authors, name both. If a source has more than two authors, name only the first author, followed by " et al. ". If the part you're citing spans multiple pages, include the full page range.
An in-text citation is a reference to a source that is found within the text of a paper ( Handbook 227). This tells a reader that an idea, quote, or paraphrase originated from a source. MLA in-text citations usually include the last name of the author and the location of cited information. This guide focuses on how to create MLA in-text ...
In parenthetical citations, use only the author's surname. For sources with two authors, use two surnames (e.g., Strine and Radick). For sources with three or more author names, use the first author's surname followed by "et al.". The title of the essay is enclosed in double quotation marks and uses title case.
An in-text citation is a source citation in academic writing that is placed directly in the body text, typically at the end of the related sentence, clause, or phrase. This is an alternative style to footnotes, which cite sources at the bottom of a page, or endnotes, which cite sources at the end of a section, chapter, or entire work.
To quote a source, copy a short piece of text word for word and put it inside quotation marks. To paraphrase a source, put the text into your own words. It's important that the paraphrase is not too close to the original wording. You can use the paraphrasing tool if you don't want to do this manually.
The basic rule is that in both your Works-Cited List and in-text citation you will still cite Kirkey. Kirkey will appear in your Works Cited list - NOT Smith. Add the words "qtd. in" to your in-text citation. Examples of in-text citations: According to a study by Smith (qtd. in Kirkey) 42% of doctors would refuse to perform legal euthanasia.
APA in-text citations with multiple authors. If a work has two authors, separate their names with an ampersand (&) in a parenthetical citation or "and" in a narrative citation. If there are three or more authors, only include the first author's last name followed by "et al.", meaning "and others".
You must first cite each source in the body of your essay; these citations within the essay are called in-text citations. You MUST cite all quoted, paraphrased, or summarized words, ideas, and facts from sources. Without in-text citations, you are technically in danger of plagiarism, even if you have listed your sources at the end of the essay ...
Including page numbers in citations. When you quote directly from a source or paraphrase a specific passage, your in-text citation must include a page number to specify where the relevant passage is located.. Use 'p.' for a single page and 'pp.' for a page range: Meanwhile, another commentator asserts that the economy is 'on the downturn' (Singh, 2015, p. 13).
Citing a quote in APA Style. To cite a direct quote in APA, you must include the author's last name, the year, and a page number, all separated by commas. If the quote appears on a single page, use "p."; if it spans a page range, use "pp.". An APA in-text citation can be parenthetical or narrative.
Using In-text Citation. Include an in-text citation when you refer to, summarize, paraphrase, or quote from another source. For every in-text citation in your paper, there must be a corresponding entry in your reference list. APA in-text citation style uses the author's last name and the year of publication, for example: (Field, 2005).
29) Parenthetical citations: If an in-text citation has the authors' names in brackets use "&" between the authors' names : (Jones & Smith, 2020, p. 29). Note: Some lecturers want page numbers for all citations, while some only want page numbers with direct quotes. Check with your lecturer to see what you need to do for your assignment.
These citations within the essay are called in-text citations. You must cite all quoted, paraphrased, or summarized words, ideas, and facts from sources. Without in-text citations, you are in danger of plagiarism, even if you have listed your sources at the end of the essay. In-text citations point the reader to the sources' information in ...
When citing sources in the text of your paper, you must list: The author's last name. The year the information was published. Types of In-Text Citations: Narrative vs Parenthetical. A narrative citation gives the author's name as part of the sentence. Example of a Narrative Citation: According to Edwards (2017), although Smith and Carlos's ...
In-Text Citations: An Overview. In-text citations are brief, unobtrusive references that direct readers to the works-cited-list entries for the sources you consulted and, where relevant, to the location in the source being cited. An in-text citation begins with the shortest piece of information that directs your reader to the entry in the ...
MLA in-text citation style uses the author's last name and the page number from which the quotation or paraphrase is taken, for example: (Smith 163). If the source does not use page numbers, do not include a number in the parenthetical citation: (Smith). For more information on in-text citation, see the MLA Style Center.
Type your paper on a computer and print it out on standard, white 8.5 x 11-inch paper. Double-space the text of your paper and use a legible font (e.g. Times New Roman). Whatever font you choose, MLA recommends that the regular and italics type styles contrast enough that they are each distinct from one another.
Make sure to include the author's name (either in the text or in the parenthetical citation) and the relevant page number. How to Use In-Text Citations in APA. In APA, in-text citations include the author's last name and the year of publication; a page number is included only if a direct quotation is used: (Author, 2021, p. 123)
The in-text citation APA style provides us with a tidbit of information. Just enough to glance at it and keep on going with reading the paper. To recap, in-text citations are great because: They credit the original author of a work or information. They let readers quickly see where the information is coming from.
To cite a book chapter, first give the author and title (in quotation marks) of the chapter cited, then information about the book as a whole and the page range of the specific chapter. The in-text citation lists the author of the chapter and the page number of the relevant passage. MLA format. Author last name, First name.