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Handouts for Students>In-Text Citations (APA Style)>

In-Text Citations (APA Style)

For more information on APA citation style, see http://www.apa.org

Examples below are from Little Brown Compact Handbook


 
TYPE FORMAT EXAMPLE

Author Named in Your Text

If the author's name is in your text, you do not need to repeat

Signal phrase, Author (Year), "quote" (p. page number).

One researcher, Carol Gilligan (2005), concludes that "women impose a distinctive construction on moral problems" (p. 105).

Two Authors

Last names only

Signal phrase, "quote" (Author & Author, Year, p. page number).

 

* Use & between names of authors

According to a study, "The poor and minorities were victims" (Frieden & Sagalyn, 2005, p. 29).

Three Authors

Add commas and "&" before final name

Signal phrase, "quote" (Author, Author, & Author,  Year, p. page number). Our text discusses the "ethical dilemmas in public relations" (Wilcox, Ault, & Agee, 2005, p.  125).

Six or More Authors

Give only the first author followed by et. al.

Signal phrase, "quote" (Author, et. al., Year, p. page number). Our text discusses the "ethical dilemmas in public relations" (Wilcox, et. al. 2007, p. 125).

No Author

Use shortened version of title

Signal phrase, "quote"  (Shortened title, Year, p. page number).

Full title = Right to Die

One article states that, "A death row inmate may demand his execution for notoriety" (Right, 2005, p. 135).

Electronic sources with no pages

Use author or title only

Signal phrase, "quote" (Author, Year).

 

Signal phrase, "quote" (Shortened title, Year).

 

According to a study, "Twins reared apart report similar feelings" (Palfrey, 2005). or (Twins reared, 2005).

 


SIGNAL PHRASES

 

Examples of signal phrases (Bedford Handbook 583)

 

In the words of researchers Redelmeier and Tibshirani (2007), "...."

 

As Matt Sundeen (2005) has noted, "...."

 

Patti Pena, mother of a child killed by a driver distracted by a cell phone, points out that, "..."

 

"..." writes Christine Haughtney (2008).

 

"..." claims wireless spokesperson Annette Jacobs (2007).

 

Verbs in signal phrases

 

acknowledges                    comments                    endorses                    reasons

adds                                compares                     grants                         refutes

admits                              confirms                      illustrates                    rejects

agrees                              contends                     implies                        reports

argues                              declares                      insists                         responds

asserts                             denies                         notes                          suggests

believes                            disputes                      observes                     thinks

claims                               emphasizes                 points out                    writes

 

Paraphrasing/Summarizing

 

Paraphrasing/summarizing is restating the source's ideas in your own words and sentence structure.  Select what is relevant to your topic, and restate only that.  Changing only keywords is not sufficient in paraphrasing/summarizing.  Completely restate the author's ideas in your own words.  Use signal phrases and continue to use parenthetical citations.


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Last Revised: 01/07/2008 [ks]