omit the page number.
If the author of a source is unknown, try to determine if there is an organization or government responsible for creating the content. If so, include its name in the in-text citation (and reference entry).
Alternatively, use the source title in place of the author. Italicize the title if it’s italicized in the reference entry (except for court cases , which are italicized in the in-text citation but not the reference entry). Otherwise, enclose it in double quotation marks.
Apply title case capitalization, and shorten long titles. The first word of the title should always be included so readers can easily locate the corresponding reference entry.
If the publication date is unknown, write “n.d.” (no date) in the in-text citation.
Page numbers are only required with direct quotes in APA . If you are quoting from a work that does not have page numbers (e.g., webpages or YouTube videos ), you can use an alternative locator, such as:
Note that Bible citations always use chapter and verse numbers, even when page numbers are available:
If a statement is supported by multiple sources, the in-text citations can be combined in one parenthesis. Order the sources alphabetically, and separate them with a semicolon.
When citing multiple works from the same author, list the years of publication separated by a comma.
When in-text citations are ambiguous because they correspond to multiple reference entries, apply the solutions outlined in the table below.
Situation | Solution | In-text citation |
---|---|---|
Multiple works by the same author in the same year. | Add a lowercase letter after the year. | (Cooper, 2018a) (Cooper, 2018b) |
Different authors with the same last name. | Include the authors’ initials. | (H. Taylor, 2019) (B. J. Taylor, 2016) |
Multiple works with 3+ authors that shorten to the same form (i.e., same first author(s) and date). | Include as many names as needed to distinguish the citations. | (Cooper, Lee, et al., 2015) (Cooper, Ross, et al., 2015) |
If you want to refer to a source that you have found in another source, you should always try to access the original or primary source .
However, if you cannot find the original source , you should cite it through the secondary source that led you to it, using the phrase “as cited in”.
If the publication date of the primary source is unknown, include only the year of publication of the secondary source.
Only include a reference entry for the secondary source, not the primary source.
Personal communications , such as phone calls, emails, and interviews, are not included in the reference list because readers can’t access them. The in-text citation is also formatted slightly differently.
Include the initials and last name of the person you communicated with, the words “personal communication,” and the exact date in parentheses.
General mentions of a website or software don’t have to be cited with an in-text citation or entry in the reference list. Instead, incorporate relevant information into the running text.
When citing a webpage or online article , the APA in-text citation consists of the author’s last name and year of publication. For example: (Worland & Williams, 2015). Note that the author can also be an organization. For example: (American Psychological Association, 2019).
If you’re quoting you should also include a locator. Since web pages don’t have page numbers, you can use one of the following options:
Instead of the author’s name, include the first few words of the work’s title in the in-text citation. Enclose the title in double quotation marks when citing an article, web page or book chapter. Italicize the title of periodicals, books, and reports.
If the publication date is unknown , use “n.d.” (no date) instead. For example: (Johnson, n.d.).
The abbreviation “ et al. ” (meaning “and others”) is used to shorten APA in-text citations with three or more authors . Here’s how it works:
Only include the first author’s last name, followed by “et al.”, a comma and the year of publication, for example (Taylor et al., 2018).
Always include page numbers in the APA in-text citation when quoting a source . Don’t include page numbers when referring to a work as a whole – for example, an entire book or journal article.
If your source does not have page numbers, you can use an alternative locator such as a timestamp, chapter heading or paragraph number.
If you cite several sources by the same author or group of authors, you’ll distinguish between them in your APA in-text citations using the year of publication.
If you cite multiple sources by the same author(s) at the same point , you can just write the author name(s) once and separate the different years with commas, e.g., (Smith, 2020, 2021).
To distinguish between sources with the same author(s) and the same publication year, add a different lowercase letter after the year for each source, e.g., (Smith, 2020, 2021a, 2021b). Add the same letters to the corresponding reference entries .
In an APA in-text citation , you use the phrase “ as cited in ” if you want to cite a source indirectly (i.e., if you cannot find the original source).
Parenthetical citation: (Brown, 1829, as cited in Mahone, 2018) Narrative citation: Brown (1829, as cited in Mahone, 2018) states that…
On the reference page , you only include the secondary source (Mahone, 2018).
An APA in-text citation is placed before the final punctuation mark in a sentence.
If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.
Streefkerk, R. (2022, September 30). APA In-Text Citations (7th Ed.) | Multiple Authors & Missing Info. Scribbr. Retrieved July 2, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/apa-style/in-text-citation/
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This citation guide is based on The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed., 2020). The contents are accurate to the best of our knowledge.
Content in this guide was copied with permission from Bethel University (TN) Library .
Citations in APA style include two parts: (1) in-text citations, which are connected to (2) reference list citations.
This guide will help you create in-text citations that correlate with the corresponding reference list citations. Please see Reference Examples 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 except for Personal Communications and similar unrecoverable sources.
