in text citations for websites apa 7

APA (7th Edition) Referencing Guide

• Information for EndNote Users
• Authors - Numbers, Rules and Formatting

Everything must match!

Types of citations, in-text citations, quoting, summarising and paraphrasing, example text with in-text referencing, slightly tricky in-text citations, organisation as an author, secondary citation (works referred to in other works), what do i do if there are no page numbers.

• Reference List
• Books & eBooks
• Book chapters
• Journal Articles
• Conference Papers
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• Web Pages & Documents
• Specialised Health Databases
• Using Visual Works in Assignments & Class Presentations
• Using Visual Works in Theses and Publications
• Using Tables in Assignments & Class Presentations
• Custom Textbooks & Books of Readings
• ABS AND AIHW
• Videos (YouTube), Podcasts & Webinars
• Blog Posts and Social Media
• First Nations Works
• Dictionary and Encyclopedia Entries
• Personal Communication
• Theses and Dissertations
• Film / TV / DVD
• Miscellaneous (Generic Reference)
• AI software
• APA Format for Assignments
• What If...?
• Other Guides

There are two basic ways to cite someone's work in text.

In narrative citations , the authors are part of the sentence - you are referring to them by name. For example:

Becker (2013) defined gamification as giving the mechanics of principles of a game to other activities.

Cho and Castañeda (2019) noted that game-like activities are frequently used in language classes that adopt mobile and computer technologies.

In parenthetical citations , the authors are not mentioned in the sentence, just the content of their work. Place the citation at the end of the sentence or clause where you have used their information. The author's names are placed in the brackets (parentheses) with the rest of the citation details:

Gamification involves giving the mechanics or principles of a game to another activity (Becker, 2013).

Increasingly, game-like activities are frequently used in language classes that adopt mobile and computer technologies (Cho & Castañeda, 2019).

Using references in text

For APA, you use the authors' surnames only and the year in text. If you are using a direct quote, you will also need to use a page number.

Narrative citations:

If an in-text citation has the authors' names as part of the sentence (that is, outside of brackets) place the year and page numbers in brackets immediately after the name, and use 'and' between the authors' names:  Jones and Smith (2020, p. 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. If the direct quote starts on one page and finishes on another, include the page range (Jones & Smith, 2020, pp. 29-30).

1 author

Smith (2020) found that "the mice disappeared within minutes" (p. 29).

The author stated "the mice disappeared within minutes" (Smith, 2020, p. 29).

Jones and Smith (2020) found that "the mice disappeared within minutes" (p. 29).

The authors stated "the mice disappeared within minutes" (Jones & Smith, 2020, p. 29).

For 3 or more authors , use the first author and "et al." for all in-text citations

Green et al.'s (2019) findings indicated that the intervention was not based on evidence from clinical trials.

It appears the intervention was not based on evidence from clinical trials (Green et al., 2019).

If you cite more than one work in the same set of brackets in text , your citations will go in the same order in which they will appear in your reference list (i.e. alphabetical order, then oldest to newest for works by the same author) and be separated by a semi-colon. E.g.:

• (Corbin, 2015; James & Waterson, 2017; Smith et al., 2016).
• (Corbin, 2015; 2018)
• (Queensland Health, 2017a; 2017b)
• Use only the   surnames   of your authors   in text   (e.g., Smith & Brown, 2014) - however, if you have two authors with the same surname who have published in the same year, then you will need to use their initials to distinguish between the two of them (e.g., K. Smith, 2014; N. Smith, 2014).   Otherwise, do not use initials in text .

If your author isn't an "author".

Whoever is in the "author" position of the refence in the references list is treated like an author in text. So, for example, if you had an edited book and the editors of the book were in the "author" position at the beginning of the reference, you would treat them exactly the same way as you would an author - do not include any other information. The same applies for works where the "author" is an illustrator, producer, composer, etc.

• Summarising
• Paraphrasing

It is always a good idea to keep direct quotes to a minimum. Quoting doesn't showcase your writing ability - all it shows is that you can read (plus, lecturers hate reading assignments with a lot of quotes).

You should only use direct quotes if the exact wording is important , otherwise it is better to paraphrase.

If you feel a direct quote is appropriate, try to keep only the most important part of the quote and avoid letting it take up the entire sentence - always start or end the sentence with your own words to tie the quote back into your assignment. Long quotes (more than 40 words) are called "block quotes" and are rarely used in most subject areas (they mostly belong in Literature, History or similar subjects). Each referencing style has rules for setting out a block quote. Check with your style guide .

It has been observed that "pink fairy armadillos seem to be extremely susceptible to stress" (Superina, 2011, p. 6).

NB! Most referencing styles will require a page number to tell readers where to find the original quote.

It is a type of paraphrasing, and you will be using this frequently in your assignments, but note that summarising another person's work or argument isn't showing how you make connections or understand implications. This is preferred to quoting, but where possible try to go beyond simply summarising another person's information without "adding value".

And, remember, the words must be your own words . If you use the exact wording from the original at any time, those words must be treated as a direct quote.

All information must be cited, even if it is in your own words.

Superina (2011) observed a captive pink fairy armadillo, and noticed any variation in its environment could cause great stress.

NB! Some lecturers and citation styles want page numbers for everything you cite, others only want page numbers for direct quotes. Check with your lecturer.

Paraphrasing often involves commenting about the information at the same time, and this is where you can really show your understanding of the topic. You should try to do this within every paragraph in the body of your assignment.

When paraphrasing, it is important to remember that using a thesaurus to change every other word isn't really paraphrasing. It's patchwriting , and it's a kind of plagiarism (as you are not creating original work).

Use your own voice! You sound like you when you write - you have a distinctive style that is all your own, and when your "tone" suddenly changes for a section of your assignment, it looks highly suspicious. Your lecturer starts to wonder if you really wrote that part yourself. Make sure you have genuinely thought about how *you* would write this information, and that the paraphrasing really is in your own words.

Always cite your sources! Even if you have drawn from three different papers to write this one sentence, which is completely in your own words, you still have to cite your sources for that sentence (oh, and excellent work, by the way).

Captive pink fairy armadillos do not respond well to changes in their environment and can be easily stressed (Superina, 2011).

NB! Some lecturers and citation styles want page numbers for all citations, others only want them for direct quotes. Check with your lecturer.

This example paragraph contains mouse-over text. Run your mouse over the paragraph to see notes on formatting.

Excerpt from "The Big Fake Essay"

You can read the entire Big Fake Essay on the Writing Guide. It includes more details about academic writing and the formatting of essays.

• The Big Fake Essay
• Academic Writing Workshop

When you have multiple authors with the same surname who published in the same year:

If your authors have different initials, then include the initials:

As A. Smith (2016) noted...

...which was confirmed by J.G. Smith's (2016) study.

(A. Smith, 2016; J. G. Smith, 2016).

If your authors have the same initials, then include the name:

As Adam Smith noted...

...which was confirmed by Amy Smith's (2016) study.

(Adam Smith, 2016; Amy Smith, 2016).

Note: In your reference list, you would include the author's first name in [square brackets] after their initials:

Smith, A. [Adam]. (2016)...

Smith, A. [Amy]. (2016)...

When you have multiple works by the same author in the same year:

In your reference list, you will have arranged the works alphabetically by title (see the page on Reference Lists for more information). This decides which reference is "a", "b", "c", and so on. You cite them in text accordingly:

Asthma is the most common disease affecting the Queensland population (Queensland Health, 2017b). However, many people do not know how to manage their asthma symptoms (Queensland Health, 2017a).

When you have multiple works by the same author in different years:

Asthma is the most common disease affecting the Queensland population (Queensland Health, 2017, 2018). 

When you do not have an author, and your reference list entry begins with the title:

Use the title in place of the author's name, and place it in "quotation marks" if it is the title of an article or book chapter, or in italics if the title would go in italics in your reference list:

During the 2017 presidential inauguration, there were some moments of awkwardness ("Mrs. Obama Says ‘Lovely Frame’", 2018).

Note: You do not need to use the entire title, but a reasonable portion so that it does not end too abruptly - "Mrs. Obama Says" would be too abrupt, but the full title "Mrs. Obama Says 'Lovely Frame' in Box During Awkward Handoff" is unecessarily long. You should also use title case for titles when referring to them in the text of your work.

If there are no page numbers, you can include any of the following in the in-text citation:

• "On Australia Day 1938 William Cooper ... joined forces with Jack Patten and William Ferguson ... to hold a Day of Mourning to draw attention to the losses suffered by Aboriginal people at the hands of the whiteman" (National Museum of Australia, n.d., para. 4).
• "in 1957 news of a report by the Western Australian government provided the catalyst for a reform movement" (National Museum of Australia, n.d., The catalyst for change section, para. 1)
• "By the end of this year of intense activity over 100,000 signatures had been collected" (National Museum of Australia, n.d., "petition gathering", para. 1).

When you are citing a classical work, like the Bible or the Quran:

References to works of scripture or other classical works are treated differently to regular citations. See the APA Blog's entry for more details:

Happy Holiday Citing: Citation of Classical Works . (Please note, this document is from the 6th edition of APA).

In text citation:

If the name of the organisation first appears in a narrative citation, include the abbreviation before the year in brackets, separated with a comma. Use the official acronym/abreviation if you can find it. Otherwise check with your lecturer for permission to create your own acronyms.

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS, 2013) shows that...

The Queensland Department of Education (DoE, 2020) encourages students to... (please note, Queensland isn't part of the department's name, it is used in the sentence to provide clarity)

If the name of the organisation first appears in a citation in brackets, include the abbreviation in square brackets.

(Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS], 2013)

(Department of Education [DoE], 2020)

In the second and subsequent citations, only include the abbreviation or acronym

ABS  (2013) found that ...

DoE (2020) instructs teachers to...

This is disputed ( ABS , 2013).

Resources are designed to support "emotional learning pedagogy" (DoE, 2020)

In the reference list:

Use the full name of the organisation in the reference list.

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2017).  Australia's welfare 2017 . https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-welfare/australias-welfare-2017/contents/table-of-contents

Department of Education. (2020, April 22). Respectful relationships education program . Queensland Government. https://education.qld.gov.au/curriculum/stages-of-schooling/respectful-relationships

Academically, it is better to find the original source and reference that.

If you do have to quote a secondary source:

• In the text you must cite the original author of the quote and the year the original quote was written as well as the source you read it in. If you do not know the year the original citation was written, omit the year.
• In the reference list you only list the source that you actually read.

Wembley (1997, as cited in Olsen, 1999) argues that impending fuel shortages ...

Wembley claimed that "fuel shortages are likely" (1997, as cited in Olsen, 1999, pp. 10-12).

Some have noted that fuel shortages are probable in the future (Wembley, 1997, as cited in Olsen, 1999).

Olsen, M. (1999).  My career.  Gallimard.

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APA Style, 7th Edition

• Sample Papers & How to Videos
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Parenthetical Citations

Narrative citations, combining citations.

• Annotated Bibliography
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In-Text Citation Components

• Page Numbers etc.

When writing a paper, you will need to provide in-text citations (sometimes called parenthetical citations) for quotes, summaries, and to give credit for ideas. Every in-text citation  must  have a corresponding entry in the reference list unless you are told otherwise (examples include personal communications and citing an entire website). There are two ways to cite in-text.

For more guidelines, view sections Chapter 8 in the  Publication Manual  or consult the APA Style page on In-Text Citations.

APA requires that you provide two pieces of information for an in-text citation:

• Author last name(s)  (this could also be an organization)
• Publication date

A  page number  is required for  direct quotes  and encouraged for paraphrasing.

You will incorporate this information two ways into your text: parenthetically or narratively.

General Format:

Use the last name of the author for your in-text citation.

( Matthews , 2010, p. 14)

Multiple Authors

You will list up to two authors in an in-text citation, separated with an ampersand (&)

( Smith & Miller , 2009)

For references with three or more authors, you will only include the first author and then the words et al.

( Smith et al. , 2009)

Smith et al. (2009) summarized it as...

Organizational Author

If the author of a work is an organization, company, or group, list that group's full name in the in-text citation.

( Santa Fe College , 2019)

If the organization has a common acronym, you may introduce it in your first in-text citation and then use the abbreviation in all subsequent citations.

(American Medical Association [AMA] , 2007)

(AMA, 2007)

You should avoid citing works with no author, because you will be unable to verify authority and credibility. Remember that most resources that do not have an individual author listed will have an organization or group responsible for the content.

If there is truly no author for a reference, you use the title, or first few words of the title. Note that you should capitalize the words in the title for the in-text citation. Place in quotation marks if the title is an article or chapter. Italicize if it is a book, webpage, etc.

( "How To Find," 2009).

( Oxford English Dictionary , 1989).

You will use the year of the resource in the in-text citation. Even if there is a more detailed date provided, only the year is included in the in-text citation.

(Smith, 2010 )

If there is no date for a reference, use the abbreviation n.d.:

(Santa Fe College, n.d. ).

Smith ( n.d. ) states that...

Same Author/Date

If you have two or more distinct works by the same author and published in the same year, differentiate them with letters. Letters will be assigned alphabetically by the order in which they are listed in the references list.

Rowling, J. K. ( 1999a ). Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets. Arthur A. Levine.

(Rowling, 1999a )

Rowling, J. K. ( 1999b ). Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban. Arthur A. Levine.

(Rowling, 1999b )

If both items are using n.d . instead of a year, include a hyphen before the differentiating letter.

(Santa Fe College, n.d.-a )

Recall that page numbers and more specific location information as detailed below are only required for direct quotes, but may be used for paraphrasing if you wish. Bold and highlighting are to showcase them on this libguide only, do not do this in your paper!

Page Numbers

If you are using information from a single page, use the abbreviation p .

(Smith, 2009, p. 12 )

If your quote (or paraphrase) spans multiple pages, use the abbreviation pp., and separate the two numbers with an en dash (–).

Smith (2009) discusses how the study was received by the media ( pp. 12–13 ).

No Page Numbers

If there are no page numbers on your resource, use section headers, paragraph numbers, or other descriptions to direct your reader to the information you are citing.

• Conclusions section

One of the author's main points is that "people don't rise from nothing" ( Gladwell , 2008, Chapter 1, Section 2, para. 5 ).

If you are citing a direct quotation from a video, you can use the time stamp in place of a page number within the in-text citation.

Pariser (2011) states that "your filter bubble is your own personal, unique universe of information that you live in online. And wha's in your filter bubble depends on who you are, and it depends on what you do" (4:12).

A parenthetical citation encompasses the components of the in-text citation in parentheses at the end of the sentence, prior to the closing period. This should mostly be used for paraphrasing, and typically not for direct quotes alone.

Recall that a page number is not necessary for paraphrasing, but is encouraged.

(Author Last Name, Date, p. X)

If the quote comes from a source without pages, either count paragraphs (Author's Last Name, date, para. x) or find some other way to let your reader know where it is in the text (Author's Last Name, date, section header x)

Example: (Highlighted and bold here for attention only. Do not bold or highlight in your paper)

Single author example - Most college students are limited in their research experience to using Google and struggle to learn how to effectively navigate and use the wide variety of resources available to them (Head, 2013).

Two authors & Three or more author examples - Researchers have cautioned that flipped instruction needs to be carefully designed, both in overall pedagogical design (Banks & Henderson, 2019) and in the design of instructional videos (Obradovich et al., 2015).

Direct quote example - Moreover, Standard II.5.2 explains that school psychologists "do not promote or condone the use of restricted psychological and educational tests…by individuals who are not qualified to use them" (NASP, 2010, p. 9).

Narrative citations are the preferred method of citing quotes. You may also use them for paraphrasing or summarizing. The strength of narrative citation is that it flows better for a reader. A narrative citation weaves in the author's name(s) into the text and then adds in the year in parentheses. The page number will bookend the quote at the end.

You will often want to use a signal phrase to introduce a narrative citation. For an overview of signal phrases along with some examples, visit George Mason University's page on Signal Phrases.

The quote from one page - Last name (Year) "quote" or paraphrase (p. X). 

The quote is on multiple pages - Last name (Year) "quote" (pp. x-y). 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2011), rates for pregnancy, STDs and abortion are much higher in the US than in other industrialized countries (para. 1).

Pink (2009) explains that "rewards, by their very nature, narrow our focus. That’s helpful when there’s a clear path to a solution" (p. 42).

Valenas et al. (2017) explored the impact of attentional bias and rumination on test anxiety in first-year university students.

To include two or more different resources in one citation, use a semicolon to separate them:

Poor empathy development has been associated with negative outcomes including increased aggression, poorer quality relationships, and psychopathology across development (Batanova & Loukas, 2014; Gambin & Sharp, 2016).

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APA Citation Guide

• Paper Formatting
• Figures and Images
• Reference Components
• Book Examples
• Article Examples
• Media Examples
• Internet Resources Examples
• Other Examples

In-Text Citation Components

Narrative citations, parenthetical citations, combining citations, secondary sources.

• Page Numbers etc.

When writing a paper, you will need to provide in-text citations (sometimes called parenthetical citations) for quotes, summaries, and to give credit for ideas. Every in-text citation must have a corresponding entry in the reference list, unless you are told otherwise (examples include personal communications and citing an entire website). There are two ways to cite in-text.

For more guidelines, view sections Chapter 8 in the Publication Manual or consult the APA Style page on In-Text Citations .

APA requires that you provide two pieces of information for an in-text citation:

• Author last name(s) (this could also be an organization)
• Publication date

A page number is required for direct quotes , and encouraged for paraphrasing.

You will incorporate this information two ways into your text: parenthetically or narratively.

General Format

Use the last name of the author for your in-text citation.

( Matthews , 2010, p. 14)

Multiple Authors

You will list up to two authors in an in-text citation, separated with an ampersand (&).

( Smith & Miller , 2009)

For references with three or more authors, you will only include the first author and then the words et al.

( Smith et al. , 2009)

Smith et al. (2009) summarized it as...

Organizational Author

If the author of a work is an organization, company, or group, list that group's full name in the in-text citation.

( Santa Fe College , 2019)

If the organization has a common acronym, you may introduce it in your first in-text citation and then use the abbreviation in all subsequent citations.

(American Medical Association [AMA] , 2007)

(AMA, 2007)

You should avoid citing works with no author, because you will be unable to verify authority and credibility. Remember that most resources that do not have an individual author listed will have an organization or group responsible for the content.

If there is truly no author for a reference, you use the title, or first few words of the title. Note that you should capitalize the words in the title for the in-text citation. Place in quotation marks if the title is an article or chapter. Italicize if it is a book, webpage, etc.

( "How To Find," 2009).

( Oxford English Dictionary , 1989).

You will use the year of the resource in the in-text citation. Even if there is a more detailed date provided, only the year is included in the in-text citation.

(Smith, 2010 )

If there is no date for a reference, use the abbreviation n.d. :

(Santa Fe College, n.d. ).

Smith ( n.d. ) states that...

Same Author/Date

If you have two or more distinct works by the same author and published in the same year, differentiate them with letters. Letters will be assigned alphabetically by the order in which they are listed in the references list.

