APA Citation Style, 7th edition: In-Text Citations, Paraphrasing and Quoting

Paraphrasing is recreating someone else's ideas into your own words & thoughts, without changing the original meaning (Gahan, 2020). 

Here are some best practices when you are paraphrasing: 

• How do I learn to paraphrase? IF you are thoroughly reading and researching articles or book chapters for a paper, you will start to take notes in your own words. Those notes are the beginning of paraphrased information.
• Read the original information, PUT IT AWAY, then rewrite the ideas in your own words. This is hard to do at first, it takes practice, but this is how you start to paraphrase. 
• It's usually better to paraphrase, than to use too many direct quotes. 
• When you start to paraphrase, cite your source. 
• Make sure not to use language that is TOO close to the original, so that you are not committing plagiarism. 
• Use theasaurus.com to help you come up with like/similar phrases if you are struggling. 
• Paraphrasing (vs. using direct quotes) is important because it shows that YOU ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND the information you are reading. 
• Paraphrasing ALLOWS YOUR VOICE to be prevalent in your writing. 
• The best time to use direct quotes is when you need to give an exact definition, provide specific evidence, or if you need to use the original writer's terminology. 
• BEST PRACTICE PER PARAGRAPH: On your 1st paraphrase of a source, CITE IT. There is no need to add another in-text citation until you use a different source, OR, until you use a direct quote. 

In-text citation styles: 

This table demonstrates how to create an in-text citation depending on how many authors are in your reference: 

How many authors:	What a parenthetical citation looks like:	What a narrative citation looks like:
One author	(Forbes, 2020)	Forbes (2020) stated...
Two authors	(Bennet & Miller, 2019)	Bennet and Miller (2019) concluded that...
Three + authors	(Jones et al., 2020)	Jones et al. (2020) shared two different...
A group or organization as an author	(East Carolina University, 2020)	East Carolina University (2020) found...

Let's look at these examples if they were written in text: 

 

An example with 1 author:

Parenthetical citation: Following American Psychological Association (APA) style guidelines will help you to cultivate your own unique academic voice as an expert in your field (Forbes, 2020). 

Narrative citation: Forbes (2020) shared that by following American Psychological Association (APA) guidelines, students would learn to find their own voice as experts in the field of nursing. 

 

An example with 2 authors: 

Parenthetical citation: Research on the use of progressive muscle relaxation for stress reduction has demonstrated the efficacy of the method (Bennett & Miller, 2019). 

Narrative citation: As shared by Bennett and Miller (2019), research on the use of progressive muscle relaxation for stress reduction has demonstrated the efficacy of the method. 

 

An example with 3 authors: 

Parenthetical citation: Guided imagery has also been shown to reduce stress, length of hospital stay, and symptoms related to medical and psychological conditions (Jones et al., 2020).

Narrative citation: Jones et al. (2020) shared that guided imagery has also been shown to reduce stress, length of hospital stay, and symptoms related to medical and psychological conditions. 

 

An example with a group/corporate author: 

Parenthetical citation: Dr. Philip G. Rogers, senior vice president at the American Council on Education, was recently elected as the newest chancellor of the university (East Carolina University, 2020). 

Narrative citation: Recently shared on the East Carolina University (2020) website, Dr. Philip G. Rogers, senior vice president at the American Council on Education, was elected as the newest chancellor. 

Number of Authors/Editors	First Time Paraphrased	Second and Subsequent Times Paraphrased	First Time Quoting	Second and Subsequent Times Quoting
Two	(Case & Daristotle, 2011)	(Case & Daristotle, 2011)	(Case & Daristotle, 2011, p. 57)	(Case & Daristotle, 2011, p. 57)
Three to Five	(Case, Daristotle, Hayek, Smith, & Raash, 2011)	(Case et al., 2011)	(Case, Daristotle, Hayekm, Smith, & Raash, 2011, p. 57)	(Case et al., 2011, p. 57)
Six or More	(Case et al., 2011)	(Case et al., 2011)	(Case et al., 2011, p. 57)	(Case et al., 2011, p. 57)

Type of Group	First Time Paraphrased	Second and Subsequent Times Paraphrased	First Time Quoting	Second and Subsequent Times Quoting
Groups readily identified through abbreviations	National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH, 2003)	(NIMH, 2003)	National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH, 2003, p. 5)	(NIMH, 2003, p. 5)
Groups with no abbreviations	(University of Pittsburgh, 2005)	(University of Pittsburgh, 2005)	(University of Pittsburgh, 2005, p. 2)	(University of Pittsburgh, 2005, p. 2)

When should I use a direct quote in my paper? 

