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Citation and Writing

In-Text Citations

In-Text Citations in APA include the author’s (or authors’) name(s) and date. The date is generally provided parenthetically next to the author(s’) names. For direct quotations page numbers (when available) appear parenthetically at the end of the quote.

In-Text Citation Rules

  1. In-text citations must correspond to full citations found in the References list. 
  2. The in-text citation provides the first piece of identifying information found in the full reference. This means that if there is no author, then the in-text citation will provide the article, book, (etc.) title.
  3. Titles used in in-text citations can be shortened, and articles (such as “a,” “an,” and “the”) should be omitted.

In-Text Citation Examples

The following examples of how to create in-text citations for citing material used in the body of your paper (with and without author named in a signal phrase) from:

Book Example:

            Solo, H. (1977). Friendship is its own reward. Galactic University Press.

In-text citation of a summary concept:

Han Solo’s (1977) cynicism toward blind faith and antiquated arms were evident in his stance that one is best prepared to resolve conflict while in possession of modern weaponry.

In-text citation of a specific quote:

When debating the use of force, it may be important to remember that “hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side” (Solo, 1977, p. 1138).