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APA Style (7th Edition) Citation Guide: Websites

  • Introduction
  • Journal Articles
  • Magazine/Newspaper Articles
  • Books & Ebooks
  • Government & Legal Documents
  • Biblical Sources
  • Secondary Sources
  • Films/Videos/TV Shows
  • How to Cite: Other
  • Additional Help

Table of Contents

Entire Website - No Separate Pages or Sections

Page or Section from a Website

Note: All citations should be double spaced and have a hanging indent in a Reference List.

A "hanging indent" means that each subsequent line after the first line of your citation should be indented by 0.5 inches.

This Microsoft support page contains instructions about how to format a hanging indent in a paper.

It can sometimes be difficult to find out who the author of a website is. Remember that an author can be a corporation or group, not only a specific person. Author information can sometimes be found under an "About" section on a website.

If there is no known author, start the citation with the title of the website instead.

The best date to use for a website is the date that the content was last updated. Otherwise look for a copyright or original publication date. Unfortunately this information may not be provided or may be hard to find. Often date information is put on the bottom of the pages of a website.

If you do not know the complete date, put as much information as you can find. For example you may have a year but no month or day.

If an original publication date and a last updated date are provided, use the last updated date. If the more current date is "last reviewed" instead of "last updated," use the original publication date (since the review may not have changed the content).

If there is no date provided, put the letters (n.d.) in round brackets where you'd normally put the date.

Titles should be italicized when the document stands alone (e.g. books, reports, websites, etc.), but not when it is part of a greater whole (e.g. chapters, articles, webpages, etc.).

Website Name

Provide website names in title case without italics after titles of work. Include a period after the website name, followed by the URL. When the author of the work is the same as the website name, omit the site name from the reference.

Retrieval Date

If the content of a website is likely to change over time (e.g. Wikis), you must provide the date you last visited the website.

If a URL is too long to fit onto one line, try to break it at a slash (/).

Entire Website

Note: If you are quoting or paraphrasing part of a website, you should create a reference for a Page or Section. If you mention a website in general, do not create a reference list entry or an in-text citation. Instead, include the name of the website in the text and provide the URL in parentheses.

The Department of Justice has a site called ReportCrime.gov (https://www.reportcrime.gov/) to help people identify and report crimes in their area.

Note : If you cite multiple webpages from a website, create a reference for each. Include the date you retrieved the information if the content is likely to change over time.

Created by a Corporate or Group Author

Corporation/Group/Organization's Name. (Year website was last updated/published, Month Day if given). Title of page: Subtitle (if any). Website Name. URL

Example in which the content is unlikely to change over time:

American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. (2019, November 21). Justice served: Case closed for over 40 dogfighting victims . https://www.aspca.org/news/justice-served-case-closed-over-40-dogfighting-victims

Example in which the content is likely to change over time:

Adidas. (2020). Sustainability . Retrieved January 23, 2020, from https://www.adidas.com/us/sustainability

Note: When the author and site name are the same, omit the site name in the reference.

In-Text Paraphrase:

(Corporation/Group's Name, Year)

Example: (Adidas, 2020)

In-Text Quote:

(Corporation/Group's Name, year, Section Name section, para. Paragraph Number if more than one paragraph in section)

Example: (Adidas, 2020, Sustainability section, para. 1)

Note: When there are no visible page numbers or paragraph numbers, you may cite the section heading and the number of the paragraph in that section to identify where your quote came from.

Abbreviating Corporation/Group Author Name in In-Text citations:

Author names for corporations/groups can often be abbreviated. The first time you refer to the author, provide the full name, along with the abbreviation.

If the group name appears in the text of your paper, include the abbreviation in the in-text parenthetical citation:

Example: The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA, 2019) assisted in the rescue of 40 dogs.

If the group name first appears within a parenthetical citation, include the full group name as well as the abbreviation in square brackets:

Example: Forty dogs were rescued in Bendena, Kansas (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals [ASPCA], 2019).

Provide the full group name (without an abbreviation) in the reference list entry: 

Created by an Individual Author 

Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given. (Year website was last updated/published, Month Day if given). Title of page: Subtitle (if any). Website Name. URL

Price, D. (2018, March 23). Laziness does not exist . Medium. https://humanparts.medium.com/laziness-does-not-exist-3af27e312d01

Shillam, S. (2018). Message from the Dean . University of Portland. Retrieved October 1, 2018, from https://nursing.up.edu/about/index.html

(Author Last Name, Year)

Example: (Shillam, 2018)

(Author Last Name, Year, Section Name section, para. Paragraph Number if more than one paragraph in section)

Example: (Shillam, 2018, Message from the dean section, para. 2)

Created by an Unknown Author 

Title of page: Subtitle (if any). (Year website was last updated/published, Month Day if given). Website Name. URL

Example in which the content is unlikely to change over time (because the restaurant has closed) :

Jarra's Ethiopian Restaurant [Reviews]. (2012, November 9). Yelp. https://www.yelp.com/biz/jarras-ethiopian-restaurant-portland

Powell's City of Books [Reviews]. (2020, February 25). Yelp. Retrieved February 28, 2020, from https://www.yelp.com/biz/powells-city-of-books-portland-4

("Title," Year)

Example: ("Powell's City of Books," 2020)

("Title," Year, Section Name section, para. Paragraph Number if more than one paragraph in section)

Example: ("Powell's City of Books," 2020, Review Highlights)

Note: When there are no visible page numbers or paragraph numbers, you may cite the section heading and the number of the paragraph in that section to identify where your quote came from. In this example, there is only one paragraph under the specific heading, so no paragraph number is needed.

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Citing websites & online media: APA (7th ed.) citation guide

On this page, online media, webpages or website.

in text citations for websites apa 7

This guide is based on the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th ed. It provides selected citation examples for common types of sources. For more detailed information consult directly a  print copy  of the style manual.

Check out APA's Guide to what's new for APA 7 .

Keep track of your document references/citations and format your reference lists easily with Citation management software .

For citing blog posts see citing articles in our guide.

Refer to APA's Online media for more reference examples and information or consult the guide directly (Section 10.15, pp. 348-349). 

Facebook, Tumblr, LinkedIn, & Reddit

Author, A. A. (YYYY, Month day). Content of the post up to 20 words . Site Name. URL

Reference list example

National Institute of Mental Health. (2020, September 14). Suicide is complicated and tragic, but is often preventable. Knowing the warning signs for suicide and how to get help [Infographic]. Facebook. https://bit.ly/3kkBF5v

Reference in text example

(National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2020)--[group name first appears in parenthetical citation] (NIMH, 2020) [subsequent use]

  • Author can be the name of a group.
  • Find more style guidelines when abbreviating the name of a group on APA's Group author abbreviations or directly consult the guide (Section 8.2, p. 268).
  • Note any audiovisuals in square brackets [Infographic] after content element.
  • Do not alter the spelling and capitalization in posts. Keep hashtags and links.
  • Provide emoji's name in square brackets if unable to to replicate, for example [winking face]. Refer to Unicode Emoji Charts for emoji names. An emoji counts as one word.
  •  If no published date available, use (n.d.).

Instagram & X (previously Twitter)

For TikTok examples see APA's TikTok References . For more X examples see APA's X references .

Author, A. A. [@username). (YYYY, Month day). Content of the post up to the first 20 words . Site Name. URL

SFU Library (@sfu_library). (2024, July 25). Take a peek at items from our Vancouver #Punk Collection - on display all summer at Belzberg Library @sfuvan!I [Image attached] [Post]. X. https://x.com/sfu_library/status/1816579180236071325

(SFU Library, 2024)

  • Keep @ symbol when part of username and place in square brackets [ ] (Section 9.8, p. 287).
  • Provide emoji's name in square brackets if unable to to replicate, for example [winking face]. Refer to Unicode Emoji Charts for emoji names.
  • An emoji counts as one word.
  • Use (n.d.). if no date available.

Use webpages or website if no other reference category fits for example, journal, blog, conference proceeding (Section 9.2, p.282).

A document or report found on a website

For citing a report found on a website see citing reports in our guide.

Quoting or paraphrasing part of a website

See more examples and details on APA's Webpage on a Website references or directly consult the guide (Section 10.16, pp 350-352).

