This document is a guide on how to create in-text citations in APA style, covering quotation selection, incorporation, and citation formatting. It provides step-by-step instructions for both direct quotations and parenthetical citations across different types of sources, emphasizing accuracy and proper citation elements. It also includes common errors to avoid and additional resources for further assistance.

1. CREATING IN-TEXT
CITATIONS
A Guide to Selecting, Integrating, and Citing in APA Style (7th ed.)
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2. Step 1: Choose and Copy a Quotation
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The most important part of the process is finding a quote that
effectively supports your position, idea, or statement.
When copying a quotation, be sure you double-check the accuracy of
the wording.
**Note the page number and year of publication. This will help save
time when creating your in-text citation.

3. Step 2: Attach a Signal Phrase to the
Quotation
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A signal phrase helps ease the reader into your chosen quotation. It
does not need to be complex; a few words or orient the reader will
suffice.
The narrator tells us about the careful separation of men and women in
her society, explaining that “the guards weren’t allowed inside the
building except when called, and we weren’t allowed out”

4. Step 3: Create a Parenthetical Citation – Using the
Textbook
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You’ll need four pieces of information:
1. The author’s last name
2. The year the work was originally
published (found on the last page of
the work in your textbook)
3. The year your textbook was published
4. The specific page number where the
quote is found.
(Atwood, 1985/2024, p. 1041)

5. Original Year of
Publication
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6. Step 3: Create a Parenthetical Citation – Using an
eBook
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You’ll need three pieces of information:
1. The author’s last name
2. The year the book was published
3. The specific page number where the
quote is found.
(Cofer, 2010, p. 43)
Screen capture from ProQuest. Cofer is the author of
the entire book.

7. Step 3: Create a Parenthetical Citation – Using an
eBook
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You’ll need three pieces of information:
1. The author’s last name
2. The year the book was published
3. The specific page number where the
quote is found.
(Blanco, 2008, p. 39)
Screen capture from ProQuest. Be careful! This book has an
editor, just like your textbook. Ochester is the editor, not the
author of “America.” The poem does not have an original date
of publication, so use the year the book was published.

8. More About Parenthetical Citations
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(Atwood, 1985/2024, p. 1041)
◦ Use a comma and a space between elements.
◦ Type a forward slash between the original year of publication and the
year of publication of your textbook.
◦ Use p. (not pg.)
This is a parenthetical citation –
all of it is in parentheses

9. More About In-Text Citations
When the signal phrase contains author’s last name, use a narrative citation.
Include the year of publication directly after the author’s name.
Atwood (1985/2024) tells us about the careful separation of men and women in
her society, explaining that “the guards weren’t allowed inside the building except
when called, and we weren’t allowed out” (p. 1041).
Always keep the author and publication date together.
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This is a narrative citation. The author’s last
name is part of the narrative of the sentence.

10. More About In-Text Citations
An in-text citation is part of the sentence. Put the ending punctuation
for the sentence after the citation.
An in-text citation is not part of the quotation. Do not put the citation
within quotation marks.
The narrator tells us about the careful separation of men and women in her
society, explaining that “the guards weren’t allowed inside the building
except when called, and we weren’t allowed out” (Atwood, 1985/2024, p.
1041).
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11. More About
Citations
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A frequent error is using the editor’s last name
instead of the author’s last name. Martin
Puchner is one of the editors of your textbook,
not the author of any of the individual works
in your textbook. The author of The
Handmaid’s Tale is Margaret Atwood.
Caution!

12. How To Cite Editorial Information
If you are using material from the editors of your textbook (e.g., the
biographical information about an author or a footnote), use this format:
In-text citation: (Puchner et al., 2024, p. 879).
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13. Quick Review
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For direct quotes,
copy information
exactly from the
original source and
use quotation marks
Use a signal phrase to
put quotes into
context. A quote
should never be a
sentence all by itself
In-text citations have
three elements:
• author’s last name
• year of publication
• page number
Citations are not part
of the quotation; do
not put them inside
quotation marks
Citations are part of
the sentence; insert
them before the
ending punctuation
of a sentence

14. Additional
Resources
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THE KEISER WRITING STUDIO YOUR PROFESSOR
THE APA STYLE BLOG
(HTTPS://APASTYLE.APA.ORG/BL
OG)