In-text citations are used to cite sources within your paper, and then the full citation is listed in the Reference page. APA uses an author–date citation system. This style of citation identifies the source for the reader and enables them to locate the source of information in the alphabetical reference list at the end of the paper. In any in-text citation, both the author’s name and the date of publication should be present in the sentence.
Page numbers are not necessary unless you are directly quoting an author. The format will appear as (p. 73).
It is important to cite correctly to give due credit to the author. Failing to do so can result in accusations of plagiarism. Be sure to state who you are quoting when you insert a paraphrase or direct quotation to avoid such accusations by always including an in-text citation.
Basic Example
Here is a simple example of in-text citations for APA style. For more extensive examples see our in-text citation models page. This will account for situations such as multiple authors, no author, no publication year, and other scenarios.
The most basic in-text citation (one work by one author) a citation will look like this:
- Early onset results in a more persistent and severe course (Kessler, 2003).
If you use the author’s name in your sentence cite only the year of publication in the parentheses:
- Kessler (2003) found that early onset results in a more persistent and severe course.