APA Citation Style (7th Edition)

Each time you quote or paraphrase a source, you must include an in-text citation and an entry in your reference list. 

What's the difference between quoting and paraphrasing?

A direct quotation involves copying exact words or phrases from your source material, while paraphrasing involves restating someone else's ideas or thoughts in your own words. A direct quotation requires quotation marks and a page number (or paragraph number if there are no pages), but paraphrasing does not.

Guidelines for in-text citation

Parenthetical citation

Include the author name and the year in parentheses. For example:

(Jones, 2003)

Narrative citation

Mention the author in your sentence, immediately followed by the date. For example: 

Jones (2003) believed you could be flexible when necessary.

Direct quotation

Include the page number with the in-text citation. Examples: 

• "This is what a short quotation would look like" (Jones, 2003, p. 17). 
• Jones (2003) found that "you could be a little flexible to facilitate the flow of your writing" (p. 17). 
• Block quotation (more than 40 words): 
  • Indent 0.5 inches from the left margin. The entire block quotation is double-spaced. 
  • When a block quotation is longer than one paragraph, indent the first line of each subsequent paragraph.
  • Add the author, year and page number in parentheses at the end of the block quotation: (Jones, 2003, p. 17)

(See sections 8.10-8.36 of the APA Publication Manual, 7th ed.)

It is important to cite at the appropriate level, meaning you don't want to cite too little nor too much. To learn more about this, have a look at the APA Style site:

If you are quoting a passage that is in another language, quote the original (in the other language) and the English translation in square brackets.

If the document you are referencing was automatically translated from a foreign language into English (by Google Translate, Babelfish, etc.), you need to go back to the original and list the original, non-English-language quotation, with English following in square brackets.

(See section 9.38 of the APA Publication Manual, 7th ed.)

2 authors?

Cite both authors (Jones & Smith, 2011).

3 or more authors?

Cite the first author listed plus et al. (Jones et al., 2011).

(See section 8.17 of the APA Publication Manual, 7th ed.)

If you are referring to an author's work that is quoted in a secondary source, name the original author in the in-text citation, followed by (as cited in secondary source, date).  

For example, if you want to cite Smith's idea, which you read about in Jones' book, you would provide an in-text citation for Smith's study: (Smith, as cited in Jones, 2002). In the reference list, include a reference only for Jones' book.

(See section 8.6 of the APA Publication Manual, 7th ed.)