Rowling, J. K. (1999a). Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets . Arthur A. Levine.

(Rowling, 1999a )

Rowling, J. K. (1999b). Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban . Arthur A. Levine.

(Rowling, 1999b )

If both items are using n.d. instead of a year, include a hyphen before the differentiating letter.

(Santa Fe College, n.d.-a )

Recall that page numbers and more specific location information as detailed below are only required for direct quotes , but may be used for paraphrasing if you wish.

Page Numbers

If you are using information from a single page, use the abbreviation p.

(Smith, 2009, p. 12 )

If your quote (or paraphrase) spans multiple pages, use the abbreviation pp. , and separate the two numbers with an en dash (–).

Smith (2009) discusses how the study was received by the media ( pp. 12–13 ).

No Page Numbers

If there are no page numbers on your resource, use section headers, paragraph numbers, or other descriptions to direct your reader to the information you are citing.

• Conclusions section

One of the author's main points is that "people don't rise from nothing" (Gladwell, 2008, Chapter 1, Section 2, para. 5 ).

If you are citing a direct quotation from a video, you can use the time stamp in place of a page number within the in-text citation.

Pariser (2011) states that "your filter bubble is your own personal, unique universe of information that you live in online. And what's in your filter bubble depends on who you are, and it depends on what you do" (4:12) .

Narrative citations are the preferred method of citing quotes. You may also use them for paraphrasing or summarizing. The strength of narrative citations is that it flows better for a reader. A narrative citations weaves in the author's name(s) into the text, and then adds in the year in parentheses. The page number will bookend the quote at the end.

You will often want to use a signal phrase to introduce a narrative citation. For an overview of signal phrases along with some examples, visit George Mason University's page on Signal Phrases .

Last name (Year) ... "quote" or paraphrase (p. X).

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2011) , rates for pregnancy, STDs and abortion are much higher in the US than in other industrialized countries (para. 1) .

Pink (2009) explains that "rewards, by their very nature, narrow our focus. That’s helpful when there’s a clear path to a solution" (p. 42) .

Valenas et al. (2017) explored the impact of attentional bias and rumination on test anxiety in first-year university students.

Finocchio et al.'s (2021) study found a connection between GERD and non-allergic rhinitis.

A parenthetical citation encompasses the components of the in-text citation in parentheses at the end of the sentence, prior to the closing period. This should mostly be used for paraphrasing, and typically not for direct quotes alone.

Recall that a page number is not necessary for paraphrasing, but is encouraged.

(Author, Date, p. X)

Most college students are limited in their research experience to using Google and struggle to learn how to effectively navigate and use the wide variety of resources available to them (Head, 2013) .

Researchers have cautioned that flipped instruction needs to be carefully designed, both in overall pedagogical design (Banks & Henderson, 2019) and in the design of instructional videos (Obradovich et al., 2015) .

Moreover, Standard II.5.2 explains that school psychologists "do not promote or condone the use of restricted psychological and educational tests…by individuals who are not qualified to use them" (NASP, 2010, p. 9) .

To include two or more different resources in one citation, use a semicolon to separate them:

Poor empathy development has been associated with negative outcomes including increased aggression, poorer quality relationships, and psychopathology across development (Batanova & Loukas, 2014; Gambin & Sharp, 2016) .

A secondary source is a source that is cited in another source. APA strongly suggests that you always track down the original source to use and cite. However, if that is not possible, use the following guidelines.

In your references list, include the source you have in hand . In your in-text citation, use the name/date of the original source, plus the words as cited in and then the source you used.

For example, you are using an article by Akerstedt et al., and they cite information from a study by Wing et al.

Text found in Akerstedt et al: "This issue has not been addressed before, but weekend compensatory sleep seems to counteract obesity in children who have short sleep duration during weekdays (Wing, Li, Li, Zhang, & Kong, 2009)."

Akerstedt, T., Ghilotti, F., Grotta, A., Zhao, H., Adami, H.-O., Trolle-Lagerros, Y., & Bellocco, R. (2019). Sleep duration and mortality – Does weekend sleep matter? Journal of Sleep Research, 28 (1), e12712. https://doi.org/10.1111/jsr.12712

(Wing et al, 2009, as cited in Akerstedt et al., 2019)

Source: Publication Manual , 8.6; Secondary Sources [APA Style]

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APA Citation Guide (7th Edition): In-Text Citation

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In-Text Citation

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What Is In-Text Citation?

In APA, in-text citations are inserted in the text of your research paper to briefly document the source of your information. Brief in-text citations point the reader to more complete information in the Reference list.

When using APA format, follow the author-date method of in-text citation. In the author-date method, the writer includes the author and date within the body of the paper and includes a corresponding reference in the Reference list. This method allows the reader to identify sources used in the paper by reviewing the author and date within the text of the paper, and then easily locate the corresponding reference in the alphabetical Reference list.

Create an in-text citation whenever you quote another work, or whenever you paraphrase another work in your own words.

In-text Citations Have Two Formats

• Parenthetical - the author name and publication date (or equivalent information) appear in parentheses. For example: Falsely balanced news coverage can distort the public's perception of expert consensus on an issue (Burnside, 2016).
• Narrative - the author name appears in running text and the date appears in parentheses immediately after the author name. For example: Burnside (2016) noted the dangers of falsely balanced news coverage.

If you are referring to an idea from another work (paraphrasing or summarizing) but NOT directly quoting the material, you only have to make reference to the author and year of publication and not the page number in your in-text reference.

If you are directly quoting or borrowing from another work, you should include the page number at the end of the parenthetical citation. For example, (Burnside, 2016, p. 199).

In-Text Citation Styles

The table below shows several examples of parenthetical and narrative citations.

Paraphrasing and Quoting: What Is the Difference?

There are two ways to integrate sources into your assignment:

• Paraphrasing  is used to show that you understand what the author wrote. You must reword the passage, expressing the ideas in your own words, and not just change a few words here and there. Make sure to also include an in-text citation.
• Quoting is copying a selection from someone else's work, phrasing it exactly as it was originally written. When quoting, place quotation marks (" ") around the selected passage to show where the quote begins and where it ends. Make sure to include an in-text citation.

Signal Phrases

If you refer to the author's name in a sentence, you do not have to include the name again as part of your in-text citation; instead, include the date after the name and the page number (if there is one) at the end of the quotation or the paraphrased section. For example:

Hunt (2011) explains that mother-infant attachment has been a leading topic of developmental research since John Bowlby found that "children raised in institutions were deficient in emotional and personality development" (p. 358).

Short Quotations

If a quotation consists of fewer than 40 words , treat it as a short quotation:

• Incorporate the quote into the text and enclose it within double quotation marks.
• Include the author, year of publication, and page number for the reference.
• For example, Smith (2019) demonstrated how to "..." (p. 112).
• For example, "..." (Smith, 2019, p. 112).

Long (Block) Quotations

If a quotation contains 40 words or more , treat it as a long (block) quotation:

• Do not use quotation marks to enclose a block quotation.
• Start a block quotation on a new line and indent the whole block 0.5 inches from the left margin.
• If there are additional paragraphs within the quotation, indent the first line of each subsequent paragraph an additional 0.5 inches.
• Double-space the entire block quotation; do not add extra space before or after it.
• Either (1) cite the source in parentheses after the quotation's final punctuation, or (2) cite the author and year in the narrative before the quotation and place only the page number in parentheses after the quotation's final punctuation. Do NOT add a period after the closing parenthesis in either case.
• See section 8.27 in the Publication Manual for examples of the block quotation.

Direct Quotation Without Page Numbers

When you quote from electronic sources that do not provide page numbers (e.g., webpages, websites, some e-books), provide readers with another way of locating the quoted passage. Use any of the following approaches that will best help readers find the quotation:

• Provide a heading or a section name.
• Provide a paragraph number (count the paragraphs manually if they are not numbered).
• Provide a heading or section name in combination with a paragraph number.

In-Text Citation for More than One Source

If you would like to cite more than one source within the same in-text citation, simply record the in-text citations as normal and separate them with a semi-colon. List the sources alphabetically by author's last name or first word used from the title if no author is given, in the same order they would appear in the Reference list. For example:

(Jones, 2015; Smith, 2014). 

( Beckworth, 2016;  "Nursing,"  2015).

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APA Formatting and Style (7th ed.) for Student Papers

• What's New in the 7th ed.?
• Principles of Plagiarism: An Overview
• Basic Paper Formatting
• Basic Paper Elements
• Punctuation, Capitalization, Abbreviations, Apostrophes, Numbers, Plurals
• Tables and Figures
• Powerpoint Presentations
• Reference Page Format
• Periodicals (Journals, Magazines, Newspapers)
• Books and Reference Works
• Webpage on a Website
• Discussion Post
• Company Information & SWOT Analyses
• Dissertations or Theses
• ChatGPT and other AI Large Language Models
• Online Images
• Online Video
• Computer Software and Mobile Apps
• Missing Information
• Two Authors
• Three or More Authors
• Group Authors
• Missing Author
• Chat GPT and other AI Large Language Models
• Secondary Sources
• Block Quotations
• Fillable Template and Sample Paper
• Government Documents and Legal Materials
• APA Style 7th ed. Tutorials
• Additional APA 7th Resources
• Grammarly - your writing assistant
• Writing Center - Writing Skills This link opens in a new window
• Brainfuse Online Tutoring

What is an In-Text Citation?