Direct quotes should only be used occasionally: 

• When you need to share an exact definition 
• When you want to provide specific evidence or information that cannot be paraphrased
• When you want to use the original writer's terminology

From: https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/whaddyamean/ 

Short quotes:	Have fewer than 40 words, use quotation marks around the quote, are incorporated into the text of the paper.	(Shayden, 2016, p. 202)
Long quotes:	Have 40 words or MORE, DO NOT use quotation marks, are in a block quote (by indenting 0.5" or 1 tab) beneath the text of the paragraph.	(Miller et al., 2016, p. 136)
Quotes for webpages:	Websites usually do not contain page numbers, therefore you need a different way to cite the information for a direct quote. There are two ways to do this:  Cite by paragraph number - count down the website to see what number paragraph the direct quote is in and in the citation where you would place the page number, add = para. # Cite by heading or section name - many websites are divided into sections, find the name of the section that contains the direct quote you are using and add that information where you would place the page number = Methods section	(Jones, 2014, para. 4) (Scotts, 2019, Resou

When you quote directly (i.e. use the exact words) from a source, enclose the words in quotation marks and add the page number to the in-text citation. There are two basic formats which can be used.:

The homeless were typically neglected growing up since they "commonly come from families who are riddled with problems and marital disharmony" (Rokach, 2005, p. 477).

OR

As Rokach (2005) notes, the homeless "often have no one to care for them and no one knows them intimately" (p. 477).

Option one is the standard APA in-text citation format for quoting. The second option is used when the author's name for the work being cited is written in the lead in sentence before the quote.

What Is a Long Quotation?

If your quotation contains more than forty words, it is a considered a long quotation. This can also be referred to as a block quotation.

Rules for Long Quotations

There are 4 rules that apply to long quotations that are different from regular quotations:

1. Place a colon at the end of the line that you write to introduce your long quotation.
2. Indent the long quotation 0.5 inches from the rest of the text, so it looks like a block of text.
3. Do not put quotation marks around the quotation.
4. Place the period at the end of the quotation before your in-text citation instead of after, as with regular quotations.

Example of a Long Quotation

At the end of Lord of the Flies the boys are struck with the realization of their behaviour:

The tears began to flow and sobs shook him. He gave himself up to them now for the first time on the island; great, shuddering spasms of grief that seemed to wrench his whole body. His voice rose under the black smoke before the burning wreckage of the island; and infected by that emotion, the other little boys began to shake and sob too. (Golding, 1960, p.186)

No Page Numbers

When you quote from electronic sources that do not provide page numbers (like Web pages), provide another way to locate the quoted passage. You can use any of the following approaches:

Option 1: Provide a heading or section name

Bowlby described "three phases of the separation response: protest, despair, and detachment" (Garelli, 2001, Bowlby's Initial Stance section).

Option 2: Provide an abbreviated heading or section name, in quotation marks (use this if the heading or section title is very long)
        note: full section title is: Get a Litter Box and Take Care of Sleeping Arrangements

Unpleasant odors can be minimized "with scrupulous maintenance of your cat's litter box" (Syufy, 2019, "Get a Litter Box" section).

Option 3: Provide a paragraph number (count manually if they are not numbered):

It is important to remember that "study habits are very personal and what works for one student may not work for another" (Bennett, 2017, para. 3).

Option 4: Provide a heading or section name in combination with a paragraph number:

It has been shown that "moods can vary depending on weather conditions" (Stark, 2015, Mood and Weather section, para. 2).

If a source has no page numbers and there is only one paragraph, skip that part of the in-text citation. The in-text citation would have the author(s) last name(s) and the year, e.g. (Garellio, 2001).

No Known Author:

Note that in most cases where a personal author is not named, a group author may be cited instead (eg. Statistics Canada). However, in certain cases, such as religious ancient texts, the author is unknown. Where you'd normally put the author's last name, instead use the first one, two, or three words from the title. Don't count initial articles like "A", "An" or "The". You should provide enough words to make it clear which work you're referring to from your References List.

If the title in the References list is in italics, italicize the words from the title in the in-text citation.

If you are citing an article, a chapter of a book or a page from a website, put the words in double quotation marks.

Capitalize the titles using title case (every major word is capitalized) even if the reference list entry uses sentence case (only first word is capitalized).

Examples:

(Cell Biology, 2012, p. 157)

("Nursing," 2011, p. 9)

No Known Date of Publication:

Where you'd normally put the year of publication, instead use the letters "n.d.".

Example:

(Smith, n.d., p. 200)