APA In-Text Citations and Quotes: Rules and Examples (APA 7)

What is an APA in-text citation? ¶

An APA in-text citation is a brief reference in your sentence that names the author's surname and the year of publication, for example (Nguyen, 2021). It points the reader to the full entry in your reference list. When you quote word for word, you also give the page number: (Nguyen, 2021, p. 14).

APA calls this the author-date system. You cite every time you use someone else's ideas, data, words or images, whether you quote or paraphrase. The author and year in the citation must match the reference entry exactly, so a reader can find the source in seconds.

Parenthetical vs narrative citations ¶

If every sentence starts with an author's name, your paragraph reads like a list. Lead with the idea instead.

APA gives you two ways to cite. Both are correct; mix them so your writing reads naturally.

• Parenthetical citation: the author and date sit in parentheses, usually at the end of the sentence before the period.
  Example: Regular retrieval practice improves long-term recall (Agarwal, 2019).
• Narrative citation: the author's name is part of your sentence, with the year in parentheses right after it.
  Example: Agarwal (2019) found that regular retrieval practice improves long-term recall.

Narrative citations are useful when the author matters to your argument, for example when you compare two researchers' positions. Parenthetical citations keep the focus on the finding. You can also put both name and year in the sentence: In 2019, Agarwal found that...

APA in-text citations with multiple authors ¶

The number of authors decides the format. These rules apply from the very first citation onward.

Three details matter. Use "&" only inside parentheses; in your own sentence write "and." "Et al." has a period after "al" only, and in a parenthetical citation a comma follows it before the year. And if two different works would both shorten to the same form, such as Kapoor, Bloom, et al. (2020) and Kapoor, Bradley, et al. (2020), write out as many names as you need to tell them apart.

Group authors and works with no author ¶

A group author is an organization, agency or association credited as the author, such as the World Health Organization or the American Nurses Association. Spell out the full name the first time. If you will cite it often and the abbreviation is familiar, give the abbreviation in square brackets (parenthetical) or in parentheses with the year (narrative), then use it alone afterward. Define the abbreviation only once.

When a work has no author, use the title in place of the author. Shorten a long title to its first few words.

Use "Anonymous" as the author only if the work is actually signed "Anonymous": (Anonymous, 2017).

How to quote in APA format ¶

A direct quotation reproduces the source's exact words. APA prefers paraphrasing, but quotes are right for a precise definition, memorable wording, or when you are analyzing the exact phrasing. For quotations under 40 words, put them in quotation marks inside your sentence and always include a page number.

Punctuation with quotations

Periods and commas go inside the closing quotation marks unless a citation follows, in which case the period comes after the citation. Question marks and exclamation points go inside only if they belong to the quoted material. Do not add ellipses at the start or end of a quotation unless the original has them; use an ellipsis (...) only to show words you removed from the middle.

Quoting sources without page numbers

Webpages and some e-books have no page numbers. Give another locator instead:

• Paragraph number: (Chen, 2023, para. 4)
• Section heading and paragraph: (Ortiz, 2022, Discussion section, para. 2)
• Time stamp for audio or video: (Ramos, 2021, 14:35)

Page numbers are optional for paraphrases, but APA encourages them when a reader would need help finding the passage in a long work.

One author: (Luna, 2020) | Luna (2020)
Two authors: (Salas & D'Agostino, 2020) | Salas and D'Agostino (2020)
Three or more: (Martin et al., 2020) | Martin et al. (2020)
Group, first use: (National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2020)
Group, later: (NIMH, 2020)
No author: ("Title of Article," 2021) | (Title of Book in Italics, 2022)
No date: (Rivera, n.d.)
Quote, one page: (Luna, 2020, p. 14)
Quote, page range: (Luna, 2020, pp. 14–15)
No page numbers: (Luna, 2020, para. 4)
Video: (Luna, 2020, 14:35)
Secondary source: (Rabbitt, 1982, as cited in Lyon et al., 2014)
Several works: (Adams et al., 2019; Zhou, 2021)
Same author and year: (Zhou, 2021a, 2021b)
Personal communication: (T. Nguyen, personal communication, February 24, 2025)

APA block quotes (40 words or more) ¶

A quotation of 40 words or more becomes a block quotation. Format it as follows:

1. Start it on a new line and indent the whole block 0.5 inches from the left margin.
2. Do not use quotation marks around it.
3. Keep it double-spaced, with no extra space before or after.
4. If it has more than one paragraph, indent the first line of each later paragraph a further 0.5 inches.
5. Put the citation after the final punctuation mark, with no period after the closing parenthesis.

Because the author and year are already in the introducing sentence, only the page number follows the quote. If you do not name the author in the lead-in, the full citation (Okafor, 2022, p. 87) goes at the end instead. Use block quotes sparingly; long quotations rarely earn marks for analysis.

Citing a secondary source in APA ¶

A secondary source is one you read about in another work, without reading the original. APA asks you to use primary sources whenever you can. When the original is out of print, unavailable or in a language you do not read, cite it like this:

• Name the original work and write "as cited in" before the source you actually read: (Rabbitt, 1982, as cited in Lyon et al., 2014).
• Include the year of the original if you know it; omit it if you do not: Allport's diary (as cited in Nicholson, 2003).
• In the reference list, include only the secondary source you read, here Lyon et al. (2014).

No date, multiple works and other special cases ¶

• No date: write "n.d." in place of the year: (Rivera, n.d.) or Rivera (n.d.). Use the same "n.d." in the reference entry.
• Several works in one parenthesis: list them alphabetically, as they appear in the reference list, separated by semicolons: (Adams et al., 2019; Shumway & Shulman, 2015; Zhou, 2021).
• Same author, different years: give the author once and the years in chronological order: (Zhou, 2018, 2021).
• Same author, same year: add lowercase letters to the year, in both the citation and the reference list: (Zhou, 2021a, 2021b).
• Personal communications such as emails or unrecorded interviews: cite in the text only, with initials and an exact date: (T. Nguyen, personal communication, February 24, 2025). Do not add them to the reference list.

Every other citation needs a matching reference. Our APA format guide shows how to build the reference list, and our annotated bibliography guide covers entries with summaries.

Common APA in-text citation mistakes ¶

1. Using "et al." for a two-author work, or listing all names for three or more authors (an APA 6 habit).
2. Writing "&" in a narrative citation, or "and" inside parentheses.
3. Leaving out the page number for a direct quotation.
4. Putting quotation marks around a block quote, or adding a period after its citation.
5. Including first names or initials in the citation (except for personal communications, or when first authors of different works share a surname).
6. Citing a source that does not appear in the reference list, or spelling the name differently in each place.
7. Over-quoting where a paraphrase with a citation would show better understanding.

Citation errors are easy to miss in your own work because you know what you meant. Our APA formatting service checks every in-text citation against the reference list and returns corrections in Track Changes with an explanation. For the layout of the first page, see our APA title page guide.