In-text citations, an in-text citation is found in the body of a research paper. it tells your reader where you found any information or ideas that are not your own. it is a shortened citation in parentheses and includes:, the author’s last name,, publication year,, and the page number (if quoting). , when is an in-text citation required, an in-text citation is required whenever you use someone else’s words or ideas:, quoting – using someone else’s exact words. make sure to include a page number and place quotation marks around the quotation. if a quote is more than 40 words, use the directions on the page for blocked quotes (or the handout linked below)., paraphrasing – rephrasing someone’s writing or ideas into your own words. page number not required but include if it will help your reader locate the relevant information., *** remember: each source listed on the reference page must correspond to at least one in-text citation in the body of the paper; each in-text citation must correspond to a source listed on the reference page..

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APA Citation Guide: In-Text/Parenthetical Citations (7E)

• APA 7th Edition
• References, Templates, and Examples for APA 7E
• In-Text/Parenthetical Citations (7E)
• Paper Formatting 7E: Student Paper
• Paper Formatting 7E: Professional Paper
• Annotated Bibliography 7E
• Difference Between 6th & 7th
• Introduction
• Collecting Citations
• Backing-Up/Syncing
• Placing Citations in a Document

Printable PDF Guide to In-Text Citations

• APA 7E In-Text Citations PDF Two-page, printable PDF of this tab.
• APA 7E In-Text Citations Powerpoint Used the the 25-minute workshop.
• APA 7E In-Text Citations video Edited from a live workshop, this video shows you the basics (19m37s).

APA 7E In-Text/Parenthetical Citations

In-text citations, or parenthetical citations, are those that are inside the running text, or narrative of your text, and act as pointers to the more complete reference list at the end of the paper. In-text citations can follow very different rules than citations found in the reference list, so it’s important to place them in separate mental compartments.

The in-text citation needs the author and the year of the document.  The basic template looks like this:

( Author, year )

(Author, year, p. x)

(Author, year, pp. xx-xx)

Research by Garcia (2017) found blah.

Research found blah (Garcia, 2017).

Two Authors 

Garcia and Bartle (2017) found blah.

Research found blah (Garcia & Bartle, 2017).

Three or More Authors 

Et al. is an abbreviation of a latin phrase that means "and others." it stands in for two or more other names you haven't typed..

Garcia  et al.  (2017) found blah .

Research found  blah (Garcia et al. , 2017).

Garcia et al. (2017) found "blah" (p.25). 

No Author (Not Anonymous, Not Corporate Author) 

Research found blah ( “ Title of A rticle in Q uotation M arks and T itle C ase ,”  2017)

Research found blah ( Title of B ook in I talics and T itle C ase , 2017)

In “ Title of  A rticle in  Q uotation  M arks and  T itle  C ase ” (2017)

In  Title of  B ook in  I talics and  T itle  C ase  (2017) the author states "blah" (p. 45).

Multiple Sources

Several studies (Lowe, 2015 ; Mancha, 2007 ; Smith & Jones ; 1993) have found blah.

In a multiple sources, in-text citation order the different citations alphabetically as they appear in the reference list, so the reader can find them easily. Each is separated by a semi-colon.

Same Author/Same Year/Different Works

Research found (Garcia, 1981a)

In your reference list, these would look like:

Garcia, C. (1981a). Article title.   [other article citation information].

Garcia, C. (1981b). Book title .   [other book citation information].

Citing Someone Who is Being Cited by Someone

Petry (as cited in Quarton, 2017) found that

Some research showed blah (Petry, 1975, as cited in Quarton, 2017).

Big Quotations/Small Quotations

If you have a direct quotation that is less than 40 words, blend the quotation smoothly into your writing and use quotation marks.  If the quotation is 40 words or more, place it in a free-standing, indented text block, do not use quotation marks, and do maintain double spacing. End with a period, then place the in-text citation.

Garcia’s (2017) work found that

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Duis dolor nunc, eleifend nec placerat vel, rhoncus et sem. Fusce ullamcorper scelerisque libero, nec eleifend felis tristique vitae. Fusce varius luctus nisi, ut mattis ligula. Nam a tincidunt magna, vitae volutpat mauris. elit . (p. 215)

Direct Quotation or Paraphrase?

APA 7E makes a strong statement about paraphrasing almost everything. Any text that you are quoting exactly from the original should be enclosed in quotation marks, and the in-text citation should include a page number. As a courtesy, you may include a page number for a paraphrase from a long work, such as a book.

If you are making a very general reference to the overall subject of an article/essay, then you do not need quotation marks and you also do not need a page number. Examples of this are common in the introduction to research articles:

There have been several areas of investigation, including measures of disposition (Zhang, 2000; Garcia & Smith, 2009), measures of decision-making (Lejuez et al., 2004; Macapagal & Janssen, 2011), and measures of impulsivity (Lee, 2014). 

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• Free Tools for Students
• APA Citation Generator

Free APA Citation Generator

Generate citations in APA format quickly and automatically, with MyBib!

🤔 What is an APA Citation Generator?

An APA citation generator is a software tool that will automatically format academic citations in the American Psychological Association (APA) style.

It will usually request vital details about a source -- like the authors, title, and publish date -- and will output these details with the correct punctuation and layout required by the official APA style guide.

Formatted citations created by a generator can be copied into the bibliography of an academic paper as a way to give credit to the sources referenced in the main body of the paper.

👩‍🎓 Who uses an APA Citation Generator?

College-level and post-graduate students are most likely to use an APA citation generator, because APA style is the most favored style at these learning levels. Before college, in middle and high school, MLA style is more likely to be used. In other parts of the world styles such as Harvard (UK and Australia) and DIN 1505 (Europe) are used more often.

🙌 Why should I use a Citation Generator?

Like almost every other citation style, APA style can be cryptic and hard to understand when formatting citations. Citations can take an unreasonable amount of time to format manually, and it is easy to accidentally include errors. By using a citation generator to do this work you will:

• Save a considerable amount of time
• Ensure that your citations are consistent and formatted correctly
• Be rewarded with a higher grade

In academia, bibliographies are graded on their accuracy against the official APA rulebook, so it is important for students to ensure their citations are formatted correctly. Special attention should also be given to ensure the entire document (including main body) is structured according to the APA guidelines. Our complete APA format guide has everything you need know to make sure you get it right (including examples and diagrams).

⚙️ How do I use MyBib's APA Citation Generator?

Our APA generator was built with a focus on simplicity and speed. To generate a formatted reference list or bibliography just follow these steps:

• Start by searching for the source you want to cite in the search box at the top of the page.
• MyBib will automatically locate all the required information. If any is missing you can add it yourself.
• Your citation will be generated correctly with the information provided and added to your bibliography.
• Repeat for each citation, then download the formatted list and append it to the end of your paper.

MyBib supports the following for APA style:

Daniel is a qualified librarian, former teacher, and citation expert. He has been contributing to MyBib since 2018.

Citation Guides

• APA: Introduction
• APA: Articles
• APA: Websites and Software
• APA: Film, TV, Video
• APA: Images, Photographs
• APA: Talon, Guidelines, Policies, Emails
• APA: In-text Citations

In-Text Citations for APA Style

In-text citations examples for various authors and situations.

• APA: References Page Formatting
• MLA: Articles
• MLA: Websites
• MLA: Social media (Instagram, TikTok, etc.)
• MLA: Film, TV, Video, Audio
• MLA: Photos, Images, Artwork
• MLA: Talon, Self-citing, Interview
• MLA: Generative AI, ChatGPT
• MLA: Formatting
• MLA: In-text Citations
• MLA: Tutorials
• MLA: Details on core elements
• Citation Managers
• Chicago Style

What is an in-text citation and how is it different from the Reference List citation?

APA style uses a two-part system, where each source used will have an in-text citation and a reference list citation. The in-text citation appears within the narrative of your work and is a shortened version of the reference list citation, which appears after the end of the narrative. The in-text and reference list citation will both include the author's name and the date published. See APA website for a detailed discussion of in-text citations. 

When should I use an in-text citation in my writing?

Use an in-text citation when you summarize, paraphrase, or directly quote a source. If it isn't your original idea, cite it. In-text citations are generally placed at the end of a sentence.

What information is included in the in-text citation?

In-text citations include the author's last name(s) and the year of publication. It also includes the page number if citing a direct quotation. If the author's name and the year are included in the sentence this is called a "narrative citation" and no in-text citation in parentheses is needed.

In what order do I put the quotation mark, parentheses and period?

In-text citations are generally placed at the end of a sentence. The period at the end of the sentence comes after the closing parenthesis. If there is a direct quotation, the quotation mark goes before the parentheses. For example:

• (Smith, 1972).
• "...in treatment" (Smith, 1972, p. 81).

However, if the in-text citation follows a block quote, the period goes at the end of the sentence instead, before the parentheses of the in-text citation.

How do I cite something that the source quoted? That is, a second-hand or secondary source?

Generally it is good practice to track down the original source, if possible, and quote it directly. If this isn't an option, use the phrase "as cited in". For example:

• Brown (as cited in Jones, 2010) wrote that...

(Luna, 2020)

According to Luna... (2020).

Two authors

(Salas & D'Agostino, 2020)

According to Salas and D'Agostino... (2020).

Three or more authors

• Use the last name of the first author, then the phrase "et al." to indicate that there are more authors found in the reference list citation.

(Martin et al., 2020)

According to Martin et al.,... (2020).

Group author

• The first time you include an in-text citation for a group author, write out the whole name. If the group's name is very long, also include an abbreviation in brackets right after. When you cite it after that, you may just use the abbreviation instead of writing out the whole name.

(Stanford University, 2020)

(National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2020)

According to the National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH]... (2020).

(NIMH, 2020)

• If the source has no author given in your reference list citation, use a shortened form of the title.

("Super," 2017, para. 5)

• A source with no date is handled in the same way as in the reference list citation, with "n.d." 

(Trask, n.d.)

