APA in-text citations

1. APA Style: Citing Within the Text
The basics for IU Adult Education
graduate students
by Jeani Young
Department of Adult Education
School of Continuing Studies
Indiana University

2. Table of Contents
Required Information
Normal Format
Authors’ Names
Quoting Directly from a Source
Punctuation Rules
Citing Electronic Sources
Other Considerations
Citations and Plagiarism
More Examples

3. APA style requires three kinds of information to be included in
in-text citations. This information must exactly match the
corresponding entry in the references list.
The author's last name must always be included.
The work's date of publication must always be included the first time the
citation is referred to in a paragraph. It can be omitted in later citations
within the same paragraph only and only if that is the only work by that
author cited in that paragraph.
The page number appears only in a citation to a direct quotation enclosed in
quotation marks.
Required Information

4. Normal format for in-text citations:
(authorlastname, date) for single author works,
Example: (Smith, 2001)
(firstauthorlastname & secondauthorlastname, date) for works with two
authors,
Example: (Smith & Jones, 2002)
(firstauthorlastname, secondauthorlastname, & thirdauthorlastname, date)
for works with three or more authors the first time it is cited. Subsequent
citations should be formatted (firstauthorlastname, et al, date).
Example: (Smith, Jones, Brown, & White, 2003) followed by (Smith, et al., 2003)
If you have a work with 6 or more authors, use the first author’s last name
followed by “et al.” from the very first cite.
Normal Format

5. If you use the authors name(s) in a sentence you must:
follow the names with the publication date in parentheses, and
you do not have to put any other citation in that sentence unless it includes a
direct quote
Example: Smith and Jones (1998) found that . . .
If you are referring to more than one source in a single citation
you must:
list the sources alphabetically within one set of parentheses,
separate them with semi-colons
Example: (Adams, 1998; Hawthorne, 2003, Mays & Martin, 2000)
Never change the order of authors' names from the way they
are printed on the source.
Authors’ Names

6. Quoting directly from a source
If it is less than 40 words long it needs to be incorporated in the text,
enclosed in quotation marks, and followed by the parenthetical citation
including the page number.
Example: One example of situated cognition is the use of a cognitive
apprenticeship. An important part of a cognitive apprenticeship is “selecting real-
world situations or tasks that are grounded in learner needs” (Merriam &
Caffarella, 1999, p. 243).
If your direct quote is 40 words or more it must be set in a free-standing
block of text and should NOT have quotation marks around it. The text
block should be indented ½”, double-spaced, and conclude with the
appropriate citation.
Quoting Directly from a Source

7. Punctuation Rules
Punctuation marks, including periods, commas, and semicolons, should be
placed after the parenthetical citation.
Example: . . . tasks that are grounded in learner needs” (Merriam & Caffarella,
1999, p. 243).
Question marks and exclamation points should be placed inside the
quotation marks if they are a part of the quotation but outside the quotes if
they are not.
Example: As even the authors question, “given the data, would it really be
appropriate in this situation?” (Smith & Mayer, 2003, p. 166).
Example: Where does that leave us, if “questions of context, rationality, social
action, and implementation are not as discrete as presented” (Merriam &
Caffarella, 1999, p. 338)?
Punctuation Rules

8. You usually cite electronic sources in text just like print
sources. The main exceptions include:
If you are directly quoting from a web page or an article on a web
page that does not have page numbers you need to note the
paragraph number of the quote. If there are section headings
count the paragraphs below the nearest heading. If there are no
headings, count paragraphs from the top of the page and precede
the paragraph number with para. or ¶.
Example: “Educators need to expand their view of traditional learning
needs assessment and incorporate more diagnostic skills (Daley, 1998,
Conclusions and Implications section, ¶ 1)
If you are simply referring to a web site as an example of
something you may just put the url in parentheses following the
referring sentence and you do not have to include that reference in
you bibliography.
Example: The IUPUI website (www.iupui.edu) has many resources for
new students.
Citing Electronic Sources

9. Citations within Quotations and Indirect Sources
If you are using a direct quote in which an author has cited
someone else you must leave that citation in where it appears.
You do NOT need to cite that embedded work on your
reference list.
Example: Peirce (2003) notes that “Bauer and Anderson (2000)
suggest using rubrics to assess content, expression, and
participation in online discussions” (p. 313).
If you are referring to an indirect source you need to use the
phrase “as cited in” when you cite it. An indirect source is
where you are quoting an author who was cited in another
author’s work. You should refer to the original author in your
text and then cite the second author in the citation and on
your reference page.
Example: Dewey states that “education must be reconceived . . .
as a continuous growth of the mind and a continuous illumination
of life. (as cited in Elias & Merriam, 1995, p. 55)
Your reference page would list only Elias & Merriam
Other Considerations

10. Citations and Plagiarism
The Indiana University Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities,
and Conduct Part III, Student Misconduct, Academic
Misconduct, Plagiarism states that
“A student must not adopt or reproduce ideas, words, or statements of
another person without appropriate acknowledgment. A student must give
credit to the originality of others and acknowledge an indebtedness
whenever he or she does any of the following:
1.Quotes another person's actual words, either oral or written;
2.Paraphrases another person's words, either oral or written;
3.Uses another person's idea, opinion, or theory; or
4.Borrows facts, statistics, or other illustrative material, unless the information is
common knowledge.”
Be safe, CITE IT!

11. More Examples
Text:
Novak (1998) differentiates between concept maps, which he sees as
representing concepts and relationships between them as agreed upon by experts
in the field, and cognitive maps, which he sees as representing the idiosyncratic
cognitive structure of an individual student.
Reference:
Novak, J. D. (1998). Learning, creating, and using knowledge: Concept maps as
facilitative tools in school and corporations. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

12. More Examples
Text:
Kreber (2001) offers several specific recommendations for faculty development
to encourage SoTL. The first of which is to “introduce department-wide
collaborative action research programs in which professors and faculty developers
explore teaching and learning in the discipline” (p. 81).
Reference:
Kreber, C. (2001). The scholarship of teaching and its implementation in faculty
development and graduate education. In C. Kreber (Ed.) Scholarship revisited:
Perspectives on the scholarship of teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

13. More Examples
Text:
In addition, this case will be a part of a larger cross-case analysis completed by
multiple researchers who will serve as peer debriefers throughout the process to
clarify interpretations and explore potential biases (Lincoln & Guba, 1985;
Rossman & Rallis, 2003)
References:
Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Rossman, G. B. & Rallis, S. F. (2003). Learning in the field: An introduction to
qualitative research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.