APA Citation Guide: In-Text/Parenthetical Citations APA 7th

In-text citations, or parenthetical citations, are those that are inside the running text, or narrative of your text, and act as pointers to the more complete reference list at the end of the paper. 

The in-text citation needs the author and the year of the document. The basic template looks like this:

(Author, year)

Direct Quotation or Paraphrase?

APA Style strongly favors paraphrasing over quoting. However, if you do quote, any text that you are quoting exactly from the original should be enclosed in quotation marks, and the in-text citation should include a page number. As a courtesy to your reader, you may include a page number when you are paraphrasing from a long work, such as a book.

If there is a direct quotation, the in-text citation will include the page number or page span. You will also include a page number or page span when quoting or paraphrasing a long work, such as a book. The template would look like this:

(Author, year, p. x)

(Author, year, pp. xx-xx)

If you are making a very general reference to the overall subject of an article/essay, then you do not need quotation marks and you also do not need a page number. Examples of this are common in the introductions to research articles, as shown here:

There have been several areas of investigation, including measures of disposition (Zhang, 2000; Garcia & Smith, 2009), measures of decision-making (Lejuez et al., 2004; Macapagal & Janssen, 2011), and measures of impulsivity (Lee, 2014). 

Notice that the year always follows the author, and the page number(s) is always at the end. Number of authors is key to understanding APA in-text citations.

One Author

Research by Garcia (2017) found blah.

Research found blah (Garcia, 2017).

Two Authors

Garcia and Bartle (2017) found blah.

Research found blah (Garcia & Bartle, 2017).

Three or More Authors

Et al. is an abbreviation of a Latin phrase that means "and others."
It stands in for two or more other names you haven't typed.

Garcia et al. (2017) found blah.

Research found blah (Garcia et al., 2017).

Garcia et al. (2017) found "blah" (p.25).

No Author

If a source has no identifiable author, then use the title of the source instead:

Research found blah (“Title of Article in Quotation Marks and Title Case,” 2017).

In “Title of Article in Quotation Marks and Title Case” (2017), the author states "blah" (p. 45).

Research found blah (Title of Book in Italics and Title Case, 2017).

Multiple Sources

Several studies (Lowe, 2015; Mancha, 2007; Smith & Jones; 1993) have found blah.

Same Author/Same Year/Different Works

Research found (Garcia, 1981a)

Garcia (1981b) found

In your reference list, these would look like:

Garcia, C. (1981a). Article title. [other article citation information].

Garcia, C. (1981b). Book title. [other book citation information].

Citing Someone Who is Being Cited by Someone Else

Petry (as cited in Quarton, 2017) found that...

Some research showed blah (Petry, 1975, as cited in Quarton, 2017).

Quarton would appear in your list of references; Petry would not.

However, this is awkward, and it's better to avoid it by looking up Petry's orginal work so you can cite it instead!

Big Quotations/Small Quotations

If you have a direct quotation that is less than 40 words, blend the quotation smoothly into your writing and use quotation marks. If the quotation is 40 words or more, place it in a free-standing, indented text block, do not use quotation marks, and do maintain double spacing. End with a period, then place the in-text citation. Example:

Garcia’s (2017) work found that

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