114 APA Style and Format

APA In-Text Citations

APA, or the American Psychological Association

Some disciplines like nursing or computer science simply cannot rely on old information. The timeliness of the source matters in APA style, and that is why the date is given priority—to make sure that the information they are citing truly meets the needs of its readers and writers. Student writers will need both in-text citations and a matching list of sources to complete your essay and protect you from plagiarism. There are distinct differences, however, in the execution of those in-text citations and source lists. 

In-Text Citations in APA:

The APA style follows the author-date method of in-text citation. Place the author’s last name and the year of publication at the end of the sentence, like this: (Jones, 1998).

To cite a source in your sentence, you generally need four things:

1. A quote or paraphrase from the source
2. The author’s last name
3. Either a page number (book) or an article/film title in quotation marks
4. The date your source was published

If you are paraphrasing your source, then you do not need the page number. If you are directly quoting your source, then a page number is required.  See the two examples below for sentences that require all four components:

Quotation Example: Jones (1998) found that “all dogs go to heaven” (p. 816).

Paraphrase Example: Jones (1998) found dogs to be heavenly creatures.

Parenthetical Example: Dogs are heavenly creatures (Jones, 1998).

Notice that the APA style adds commas and either p. (a single page) or pp. (a page range) for its page numbers in the parenthetical parts of its citations.

You can include these things in any combination that makes sense for your sentence, but all required components must be there either in your sentence or in the parentheses.

APA References

A References list is a master list of all the sources used in your essay, and it can be as many pages as it needs to be.

• It is double spaced throughout.
• The entries are in alphabetical order from top to bottom.
• Each entry has a hanging indent. (The first line is not indented, but all subsequent lines are.)
• The References title is centered, and it remains the same font and size as the rest of the document. Is not in bold, italics, or underlined, either.
• The entries are not numbered, nor do they have bullet points.

A look at an APA References page: APA References Page

Directions on how to cite sources in APA format: APA Source Citations

APA Paper Format

An APA Title page: APA Title Page