Personal communications

• Sources that are from personal communications or other unpublished communication not available to your audience do not need a reference list citation, but do still need an in-text citation.
• Give the first initial and last name of the person you communicated with.

"I was stationed at Pearl Harbor" (J. Rivera, personal communication, March 24, 2019).

Direct quotations

• When including a direct quotation include the author and year as usual. After the year, include a page number (p. 82), a paragraph number (para. 5), or a timestamp for audio or video recording (4:30)

Bede and Xing found that "the most commonly prescribed treatment is often ineffective" (2015, p. 10).

"The crowd laughed loudly and long" (Johnson, 2015, para.23)

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• Plagiarism and grammar
• Citation guides

APA Citation Generator

Keep all of your citations in one safe place

Create an account to save all of your citations

Don't let plagiarism errors spoil your paper

A comprehensive guide to apa citations and format, overview of this guide:.

This page provides you with an overview of APA format, 7th edition. Included is information about referencing, various citation formats with examples for each source type, and other helpful information.

If you’re looking for MLA format , check out the Citation Machine MLA Guide. Also, visit the Citation Machine homepage to use the APA formatter, which is an APA citation generator, and to see more styles .

Being responsible while researching

When you’re writing a research paper or creating a research project, you will probably use another individual’s work to help develop your own assignment. A good researcher or scholar uses another individual’s work in a responsible way. This involves indicating that the work of other individuals is included in your project (i.e., citing), which is one way to prevent plagiarism.

Plagiarism? What is it?

The word plagiarism is derived from the Latin word, plagiare , which means “to kidnap.” The term has evolved over the years to now mean the act of taking another individual’s work and using it as your own, without acknowledging the original author (American Psychological Association, 2020 p. 21). Plagiarism can be illegal and there can be serious ramifications for plagiarizing someone else’s work. Thankfully, plagiarism can be prevented. One way it can be prevented is by including citations and references in your research project. Want to make them quickly and easily? Try the Citation Machine citation generator, which is found on our homepage.

All about citations & references

Citations and references should be included anytime you use another individual’s work in your own assignment. When including a quote, paraphrased information, images, or any other piece of information from another’s work, you need to show where you found it by including a citation and a reference. This guide explains how to make them.

APA style citations are added in the body of a research paper or project and references are added to the last page.

Citations , which are called in-text citations, are included when you’re adding information from another individual’s work into your own project. When you add text word-for-word from another source into your project, or take information from another source and place it in your own words and writing style (known as paraphrasing), you create an in-text citation. These citations are short in length and are placed in the main part of your project, directly after the borrowed information.

References are found at the end of your research project, usually on the last page. Included on this reference list page is the full information for any in-text citations found in the body of the project. These references are listed in alphabetical order by the author's last name.

An APA in-text citation includes only three items: the last name(s) of the author(s), the year the source was published, and sometimes the page or location of the information. References include more information such as the name of the author(s), the year the source was published, the full title of the source, and the URL or page range.

Why is it important to include citations & references

Including APA citations and references in your research projects is a very important component of the research process. When you include citations, you’re being a responsible researcher. You’re showing readers that you were able to find valuable, high-quality information from other sources, place them into your project where appropriate, all while acknowledging the original authors and their work.

Common ways students and scholars accidentally plagiarize

Believe it or not, there are instances when you could attempt to include in-text and full references in the appropriate places, but still accidentally plagiarize. Here are some common mistakes to be aware of:

Mistake #1 - Misquoting sources: If you plan to use a direct quote, make sure you copy it exactly as is. Sure, you can use part of the full quote or sentence, but if you decide to put quotation marks around any words, those words should match exactly what was found in the original source. Here’s a line from The Little Prince , by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry:

“Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.”

Here’s an acceptable option:

“Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves,” stated de Saint-Exupéry (1943, p. 3).

Here’s a misquote:

“Grown-ups barely ever understand anything by themselves,” stated de Saint-Exupéry (1943, p. 3).

Notice the slight change in the words. The incorrect phrasing is an instance of accidental plagiarism.

Mistake #2 - Problems with paraphrasing: When we paraphrase, we restate information using our own words and writing style. It’s not acceptable to substitute words from the original source with synonyms.

Let’s use the same sentence from The Little Prince .

A correct paraphrase could be:

de Saint-Exupéry (1943) shares various ways adults frustrate children. One of the biggest being that kids have to explain everything. It’s too bad adults are unable to comprehend anything on their own (p. 3).

An incorrect paraphrase would be:

de Saint-Exupéry (1943) shares that adults never understand anything by themselves, and it is exhausting for kids to be always and forever clarifying things to them (p.3).

Notice how close the incorrect paraphrase is from the original. This is an instance of accidental plagiarism.

Make sure you quote and paraphrase properly in order to prevent accidental plagiarism.

If you’re having a difficult time paraphrasing properly, it is acceptable to paraphrase part of the text AND use a direct quote. Here’s an example:

de Saint-Exupery (1943) shares various ways adults frustrate children. One of the biggest being that kids have to explain everything, and “it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them” (p. 3).

Information About APA

Who created it.

The American Psychological Association is an organization created for individuals in the psychology field. With close to 121,000 members, they provide educational opportunities, funding, guidance, and research information for everything psychology-related. They also have numerous high-quality databases, peer-reviewed journals, and books that revolve around mental health.

The American Psychological Association is also credited with creating their own specific citation and reference style. Today, this format is used by individuals not only in the psychology field, but many other subject areas as well. Education, economics, business, and social sciences also use APA style quite frequently. Click here for more information . This guide covers general information about the style, but is not affiliated with the American Psychological Association.

Why was this style created?

This format was first developed in 1929 to form a standardized way for researchers in science fields to document their sources. Prior to the inception of these standards and guidelines, individuals were recognizing the work of other authors by including bits and pieces of information in random order. There wasn’t a set way to format citations and references. You can probably imagine how difficult it was to understand the sources that were used for research projects!

Having a standard format for citing sources allows readers to glance at a citation or APA reference and easily locate the title, author, year published, and other critical pieces of information needed to understand a source.

The evolution of this style

The guide below is based on APA style 7th edition, which was released in 2020. In previous versions of APA format, researchers and scholars were required to include the publisher location for books and the date that an electronic resource was accessed. Both are no longer required to be included.

Details on the differences between the 6th and 7th editions is addressed later in this guide.

Citations & References

The appearance of citations & references.

The format for references varies, but most use this general format:

%%Author’s Last name, First initial. (Date published). Title . URL

Researchers and scholars must look up the proper format for the source that they’re attempting to cite. Books have a certain format, websites have a different format, periodicals have a different format, and so on. Scroll down to find the proper format for the source you’re citing or referencing.

If you would like help citing your sources, CitationMachine.com has a citation generator that will help make the APA citation process much easier for you. To start, simply click on the source type you're citing:

• Journal articles

In-text citations

An APA in-text citation is included in research projects in three instances: When using a direct quote, paraphrasing information, or simply referring to a piece of information from another source.

Quite often, researchers and scholars use a small amount of text, word for word, from another source and include it in their own research projects. This is done for many reasons. Sometimes, another author’s words are so eloquently written that there isn’t a better way to rephrase it yourself. Other times, the author’s words can help prove a point or establish an understanding for something in your research project. When using another author’s exact words in your research project, include an APA in-text citation directly following it.

In addition to using the exact words from another source and placing them into your project, these citations are also added anytime you paraphrase information. Paraphrasing is when you take information from another source and rephrase it, in your own words.

When simply referring to another piece of information from another source, also include a citation directly following it.

Citations in the text are found near a direct quote, paraphrased information, or next to a mention of another source. To see examples of some narrative/ parenthetical citations in action, look at the image above, under “All About Citations & References.”

Note: *Only include the page or paragraph number when using a direct quote or paraphrase. Page numbers have a p. before the number, pp. before the page range, and para. before the paragraph number. This information is included to help the reader locate the exact portion of text themselves. It is unnecessary to include this information when you’re simply referring to another source.

Examples of APA in-text citations:

“Well, you’re about to enter the land of the free and the brave. And I don’t know how you got that stamp on your passport. The priest must know someone” (Tóibín, 2009, p. 52).

Student teachers who use technology in their lessons tend to continue using technology tools throughout their teaching careers (Kent & Giles, 2017, p. 12).

If including the author’s name in the sentence, place the year in the parentheses directly next to his or her name. Add the page number at the end, unless it’s a source without any pages or paragraph numbers (See Section 8.10 of the Publication manual for more details).

In-text citation APA example:

According to a study done by Kent and Giles (2017), student teachers who use technology in their lessons tend to continue using technology tools throughout their teaching careers.

The full references, or citations, for these sources can be found on the last part of a research project, titled the “References.”

Here’s how to create in-text citations for specific amounts of authors:

APA citation with no author

When the source lacks an author’s name, place the title, year, and page number (if available) in the text. The title should be in italics if it sits alone (such as a movie, brochure, or report). If the source is part of a whole (as many web pages and articles are), place the title in quotation marks without italics (See Section 8.14 of the Publication manual ).

Structure of an APA format citation in the text narratively, with the author's name missing:

Title of Source (Year) or “Title of Source” (Year)

Structure of an APA style format citation, in parentheses at the end of the sentence, with the author’s name missing: (Title of Source, Year) or (“Title of Source,” Year)

Structure for one author

In the text, narratively: Last name of Author (Year)...(page number).

In parentheses, at the end of the sentence: (Last name of Author, Year, page number).

Structure for two authors

Place the authors in the order they appear on the source. Only use the ampersand in the parenthetical citations (see Section 8.17 of the Publication manual ). Use ‘and’ to separate the author names if they’re in the text of the sentence.