Not sure how to identify and find the elements you need to cite a webpage? See What information do I need to cite a webpage

Author, A. A. (YYYY). Title of work . Site Name. https://xxxxxx

Name of Group. (YYYY, Month Day). Title of work . Site Name. https://xxxxxx

American Red Cross. (2019, April 15). Tornadoes - How to stay safe . https://www.redcross.org/about-us/news-and-events/news/2019/tornadoes-how-to-stay-safe.html

American Red Cross. (n.d.). Make a plan . https://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies/make-a-plan.html

Ewoldt, J. S. (2020, August 14). 6 ways to reduce your sugar intake . Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/6-ways-to-reduce-your-sugar-intake/art-20267400

The Wendy's Company. (n.d.). Community . Retrieved April 24, 2024, from https://www.wendys.com/csr-what-we-value/people/community

(American Red Cross, 2019) (American Red Cross, 2019, "Tornadoes - How to stay safe") [when quoting]

(American Red Cross, "Make a plan")

(Ewoldt, 2020)

(The Wendy's Company, n.d.)

  • When the author and site name are the same omit the site name [Section 9.33, p. 298].
  • For in-text citation, if there is no author the title of the webpage is used in its place [Section 8.14, p. 264-265]. Capitalize major words in the title (Section 6.17, p. 167].
  • For the reference list citation, if no author, the title also replaces the author [Section 9.12, p. 289]. Titles in the reference list use sentence case [Section 6.17, p. 168].
  • When making in-text citations, use paragraph numbers (abbreviated to “para.”) if page numbers are not available. If there are no paragraph numbers, use the heading. The heading may be shortened if necessary.
  • Do not include retrieval dates unless the source material is likely to change over time and there is no archived date. When required use the following format:  Retrieved Month Day, YYYY , from  https :// xxxxxx   after the site name. See APA's Webpage on a website with retrieval date for examples.
  • Use bracketed description for works outside of peer-reviewed academic literature: [Letter to the editor], [Audiobook], [Photograph], [Brochure], [Press release], [Computer software], and [Supplemental material]. Refer to Section 9.21, p. 292 and see relevant examples in Chapter 10 of the guide.
  • There is no period after the URL .
  • Do not insert a hyphen when breaking a long URL.

Webpage on a news website

See more examples and details on APA's Webpage on a news website or consult the guide directly (Section 10.16, Example 110, p. 351).

Weber, B. (2020, September 28). Canada's health inequalities between rich and poor exposed in new study . HuffPost. https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/canada-health-inequality-study_ca_5f71f4fcc5b64deddef13346

(Weber, 2020)

  • For articles published in an online news source (e.g. Bloomberg, HuffPost, Salon, Vox) not associated with daily or weekly newspapers

Whole site, not a single document or web page

See more examples and details on APA's Whole website references or directly consult the guide (Section 8.8, pp. 268-269 & Section 10.16, pp. 350-352).

  • If website is mentioned in general (not any particular information on the site), provide name of website as part of the text and place URL in parentheses.
  • No references or in-text citations needed.
  • Link the name directly if writing online.
  • Free Tools for Students
  • APA Citation Generator

Free APA Citation Generator

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

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🤔 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
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  • 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:

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

APA Style 7th Edition: Citing Your Sources

  • Basics of APA Formatting

Purpose and Overview of In-text Citations

Citations for direct quotes, in-text citations.

  • In Text Quick View
  • Block Quotes
  • Books & eBooks
  • Thesis/Dissertation
  • Audiovisual
  • Conference Presentations
  • Social Media
  • Legal References
  • Reports and Gray Literature
  • Academic Integrity and Plagiarism

Additional Resources

  • Reference Page
  • Annotated Sample Student Paper Here's a sample paper provided by APA. For every style rule, there is a comment highlighted in the paper that tells you where to find the discussion of the rule in the APA Style Manual.

APA follows an author and date of publication model for citing sources in your research paper and are presented as either narrative or parenthetical citations.  The formatting does not vary due to format type, however it may deviate from the norm due to factors such as: number of authors, organization instead of individual author, lack of author, or lack of date.  By providing the standard author and date within your paper, the reader will be able to link the information presented easily to the full citation provided in the reference list.

View examples and explanations on this page or visit the In Text Quick View for more examples.

APA encourages paraphrasing over using direct quotes.  Use direct quotes when:

  • Reproducing an exact definition
  • Author has said something memorably or succinctly
  • When you want to respond to exact wording

When creating a citation for a direct quote, provide author, year and page number for both narrative and parenthetical citations.

Ex.  University of Southern California (2020) "direct quote from author" (p. 4)  OR  "direct quote from author" (University of Southern California, 2020, p. 4).

How to cite specific parts of a source:

Single page  =  p. #

Multiple pages  =  p.p. #-#

Paragraph number  =  para. #

Multiple paragraphs  =  paras. #-#

Presentation  =  Slide #

Table or Figure  =  Table # or Figure #

Multimedia/Audiovisual timestamp  =  hour:minute:second or minute:second

Heading or section name  =  name of section

Select the scenarios below for formatting instructions and examples

One work, One Author

Author named in text:

Social historian Richard Sennett (1980) names the tendency to come to terms with difficult experiences a "purification process" whereby "threatening or painful dissonances are warded off to preserve intact a clear and articulated image of oneself and one's place in the world" (p. 11).

Author named in parentheses:

The tendency to come to terms with difficult experiences is referred to as a "purification process" whereby "threatening or painful dissonances are warded off to preserve intact a clear and articulated image of oneself and one's place in the world" (Sennett, 1980, p. 11).

These examples © Duke University Libraries http://library.duke.edu/research/citing/within/apa.html

More than one way to cite:

Flynn (1999) stated in her treatise In a recent treatise on services (Flynn, 1999) In a 1999 treatise, Flynn stated

Subsequent references to same study in same paragraph:

In her treatise on services, Flynn (1999) stated her evaluative methods…Flynn also described

One work, multiple authors

When a work has two authors, always cite both authors' names in your text:

        Significant findings in a study of Los Angeles (McCroskey & O'Keefe, 2000)

When a citation has 3 or more authors, include the last name of the first author, followed by et al. (not italicized), and the year.

        (Nishimoto et al., 1998)

For narrative citations, use the word "and" to separate authors, for parenthetical citations, use an ampersand:

         McCroskey and O'Keefe (2000) studied Los Angeles...          (McCroskey & O'Keefe, 2000)

Groups as authors

When a group or organization is created as the author, use the group's name. If that group or organization is known by a recognizable acroynum, provide the organization’s full name the first time it is cited with it’s acronym. For narrative citations, the acronym will appear in parentheses with the date. For parenthetical citations, the acronym follows the group name in brackets. Once the first citation from the group includes the full name and acronym, all subsequent citations should only include the acronym.

First narrative citation: National Association of Social Workers (NASW, 1987)

Subsequent narrative citation: NASW (1987)

First text citation: (National Association of Social Workers [NASW], 1987)

Subsequent text citation: (NASW, 1987)

Works with no author

Works with no authors

Cite the work in your text using the first few words of the reference list entry (usually the title). Put double quotation marks around the title of an article or chapter, and italicize the title of a periodical, book, brochure or report:

The policy stated in the article (“Services for Disabled Children,” 1992)

The policy stated in the book Access to Services for Children (1995)

Specific parts of a source

Indicate the page, chapter, figure, table, or equation at the appropriate point in your text. Give page numbers for quotations, and use the abbreviations for the words page and chapter:

(Aranda & Knight, 1997, p. 344)

(Ell & Castaneda, 1998, chap. 5)

Personal communications

This format applies to emails, messages from nonarchived discussion groups, electronic bulletin boards, personal interviews, telephone conversations, etc. Do not list personal communications in your reference list as they are not recoverable by your reader. In your text, provide initials and surname of communicator and as exact a date as possible.

(M. Flynn, personal communication, September 20, 1999)

Mulltiple works by the same author in the same year

Sometimes you'll have multiple works by the same author in the same year. For instance, you may reference a number of tax documents from the same year, which would all be cited with (Internal Revenue Service, 2012).  So how do you differentiate?

In those instances, differentiate sources with a letter after the year. From the example above, the 990 form might be (Internal Revenue Service, 2012a) and the 1040 form would be (Internal Revenue Service, 2012b). Just make sure the letters stay consistent in your reference list.