If you are citing a source that has multiple authors, follow these basic steps.
Always cite both authors' names in-text every time you reference them.
Johnson and Smith (2009) found...
If a document has three or more authors, simply provide the last name of the first author with "et al." from the first citation to the last.
Thomas et al. (2007) likened abnormal psychology to...
... distractions (Thomas et al., 2007).
The general format below refers to a book with three or more authors.
If you are dealing with a book that has three to five editors instead of authors, you would simply insert the names of the editors into the place where the authors' names are now, followed by "(Eds.)" without the quotation marks (as per the example). The rest of the format would remain the same.
General Format
In-Text Citation (Paraphrase):
(Author Surname et al., Year)
NOTE: The in-text citation for works with three or more authors is shortened to the first author's name followed by et al. and the year.
In-Text Citation (Direct Quote):
(Author Surname et al., Year, page number)
References:
Surnames and initials for up to twenty authors should be provided in the reference list. For more than 20 authors, list the first 19, followed by an ellipses, then list the final author.
Author Surname, First Initial. Second Initial., Author Surname, First Initial. Second Initial., & Author Surname, First Initial. Second Initial. (Year). Book title: Subtitle . Publisher.
(Johnson et al., 1999)
(Johnson et al., 1999, p. 72)
Johnson, N. G., Roberts, M. C., & Worell, J. (Eds.). (1999). Beyond appearance: A new look at adolescent girls . American Psychological Association.
Parenthetical:, one of the purposes of advertising is “framing consumer decisions by directing attention away from product disadvantages” (connell et al., 2015, p. 130). , paraphrase / summary:, researchers connell et al. (2015) point out that one of the purposes of advertising is to distract people from an item’s undesirable qualities when they are considering a purchase. , one of the purposes of advertising is to distract people from an item’s undesirable qualities when they are considering a purchase (connell et al., 2015). , * ** remember: each source listed on the reference page must correspond to at least one in-text citation in the body of the paper; each in-text citation must correspond to a source listed on the reference page..
Source with two authors.
Rules for citing more than one author apply to all sources, regardless of format. Below is an example of a book with two authors.
Use the word "and" between the authors' names within the text and use an ampersand (&) for parenthetical citations.
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year of Publication). Format the remainder according to resource type.
Loveless, D., & Griffith, B. (2014). Critical pedagogy for a polymodal world . Birkhäuser.
According to Loveless and Griffith (2014) ... ...(Loveless & Griffith, 2014). ...(Loveless & Griffith, 2014, p. 121).
For all sources with three to twenty authors, include all of the authors on your References page.
For in-text citations, sources with three or more authors can be abbreviated to only the first author's last name followed by "et al." For example, (Author et al., Year).
Author, A. A., Author, B. B., Author, C. C. (Year of Publication). Format the remainder according to resource type .
Somerville, I., Purcell, A., & Morrison, F. (2011). Public relations education in a divided society: PR, terrorism and critical pedagogy in post-conflict Northern Ireland. Public Relations Review, 37 (5), 548-555. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2011.09.008
According to Somerville et al. (2011) ... ... (Somerville et al., 2011). ... (Somerville et al., 2011, p. 549).
For sources with twenty-one or more authors, write out the first twenty authors on the References page, add an ellipsis (...), and end with the last author.
For in-text citations, sources with more than twenty authors can be abbreviated to only the first author's last name followed by "et al." For example, (Author et al., Year).
Author, A. A., Author, B. B., Author, C. C., Author, D. D., Author, E. E., Author, F. F., Author, G. G., Author, H. H., Author, I. I., Author, J. J., Author, K. K., Author, L. L., Author, M. M., Author, N. N., Author, O. O., Author, P. P., Author, Q. Q., Author, R. R., Author, S. S., Author, T. T., . . . Author, Z. Z. (Year of Publication). Format the remainder according to resource type .
Aad, G., Abbott, B., Abdallah, J., Abdinov, O., Aben, R., Abolins, M., AbouZeid, O. S., Abramowicz, H., Abreu, H., Abreu, R., Abulaiti, Y., Acharya, B. S., Adamczyk, L., Adams, D. L., Adelman, J., Adomeit, S., Adye, T., Affolder, A. A., Agatonovic-Jovin, T., Aguilar-Saavedra, J. A., Alen, S. P., . . . Woods, N. (2015). Combined measurement of the Higgs boson mass in pp collisions at √s=7 and 8 TeV with the ATLAS and CMS experiments. Physical Review Letters, 114 (19), 1-33. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.191803
According to Aad et al. (2015) ... ... (Aad et al., 2015). ... (Aad et al., 2015, p. 20).
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Source with three to twenty authors, source with twenty-one or more authors.
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Note : Rules for citing more than one author apply to all sources, regardless of format.
References Page Format | |
---|---|
Author, A. A., & Author, A. A. (Year of Publication).