In the text, narratively: Last name of Author 1 and Last name of Author 2 (Year)....(page number).

In parentheses, at the end of the sentence: (Last name of Author 1 & Last name of Author 2, Year, page number).

Structure for three or more authors

Only include the first listed author’s name in the first and any subsequent citations. Follow it with et al.

(Last name Author 1 et al., Year, page number)

(Agbayani et al., 2020, p. 99)

Last name of Author 1 et al. (Year)...(page).

Agbayani et al. (2020)...(p. 99)

One author, multiple works, same year

What do you do when you want to cite multiple works by an author, and the sources all written in the same year?

Include the letters ‘a’ ‘b’ ‘c’ and so on after the year in the citation.

(Jackson, 2013a)

Jackson (2013a)

Writers can even lump dates together.

Example: Jackson often studied mammals while in Africa (2013a, 2013b).

On the APA reference page, include the same letters in the full references.

Groups and organizations

Write out the full name of the group or organization in the first citation and place the abbreviation next to it in brackets. If the group or organization is cited again, only include the abbreviation. If it doesn’t have an abbreviation associated with it, write out the entire organization’s name each and every time (see Section 8.21 of the Publication manual ).

First APA citation for an organization with an abbreviation: (World Health Organization [WHO], Year)

World Health Organization (WHO, Year)

Notice in the example directly above, the name of the organization is written out in full in the text of the sentence, and the abbreviation is placed in parentheses next to it.

Subsequent APA citations in the text for an organization with an abbreviation: (WHO, Year) OR WHO (Year)

All citations in the text for an organization without an abbreviation: (Citation Machine, Year) or Citation Machine (Year)

One in-text citation, multiple works

Sometimes you’ll need to cite more than one work within an in-text citation. Follow the same format (author, year) format but place semicolons between works (p. 263).

(Obama, 2016; Monroe et al., 1820; Hoover & Coolidge, 1928)

Reminder: There are many citation tools available on CitationMachine.com. Head to our homepage to learn more, check out our APA citation website, and cite your sources easily! The most useful resource on our website? Our APA citation generator, which doesn’t just create full references, it’s also an APA in-text citation website! It’ll do both for you!

Click here to learn more about crediting work .

Reference list citation components

References display the full information for all the citations found in the body of a research project.

Some things to keep in mind when it comes to the references:

• All references sit together on their own page, which is usually the last page(s) of a paper.
• Title the page ‘References’
• Place ‘References’ in the center of the page and bold it. Keep the title in the same font and size as the references. Do not italicize, underline, place the title in quotation marks, or increase the font size.
• The entire page is double spaced.
• All references are listed in alphabetical order by the first word in the reference, which is usually the author’s last name. If the source lacks an author, alphabetize the source by the title (ignore A, An, or The)
• All references have a hanging indent, meaning that the second line of text is indented in half an inch. See examples throughout this guide.
• Remember, each and every citation in the text of the paper MUST have a full reference displayed in the reference list. The citations in the text provide the reader with a quick glimpse about the sources used, but the references in the reference list provide the reader with all the information needed to seek out the source themselves.

Learn more about each component of the reference citation and how to format it in the sections that follow. See an APA sample paper reference list at the end of this entire section.

Author’s names

The names of authors are written in reverse order. Include the initials for the first and middle names. End this information with a period (see Section 9.8 of the Publication manual ).

Format: Last name, F. M.

• Angelou, M.
• Doyle, A. C.

Two or more authors

When two or more authors work together on a source, write them in the order in which they appear on the source. You can name up to 20 authors in the reference. For sources with 2 to 20 authors, place an ampersand (&) before the final author. Use this format:

Last name, F. M., & Last name, F. M.

Last name, F. M., Last name, F. M., Last name, F. M., Last name, F. M., & Last name, F. M.

Kent, A. G., Giles, R. M., Thorpe, A., Lukes, R., Bever, D. J., & He, Y.

If there are 21 or more authors listed on a source, only include the first 19 authors, add three ellipses, and then add the last author’s name.

Roberts, A., Johnson, M. C., Klein, J., Cheng, E. V., Sherman, A., Levin, K. K. , ...Lopez, G. S.

If you plan on using a free APA citation tool, like the one at CitationMachine.com, the names of the authors will format properly for you.

###No authors

If the source lacks an author, place the title in the first position in the reference (Section 9.12 of the Publication manual ). When the source’s title begins with a number (Such as 101 Dalmatians ), place the reference alphabetically as if the number was spelled out. 101 Dalmatians would be placed in the spot where ‘One hundred’ would go, but keep the numbers in their place.

Additionally, if the title begins with the words ‘A’, ‘An,’ or ‘The,’ ignore these words and place the title alphabetically according to the next word.

See the “Titles” section below for more information on formatting the title of sources.

###Corporate/Organization authors

On an APA reference page, corporate authors are always written out in full. In the text of your paper, you may have some abbreviations (such as UN for United Nations), but in the full references, always include the full names of the corporation or organization (following Section 9.11 of the official Publication manual ).

%%United Nations. (2019). Libya: $202 million needed to bring life-saving aid to half a million people hit by humanitarian crisis. https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/02/1031981

Publication date & retrieval date

Directly after the author’s name is the date the source was published. Include the full date for newspapers and magazine articles, and only the year for journals and all other sources. If no date is found on the source, include the initials, n.d. for “no date.”

%% Narducci, M. (2017, May 19). City renames part of 11th Street Ed Snider Way to honor Flyers founder. The Philadelphia Inquirer . http://www.philly.com/

If using our APA Citation Machine, our citation generator will add the correct format for you automatically.

Giving a retrieval date is not needed unless the online content is likely to be frequently updated and changed (e.g., encyclopedia article, dictionary entry, Twitter profile, etc.).

%%Citation Machine [@CiteMachine]. (n.d.). Tweets [Twitter profile]. Twitter. Retrieved October 10, 2019, from https://twitter.com/CiteMachine

When writing out titles for books, articles, chapters, or other non-periodical sources, only capitalize the first word of the title and the first word of the subtitle. Names of people, places, organizations, and other proper nouns also have the first letter capitalized. For books and reports, italicize the title in the APA citation.

Strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Roots: The saga of an American family.

For articles and chapters in APA referencing, do not italicize the title.

Wake up the nation: Public libraries, policy making, and political discourse.

For newspapers, magazines, journals, newsletters, and other periodicals, capitalize the first letter in each word and italicize the title.

The Seattle Times.

A common question is whether to underline your title or place it in italics or quotation marks in the reference list. Here’s a good general rule: When a source sits alone and is not part of a larger whole, place the title in italics. If the source does not sit alone and is part of a larger whole, do not place it in italics.

Books, movies, journals, and television shows are placed in italics since they stand alone. Songs on an album, episodes of television shows, chapters in books, and articles in journals are not placed in italics since they are smaller pieces of larger wholes.

The Citation Machine citation generator will format the title in your citations automatically.

Additional information about the title

If you feel it would be helpful to include additional information about the source type, include a descriptive noun or two in brackets immediately following the title. Capitalize the first letter.

%%Kennedy, K., & Molen, G. R. (Producers), & Spielberg, S. (Director). (1993). Jurassic Park [Film]. USA: Universal.

Besides [Film], other common notations include:

• [Audio podcast]
• [Letter to the editor]
• [Television series episode]
• [Facebook page]
• [Blog post]
• [Lecture notes]
• [PowerPoint presentation]
• [Video file]

If you are using Citation Machine citing tools, additional information about the title is automatically added for you.

Publisher information

For books and reports, include the publisher name but not the location (see Section 9.29 of the Publication manual ). Older editions of the style required the city, state and/or country, but this hasn't been the case since the 7th edition was released.

It is not necessary to include the entire name of the publisher. It is acceptable to use a brief, intelligible form. However, if Books or Press are part of the publisher’s names, keep these words in the reference. Other common terms, such as Inc., Co., Publishers, and others can be omitted.

For newspapers, journals, magazines, and other periodicals, include the volume and issue number after the title. The volume number is listed first, by itself, in italics. The issue number is in parentheses immediately after it, not italicized. There is no space after the closing parenthesis and before the volume number.

%%Giannoukos, G., Besas, G., Hictour, V., & Georgas, T. (2016). A study on the role of computers in adult education. Educational Research and Reviews , 11 (9), 907-923. https://doi.org/10.5897/ERR2016.2688

After including the publisher information, end this section with a period.

Perseus Books.

Electronic source information:

For online sources, the URL or DOI (Direct Object Identifier) are included at the end of an APA citation.

DOI numbers are often created by publishers for journal articles and other periodical sources. They were created in response to the problem of broken or outdated links and URLs. When a journal article is assigned a DOI number, it is static and will never change. Because of its permanent characteristic, DOIs are the preferred type of electronic information to include in APA citations. When a DOI number is not available, include the source’s URL (see Section 9.34 in the Publication manual ).

For DOIs, include the number in this format:

http://doi.org/xxxx

For URLs, type them in this format:

http:// or https://

Other information about electronic sources:

• If the URL is longer than a line, break it up before a punctuation mark.
• Do not place a period at the end of the citation/URL.
• It is unnecessary to include retrieval dates, unless the source changes often over time (like in a Wikipedia article).
• It is not necessary to include the names of databases

If using the Citation Machine APA citation website autocite features, the online publication information will be automatically replaced by the DOI. The Citation Machine APA template will properly cite your online sources for you.

Make sure you run your completed paper through the Citation Machine Plus smart proofreader, which scans for grammar, spelling, and plagiarism. Whether it’s an adjective , verb , or pronoun out-of-place, our technology helps edits your paper for you!