Citing Indirect Sources

Sometimes, you will use a source that you didn't yourself read.  In those cases, the original source came from a secondary source you did read.  APA states that you should use secondary sources sparingly and may occur when "the original work is out of print, unavailable, or available only in a language that you do not understand."

When using secondary sources, indicate it by included "as cited in" as part of your in-text citation

Johnson argued that...(as cited in Smith, 2003, p. 102). (Johnson, 1984, as cited in Smith, 2003, p. 102).

Your reference list should include the secondary source. In this example, Smith appears in your reference list and Johnson does not.

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Prefer a video tutorial?

Click below to watch: .

video link for How to create references list and in-text citations in APA style

When you use others' ideas (paraphrases) and direct quotes, you must cite your source by including:

Author's last name, publication year, (only for direct quotes) page number of the quote.

The purpose of in-text citation is to direct the reader to the full citation on the  References list , which will have the full publication details. 

You are encouraged to write your in-text citations in several ways:

Author's last name and publication year in parentheses at the end of the sentence.

Ex. There is not a strong correlation between a high GPA and students who began reading at an early age (Kahneman & Klein, 2009).

Author's name in the text with the publication year in parentheses after it.

Ex. ​Kahneman and Klein (2009) found that there is not a strong correlation between a high GPA and early readers.​

Jump to more specific examples by using the table below: 

One or Two Authors: Direct Quotes 

Include the author's last name(s), with an ampersand if needed between the two; publication date; and page number(s).

Ex. Although businesses collect a lot of information on their customers' buying patterns, "it is not enough to know how customers behave, you also need to know why" (Kahneman & Baudin, 2009, p. 522).

One or Two Authors: Paraphrasing 

Cite the author, publication year, and page numbers if needed.

Ex. Many insects and animals have a larger spectrum of color vision than humans, including ultraviolet and infrared (Gadhavi & Krupin, 2009).

Three or More Authors (see p. 266-267 in Manual)

In every citation, cite only the first author followed by "et al."

Ex. A study by Alloy et al. (2009) examines the relationship between bipolar personality and substance abuse.

No Author (see p. 264-265 in Manual)

Cite the first few words of the source's entry in the Reference list, which is usually the title. The title will be italicized if it's italicized in the References list, or if it's not italicized, put it in "quotation marks" to identify it as the title here. 

Article or Website

Ex. From 2010 to 2022, the U.S. Mint will issue quarters featuring United States National Parks ("Quarter to Feature Smokies," 2009).

Book or Report

Ex. Getting plenty of sleep is essential to academic success ( College Bound Seniors , 2008).

Quoting a Quote (see p. 277 in Manual)

If at all possible, APA tells you to find the  original source  and cite that source directly. 

However, if you cannot find the original source, you can cite the quote as a  secondary source . Cite the quoted author in the text and the author of the article at the end. In this example, Jonsen and Willse are the authors of the source that you cannot retrieve (i.e. the secondary source), and Kosek is the author of the source that you have in-hand.

Ex. Jonsen and Willse concluded "there was no direct correlation between the two factors" (Kosek, 2011).

Authors with Acronym Name (see p. 268+ in Manual)

For short names where the abbreviation would not be readily understandable, write out the name each time. For long names where the abbreviation is familiar, write out the name with the acronym in brackets for the first reference, then use just the acronym.

Ex. In 2012, approximately 1 in 68 children were diagnosed with a form of Autism Spectrum Disorder (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2016).

However, the entry in the References list should still spell out the full name. 

Two Citations in One Sentence (see p. 263 in the Manual)

Order the citations alphabetically by the first author's last name. 

Ex. Several studies (Nakano et al., 1999; Gadhavi & Krupin, 2009; Walker et al., 2008) cite the need for more replication studies.

For works by the same author, order them by publication year: give the last name once and then the dates.

Personal Interviews (see p. 259 in Manual)

Only cite interviews in-text, not on the references list.

Ex. Individual researchers are not eligible for many private foundation grants, because often those funds are only given to nonprofit organizations (P. Karga, personal communication, May 3, 2019).

More questions? Check out the authoritative source: APA style blog

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APA Citation Guide (7th Edition): 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 Style 7th Edition

Citation Basics

Citing Quoted Material

Quoting a source with no page numbers, when to use page numbers in an in-text citation.

  • Using "et al." in Parenthetical Citations

Citing One Author Throughout One Paragraph

Using signal phrases, citing multiple sources in the same parentheses.

  • Direct Quote From a Slide Presentation

Citing an Item in a Museum

Citing images in a presentation.

  • Citing an Article or Website with Unknown Author

Abbreviating Organizational Authors

Multiple sources from the same author with the same publication year.

  • Non Recoverable Information (personal communication)

Secondary Citation

  • Reference List Citations
  • Reference List - Web Resources
  • Changes from APA 6th ed.
  • Bias-Free Language
  • Slide Decks: Citations and References

In-text (also called parenthetical) citations follow the author-date citation system in APA style. The author and date of a reference appear in parentheses when referred to in the text of a paper, like this (Smith, 2016) .

When a work does not have an author, use the first few words of the title of the reference in its place.  

(Do not pull words from the middle of the title; it needs to be the first few because this is how readers will match your in-text citation to the reference list.)

For articles, chapters, and web pages, put the title in quotation marks.  For books, brochures, and reports, put the title in italics. Examples:

(“Article title beginning”, 2016) or ( Book title , 2011) .

You can also work a citation into the flow of the sentence, but the author (or title) and year always stay together. For instance:

As Garcia (2016) states in her groundbreaking work...

If the author of a work is named as "Anonymous," this title takes the place of the author name in the citation. For example:

(Anonymous, 2019)

Read on for more guidelines and tips for citing specific types of sources in-text.

Paraphrasing is preferred to direct quotations, but occasionally using an author’s exact words is desirable.  In that situation, you want to direct the reader to the exact location of the quote by including a page number in the parenthetical notation :

(Garcia, 2016, p. 57)

If you use the author’s name in the text of the paper, wait until the end of the quote to insert the page number:

As Garcia (2016) states in her groundbreaking work, “hallucinations provide windows into the neural underpinnings of visual awareness in these patients” (p. 57).

If the quote spans multiple pages, use "pp." instead, like this

(Wong, 2014, pp. 21-22)

If you need to quote a website or other material that does not have page numbers or chapters, use any of the following location information instead: (p. 273)

  • Consistent with data from recent flu seasons, "the overall hospitalization rate for the season increased to 29.7 per 100,000" (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020, Severe Disease section).
  • In the Federal Drug Administration's (FDA) Technology Modernization Action Plan (2020), "[modernization] of FDA's technology infrastructure will involve dynamic, enterprise-wide collaboration among Agency programs" ("Building the Foundation" section).
  • Western countries are experiencing problems on where to send their recyclable waste. Until 2018, "China used to accept 55% of the world's plastic and paper waste" (British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) 2020, para. 2).
  • Makena, a drug to prevent premature birth, may be taken off the market because "Makena's manufacturer struggled to compete with the cheaper, compounded 17P" (Huetteman 2020, "How Makena cornered the market" section, para. 26).

Note: Kindle location numbers are no longer required with in-text citations. Instead, provide the page number or any of the information listed above. 

For audiovisual works, cite the time stamp of when the quotation began in place of where you would normally cite a page number. 

  • Habits are "mental associations that we form when we repeat an action over and over again in a given context and then get a reward" (Wood, 2020, 15:15).

Page numbers are only required for direct quotations. However, there may be times when you may want to refer to a specific part of a source, in which case you can include page numbers in your parenthetical citation. It is not mandatory, though, to include page numbers for segments that do not have a direct quotation.

... the study dropout rate was a disappointing 50% (Smith & Jones, 2016, p. 3).

For more see page 269 in the APA manual.

Using "et al." in Parenthetical Citations

If you are citing a source with three or more authors, you need to use "et al." in your citations. In APA 6, a work with between three and five authors would be listed the first time, with the use of "et al." each subsequent time the in-text citation was used. In APA 7, any in-text citation with three or more authors will use "et al.".  

In text, a citation with more than three authors can be parenthetical:

Reference list errors are prevalent in scholarly journals (Onwuegbuzie et al., 2011).

