https://www.scribbr.com/apa-style/in-textcitation/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=apa-in-text Beginner’s guide to APA in-text citation In-text citations briefly identify the source of information in the body text. They correspond to a full reference entry at the end of your paper. Table of contents APA in-text citations explained in 4 minutes Parenthetical vs. narrative citations APA in-text citations with multiple authors No author, date or page number Multiple sources in one parenthesis Citing indirect sources (“as cited in”) Example paragraph with in-text citations APA in-text citations explained in 4 minutes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhD4xaGAcRs&ab_channel=UofSCAikenLibrary 1 https://www.scribbr.com/apa-style/in-textcitation/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=apa-in-text Parenthetical vs. narrative citations The in-text citation can be placed in parentheses or naturally integrated into a sentence. Parenthetical: There is a correlation between social media usage and anxiety symptoms in teenagers (Parker, 2019). Narrative: Parker (2019) found a correlation between social media usage and anxiety symptoms in teenagers. The publication year appears directly after the author’s name when using the narrative format. The parenthetical citation can be placed within or at the end of a sentence, just before the period. Check out a full example paragraph with in-text citations. APA in-text citations with multiple authors If a work has two authors, separate their names with an ampersand (&) in a parenthetical citation or “and” in a narrative citation. If there are three or more authors, only include the first author’s last name followed by “et al.”, meaning “and others”. Group authors known by their abbreviations (e.g., CDC) are written in full the first time and are abbreviated in subsequent citations. Multiple authors in APA in-text citations Author type Parenthetical Narrative One author (Harris, 2020) Harris (2020) Two authors (Harris & Cook, 2020) Harris and Cook (2020) Three or more authors (Harris et al., 2020) Harris et al. (2020) Group authors (Scribbr, 2020) Scribbr (2020) Abbreviated group author (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2020) (CDC, 2020) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2020) CDC (2020) First citation Subsequent citations 2 https://www.scribbr.com/apa-style/in-textcitation/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=apa-in-text No author, date or page number Missing information in APA in-text citations: Unknown element Solution In-text citation Author Use the source title. (Source Title, 2020) Date Write “n.d.” for “no date”. (Harris, n.d.) Page number Use an alternative locator or omit the page number. (Harris, 2020, 03:46) or (Harris, 2020) No author If the author of a source is unknown, try to determine if there is an organization or government responsible for creating the content. If so, include its name in the in-text citation (and reference entry): The costs of solar energy have decreased by 34% in the past three years (Tesla, 2020). Alternatively, use the source title in place of the author. Italicize the title if it’s italicized in the reference entry. Otherwise, enclose it in double quotation marks: (“U.S. Flood Risk,” 2015) (Thinking, Fast and Slow, 2017) No publication date If the publication date is unknown, write “n.d.” (no date) in the in-text citation. (Johnson, n.d.). No page number (alternative locators) Page numbers are only required with direct quotes in APA. If you are quoting from a work that does not have page numbers (e.g., webpages or YouTube videos), you can use an alternative locator, such as: (Liu, 2020, 03:26) (Johnson, 2019, Chapter 3) (McCombes, 2016, para. 4) (Davis, 2016, Slide 15) (Flores, 2020, Table 5) (Streefkerk, 2020, “No page number” section) 3 https://www.scribbr.com/apa-style/in-textcitation/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=apa-in-text Multiple sources in one parenthesis If a statement is supported by multiple sources, the in-text citations can be combined in one parenthesis. Order the sources alphabetically, and separate them with a semicolon. When citing multiple works from the same author, list the years of publication separated by a comma. Several studies have replicated these results (Brown, 2009; Porter, 2004; Smith, 2015, 2017). Citing indirect sources (“as cited in”) If you want to refer to a source that you have found in another source, you should always try to access the original or primary source. However, if you cannot find the original source, you should cite it through the secondary source that led you to it, using the phrase “as cited in”. (Parker, 1978, as cited in Bloom et al., 2017) If the publication date of the primary source is unknown, include only the year of publication of the secondary source. Porter (as cited in Johnson, 2017) states that… Only include a reference entry for the secondary source, not the primary source. Example paragraph with in-text citations Adapted example paragraph: Body image issues have been widely associated with social media usage, particularly in young women (Perloff, 2014). The relation between media depictions and body image concerns is well-established; a meta-analysis by Grabe et al. (2008) concluded that exposure to mass media is linked to body image dissatisfaction among women. Several empirical studies have focused on Facebook usage in adolescent girls (Tiggermann & Slater, 2013; Meier & Gray, 2014), while a systematic review by Holland and Timmerman (2016) established a relationship between social networking and body image for both women and men. 4