APA In-Text Citations Frequently Asked Questions

APA In-Text Citations

Frequently Asked Questions

©Tutoring and Learning Centre, George Brown College 2014 www.georgebrown.ca/tlc

This resource is meant to help students improve their use of APA by examining some of the lesser

known, or harder to find guidelines of APA.

All the information below complies with the Publication Manual of the American Psychological

Association, (6

ed., 2

printing).

Table of Contents:

1. When do I need to provide a citation?

2. What is the difference between a quote and a paraphrase?

3. If I use part of a quote inside my own sentence where does the citation go? (After the

quote or at the end of the sentence?)

4. How should I refer to the title of an article in my text?

5. When should a resource title be italicized?

6. When do I use “et al.”?

7. How do I show that several separate sources agreed on the same fact?

8. How do I cite secondary sources that were cited in my research (a citation of a

citation)?

9. What if I use the same source for a whole paragraph? Should I keep citing it again and

again?

10. How do I cite a website that has no author?

11. How do I cite a website that has no date?

12. When do I need to include page numbers in my citation?

13. How should I cite a website that has no page numbers?

For basic citation information, we recommend using the handout provided by George Brown’s Library

Learning Commons: “APA Format: The Basics”

http://www.georgebrown.ca/uploadedFiles/GBCLLC/Pages/Home_Page/Study_Tools/APA%20Format%

20and%20Examples.pdf

OWL Purdue APA style guide available online: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

APA In-Text Citations

Frequently Asked Questions

©Tutoring and Learning Centre, George Brown College 2014 www.georgebrown.ca/tlc

1. When do I need to provide a citation?

You should provide an in-text citation whenever you quote, paraphrase or summarize research

and ideas that are not your own. This may include theories, best practice guidelines, and of

course, statistics.

You should also cite whenever you present a fact that is not common knowledge. This means

that if the general public would not be aware of the fact, it should be cited.

For example:

General Knowledge (No citation necessary)

Fact from a resource (citation necessary)

The flu is an airborne virus.

The drug Tamiflu was developed by a

company named Roche following an outbreak

of H5N1 in China (Grice, 2007)

The rule of thumb is usually: when in doubt, cite.

Generally, you should provide a citation for any information that you didn’t already know before

taking the class or program you are writing for. So even if the information came from a text,

lecture, or handout in class, rather than an article or textbook, you should still try to provide a

citation to show that you are basing your arguments on facts, rather than guesses, rumours, or

assumptions.

2. What is the difference between a quote and a paraphrase?

It’s very important to recognize the difference between quoting and paraphrasing. If you use the

same phrases or words without properly citing your source, this is considered plagiarism, and

you could lose marks, or even get a zero.

In addition, make sure that you paraphrases are true paraphrases and not patch-writing.

Original:

Canadian students have become very familiar with exhaustion due to many competing life-

demands; exhaustion has become a way of life for them.

A quote is the exact words from a

source included in your own writing; a

quote is always surrounded by

quotation marks.

 In his article, Peterson (2014) states that,

“students have become very familiar with

exhaustion; it has become a way of life for

them” (p. 45)

A paraphrase gives the information

from the source but entirely in your

own words, not the words of the

author.

 One study (Peterson, 2014) shows that

students in Canada struggle to manage their

workload and live a balanced lifestyle.

Patch-writing is when we take some

phrases of the original and mix it with

our own words without providing

proper quotes. (This is plagiarism)

 Students in Canada are familiar with exhaustion

because of many competing life-demands.

APA In-Text Citations

Frequently Asked Questions

©Tutoring and Learning Centre, George Brown College 2014 www.georgebrown.ca/tlc

3. If I use part of a quote in my own sentence where does the citation go? After the quote or

at the end of the sentence?

When you use a quotation mid-sentence, end the quote with quotation marks and cite the

source in parentheses immediately after, and continue the sentence. If the author’s name and

the date of publication are included before the quotation, then provide only the page numbers

immediately after the quotation.

Example:

As the 6

Edition of the APA Manual (2010) states, it is important to, “cite the source in

parentheses immediately after the quotation marks” (p.171), even if the sentence continues.

4. How should I refer to the title of an article in my text?

Use quotation marks around the title of a shorter texts, such as an article or chapter, when

referring to it in-text.

Example:

In Potterson’s (2013) article, “Nursing in a changing society,” she argues that…

5. When should a title be italicized?

All titles of longer or complete texts, such as books, periodicals, films, videos, TV shows, and

microfilm publications are italicized in APA formatting.