Annotated bibliographies:

An APA annotated bibliography is a full bibliography that includes a small note for each reference citation. Each note should be short (1-2 paragraphs) and contain a summary or your evaluation about each source. When creating your citations on CitationMachine.net, there is a field at the bottom of each form to add your own annotations.

Follow the publication manual guidelines on paper format and writing style. Let your instructor guide other details about your annotations. Still confused? Read our guide on annotated bibliographies .

These types of projects look different depending on the style you’re using. Use the link at the top of the page to access resources related to the Modern Language Association’s style. Here’s information related to Chicago citation style .

Page formatting

Need help with the design and formatting of your paper? Look no further! This section provides the ins and outs of properly displaying the information in your APA essay.

• Times New Roman, 12-point size.
• Calibri, Arial, or Georgia, 11-point size
• Lucida, Sans Unicode, or Computer Modern, 10-point size
• Indents = Every paragraph should start with an indent.
• Margins = 1 inch around the entire document
• Spacing = Double space everything!

Arrange your pages in this order:

• Page 1 - APA Title Page (see below for information on the title page)
• Page 2 - Abstract (If your professor requests one)
• Page 3 - First page of text
• References begin on their own page. Include the list of references on the page after the text.
• Tables and figures

Keep in mind that the order above is the recommendation for papers being submitted for peer review. If you’re writing an APA style paper for a class, your professor may be more lenient about the requirements. Also, if you’re submitting your paper for a specific journal, check the requirements on the journal’s website. Each journal has different rules and procedures.

Just a little nudge to remind you about the Citation Machine Plus smart proofreader. Whether it’s a conjunction or interjection out of place, a misspelled word, or an out of place citation, we’ll offer suggestions for improvement! Don’t forget to check out our APA citation maker while you’re at it!

Running heads

In older editions of APA, running heads were required for all papers. Since the 7th edition, that’s changed.

• Student paper: No running head
• Professional paper: Include a running head

The running head displays the title of the paper and the page number on all pages of the paper. This header is found on every page of a professional paper (not a student paper), even on the title page (sometimes called an APA cover page) and reference list (taken from Section 2.8 of the Publication manual ).

It's displayed all in capital letters at the top of the page. Across from the running head, along the right margin, is the page number.

• Use the header feature in your word processor. Both Google Docs and Word have these features available.
• Use one for the recommended fonts mentioned under "Page formatting."

Title pages

A title page, sometimes called an APA cover page, graces the cover of an essay or paper. An APA title page should follow rules from Section 2.3 of the official Publication manual and include:

• Page number, which is page 1
• Use title case and bold font
• The title should be under 12 words in length
• The title should be a direct explanation of the focus of the paper. Do not include any unnecessary descriptors such as “An Analysis of…” or “A Study of…”
• Exclude any labels such as Mr., Ms., Dr, PhD...
• Name of the school or institution
• Course number and/or class name
• Name of your instructor, including their preferred honorifics (e.g., PhD, Dr., etc.)
• Paper’s due date
• If this is a professional paper, also include a running head. If this is a student paper, do not include one.

Follow the directions for the running head and page number in the section above. Below the running head, a few lines beneath, and centered in the middle of the page, should be the title. The next line below is the author’s name(s), followed by the name of the school or institution, the class or course name, your instructor’s name, and the paper’s due date.

All components on this page should be written in the same font and size as the rest of your paper. Double space the title, names, name of school or institution, and all other information on the page (except for the running head and page number).

Example - Student Title Page APA:

Example - Professional Title Page APA:

If you’re submitting your paper to a journal for publication, check the journal’s website for exact requirements. Each journal is different and some may request a different type of APA format cover page.

Looking to create an APA format title page? Head to CitationMachine.com’s homepage and choose “Title Page” at the top of the screen.

An abstract briefly but thoroughly summarizes dissertation contents. It’s found in the beginning of a professional paper, right after the title page. Abstracts are meant to help readers determine whether to continue reading the entire document. With that in mind, try to craft the lead sentence to entice the reader to continue reading.

Here are a few tips:

• Be factual and keep your opinions out. An abstract should accurately reflect the paper or dissertation and should not involve information or commentary not in the thesis.
• Communicate your main thesis. What was the examined problem or hypothesis? A reader should know this from reading your abstract.
• Keep it brief. Stick to the main points and don’t add unnecessary words or facts. It should not exceed 250 words.
• Consider your paper’s purpose. It’s important to cater your abstract to your paper type and think about what information the target audience for that paper type would want. For example, an empirical article may mention methodology or participant description. A quantitative or qualitative meta-analysis would mention the different variables considered and how information was synthesized.
• Use verbs over noun equivalents, and active voice. Example: “There was research into…” becomes “We researched…”

Formatting guidelines:

• The abstract goes after the title page.
• It should have the same font (size and type) as the rest of the paper.
• It should stick to one page.
• Double-space all page text.
• Center and bold the word “Abstract” at the top of the paper.
• Don’t indent the first line of the abstract body. The body should also be in plain text.
• For the keywords, place it on the line after the abstract and indent the first line (but not subsequent lines). The word “Keywords:” is capitalized, italicized, and followed by a colon. The actual keywords are sentence case and in plan font.
• List each keyword one after the other, and separate them by a comma.
• After the last keyword, no ending punctuation is needed.

Tables & Figures

If your paper includes a lot of numerical information or data, you may want to consider placing it into a table or a figure, rather than typing it all out. A visual figure or simple, organized table filled with numerical data is often easier for readers to digest and comprehend than tons of paragraphs filled with numbers. Chapter 7 of the Publication manual outlines formatting for tables and figures. Let's cover the basics below.

If you’d like to include a table or figure in your paper, here are a few key pieces of information to keep in mind:

• At the end of the paper after the APA reference page
• In the text after it is first mentioned
• The table first mentioned in the text should be titled ‘Table 1.’ The next table mentioned in the text is ‘Table 2,’ and so on. For figures, it would be 'Figure 1,' 'Figure 2,' and so forth.

• Even though every table and figure is numbered, also create a title for each that describes the information it contains. Capitalize all important words in the title.
• For tables, do not use any vertical lines, only use horizontal to break up information and headings.
• Single spacing is acceptable to use in tables and figures. If you prefer double spacing your information, that is okay too.
• Do not include extra information or “fluff.” Keep it simple!
• Do not include the same exact information in the paper. Only include the complete information in one area—the table or the text.
• All tables and figures must be referenced in the text. It is unacceptable to throw a table or figure into the back of the paper without first providing a brief summary or explanation of its relevance.

Publication Manual 6th Edition vs 7th Edition

The 6th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association was released in 2009. The current 7th edition came out in the fall of 2019 and was designed to be more student focused, provide more guidance on accessibility, and address changes that have developed over the last 10 years.

Below, we’ve listed what we feel are the most relevant changes related to APA format.

Journals and DOIs

DOI stands for “digital object identifier.” Many journal articles use and have a unique DOI that should be included in a full citation.

When including a DOI in a citation, format it as a URL. Do not label it “DOI.” Articles without DOIs from databases are treated as print works. For example:

6th edition:

%%Gänsicke, B. T., Schreiber, M. R., Toloza, O., Fusillo, N. P. G., Koester, D., & Manser, C. J. (2019). Accretion of a giant planet onto a white dwarf star. Nature, 576 (7785), 61–64. doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-1789-8

7th edition:

%%Gänsicke, B. T., Schreiber, M. R., Toloza, O., Fusillo, N. P. G., Koester, D., & Manser, C. J. (2019). Accretion of a giant planet onto a white dwarf star. Nature, 576 (7785), 61–64. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1789-8

Citing Books

There are few new guidelines when you are citing a book. First, the publisher location no longer needs to be indicated.

%%Zack, P. O. (2001). The shoals of time. Bloomington, IN: First Books Library.

%%Zack, P. O. (2001). The shoals of time. First Books Library.

Second, the format of an ebook (e.g., Kindle, etc.) no longer needs to be indicated.

%%Niven, J. (2012). Ada Blackjack: A true story of survival in the Arctic [Kindle].

%%Niven, J. (2012). Ada Blackjack: A true story of survival in the Arctic .

Lastly, books from research databases without DOIs are treated the same as print works.

When using a URL in a citation, you no longer need to include the term “Retrieved from” before URLs (except with retrieval dates). The font should be blue and underlined, or black and not underlined.

6th Edition:

%%Flood, A. (2019, December 6). Britain has closed almost 800 libraries since 2010, figures show. The Guardian . Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/dec/06/britain-has-closed-almost-800-libraries-since-2010-figures-show

7th Edition:

%%Flood, A. (2019, December 6). Britain has closed almost 800 libraries since 2010, figures show. The Guardian . https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/dec/06/britain-has-closed-almost-800-libraries-since-2010-figures-show

Within a full APA citation, you may spell out up to 20 author names. For two to 20 authors, include an ampersand (&) before the name of the last author. For sources with 21 or more authors, structure it as follows:

Structure: First 19 authors’ names, . . . Last author’s name.

7th edition example: Washington, G., Adams, J., Jefferson, T., Madison, J., Monroe, J., Adams, J. Q., Jackson, A., Van Buren, M., Harrison, W. H., Tyler, J., Polk, J. K., Taylor, Z., Filmore, M., Pierce, F., Buchanan, J., Lincoln, A., Johnson, A., Grant, U. S., Hayes, R. B., Garfield, . . . Trump, D.

When creating an in-text citation for a source with 3 or more authors, use “et al.” after the first author’s name. This helps abbreviate the mention.