Loveless, D., & Griffith, B. (2014). . Birkhäuser Boston. | With page number: (Loveless & Griffith, 2014, p. 121) Without page number: (Loveless & Grifith, 2014)
Loveless and Griffith (2014)
|
Note : For all sources with three to twenty authors, you must write out all of the authors on the References page. For in-text citations, sources with three or more authors can be abbreviated to (Author, et al., year) from the first use.
(Year of Publication). . Somerville, I., Purcell, A., & Morrison, F. (2011). Public relations education in a divided society: PR, terrorism and critical pedagogy in post-conflict Northern Ireland. (5), 548-555. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2011.09.008 |
(Somerville et al., 2017, p. 549)
(Sommerville et al., 2017)
Sommerville et al. (2017) |
Note : For sources with twenty-one or more authors, write out the first twenty authors and forgo all subsequent authors, but the last, with an ellipsis.
. Aad, G., Abbott, B., Abdallah, J., Abdinov, O., Aben, R., Abolins, M., AbouZeid, O. S., Abramowicz, H., Abreu, H., Abreu, R., Abulaiti, Y., Acharya, B. S., Adamczyk, L., Adams, D. L., Adelman, J., Adomeit, S., Adye, T., Affolder, A. A., Agatonovic-Jovin, T., Aguilar-Saavedra, J. A., Alen, S. P., . . . Woods, N. (2015). Combined Measurement of the Higgs Boson Mass in pp Collisions at √s=7 and 8 TeV with the ATLAS and CMS Experiments. (19), 1-33. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.191803 |
(Aad et al., 2015, p. 20)
(Aad et al., 2015)
Aad et al. (2015) |
When citing multiple works parenthetically, place the citations in alphabetical order, separating them with semicolons.
(Adams et al., 2019; Shumway & Shulman, 2015; Westinghouse, 2017)
Arrange two or more works by the same authors by year of publication.
Give the authors’ surnames once; for each subsequent work, give only the date.
(Department of Veterans Affairs, n.d., 2017a, 2017b, 2019)
Zhou (n.d., 2000, 2016, in press)
Citing multiple works is covered in Section 8.12 of the APA Publication Manual, Seventh Edition
To highlight the work(s) most directly relevant to your point in a given sentence, place those citations first within parentheses in alphabetical order and then insert a semicolon and a phrase, such as “see also,” before the first of the remaining citations, which should also be in alphabetical order. This strategy allows authors to emphasize, for example, the most recent or most important research on a topic, which would not be reflected by alphabetical order alone.
(Sampson & Hughes, 2020; see also Augustine, 2017; Melara et al., 2018; Pérez, 2014)
If multiple sources are cited within the narrative of a sentence, they can appear in any order.
Suliman (2018), Gutiérrez (2012, 2017), and Medina and Reyes (2019) examined . . .
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General Format. In-Text Citation (Paraphrase): (Author Surname et al., Year) NOTE: The in-text citation for works with three or more authors is shortened to the first author's name followed by et al. and the year. In-Text Citation (Direct Quote): (Author Surname et al., Year, page number) References: Author Surname, First Initial.
Three or more authors. When citing a journal paper in APA with three or more authors, only enter the last name of the first author listed and add “et al.” after it. “Et al.” is Latin for the phrase “and others,” which is why it is used as a substitute for two or more authors’ last names.
APA in-text citations with multiple authors. If a work has two authors, separate their names with an ampersand (&) in a parenthetical citation or “and” in a narrative citation. If there are three or more authors, only include the first author’s last name followed by “et al.”, meaning “and others”.
Three or More Authors. If a document has three or more authors, simply provide the last name of the first author with "et al." from the first citation to the last.
General Format. In-Text Citation (Paraphrase): (Author Surname et al., Year) NOTE: The in-text citation for works with three or more authors is shortened to the first author's name followed by et al. and the year. In-Text Citation (Direct Quote): (Author Surname et al., Year, page number) References:
For a work with one or two authors, include the author name(s) in every citation. For a work with three or more authors, include the name of only the first author plus “et al.” in every citation (even the first citation).
Citations with Three or More Authors. For works that have three or more authors, list the first author followed by “et al.” (meaning “and others”) Examples: (Connell et al., 2014) Researchers Connell et al. (2015) found . . .
Rules for citing more than one author apply to all sources, regardless of format. Below is an example of a book with two authors. Use the word "and" between the authors' names within the text and use an ampersand (&) for parenthetical citations.
For in-text citations, sources with three or more authors can be abbreviated to (Author, et al., year) from the first use. References Page Format. In-Text Citation. Author, A. A., Author, A. A., Author, A. A. (Year of Publication). Format the remainder according to resource type.
Arrange two or more works by the same authors by year of publication. Place citations with no date first. Then, order works with dates in chronological order. Place in-press citations last. Give the authors’ surnames once; for each subsequent work, give only the date. (Department of Veterans Affairs, n.d., 2017a, 2017b, 2019)