Or it can be part of the narrative:

Onwuegbuzie et al. (2011) used content analysis to determine that reference list errors are prevalent in scholarly journals.

Similar to APA 6, for works with a group author with an abbreviation, the first citation will spell out the author, followed by the abbreviation in brackets. For example: 

(American Psychological Association [APA], 2020)  or  American Psychological Association (APA, 2020)

Subsequent citations will use the abbreviation only. For instance,

(APA, 2020)  or  APA (2020) 

If you’re citing the same author/source repeatedly throughout one paragraph, inserting multiple citations is technically correct but lacks flow and readability. For example,

Dogs are man’s best friend (Smith, 2015). In a randomized controlled trial, dogs preferred their owners to all other people (Smith, 2015). The results of this study have implications for dog behavior (Smith, 2015). However, the study also had a small sample size, so more research into this area is necessary (Smith, 2015).

Alternatively, using the author's name in your writing can make the paragraph flow better and prevent you from having to repeat the citation subsequent sentences. (Also see p. 174 in the APA manual.) For example,

Smith (2015) notes that dogs are man’s best friend. In a randomized controlled trial conducted by Smith, dogs preferred their owners to all other people. The results of his study have implications for dog behavior. However, his study also had a small sample size, so more research into this area is necessary.

The technique of using authors' names in the text of your paper is also helpful when you want to  compare the work of two or more authors  and make be citing them alternately throughout a paragraph. For example,

Smith (2015) notes that dogs are man’s best friend. In a randomized controlled trial conducted by Smith, dogs preferred their owners to all other people. Lincoln's (2016) work built on this idea even further and provided some evidence of variation in levels of preference based on amount and type of training the dog had received. Her study revealed that dogs who had spent time in formal training programs with their owners showed a higher the preference for those owners than dogs who had participated in more informal training. The results of both studies have implications for dog behavior and the possible causes for variations in that behavior (Lincoln, 2016; Smith, 2015). However, both studies also had small sample sizes, so more research into this area is necessary.

The examples above for  Citing one Author Throughout a Paragraph  use what are called  signal phrases  to alert the reader that the writer is about to use information from an outside source. For example:

According to Smith (2017)... As noted by Watson and Holmes (1884)... Roberts (2000) discovered...

Signal phrases are a handy tool to help you indicate what content of your paper is coming from an outside source and which parts are your own original analysis. 

For more on using signal phrases, read  this short guide  from the GMU Writing Center.

And  see suggested words  to use in your signal phrases.

Sometimes you will want to make a general statement about two or more of the studies you read, especially if they had similar conclusions. To do that, just include each set of authors and dates in your parentheses, in the same order they appear in your reference list (i.e. alphabetically), and separated by semicolons.

The research shows an increase in birth rates for this particular population (Farhad & Engel, 2015; Pak, 2013; Sanchez, Chopra, & Martin, 2016).

Direct Quote from a Slide Presentation

If you are directly quoting text from a slide presentation, include a slide number and a paragraph number (if necessary), so that anyone reading your paper will be able to quickly and easily find your source.

(Smith, 2015, slide 12, para. 2)

If the item in a work of art or other piece with a known creator, use the same structure as you would for a written work with an author:

(Van Gogh,1889)

If the item's creator is unknown, use the same structure as you would for a written work with an unknown author, and use the title/description in its place:

(Gastroscope, ca. 1940)

("ca" stands for circa, for dates that have been approximated)

Citing A Museum Wall Sign

(Museum of Fine Arts, 2015)

All images in a presentation must be treated the same as figures would be in a written paper. You can think of each presentation slide as a page in an APA style paper. An image should have a caption. A caption contains :

  • The title of the image, i.e. Figure 1, Figure 2, etc.
  • A brief description of the image, followed by (optional) any additional information necessary to explain the figure.
  • Adapted from Original Work, by Creator, Year, URL
  • A copyright statement.

Here is an example of a figure with a caption that you might put in a presentation:

That is the information that goes on the slide where the image appears. You must also cite the image in your reference list. Please see  Citing Digital Images .

These are the basics of using and citing images. For complete rules and details, see section 7.26 in the official APA manual. 

Citing an Article or Website with an Unknown Author

When an article or webpage doesn’t have an author listed, use the title of the article in place of the author, both in-text and in your reference list. See above for more info on citing websites without an author.

(“Ativan (Lorazepam),” 2012)

When citing an organization as author, such as the CDC or WHO, you may use the organization’s acronym throughout the paper after you’ve spelled it out completely at least once. For example,

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2016), asthma is…

One in 13 people has asthma (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2016).

Whether you spell it out in text or in a parenthetical citation, it only needs to be done once, with the acronym immediately following in parentheses or brackets.

Occasionally, you may have multiple sources with the same author and the same publication year. To distinguish these sources from each other, you add a lowercase letter after the year, in alphabetical order of where the references appear in the reference list. For example,

(CDC, 2017a)

According to the CDC (2017b)

Non Recoverable Information (Personal Communication)

When citing a source that cannot be recovered, such as your personal notes or a conversation, cite the source in a parenthetical citation with the author, followed by a personal communication designation and the date:

(J. Smith, personal communication, August 8, 2016)

Do not cite personal communication in the reference list.

Quoting something that is quoted in a paper you’ve read is called a secondary citation .  They are not recommended in APA; so it would be better if you could find the original source and quote directly from it.  However, if you have to because the original document is out of print, no longer exists as it did at the time of citing, not in English, or is otherwise unattainable, put the article you actually read in the reference list.  

Then in the text of the paper, the primary citation would appear in the reference list, but the secondary citation would not. Cite the secondary citation as you normally would in author-date format.

Alternatively your text could mention the original source, and it would look something like this:

The Transcultural Nursing Society’s mission statement (Ray, 2013, p. 143) states “to enhance the quality of culturally congruent, competent, and equitable care that results in improved health and well-being for people worldwide”…

Note: APA 6 used the term "as cited in" to cite secondary sources. APA 7 no longer uses this term.

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APA Style 7th edition

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Individual Webpage Which Appears on a Website

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Individual person as author, content shows publication date (Notes: diseases/conditions are not capitalized except when part of the name is a proper noun. When persons are authors you must include name of website host.)

Vera, M. (2023, May 1). 8 lung cancer nursing care plans. Nurseslabs.  https://nurseslabs.com/lung-cancer-nursing-care-plans/ How to cite this work in-text: Parenthetical: (Vera, 2023) Narrative: Vera (2023) Direct quote: (Vera, 2023, What is Lung Cancer? section, para. 2)

Individual person as author, content does not show a publication date. This example is for a poem on a webpage, where for a direct quote, indicate verse number(s). (Notes: When persons are authors you must include name of website host.)

Mr. R. (n.d.). Silly spider. Mathstory.  https://mathstory.com/poems/adding-doubles-1-plus-1/ How to cite this work in-text: Parenthetical: (Mr. R., n.d.) Narrative: Mr. R. (n.d.) Direct quote: (Mr. R., n.d., verses 3-4)

Group of people as authors, & shows content date. "by Mayo Clinic Staff  " appears on the webpage. Note 2023 addition of website name.

Mayo Clinic Staff. (2022, April 9). Gestational diabetes: Symptoms and causes . Mayo Clinic.  https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/gestational-diabetes/symptoms-causes/syc-20355339 How to cite this work in-text: Parenthetical: (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2022) Narrative: Mayo Clinic Staff (2022) Direct quote with only name of section: (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2022, Causes section) Direct quote including section and paragraph number: (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2022, Causes section, para. 1)

Government Agency as author, parent agency appears on page, does not indicate content date (therefore, indicate publication date of n.d.). Include parent agency in site name position.

Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (n.d.). Healthy people 2020: Global health.  U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.  https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/global-health How to cite this work in-text, assume citing work more than once, so include acronym for subsequent cite: Parenthetical: (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion [ODPHP], n.d.) Narrative: Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP, n.d.) Direct quote with full name of section: (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion [ODPHP], n.d., Why is Global Health Important section, para. 1)

Government Agency as author, parent agency appears on page, shows "Page last reviewed" date (therefore, indicate publication date of n.d.)

