This document provides guidelines for citing sources in APA style within the text of a document (in-text citations). It explains that any direct quotes, years, or ideas that are not your own must be cited. It describes how to format parenthetical citations whether paraphrasing, directly quoting or using a block quote from a source. It also reviews how to cite sources with multiple authors, no author, or according to a specific author. Examples are provided throughout to illustrate the various citation formats.

1. APA In Text Citations
When to cite
- If you are using quotations, you need to cite.
- If you are using years and/or any data, you need to cite.
- If you are using any ideas that are not your own, you need to cite.
- When in doubt, cite.
- Remember, everything that you list in the text must be on the reference page. Everything listed on
the reference page must be in the text.
Paraphrasing
- One rule of thumb when using APA is within the parentheticals is the, Authors Last Name,Year,
with the period on the outside of the parentheticals
- For example:
o CORRECT (Jones, 2010).
o INCORRECT .(Jones 2010)
o INCORRECT .(Jones,2010)
Direct Quotation
- The basic format stays the same. The only thing that changes is you add the page number to
where the quotation is found in the text.
- For example:
o CORRECT “The dog barked” (Jones, 2010, p.1).
o INCORRECT “The dog barked (Jones, 2010, p.1).”
o INCORRECT “The dog barked.” (Jones 2010 p.1).
- If the information is found on multiple pages, the format stays the same the indication of page
numbers is what changes.
- For example:
o “The dog barked” (Jones, 2010, pp. 1-2)
Blocked Quotation
- You insert a block quote ONLY if the quote is over 40 words.
- The whole quotation is indented .5” and you do NOT use quotation marks.
- A blocked quotation is the ONLY time the punctuation is found before the citation.
- A blocked quotation is not double spaced.
- For example:
Once upon a time there was a dog. The dog tried to talk to everyone, but no matter how
much he tried, no one could understand him. One day, the dog barked so loud that
everyone in the neighborhood heard him. (Jones, 2010, p.1)
Multiple Authors
- List the authors in the same order listed in the book or journal.

2. - Two authors
o Use the symbol & to separate,and use this every time you use this source
 (Jones & Smith, 2010).
- Three, four or five authors
o Cite all authors in first citation, and use et al in subsequent citations
o FIRST CITATION (Jones,Smith, & Le,2010).
o SUBSEQUENT CITATION (Jones et al.,2010).
- Six or more authors
o Use et al to indicate multiple authors
o (Jones et al., 2010).
No Author
- If there is no author found, take the first three words of the title and place them where the authors
name typically goes.
- For example if the title is, Fairy Tales Everyone Can Enjoy, the in text citation will look like,
o (Fairy Tales Everyone, 2010).
According to
- If you want to vary your writing style and use the author to introduce the quotation, the year in
parentheticals comes after the authors name
- For example:
o According to Jones (2010),
Use the following Citations to practice
Roddy, P.K. (2004). A study of communication between a 1964 rock band and youth: The influence of
The Rolling Stones on American teenagers. Journal of Social Commentary, 23(2),254-287.
Helm, T.R. (2007, May 23). Terrorism in the food chain. The Montgomery Times,pp. A1, A11.
Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2008). Overview of white-collar crime in the United States.(FBI
Publication No. 843-1165). Retrieved from http://www.fbi.doc.gov/bbi/trade.htm
Healthy Living Foundation. (n.d.). Living Sugarfree. Retrieved from http://www.hlf.org
All information providedby
Houghton,P.M.,& Houghton,T.J. (2009). APAthe Easy Way (2nded). Flint, MI: Houghton & Houghton.