APA Style: Citing Within the Text

The basics for IU Adult Education graduate students.

Table of Contents

Required Information

Normal Format

Authors’ Names

Quoting Directly from a Source

Punctuation Rules

Citing Electronic Sources

Other Considerations

Citations and Plagiarism

More Examples

APA style requires three kinds of information to be included in in-text citations. This information must exactly match the corresponding entry in the references list. The author's last name must always be included.

The work's date of publication must always be included the first time the citation is referred to in a paragraph. It can be omitted in later citations within the same paragraph only and only if that is the only work by that author cited in that paragraph.

The page number appears only in a citation to a direct quotation enclosed in quotation marks.

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Required Information

Normal format for in-text citations: (authorlastname, date) for single author works,

Example: (Smith, 2001)

(firstauthorlastname & secondauthorlastname, date) for works with two authors, Example: (Smith & Jones, 2002)

(firstauthorlastname, secondauthorlastname, & thirdauthorlastname, date) for works with three or more authors the first time it is cited. Subsequent citations should be formatted (firstauthorlastname, et al, date). Example: (Smith, Jones, Brown, & White, 2003) followed by (Smith,

et al., 2003)

If you have a work with 6 or more authors, use the first author’s last name followed by “et al.” from the very first cite.

Normal Format

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If you use the authors name(s) in a sentence you must: follow the names with the publication date in parentheses, and you do not have to put any other citation in that sentence

unless it includes a direct quote Example: Smith and Jones (1998) found that . . .

If you are referring to more than one source in a single citation you must: list them alphabetically within one set of parentheses, and separate them with semi-colons

Example: (Adams, 1998; Hawthorne, 2003, Mays & Martin, 2000)

Authors’ Names

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Quoting directly from a source

If it is less than 40 words long it needs to be incorporated in the text, enclosed in quotation marks, and followed by the parenthetical citation including the page number. Example: One example of situated cognition is the use of a cognitive

apprenticeship. An important part of a cognitive apprenticeship is “selecting real-world situations or tasks that are grounded in learner needs” (Merriam & Caffarella, 1999, p. 243).

If your direct quote is 40 words or more it must be set in a free-standing block of text and should NOT have quotation marks around it. The text block should be indented 5 spaces, be double-spaced, and be concluded with the appropriate citation.

Quoting Directly from a Source

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Punctuation Rules Punctuation marks, including periods, commas, and

semicolons, should be placed after the parenthetical citation. Example: . . . tasks that are grounded in learner needs” (Merriam &

Caffarella, 1999, p. 243).

Question marks and exclamation points should be placed inside the quotation marks if they are a part of the quotation but outside the quotes if they are not. Example: As even the authors question, “given the data, would it

really be appropriate in this situation?” (Smith & Mayer, 2003, p. 166).

Example: Where does that leave us, if “questions of context, rationality, social action, and implementation are not as discrete as presented” (Merriam & Caffarella, 1999, p. 338)?

Punctuation Rules

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You usually cite electronic sources just like print sources. The main exceptions include: if you are directly quoting from a web page or an article on a

web page that does not have page numbers you need to note the paragraph number of the quote. If there are section headings count the paragraphs below the nearest heading. If there are no headings, count paragraphs from the top of the page and precede the paragraph number with para. or ¶. Example: “Educators need to expand their view of traditional

learning needs assessment and incorporate more diagnostic skills (Daley, 1998, Conclusions and Implications section, ¶ 1)

If you are simply referring to a web site as an example of something you may just put the url in parentheses following the referring sentence and you do not have to include that reference in you bibliography. Example: The IUPUI website (www.iupui.edu) has many resources

for new students.

Citing Electronic Sources

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Citations within Quotations and Indirect Sources If you are using a direct quote in which an author has cited

someone else you must leave that citation in where it appears. You do NOT need to cite that embedded work on your reference list. Example: Peirce (2003) notes that “Bauer and Anderson (2000)

suggest using rubrics to assess content, expression, and participation in online discussions” (p. 313).

If you are referring to an indirect source you need to use the phrase “as cited in” when you cite it. An indirect source is where you are quoting an author who was cited in another author’s work. You should refer to the original author in your text and then cite the second author in the citation and on your reference page. Example: Dewey states that “education must be reconceived . . . as

a continuous growth of the mind and a continuous illumination of life. (as cited in Elias & Merriam, 1995, p. 55)

Other Considerations

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Citations and Plagiarism

The Indiana University Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct Part III, Student Misconduct, Academic Misconduct, Plagiarism states that “A student must not adopt or reproduce ideas, words, or

statements of another person without appropriate acknowledgment. A student must give credit to the originality of others and acknowledge an indebtedness whenever he or she does any of the following:

1. Quotes another person's actual words, either oral or written;

2. Paraphrases another person's words, either oral or written;

3. Uses another person's idea, opinion, or theory; or

4. Borrows facts, statistics, or other illustrative material, unless the information is common knowledge.”

Be safe, CITE IT!

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More Examples

Text:

Novak (1998) differentiates between concept maps, which he sees as

representing concepts and relationships between them as agreed upon

by experts in the field, and cognitive maps, which he sees as

representing the idiosyncratic cognitive structure of an individual

student.

Reference:

Novak, J. D. (1998). Learning, creating, and using knowledge: Concept

maps as facilitative tools in school and corporations. Mahwah, NJ:

Erlbaum.

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More Examples

Text:

Kreber (2001) offers several specific recommendations for faculty

development to encourage SoTL. The first of which is to “introduce

department-wide collaborative action research programs in which

professors and faculty developers explore teaching and learning in the

discipline” (p. 81).

Reference:

Kreber, C. (2001). The scholarship of teaching and its implementation in

faculty development and graduate education. In C. Kreber (Ed.)

Scholarship revisited: Perspectives on the scholarship of teaching.

San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

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More Examples

Text:

In addition, this case will be a part of a larger cross-case analysis

completed by multiple researchers who will serve as peer debriefers

throughout the process to clarify interpretations and explore potential

biases (Lincoln & Guba, 1985; Rossman & Rallis, 2003)

References:

Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Thousand Oaks,

CA: Sage.

Rossman, G. B. & Rallis, S. F. (2003). Learning in the field: An

introduction to qualitative research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

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