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Healthier holidays in 1 – 2 – 3! U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.  https://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpao/features/stay-active/index.html How to cite this work in-text, assume citing work more than once, so include acronym for subsequent cite: Parenthetical: (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], n.d.) Narrative: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, n.d.) Direct quote with only abbreviated name of section: (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], n.d., "Plan Activities" section) Direct quote including abbreviated section and paragraph number: (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], n.d., "Plan Activities" section, para. 3)

Organization as author, no update year  

Medscape. (n.d.). Ibuprofen .  https://reference.medscape.com/drug/advil-motrin-ibuprofen-343289#0 How to cite this work in-text: Parenthetical: (Medscape, n.d.) Narrative: Medscape (n.d.) Direct quote: (Medscape, n.d., Dose Modifications section, para. 1)

World Health Organization (n.d.). Ten threats to global health in 2019 .  https://www.who.int/news-room/spotlight/ten-threats-to-global-health-in-2019 How to cite this work in-text: Parenthetical: (World Health Organization, n.d.) Narrative: World Health Organization (n.d.) Direct quote: (World Health Organization, n.d., Antimicrobial Resistance section, para. 2)

Milwaukee Public Museum. (n.d.). Ojibwe history .  http://www.mpm.edu/plan-visit/educators/wirp/nations/ojibwe/history How to cite this work in-text: Parenthetical: (Milwaukee Public Museum, n.d.) Narrative: Milwaukee Public Museum (n.d.) Direct quote: (Milwaukee Public Museum, n.d., Contact with Europeans section, para. 1)

Note regarding citing an entire website source

When discussing an entire website (as opposed to a specific page on the website), an entry does not appear in the reference list, but is cited within text as shown in the following sample sentence: The International Council of Museums web site provides many links to museums, codes of ethics, and the museum profession ( https://icom.museum/en/ ).

Since webpages and documents are similar to print, references to them include the same elements such as author, date, title, publisher, etc.

Note that proper names, acronyms, and abbreviations are always capitalized.

New for 7th ed.

1. For date of publication, only provide full date if it appears within and pertains to the content.        Use "last updated" or "revised" date if it applies to content, and is not part of website footer (APA Manual , Section 9.13).       "Do not use a copyright date from a webpage or website footer" (APA Manual , Section 9.13).        Also, do not use "Page last reviewed" or date of last review, because content reviewed does not imply that the content was changed (APA Manual , Section 9.15).

As a result, some webpages references will not have a date, so indicate (n.d.).

2. Title of webpage is now italicized.

3. The phrases "Retrieved from" or "Access from" or the word "website" are no longer included in references. Instead, provide only the URL. (APA Manual , Section 9.35)

4. Date of retrieval is included ONLY when "citing an unarchived (i.e., not stable) work that is likely or meant to change" (APA Manual , Section 9.16).       Examples of works which are "inherently designed to change" include webpage versions of dictionaries/encyclopedias, Twitter, and Facebook. See examples in further sections of this Guide.

5. For government webpages authored by an agency, place agency name in the author position, and if a parent agency also appears then place that name in the publisher/site position. However, if the parent agency does not appear on the page, do not include it in the reference--even if it is known.

6. URLs are presented as hyperlinks beginning with either protocol of "http://" or "https://" (APA Manual , Section 9.35).       It is highly recommended researchers copy & paste the URL exactly as it appears, including the protocol. For example, do not convert protocol http:// to https:// as the source may not be designed as a secure website.

7. Utilize default display settings of word processing programs as either underlined in blue text, or plain text as the 6th ed. used. Also, links should be live if it is expected to be published or read online (APA Manual , Section 9.35).        Instructors often refer to this format as an "active link."

8. Do not worry about forcing a split of URLs between lines. In the 7th edition, it is acceptable to allow word processing software to automatically split the URL between multiple lines, or move the URL to begin on the next line (APA Manual , Section 9.35).

Recommendation: If the webpage is also available as an online document/report (for example in PDF), please download that report and provide that URL. Use the online report format examples on this Guide listed under the Reports sections, and cite in-text appropriately.

9. For direct quotation from a webpage, because source does not contain page numbers, there are multiple options for verbiage at the end of in-text citation:       section name followed by the word section       abbreviated section name within quotation marks with word section       para. followed by the paragraph number       section name followed by the word section, followed by para. and paragraph number

APA states to "use the approach that will best help readers find the quotation" [Manual, p. 273]. 

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Writing and Citation Guide - Indianapolis

  • Understanding Academic Writing
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What is APA?

Apa in-text citations, apa reference page (bibliography).

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APA Template & Example

Click to download and customize our APA student paper template.

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Click below to see an example APA paper with tips for document formatting.

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The American Psychological Association (APA) is the leading professional organization in the US that promotes advancement in the psychology field.  APA offers a variety of resources, publications, and standards for research, writing, and professional practice. 

Students often encounter APA when asked to complete academic writing assignments in APA style, which is frequently utilized across disciplines such as business, healthcare and nursing, informatics and IT, social work, and many others. 

To learn more about APA as an organization and as a style guide, visit these official APA webpages: 

  • American Psychological Association The official APA website, providing resources on relevant topics, publications, research practices, and professional development
  • APA Style The official style guide for APA, providing formatting guidelines, tutorials, and a related blog
  • APA Academic Writer Tutorial An interactive tutorial exploring the basics of 7th edition APA style

Writers use in-text citations (sometimes called parenthetical citations) to give credit to quoted, paraphrased, or summarized source material. In APA style, there are three required pieces of information to include in an in-text citation:

  • Author's last name
  • Year of source's publication
  • Page number of cited material (if applicable, or appropriate substitute)

How these pieces of information are formatted in an essay depends on whether or not the writer uses a signal phrase to introduce the upcoming source, as shown in the examples below. 

To learn more about formatting APA in-text citations in your writing, visit these highly respected websites:

  • Purdue OWL - APA In-Text Citations: The Basics Provides explanations and examples for formatting APA in-text citations
  • Purdue OWL - APA In-Text Citations: Author/Authors Provides guidelines for formatting author information in APA in-text citations; useful when paired with the In-Text Citations Basics page above
  • APA Style - In-Text Citations Provides the Official APA Style guidelines for in-text citations

The References page, which is an alphabetical list of all sources that are cited throughout your essay, will be the last page of your paper. 

APA style has specific guidelines for how to format each type of source on your References page. It's not necessary to memorize each unique format as long as you know where to locate their guidelines. 

To learn how to format APA reference entries for different types of sources, visit these highly respected websites:

  • Purdue OWL - Reference List: Basic Rules Provides an overview for formatting and organizing a References page
  • Purdue OWL - APA Reference List: Author/Authors Provides guidelines for formatting author information in Reference entries; useful when paired with the appropriate Reference page(s) below
  • Purdue OWL - Reference List: Articles in Periodicals Provides reference formatting guidelines for articles in journals, magazines, newspapers, and reviews
  • Purdue OWL - Reference List: Books Provides reference entry formatting guidelines for books, articles in edited books, and multi- edition or volume works
  • Purdue OWL - Reference List: Other Print Sources Provides reference entry formatting guidelines for dictionary or encyclopedia entries, indirect sources, dissertations, reports, and conference proceedings
  • Purdue OWL - Reference List: Electronic Sources Provides reference entry formatting guidelines for webpages; online articles from journals, magazines, and newspapers; E-Books, online dictionary entries, social media posts, and YouTube/TedTalk videos
  • Purdue OWL - Reference List: Audiovisual Media Provides reference entry formatting guidelines for films, tv series, YouTube videos, music albums and songs, and podcasts
  • Purdue OWL - Reference List: Other Non-Print Sources Provides reference entry formatting guidelines for published interviews, unpublished works, and personal communication
  • APA Style - References Provides the Official APA Style guidelines for a references page
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APA Style, 7th Edition

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  • In-Text Citations Components

Parenthetical Citations

Narrative citations, combining citations.

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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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In-text citations are brief notations within the body of your written assignment. They point your readers to the full citation in the reference list at the end of the paper. The in-text citation typically includes author(s) last name, date of publication, and sometimes pinpoints like page or paragraph number(s), as in when providing a direct quotation. The in-text citation leads your readers to the reference list which has further details about the sources cited in your assignment. Match the author and date of your in-text citations to your reference list entry.

in text citations for websites apa 7

Cite your sources in-text by using either the parenthetical or narrative format. The examples below demonstrate how to cite a direct quote in both formats.

