APA 7th Edition Citation Style Guide

Citations are a two-part system: in-text citations connected to reference list citations.

This guide will help you create in-text citations that correlate with the corresponding Reference list citations. Please see the References guide for more details on the Reference list.

Note: All sources that are cited in the text must appear in the reference list at the end of the paper.

Handling In-text Citations:

• When mentioning the author in the text of your sentence, provide the author's last name, immediately followed by the date in parentheses. Example: Johnson (2008) argues that...

• When not mentioning the author in the text of your sentence, provide the author and date at the end of the sentence in parentheses.  Example: ... hypothetical results (Johnson, 2008).

• When quoting or paraphrasing a specific detail, include the page number in parentheses at the end of the sentence. Example: "... forgetfulness" (p. 678). Alternative example: "... forgetfulness (Johnson, 2008, p. 678).   

When writing your paper, you have two basic choices to make when presenting a source to the reader.   You can choose to refer to a work in general or you can specifically quote or paraphrase the words and content of that source.  You can also choose to mention the author in the text of your sentences or you can choose to leave his or her name out. 

For additional examples, please visit the In-Text Citations: Author/Authors page on Purdue Online Writing Lab.