Example:

Potterson’s (2011) book, Nursing in Canada, details the history of the nursing occupation in

Canadian society and how it came to be what it is today.

6. When do I use “et al.”?

There are two circumstances in APA style when you use “et al.”

1) Use “et al.” when a work has six or more authors. Include the first author’s name

followed by “et al.”

If a source listed its authors as: Bogdon, H., Halburd, R., Masterson, P., Preston, S.,

Ulwig, Z., & Bloom, O. (2012)., include only the surname of the first author followed by

“et al.”

Example: (Bogdon et al, 2012)

2) Use “et al.” when citing a work multiple times which has three, four, or five authors. In

the first citation, list all of the authors. In the following citations, list only the surname of

the first author followed by “et al.” and the date.

Example: The first study (Bogdon, Halburd, & Masterson, 2013) demonstrated findings

that differ from commonly held beliefs. The study (Bogdon et al., 2013) showed that…

APA In-Text Citations

Frequently Asked Questions

©Tutoring and Learning Centre, George Brown College 2014 www.georgebrown.ca/tlc

7. How do I show that several separate sources agreed on the same fact?

Include all authors’ names, listed alphabetically, and the dates of the works in the same

parentheses. Separate the citations with semi-colons (;).

Example:

(Lewis, 2000; Miller & Seacrest, 1990; Norton, 2011)

8. How do I cite secondary sources that were cited in my research (a citation of a citation)?

Name the original work in-text and add the original date of publication in parentheses after the

author’s name. Provide the secondary source information in parentheses at the end of the

sentence with the words “as cited in.”

In-text citation example:

Choi’s (2005) research indicates that fog can make some people feel calm and at ease (as cited

in Pitt, 2009).

Provide only the secondary source in the reference list.

Reference entry example:

Pitt, B. (2009). Male celebrities: Toil and trial. Los Angeles, CA: Great Publishing Incorporated.

9. What if I use the same source for a whole paragraph? Should I keep citing it again and

again?

Basically, you need to make sure that it is clear in each sentence, where the information is from.

When writing a paragraph that refers to the same source several times, there are 3 options for

formatting in-text citations, but you can use a combination of these.

1) When the author’s name is written in the narrative, include the date in parentheses only

the first time after the author’s name is mentioned.

Example:

Similarly, Clark’s study (2013) demonstrated that walking for 20 minutes every day

could improve people’s health. Clark urges people to consider how they could integrate

more walking into their own lives.

2) If the author’s name is included in the parenthetical citation with date, then include the

citation every time you reference the source in the paragraph.

Example:

One study in particular (Clark, 2013), demonstrated findings that were different from the

rest. This study (Clark, 2013) explored the relationship between fruits and vegetables.

3) When both the date and the author’s name are stated in-text, do not include any

parenthetical information.

Example:

In 2013, Clark observed that a large number of students struggled with balancing their

school work and their personal lives. Clark suggests several reasons for this. Firstly,…

APA In-Text Citations

Frequently Asked Questions

10. How do I cite a website that has no author?

If there is no personal, corporate or organizational author provided on the website, use the title

of the webpage in-text or the first few words of the title in parentheses. In both cases, the title

should be in quotations.

Example:

“Apes in their natural habitat” (2014), suggests that many apes live longer in the wild than in

captivity…

Example:

Research shows that many apes survive longer in the wild than in captivity (“Apes in their

natural habitat,” 2014).

11. How do I cite a website that has no date?

If there is no date provided on the webpage, use the abbreviation “n.d.” (stands for “no date”)

instead.

Example:

Johnson & Johnson (n.d.) celebrate the fact that…

Example:

One extensive study (Johnson & Johnson, n.d.) demonstrates that…

12. When do I need to include page numbers in my citation?

In APA style, always provide a page number for a direct quotation and for statistics whenever

possible.

Example:

In his article, Peterson (2014) states that, “students have become very familiar with exhaustion;

it has become a way of life for them” (p. 45).

The APA Manual also encourages writers to provide a page or paragraph number when

paraphrasing specific material from a source, but it is not always required. Ask your teacher if

they would prefer page numbers for all references.

13. How do I cite a website that has no page numbers?

If no page numbers are available, include paragraph numbers instead (para. #). If no paragraph

numbers are available, you can count paragraphs starting at the top of the document and

moving downwards.

Example:

(Alderdice, 2014, para. 2)