Parenthetical Example

Among journalists, plagiarism has become a well known issue.  In fact, to a certain extent, “Every journalist lives in fear of inadvertent plagiarism” (Renzetti, 2010, para. 8).

Narrative Example

Renzetti (2010) attributes the rise in inadvertent plagiarism to a number of key developments. First, they claim that the widespread availability of technology has created a “mash-up generation” that assumes everything is free game (para. 3). In addition, they state that …

Table of Authors

NOTE: Page/paragraph numbers are only required for direct quotations unless otherwise requested by your instructor.

Table of Page Numbers & Alternate Locations

NOTE: Page/paragraph numbers are only required for direct quotations unless otherwise requested by your instructor. Page numbers are preferred. If there is no page number, an alternate location can be used.

See section 8.10–8.36 of the Publication Manual

in text citations for websites apa 7

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Reference List: Electronic Sources

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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.

Note:  This page reflects the latest version of the APA Publication Manual (i.e., APA 7), which released in October 2019. The equivalent resource for the older APA 6 style  can be found here .

Important Note: Some electronic citations necessitate the use of brackets. APA style dictates that brackets should directly surround their content without spaces (e.g., [bracketed content] should look like this). When possible, include the year, month, and date in references. If the month and date are not available, use the year of publication. Additionally, APA 7 th  edition no longer requires the use of “Retrieved from” before URLs or DOIs; special exceptions, however, are made for resources that are unarchived. Including the retrieval date for these sources indicates to readers that the version of the work they retrieve may be different than what was originally used. 

Please note: the following contains a list of the most commonly cited electronic sources. For a complete list of how to cite electronic sources, please refer to the 7 th edition of the APA Publication Manual.

Webpage or Piece of Online Content

If the page names an individual author, cite their name first:

Lastname, F. M. (Year, Month Date). Title of page . Site name. URL

Price, D. (2018, March 23). Laziness does not exist . Medium. https://humanparts.medium.com/laziness-does-not-exist-3af27e312d01

If the resource was written by a group or organization, use the name of the group/organization as the author. Additionally, if the author and site name are the same, omit the site name from the citation.

Group name. (Year, Month Date). Title of page . Site name. URL

American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. (2019, November 21). Justice served: Case closed for over 40 dogfighting victims . https://www.aspca.org/news/justice-served-case-closed-over-40-dogfighting-victims

If the page's author is not listed, start with the title instead. Additionally, include a retrieval date when the page's content is likely to change over time (like, for instance, if you're citing a wiki that is publicly edited).

Title of page . (Year, Month Date). Site name. Retrieved Month Date, Year, from URL

Tuscan white bean pasta.  (2018, February 25). Budgetbytes. Retrieved March 18, 2020, from  https://www.budgetbytes.com/tuscan-white-bean-pasta/

If the date of publication is not listed, use the abbreviation (n.d.). 

Author or Group name. (n.d.).  Title of page . Site name (if applicable). URL

National Alliance on Mental Illness. (n.d.). Mental health conditions . https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Mental-Health-Conditions

Wikipedia Article

APA 7 treats Wikipedia articles as special instances of entries in reference works. Thus, there are a few differences between reference entries for pages on Wikipedia and those for generic webpages.

Title of article. (Year, Month Date). In  Wikipedia.  URL of archived version of page

Quantum mechanics. (2019, November 19). In Wikipedia . https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Quantum_mechanics&oldid=948476810

Wikipedia articles often update frequently. For this reason, the date refers to the date that the cited version of the page was published. Note also that the manual recommends linking to the archived version of the page, rather than the current version of the page on the site, since the latter can change over time. Access the archived version by clicking "View History," then clicking the date/timestamp of the version you'd like to cite.

Online Scholarly Journal Article: Citing DOIs

Please note: Because online materials can potentially change URLs, APA recommends providing a Digital Object Identifier (DOI), when it is available, as opposed to the URL. DOIs are an attempt to provide stable, long-lasting links for online articles. They are unique to their documents and consist of a long alphanumeric code. Many—but not all—publishers will provide an article's DOI on the first page of the document.

Note also that some online bibliographies provide an article's DOI but may "hide" the code under a button which may read "Article" or may be an abbreviation of a vendor's name like "CrossRef" or "PubMed." This button will usually lead the user to the full article which will include the DOI. Find DOIs from print publications or ones that go to dead links with doi.org's "Resolve a DOI" function, available on the site's home page .

APA 7 also advises writers to include a DOI (if available), even when using the print source.

Article from an Online Periodical with DOI Assigned

Lastname, F. M., & Lastname, F. M. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, Vol.( Issue), page numbers. DOI

Drollinger, T., Comer, L. B., & Warrington, P. T. (2006). Development and validation of the active empathetic listening scale. Psychology & Marketing, 23 (2), 161-180. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.20105

Article from an Online Periodical with no DOI Assigned

If an online scholarly journal article has no DOI and is published on a website, include the URL. If an online scholarly article has no DOI and is published on a database, do not include a URL or any database information. The only exception is for databases that publish articles that are in limited circulation (like ERIC) or that are only available on that particular database (like UpToDate). Note that retrieval dates are required for unarchived sources that are likely, or intended, to change over time. 

Perreault, L. (2019). Obesity in adults: Role of physical activity and exercise. UpToDate . Retrieved January 12, 2020, from https://www.uptodate.com/contents/obesity-in-adults-role-of-physical-activity-and-exercise

APA 7 th edition does not provide guidance on how to cite abstracts. However, if you only use information from the abstract but the full text of the article is also available, we advise you to add "[Abstract]" after the article or source name. If the full text is not available, you may use an abstract that is available through an abstracts database as a secondary source.

Online News Article

Note:  The format for this type of source depends on whether your source comes from a site with an associated newspaper.

If the source  does  come from a site with an associated newspaper, leave the title of the article unformatted, but italicize the title of the newspaper.

Lastname, F. M. (Year, Month Date). Title of article. Title of Publication . URL

Richards, C. (2019, December 9). Best music of 2019: Lana Del Rey sings lullabies about the end of America. Washington Post . https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/best-music-of-2019-lana-del-rey-sings-lullabies-about-the-end-of-america/2019/12/06/6e82c5ec-15d8-11ea-a659-7d69641c6ff7_story.html

On the other hand, if the source  doesn't  come from a site with an associated newspaper, italicize the title of the article, but leave the name of the site unformatted.

Lastname, F. M. (Year, Month Date). Title of article . Name of publishing website. URL

Jones, J. (2020, May 10). Why flats dominate Spain's housing market . BBC. https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200506-why-do-flats-dominate-spains-housing-market

Electronic or Kindle Books

It is not necessary to note that you have used an eBook or audiobook when the content is the same as a physical book. However, you should distinguish between the eBook or audiobook and the print version if the content is different or abridged, or if you would like to cite the narrator of an audiobook.

Lastname, F. M. (Year).  Title of book . Publisher. URL

Lastname, F. M. (Year).  Title of book [eBook edition]. Publisher. URL

Lastname, F. M. (Year). Title of book (N. Narrator, Narr.) [Audiobook]. Publisher. URL (if applicable)

Dissertation/Thesis from a Database

Lastname, F. M. (Year). Title of dissertation or thesis (Publication No.) [Doctoral dissertation or master’s thesis, Name of Institution Awarding Degree]. Database Name.

Duis, J. M. (2008). Acid/base chemistry and related organic chemistry conceptions of undergraduate organic chemistry students  (Publication No. 3348786) [Doctoral dissertation, University of Northern Colorado]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global.

Entry in an Online Dictionary, Thesaurus, or Encyclopedia with a Group Author

Note:  An online dictionary, thesaurus, or encyclopedia may be continuously updated and therefore not include a publication date (like in the example below). If that’s the case, use “n.d.” for the date and include the retrieval date in the citation.

Institution or organization name. (Year). Title of entry. In Title of reference work . URL

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Braggadocio. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary . Retrieved January 13, 2020, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/braggadocio

Entry in an Online Dictionary, Thesaurus, or Encyclopedia with an Individual Author

Lastname, F. M. (Year). Title of entry. In F. M. Lastname (Ed.), Title of reference work (edition). Publisher. URL or DOI

Martin, M. (2018). Animals. In L. A. Schintler & C. L. McNeely (Eds.), Encyclopedia of big data . SpringerLink. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32001-4_7-1

Note: If the dictionary, thesaurus, or encyclopedia does not include an edition, simply skip that step.

