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​An in-line citation means you use the author’s (or authors’) name as part of the text of the sentence (it’s almost always the subject of ​​your sentence) immediately followed by the publication year in parentheses.

A parenthetical citation 
means the author name and publication year both appear within parentheses following the information you are paraphrasing or quoting.​​
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​THE END RESULT SHOULD LOOK ​LIKE THIS:​

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Example 1 - single author source.png
​NOTE: For in-line citations (again, when the author name is part of the text of the sentence), you only cite the year in conjunction with the first mention of that author within the paragraph. All other in-line citations require just the author’s name. However, every parenthetical citation requires both the author name and the year. Every time. ​​ ​Marshall (2017) noted students often struggle with APA in-text citations because the rules can feel complex and overwhelming to students when they are first introduced to the Publication Manual. However, with time and practice, in-text and parenthetical citations are easily mastered (Marshall, 2017). In fact, Marshall emphasized that writing in APA style can become second nature to the student who is motivated to learn and open to constructive feedback from faculty members, peers, and writing tutors. On the other hand, students who are stuck in the mindset that writing and APA style are difficult will be stymied in their learning process and might experience writer’s block, frustration, and even poor grades as a result (Marshall, 2017).

Example 2 - multiple author source.png 
The text to the right is an example of a properly cited paragraph that incorporates just one source by multiple authors. The same foundational rules from Example 1 for APA citations apply. In addition:       
  • If a source has three to five authors, you need only write out all author names in the first citation. After that, abbreviate the citations to the first author’s name followed by “et al.”
  • If a source has 6 or more authors, then abbreviate all citations to the first author name followed by et al.
  • Notice the punctuation of “et al.” The translation is “and others;” the word et is a complete word, but al. is an abbreviation. Therefore, you need a period after al.
 ​​ Students often struggle with APA in-text​ citations because the rules can feel complex and overwhelming to students when they are first introduced to the Publication Manual (Marshall, Smith, & Jones, 2017). However, with time and practice, in-line and parenthetical citations are easily mastered (Marshall et al., 2017). In fact, Marshall et al. (2017) emphasized that writing in APA style can become second nature to the student who is motivated to learn and open to constructive feedback from faculty members, peers, and writing tutors. On the other hand, according to Marshall et al., students who are stuck in the mindset that writing and APA style are difficult will be stymied in their learning process and might experience writer’s block, frustration, and even poor grades as a result.​

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​THE END RESULT SHOULD LOOK ​LIKE THIS:​

multi author citation 2.png


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​If you refer to a source you found inside another source, called a “secondary source”, within your paper, you should not cite the secondary source in your references page. While this may seem counterintuitive, APA only requires you to add the reference entry for the source, or the primary source, where you found the secondary source. So, the pair of reference entry and in-text reference should look like this: ​​ In-Text:

Marshall (as cited in Valentic, 2017) noted students find APA easier than MLA.

Students find APA easier than MLA (Marshall, as cited in Valentic, 2017).

Reference List Entry:​​

Valentic, A. B. (2017). Title of book: Subtitle of book. New York, NY: Publisher.​

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Personal communiction includes personal letters (i.e., unpublished), email and chat messages that are not publically archived, personal interviews, telephone conversations, and presentations that are not recorded or otherwise published. Because the information/data from personal communication is not recoverable, these sources do not appear on the reference list. ​Cite personal communication in-text only, including the source's initials and surname and exact date, as shown here.


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In-line
G.A. Valentic (personal communication, November 11, 2018)

Parenthetical
(G.A. Valentic, personal communication, November 11, 2018)​
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If you are ready to test your knowledge of APA in-text citations including in-line and parenthetical formats, click the button below to take the OCWC's assessment quiz.

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