The APA 7th style uses in-text citations when referring to or quoting people’s work. The essential elements of an in-text citation are the author surname/s and year.
Use this format if you want to emphasise the author. Their name becomes part of your sentence.
Example
Jones (2018) concluded that the treatment was effective in 74% of cases.
Author prominent citations are also referred to as narrative citations.
Use this format if you want to emphasise the information. It cites the author’s name, typically at the end of a sentence.
Example
...as evidenced by a recent Australian study of the treatment's effectiveness (Jones, 2018).
Information prominent citations are also referred to as parenthetical citations.
The following examples show how to form in-text citations according to number of authors and other considerations.
Surname, Year
Hawkins (2020) reported that the results of the study were inconclusive.
OR
. . . the results of the study were inconclusive (Hawkins, 2020).
Both surnames in the order listed on the publication, followed by the year.
For author prominent citations, use “and” between the author names.
For information prominent citations, & between the author names.
Bovey and Hede (2013) argue that . . .
OR
. . . is a significant factor (Bovey & Hede, 2013).
Cite the first author followed by et al. and year
Robbins et al. (2017) note that leadership empathy and good communication are key to negotiating successful organisational change.
OR
They may be required to work harder now there are … perform the same tasks (Robbins et al., 2017).
When two or more authors have the same surname, add their initials to distinguish between them
P. R. Smith (1945) adopted a unique approach . . . . . .later in the text. . . This idea was first advanced by S. Smith (1935).
OR
Research conducted by W.O. Brown and Jones (1985) was influenced by the work of S.A. Brown and Smith (1961).
The corresponding information prominent citations would be:
(P.R. Smith, 1945)
(S. Smith, 1935)
(W.O. Brown & Jones, 1985)
(S.A. Brown & Smith, 1961)
Distinguish identical multiple-author citations with the same year by adding an additional surname, followed by a comma and et al.
Instead of just Brown et al. (1998), add additional author surnames to distinguish between separate works that Brown co-authored that year:
Brown, Shimamura, et al. (1998)
Brown, Taylor, et al. (1998).
The corresponding information prominent citations would be (Brown, Shimamura, et al., 1998), and (Brown, Taylor, et al., 1998).
Author surname, then years separated by a commas, in chronological order.
Reimer (2017, 2018, 2019) considered this phenomenon across various studies . . .
OR
. . . this phenomenon was considered across various studies (Reimer, 2017, 2018, 2019).
Assign a suffix of a, b, c, d, etc. after the year, according to alphabetical listing by title in the reference list.
Stairs (1992b) examined . . . . . .later in the text . . . According to Stairs (1992a) . . .
OR
. . . was recently considered (Stairs, 1992b) . . . . . .later in the text . . . . . . the results were inconclusive (Stairs, 1992a).
You may want to cite works from various authors to more strongly support a particular point you are making.
List each work alphabetically by surname in alphabetical order, separated by semicolons.
. . . as proposed by various researchers (Adams et al., 2020; Green, 2019; Hall & Clark, 2021).
OR
Green (2019), Adams et al. (2020), and Hall and Clark (2021) analysed . . .
Use 'Anonymous' as the surname.
Anonymous (2019)
OR
(Anonymous, 2019)
Give the first few words of the title. If the title is from an article or a chapter, use double quotation marks. If the title is from a periodical, book brochure, or report, then use italics.
. . . the worst election loss in the party's history ("This is the end," 1968).
If the organisation has a recognisable abbreviation
First listing: Organisation name [Abbreviation], Year
Subsequent: Abbreviation, Year
Where the organisation abbreviation is not widely known
Use the name in full every time
Census data gives valuable insights into... (Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS], 2021).
THEN
Australia's next census will be held on 10th August 2021 (ABS, 2021).
Occasionally it may be necessary to include in your work a quotation from an author.
Always include a page number when you have to cite directly from a source.
If no page numbers are available (e.g. in a website), include a paragraph number.
Use accepted abbreviations like p. for page and para. for paragraph
Gittins (2006) suggests that "the key to understanding microeconomics is to realise that its overwhelming focus is on the role of price" (p. 18).
Weston (1988) stated "the darkest days were still ahead" (p. 45).
OR
A patient is in pain when they tell you and "it is important to believe the patient so as to build a trusting relationship" (Phipps et al., 1983, p. 45).
Private letters, e-mail and conversations require only an in-text citation, which includes the date of the communication (Month DD, YYYY).
Personal communications are not included in reference lists, as they are not accessible to others.
R. Smith (personal communication, January 28, 2020) . . .
OR
. . . (R. Smith, personal communication, January 28, 2020)
The original author is cited together with the secondary author.
Only do this when the original is unavailable and only include what you have actually read.
Farrow (1968, as cited in Ward & Decan, 1988) . . .
OR
Ward and Decan (1988) cited Farrow (1968) as finding . . .
OR
. . . (Farrow, 1968, as cited in Ward & Decan, 1988).
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