APA Updated Guide

How to Format In-Text Citations

In-text citations are REQUIRED for paraphrased and quoted material from sources of information. 

Parenthetical style: The author’s last name or corporate author and year of publication are placed in parentheses at the end of the sentence. The period comes after the in-text citation.  

Example: The key to success for online students is linked to the student’s sense of belonging (Smith, 2022).  

Narrative style: The author’s last name or corporate author is not in parentheses because it is part of the sentence.  The year of publication immediately follows the author’s last name or corporate author.  

Example: According to Smith (2022), success for online students is tied to a student’s sense of belonging to the university community.  

Examples of In-Text Citations

This is the full citation of a scholarly, peer-reviewed journal article. 

Walters, W. H., & Wilder, E. I. (2023). Fabrication and errors in the bibliographic citations generated by ChatGPT. Scientific Reports, 13(1), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-41032-5

If I paraphrase some of the information from this article to include in my paper, I need to cite it using an in-text citation. 

Examples: 

Chat GPT versions 3.5 and 4 created fake or fabricated citations or citations with errors, although version 4 showed improvement (Walters & Wilson, 2023). 

According to the research done by Walters and Wilder (2023), Chat GPT versions 3.5 and 4 both created fake citations for sources, even though version 4 showed improvement in the percentage rate. 

Notice that I cited the authors of the article not sources that were cited within the article. If you need help with this, please contact a librarian. 

Sometimes it is necessary to quote material from a source word for word.  Quotes are rarely used in scholarly writing. The page number is required if you use a quote. 

Examples: 

Walters and Wilder (2023) found that "55% of the GPT-3.5 citations but just 18% of the GPT-4 citations are fabricated" (p.1).

"ChatGPT is fundamentally not an information-processing tool, but a language-processing tool" (Walters & Wilder, 2023, p. 1). 

Citing Multiple Sources

• More than one source can be cited in the parenthetical style. 
• Sources should be listed in alphabetical order and separated by a semi-colon. 
• Example: (Atkins, 2023; Woods et al., 2025). 

No Author

Use the shortened page title or article title if there is no author. 

2024 best colleges in Virginia. (2023, November 26). US News & World Report. https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/va?schoolType=national-universities&_sort=rank&_sortDirection=asc

Narrative Example: According to "2024 Best Colleges," (2023, Nov. 26) Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia, was ranked as the number one Historically Black College or University (HBCU). 

Parenthetical Example: Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia, was ranked as the number one Historically Black College or University (HBCU) by U.S. News and World Report ("2024 Best Colleges," 2023, Nov. 26).

Religious works such as the Bible , Qur'an, Torah, are cited as books with no author. The year of the published version that is being used should be included. 

Example: The Amplified Bible. (1987). Zondervan. 

In-Text Citation: (The Amplified Bible, 1987, Matt 28:1)

Include the information if there is an editor of an annotated version or a translator. 

Example: The Qur'an. (Abdel Haleem, Trans.). (2004). Oxford University Press. 

A book that has been republished should include the original publication date and the most recent publication date. 

Examples: King James Bible. (1611/2005). Hendrickson Publishers. (Original work published in 1611). 

In-Text Citation: (King James Bible, 1611/2005, John 3:16)

For the online version of the Bible, include the webpage title and website title and the URL. 

The Bible, New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition. (1993). Philippians 3:14. Bible Gateway. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians%203%3A14&version=NRSVCE

In-Text Citation (the first time the full title of the Bible must be used after that you may use NRSVCE): (The Bible NRSVCE, 1993, Phil 3:14). 

In-text citations for court cases and laws include the title of the case in italics and the year.​

• There are two types of in-text citations.​

Narrative citation means that you use the name of the case incorporated into your paraphrased sentence.​

Example: ​

In the case Miranda v. Arizona (1966) the court ruled that defendants must be told their rights. ​

Parenthetical citation means that you paraphrase information from the case and then put the title of the case and year at the end of the sentence in parentheses. ​

Example: ​

It is essential for people being arrested to be told they have the right to a lawyer (Miranda v. Arizona, 1966). ​

U.S. Supreme Court Example​:

Miranda v. Ariz., 384 U.S. 436 (1966). ​

In-text citation (Miranda v. Arizona, 1966). 

U.S. District Court Example:​

Burriola v. Greater Toledo YMCA, 133 F. Supp. 2d 1034 (N.D. Ohio 2001).​

In-text citation: (Burriola v. Greater Toledo YMCA, 2001).

State Supreme Court Example:​

Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California, 17 Cal.3d 425 (1976).​

In-text citation: (Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California, 1976).

Federal or State Law Example (Do not put title of the law or act in italics):

Every Student Succeeds Act, 20 U.S.C. § 6301 (2015).​

In-text citation (Every Student Succeeds Act, 2015).

Law Review Journal Article Example:

Spedding, M. (2024). The erosion of judicial discretion: Why Congress and the court should curb restrictions for bankruptcy judges. Brigham Young University Law Review, 49(4), 1219-12–48. https://digitalcommons.law.byu.edu/lawreview/vol49/iss4/11/

In-text citation: (Spedding, 2024). 

How to cite an image:

Artist, A. (Year of release). Title of artwork [medium]. Name of museum, City, State, Country. URL of museum

Ighalo, E. (2024). To my parents [Painting]. Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia, United States. https://chrysler.org/exhibition/hampton-roads-student-gallery/

In-text citation (Ighalo, 2024)

When citing a song:

In general, each APA Style reference has an author element, date element, title element, and source element. For a song or track reference, the author of the work is usually the recording artist, who may be an individual or group. If a music artist prefers to use their first name and surname, then follow the APA guideline to invert the author’s name as “Surname, First Initial” in your reference (e.g., “Smith, S.” for singer and songwriter “Sam Smith”).

If the music artist chooses to go by only one name (e.g., “Beyoncé”), a group name (e.g., “Franz Ferdinand”), an inseparable multipart name (e.g., “Lady Gaga”), an initialism (e.g., “MNEK”), or some other name variation, write their name as shown on the work.

Example

Dacus, L. (2018). Night shift [Song]. On Historian [Album]. Matador Records.

In-text citation (Dacus, 2018).

How to cite Spotify song:

Dacus, L. (2018). Night shift [Song]. On Historian [Album]. Matador Records. Spotify. URL

In-text citation (Dacus, 2018).

How to cite YouTube:

Brassee, K. (2014, April 14). Blessed be the name of the Lord. [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/vXXKnLehEu8?si=XO1aAX0cn5gXLio7

In-text citation (Brassee, 2014). 

Page numbers are required for direct quotes from a source. In place of a page number for audio-visual sources you may put minute and second of the song or video, such as 1:25 which means one minute and 25 seconds into the song.