6th Edition: (Honda, Johnson, Prosser, Rossi, 2019)

7th Edition: (Honda et al., 2019)

Tables and Figures

Instead of having different formats for tables and figures, both use one standardized format. Now both tables and figures have a number, a title, name of the table/figure, and a note at the bottom.

If you’re still typing into Google “how to cite a website APA” among other related questions and keywords, click here for further reading on the style .

When you’re through with your writing, toss your entire paper into the Citation Machine Plus plagiarism checker , which will scan your paper for grammar edits and give you up to 5 suggestions cards for free! Worry less about a determiner , preposition , or adverb out of place and focus on your research!

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

Updated March 3, 2020

Written and edited by Michele Kirschenbaum and Wendy Ikemoto. Michele Kirschenbaum has been an awesome school librarian since 2006 and is an expert in citing sources. Wendy Ikemoto has a master’s degree in library and information science and has been working for Citation Machine since 2012.

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Citation Help for APA, 7th Edition: Course Resources (PowerPoint, Handouts, etc.)

• Books & Ebooks
• Book Chapter & Ebook Chapter
• Conference Presentations
• Course Resources (PowerPoint, Handouts, etc.)
• Encyclopedia
• Journal Article
• Legal Materials
• Magazine Article
• Master's Thesis, Dissertation, or Capstone Project
• Movies & Streaming Video
• Newspaper Article
• Personal Communication (email, interviews, lectures, course materials, etc.)
• Webpages & Websites
• Formatting Your Paper
• In-text Citations
• Ethically Use Sources

Introduction

In APA 6th edition, it was advised to cite materials in courses that were not formally published, whether in the face-to-face environment or an online course, as personal communication. Examples of these types of materials include PowerPoints, Google Slides, recorded lectures, handouts, lecture notes, etc. 

The APA 7th edition provides guidance and advice for citing course materials. First and foremost, the writer should consider the audience. The audience for an assignment within a course is the course instructor and, possibly, the students enrolled within the course. In this case, APA advises that because the assignment will not be formally published, then the writer may use the examples in Chapter 10 to create references.  Students should consult with their instructors to determine each instructor's preferences. 

In the event any course materials that are not formally published are used within a formally published work, the writer should revise the content with either different sources with similar content, or the writer should update the unpublished sources within the paper and cite them as personal communication. 

Variation - No Date?

No Date of Publication?

Fellows, S. (n.d.). Seeing the moon rise . Paulson.

Explanation

For sources where the publication date is unknown or cannot be determined, use the abbreviation "n.d." which stands for no date. Use small letters and place a period after each letter. There should be no space between the letters.  

More Information

For more information about sources with no date, see Section 9.17 on page 291 of the APA Manual, 7th edition.

Variation - Date Format?

When the reference is a book or journal article, use the year of publication only. However, for all other sources, if a more specific date is provided, add the more specific date to the reference. 

Date Format Examples

• Year only - (2020)
• Year, month, and day - (2020, January 21)
• Year and month - (2020)
• Year and season - (2020, Spring)

For more information about the format of dates, see Sections 9.13 & 9.14 on pages 289-290 of the APA Manual, 7th edition. 

Lecture in a Face-to-Face Course

Lectures in a face-to-face course, live workshop, or unrecorded webinar are not recoverable. In other words, the reader cannot locate and access the source or hear the lecture. In these cases, treat the lecture as personal communication .

Recorded Lecture in Brightspace Uploaded to YouTube

Recorded course lectures in a Brightspace course uploaded to YouTube should be referenced as a streaming video from YouTube . 

Recorded Lecture in a Brightspace Course

Example of narrated powerpoint.

​Rustad, J. (2018, July 15). Research methodologies [Narrated PowerPoint slides]. Brightspace@CSS. https://my.css.edu/

Author or Creator: Rustad, J. 

Begin with the course instructor or whoever created the video. The author may also be an alias or a group author. List the instructor's last name followed by a comma. Then, add the first and middle initials (if there is a middle initial). After each initial, add a period. If there is a middle initial, add a space between the initials.   

Date of Publication: (2018). 

Next, add the date the narrated PowerPoint was published. It should be in parentheses and a period should be added after the parentheses. If there is no date listed for when the video was published, then use the abbreviation for no date, which is "n.d." Be sure to add a period after each letter of the abbreviation.   

Title & Subtitle of the Video: Research methodologies  [Narrated PowerPoint slides].

After the date, add the title of the narrated PowerPoint. The title should follow the general capitalization rule that says to capitalize the first word of the title and subtitle as well as proper nouns. The title should be italicized. After the title, add "Narrated PowerPoint slides" in brackets. Add a period after the brackets.   

Source Information:  Brightspace@CSS. https://my.css.edu/

Complete the reference by listing the name of the College's Learning Management System (LMS). In this case, it is Brightspace@CSS. Add a period after Brightspace@CSS. Then, add the URL of the login page for Brightspace, which is https://my.css.edu/ .  Do not add a period after the URL!

More Information:

For more information about course and intranet resources, see Section 8.8 on page 259 and ex. 102 on page 347 of the APA Manual, 7th edition.  

Parenthetical & Narrative Citation Examples

Parenthetical citation:.

(Rustad, 2018)

Narrative Citation:

Rustad (2018) discussed .....  

For more information about author format within parenthetical and narrative citations, see Section 8.17 and Table 8.1 on page 266 of the APA Manual, 7th edition. 

PowerPoint or Google Slides in a Brightspace Course

Google slides example.

Rustad, J. (n.d.). Importance of scholarly voice  [Google slides]. Brightspace@CSS. https://my.css.edu/

Author: Rustad, J. 

Begin with the course instructor or whoever created the PowerPoint or Google Slides. The author may also be a person, an alias, or a group author. List the instructor's last name followed by a comma. Then, add the first and middle initials (if there is a middle initial). After each initial, add a period. If there is a middle initial, add a space between the initials.   

Date of Publication: (n.d.).

Next, add the date the PowerPoint or Google Slides was published. If there is no date listed for when the PowerPoint or Google Slides was published, then use the abbreviation for no date, which is "n.d." Be sure to add a period after each letter of the abbreviation. The date should be in parentheses with a period after the parentheses.   

Title & Subtitle of the video: Importance of scholarly voice  [Google slides].

After the date, add the title of the PowerPoint or Google Slides. The title should follow the general capitalization rule that says to capitalize the first word of the title and subtitle as well as proper nouns. The title should be italicized. After the title, add "Google slides" in brackets. If the format is PowerPoint instead of Google slides, put "PowerPoint slides" in the brackets. Add a period after the brackets.   

​Complete the reference by listing the name of the College's Learning Management System (LMS). In this case, it is Brightspace@CSS. Add a period after Brightspace@CSS. Then, add the URL of the login page for Brightspace, which is https://my.css.edu/ .  Use the URL to login page of Brightspace because each course within Brightspace is limited to those enrolled in the course. 

For more information about course and intranet resources, see Section 8.8 on page 259 and ex. 102 on page 347 ff the APA Manual, 7th edition.  

(Rustad, n.d.)

Rustad (n.d.) illustrated .....  

More Information: 

Handouts or lecture notes.

The College of St. Scholastica Library. (2017). Open educational resources  [Handout]. Brightspace@CSS.  https://my.css.edu

Author:  The College of St. Scholastica Library. 

Begin with the creator of the handout. The author may also be a person. For a personal name, list the last name of the creator followed by a comma. Then, add the first and middle initials (if there is a middle initial). After each initial, add a period. If there is a middle initial, add a space between the initials.   

Date of Publication: (2017). 

Next, add the date the handout was created. If there is no date listed for when the handout was created or was last updated, then use the abbreviation for no date, which is "n.d." Be sure to add a period after each letter of the abbreviation. The date should be in parentheses with a period after the parentheses.   

Title & Subtitle of the video: Open educational resources [Handout].

After the date, add the title of the handout. The title should follow the general capitalization rule that says to capitalize the first word of the title and subtitle as well as proper nouns. The title should be italicized. After the title, add "Handout" in brackets. Add a period after the brackets.   

​Complete the reference by listing the name of the College's Learning Management System (LMS). In this case, it is Brightspace@CSS. Add a period after Brightspace@CSS. Then, add the URL of the login page for Brightspace, which is https://my.css.edu/ .  Use the URL to the login page of Brightspace because each course within Brightspace is limited to those enrolled in the course. 

For more information about course and intranet resources, see Section 8.8 on page 259 and ex. 102 on page 347 of the APA Manual, 7th edition.  Also, see Section 10.4 on page 329 of the APA Manual, 7th edition.

(The College of St. Scholastica Library, 2017)

The College of St. Scholastical Library (2017) shared .....  

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Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Welcome to the Purdue Online Writing Lab

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

The Online Writing Lab at Purdue University houses writing resources and instructional material, and we provide these as a free service of the Writing Lab at Purdue. Students, members of the community, and users worldwide will find information to assist with many writing projects. Teachers and trainers may use this material for in-class and out-of-class instruction.

The Purdue On-Campus Writing Lab and Purdue Online Writing Lab assist clients in their development as writers—no matter what their skill level—with on-campus consultations, online participation, and community engagement. The Purdue Writing Lab serves the Purdue, West Lafayette, campus and coordinates with local literacy initiatives. The Purdue OWL offers global support through online reference materials and services.

A Message From the Assistant Director of Content Development 

The Purdue OWL® is committed to supporting  students, instructors, and writers by offering a wide range of resources that are developed and revised with them in mind. To do this, the OWL team is always exploring possibilties for a better design, allowing accessibility and user experience to guide our process. As the OWL undergoes some changes, we welcome your feedback and suggestions by email at any time.

Please don't hesitate to contact us via our contact page  if you have any questions or comments.

All the best,

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