Lastname, F. M. or Name of Group (Year). Title of dataset (Version No.) [Data set]. Publisher. DOI or URL

Grantmakers in the Arts. (2019). Arts funding trends, United States, 1994-present (ICPSR 37337) [Data set]. National Archive of Data on Arts & Culture. https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/NADAC/studies/37337

Graphic Data (e.g. Interactive Maps, Infographics, and Other Graphic Representations of Data)

Give the name of the organization or individual followed by the date and the title. If there is no title, in brackets, you should provide a brief explanation of what type of data is there and in what form it appears. Include the URL and the retrieval date if there is no publication date.

HatchMed. (2017). 8 ways to improve patient satisfaction [Infographic]. HatchMed.com. https://www.hatchmed.com/blog/2017/1/30/8-ways-to-improve-patient-satisfaction

Google. (n.d.). [Google Map of Purdue University]. Retrieved January 12, 2020, from https://www.google.com/maps/@40.4237095,-86.9233886,17z

Qualitative Data and Online Interviews

If an interview is not retrievable in audio or print form, cite the interview only in the text (not in the reference list) and provide the month, day, and year in the text. If the interview transcript is published in an online periodical, like a magazine, cite the interview the same way you would cite the medium where it is published, as shown below:

Schulman, M. (2019, December 8). Peter Dinklage is still punk rock. The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/peter-dinklage-is-still-punk-rock

If it is an audio file or transcript published in a database, credit the interviewee as the author and use the following model:

Paynter, W. (1970, September 17). Interview with Will Paynter [Interview]. Studs Terkel Radio Archive; The Chicago History Museum. https://studsterkel.wfmt.com/programs/interview-will-paynter

Online Lecture Notes and Presentation Slides

When citing online lecture notes, be sure to provide the file format in brackets after the lecture title (e.g. PowerPoint slides, Word document).

Lastname, F. M. (Year, Month Date). Title of presentation [Lecture notes, PowerPoint slides, etc]. Publisher. URL

Smith, C. (2017, October 13). AI and machine learning demystified [PowerPoint slides]. SlideShare. https://www.slideshare.net/carologic/ai-and-machine-learning-demystified-by-carol-smith-at-midwest-ux-2017

Computer Software/Downloaded Software

Do not cite standard office software (e.g. Word, Excel) or programming languages. Provide references only for specialized software.

Lastname, F. M. or Name of Group. (Year). Title of software (Version No.). Publisher. URL

Maplesoft. (2019). Maple companion (Version 2.1.0). Cybernet Systems Co. https://www.maplesoft.com/products/MapleCompanion/

E-mails are not included in the list of references, though you should parenthetically cite them in your main text:

(E. Robbins, personal communication, January 4, 2001).

Online Forum or Discussion Posting

Lastname, F. M. or Name of Group [username]. (Year, Month Date). Title of post [Online forum post]. Publisher. URL

Stine, R. L. [RL__Stine]. (2013, October 23). I’m R.L. Stine and it’s my job to terrify kids. Ask me anything! [Online forum post]. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1p32dl/

Lastname, F. M. or Name of Group [@username]. (Year, Month Date). Content of the post up to the first 20 words [Tweet]. Site Name. URL

Note : If the tweet includes images, videos, or links to other sources, indicate that information in brackets after the content description. Also attempt to replicate emojis if possible.

National Geographic [@NatGeo]. (2020, January 12). Scientists knew African grays are clever, but now they’ve been documented assisting other members of their species—even strangers [Tweet; thumbnail link to article]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/NatGeo/status/1216346352063537154

Twitter Profile

Lastname, F. M. or Name of Group [@username]. (n.d.). Tweets [Twitter profile]. Retrieved Month Date, Year, from URL

MLA Style [@mlastyle]. (n.d.). Tweets [Twitter profile]. Retrieved January 12, 2020, from https://twitter.com/mlastyle

Facebook Post

Lastname, F. M. or Name of Group. (Year, Month Date). Content of the post up to the first 20 words [Type of post]. Site Name. URL

Note: If the Facebook post includes images, videos, or links to other sources, indicate that information in brackets after the content description. Also attempt to replicate emojis if possible.

U.S. Department of the Interior. (2020, January 10). Like frosting on a cake, snow coats and clings to the hoodoos at Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah [Image attached] [Status update]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/USInterior/photos/a.155163054537384/2586475451406120/?type=3&theater

Facebook Page

Lastname, F. M. or Name of Group. (n.d.). Home [Facebook page]. Site name. Retrieved Month Date, Year, from URL

Little River Canyon National Preserve (n.d.). Home [Facebook page]. Facebook. Retrieved January 12, 2020 from https://www.facebook.com/lirinps/

Instagram Photo or Video

Lastname, F. M. or Name of Group [@username]. (Year, Month Date). Content of the post up to the first 20 words [Type of post]. Site Name. URL

BBC [@bbc]. (2020, January 12). Skywatchers have been treated to the first full moon of 2020-known as a “wolf moon”-at the same time as a [Photograph]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/B7OkWqbBwcf/

Blog Post  

Lastname, F. M. (Year, Month Date). Title of post. Publisher . URL

Axelrod, A. (2019, August 11). A century later: The Treaty of Versailles and its rejection of racial equality. Code Switch, NPR . https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2019/08/11/742293305/a-century-later-the-treaty-of-versailles-and-its-rejection-of-racial-equality

YouTube or other Streaming Video

Last Name, F. M. [Username]. (Year, Month Date). Title of video [Video]. Streaming Service. URL

Lushi, K. [Korab Lushi]. (2016, July 3). Albatross culture 1 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AMrJRQDPjk&t=148s

Note : The person or group who uploaded the video is considered the author. If the author’s name is the same as the username, you can omit the [Username].

Author, A. A. (Year, Month Date). Title of talk [Video]. TED. URL

Al-Mutawa, N. (2010, July). Superheroes inspired by Islam [Video]. TED. https://www.ted.com/talks/naif_al_mutawa_superheroes_inspired_by_islam#t-4909

Or (if on YouTube)

Username. (Year, Month Date). Title of talk [Video]. YouTube. URL

Tedx Talks. (2011, Nov. 15). TEDxHampshireCollege - Jay Smooth - How I learned to stop worrying and love discussing race [Video]. YouTube.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbdxeFcQtaU

Podcast Episode

Host, A. A. (Host). (Year, Month Date). Title of episode (No. if provided) [Audio podcast episode]. In Name of podcast . Publisher. URL

Prime, K. (Host). (2019, March 29). For whom the cowbell tolls [Audio podcast episode]. In Radiolab . WNYC Studios. https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/whom-cowbell-tolls

APA Citation Guide (7th ed.) for Business

Narrative citations, parenthetical citations, paraphrasing.

  • Reference List

APA Handouts

in text citations for websites apa 7

Want more information?

Visit the Style and Grammar Guidelines webpage from APA.

in text citations for websites apa 7

In APA 7th edition, there are two ways to cite your sources in your text:  narrative citations and parenthetical citations . The choice between narrative and parenthetical citations depends on your preference, sentence structure, and how smoothly the citation can be integrated into the text.

A narrative citation weaves the author's name(s) into the sentence itself, with the publication year appearing in parentheses immediately after the author's last name. The author's name becomes part of the sentence, and the citation appears more like a natural part of the text. For example:

In this case, the author's last name, Smith, is integrated into the sentence, making it a narrative citation.

A parenthetical citation places both the author's last name and the publication year in parentheses at the end of the sentence just before the closing punctuation. For example:

Here, the author's last name and publication year are enclosed in parentheses followed by a period, making it a parenthetical citation. Notice that there is only a period after the citation, not after the last word of the sentence.

You can choose between using a narrative or a parenthetical in-text citation style when you paraphrase a source in your paper.

Narrative citation of a paraphrased source: 

Parenthetical citation of a paraphrased source:

Note:  It is not required to provide a page or paragraph number in the citation when you are paraphrasing.

