APA Basic In-Text Citation Style
As the name author–date system implies, APA Style in-text citations include the author and date,
either both inside parentheses or with the author names in running text and the date in parentheses.
Here are two examples:

After the intervention, children increased in the number of books read per week
(Smith & Wexwood, 2010).

Smith and Wexwood (2010) reported that after the intervention, children increased
in the number of books read per week.
The "and" in Smith and Wexwood is written as an ampersand (&) inside parentheses and as the
word and outside of parentheses, as shown in the examples above.
Multiple In-Text Citations
When multiple studies support what you have to say, you can include multiple citations inside the
same set of parentheses. Within parentheses, alphabetize the studies as they would appear in the
reference list and separate them by semicolons. In running text, you can address studies in whatever
order you wish. Here are two examples:

Studies of reading in childhood have produced mixed results (Albright, Wayne, &
Fortinbras, 2004; Gibson, 2011; Smith & Wexwood, 2010).

Smith and Wexwood (2010) reported an increase in the number of books read,
whereas Gibson (2011) reported a decrease. Albright, Wayne, and Fortinbras
(2004) found no significant results.
Dealing With Missing Information
Sometimes the author and/or date are not immediately obvious, but a bit of citation sleuthing will
bring them to light. Here are some tips on determining authorship and on figuring out dates.
However, sometimes one or both of these elements are truly missing. The table below shows what
substitutions to make for in-text citations if that happens.
What information do you have? Solution
Position A
Author
surname(s)
Position B
I have both author and date
n/a
Author is missing
Substitute the title for
the author name
Title of Bookor
year
"Title of Article"
Date is missing
Use "n.d." for "no date"
Author
surname(s)
Combine solutions for
Author and date are both missing author and date being
missing
year
n.d.
Title of Bookor
n.d.
"Title of Article"
Note. Titles of books and reports are italicized in in-text citations, and titles of articles and other
documents are put in quotation marks. Capitalize the important words (see section 4.15 in the 6th
ed. Publication Manual, pp. 101–102) in titles in the text.
Important Tips and Further Reading
Don’t forget that when you cite a direct quotation you should include a page number (here is what to
do if there are no page numbers). You may include page numbers for paraphrases if you think it would
aid the reader (such as when you use only a portion of a large book), but this is not required.
Note that the only types of citations that do not follow the author–date system are legal references,
references to classical works like the Bible and the Qu'ran, and personal communications.
For further reading on this topic, see the sixth edition Publication Manual section “Citing References in
Text” (pp. 174–179). The table “Basic Citation Styles” (Table 6.1 on p. 177) offers many examples of
how to cite various numbers and types of authors.
Posted by Chelsea Lee at 02:49:32 PM in General APA Style, How-to, Text citationsShareThis