Long Paraphrases

If you have a long paraphrase, cite the work being paraphrased on first mention. Once the work has been cited, it is not necessary to repeat the citation if the same work continues to be paraphrased:

Note : If the paraphrase continues into a new paragraph, reintroduce the citation

Paraphrasing Multiple Sources in One Sentence

When paraphrasing multiple sources in one sentence,  include in-text citations for each source . The citations should be placed in parentheses, separated by a semicolon, and ordered alphabetically by the authors' last names:

  • (Author A, Publication year A; Author B, Publication year B)

Suppose you want to include  paraphrased information from two sources , one by John Smith published in 2021 and another by Jane Brown published in 2020. The in-text citation would be formatted as follows:

In this example, the ideas from both sources are combined into a single sentence, and the in-text citations for each source are included in parentheses, separated by a semicolon. Note that the sources are listed alphabetically by the authors' last names.

Here is a  more complex  example of paraphrasing multiple sources in one sentence:

In this example, the in-text citation includes multiple sources to support distinct aspects of the statement. The parenthetical citations are placed next to the specific aspect of the sentence they support, separated by semicolons.

You can choose between using a narrative or a parenthetical in-text citation style when you  quote  a source in your paper.

Narrative citation of a quoted source: 

Parenthetical citation of a quoted source:

Quoting text found on multiple pages

Narrative citation:, parenthetical citation:, quoting text with no page numbers.

Some sources like webpages and eBooks might not have page numbers. In these cases, use a page number alternative that will easily tell the reader where the quote is located.

Paragraph numbers

Add the  paragraph number(s)  where the quote can be found. Abbreviate to para. for text found in a single paragraph and to paras. for text found in multiple paragraphs:

Section names or headings

Add the  heading or section name  where the quote can be found. You can use the full section name without quotation marks, or you can abbreviate a long section name in quotation marks. 

Here is an example for citing a quote in-text that is found in an article section titled 'Methodology':

Here is an example for a citing a quote in-text that is found in an article section titled 'Exercise and Mental Health in Teenagers':

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  1. In-Text Citations: The Basics

    When using APA format, follow the author-date method of in-text citation. This means that the author's last name and the year of publication for the source should appear in the text, like, for example, (Jones, 1998). One complete reference for each source should appear in the reference list at the end of the paper.

  2. Research Guides: APA 7th Edition : Citing Websites

    This guide provides information about creating APA 7 Reference List and In-Text Citations. Home; Reference List Basics; In-Text Citations; Citing Articles; Citing Books; Citing Websites. Piece of Online Content; Webpage; ... In-Text Citation (National Association of Social Workers, 2005) Note: If the author and website name are the same, omit ...

  3. How to Cite a Website in APA Style

    Revised on September 5, 2024. APA website citations usually include the author, the publication date, the title of the page or article, the website name, and the URL. If there is no author, start the citation with the title of the article. If the page is likely to change over time, add a retrieval date. If you are citing an online version of a ...

  4. In-Text Citations

    APA Style provides guidelines to help writers determine the appropriate level of citation and how to avoid plagiarism and self-plagiarism. We also provide specific guidance for in-text citation, including formats for interviews, classroom and intranet sources, and personal communications; in-text citations in general; and paraphrases and direct quotations.

  5. APA Formatting and Style Guide (7th Edition)

    Resources on using in-text citations in APA style. The Basics General guidelines for referring to the works of others in your essay Author/Authors How to refer to authors in-text, including single and multiple authors, unknown authors, organizations, etc. Reference List. Resources on writing an APA style reference list, including citation ...

  6. APA Style (7th Edition) Citation Guide: Websites

    1) Note: When there are no visible page numbers or paragraph numbers, you may cite the section heading and the number of the paragraph in that section to identify where your quote came from. Abbreviating Corporation/Group Author Name in In-Text citations: Author names for corporations/groups can often be abbreviated.

  7. APA In-Text Citations (7th Ed.)

    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. APA in-text citations consist of the author's last name and publication year. When citing a specific part of a source, also include a page number or range, for example (Parker, 2020, p.

  8. Webpage on a Website References

    Provide the name of the news website in the source element of the reference. Link to the comment itself if possible. Otherwise, link to the webpage on which the comment appears. Either a full URL or a short URL is acceptable. 3. Webpage on a website with a government agency group author.

  9. Research Guides: APA 7th Edition : In-Text Citations

    Basic Structure of APA In-Text Citations. There are two ways to write your in-text citations: Parenthetical: All components of the in-text citation are included in parenthesis at the end of the sentence. Understanding how marine mammals, like whales, respond to stress is critical to their health and sustainability (Cates et. al., 2020).

  10. In-Text Citations: Author/Authors

    The APA manual recommends the use of the author-date citation structure for in-text citation references. This structure requires that any in-text citation (i.e., within the body of the text) be accompanied by a corresponding reference list entry. In the in-text citation provide the surname of the author but do not include suffixes such as "Jr.".

  11. Citing websites & online media: APA (7th ed.) citation guide

    Webpages or website. This guide is based on the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th ed. It provides selected citation examples for common types of sources. For more detailed information consult directly a print copy of the style manual. Check out APA's Guide to what's new for APA 7.

  12. Free APA Citation Generator [Updated for 2024]

    Generate APA style citations quickly and accurately with our FREE APA citation generator. Enter a website URL, book ISBN, or search with keywords, and we do the rest! Updated with APA 7th Edition! ... In-text citation: (Penn Medicine, 2015) Wikipedia Contributors. (2018, July 8). Midwife. Retrieved July 14, 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org ...

  13. In Text Citations

    APA follows an author and date of publication model for citing sources in your research paper and are presented as either narrative or parenthetical citations. The formatting does not vary due to format type, however it may deviate from the norm due to factors such as: number of authors, organization instead of individual author, lack of author, or lack of date.

  14. In-Text Citation

    In-Text Citation When you use others' ideas (paraphrases) and direct quotes, you must cite your source by including: Author's last name; Publication year (Only for direct quotes) Page number of the quote . The purpose of in-text citation is to direct the reader to the full citation on the References list, which will have the full publication ...

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

    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 ...

  16. What does an APA in-text citation for a website look like?

    When citing a webpage or online article, the APA in-text citation consists of the author's last name and year of publication. For example: (Worland & Williams, 2015). Note that the author can also be an organization. For example: (American Psychological Association, 2019). If you're quoting you should also include a locator.

  17. MGH Guides: APA Style 7th Edition: In-Text Citations

    Citation Basics. In-text (also called parenthetical) citations follow the author-date citation system in APA style. The author and date of a reference appear in parentheses when referred to in the text of a paper, like this (Smith, 2016). When a work does not have an author, use the first few words of the title of the reference in its place.

  18. Webpages

    How to cite this work in-text, assume citing work more than once, so include acronym for subsequent cite: Parenthetical: (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], n.d.) Narrative: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, n.d.) Direct quote with only abbreviated name of section:

  19. APA Style

    Writers use in-text citations (sometimes called parenthetical citations) to give credit to quoted, paraphrased, or summarized source material. In APA style, there are three required pieces of information to include in an in-text citation: Author's last name; Year of source's publication

  20. LibGuides: APA Style, 7th Edition: In-Text Citations

    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.

  21. All Guides: APA Style (7th ed.): In-Text Citations

    In-Text Citations. In-text citations are brief notations within the body of your written assignment. They point your readers to the full citation in the reference list at the end of the paper. The in-text citation typically includes author (s) last name, date of publication, and sometimes pinpoints like page or paragraph number (s), as in when ...

  22. Reference List: Electronic Sources

    APA style dictates that brackets should directly surround their content without spaces (e.g., [bracketed content] should look like this). When possible, include the year, month, and date in references. If the month and date are not available, use the year of publication. Additionally, APA 7 th edition no longer requires the use of "Retrieved ...

  23. In-Text Citations

    In APA 7th edition, there are two ways to cite your sources in your text: narrative citations and parenthetical citations. The choice between narrative and parenthetical citations depends on your preference, sentence structure, and how smoothly the citation can be integrated into the text. ... The in-text citation would be formatted as follows ...

  24. Author-Date Citation System

    However, if you cite multiple works by the same author or authors, regardless of the publication years, include the date in every in-text citation to prevent ambiguity. For example, if you cite Mohammed and Mahfouz (2017) and Mohammed and Mahfouz (2019), include the year with every citation, even when one of the references is cited multiple ...