Sometimes an author of a book, article or website will mention another person’s work by using a quotation or paraphrased idea from that source. The work that is mentioned in the article you are reading is called the primary source. The article you are reading is called the secondary source.
For example, suppose you are reading an article by Brown (2014) that cites information from an article by Snow (1982) that you would like to include in your essay. For the reference list, you will only make a citation for the secondary source (Brown). You do not put in a citation for the primary source (Snow) in the reference list. For the in-text citation, you identify the primary source (Snow) and then write "as cited in" the secondary source (Brown). If you know the year of the publication of the primary source, include it in the in-text citation. Otherwise, you can omit it. See below for examples.
Examples of in-text citations:
According to a study by Snow (1982, as cited in Brown, 2014), 75% of students believe that teachers should not assign nightly homework.
Note: If you don't have the publication date of Snow's article, you just omit it like this:
According to a study by Snow (as cited in Brown, 2014), 75% of students believe that teachers should not assign nightly homework.
In fact, 75% of students believe that teachers should not assign nightly homework (Snow, 1982, as cited in Brown, 2014).
Snow (1982, as cited in Brown, 2014) concluded that "nightly homework is a great stressor for many students" (p.34).
Example of Reference list citation:
Brown, S. (2014). Trends in homework assignments. Journal of Secondary Studies, 12(3), 29-38. //doi.org/fsfsbit
APA Style (7th ed.)
Each instance of quoted or paraphrased information within a paragraph needs a citation. Since one citation at the end of a paragraph only notes that the last sentence of the paragraph came from the cited source, earlier sentences in the paragraph should also introduce the citation instead or in addition to other citations in paraphrased sentences from the same source. A single citation in a paragraph with more than one instance of quoted or paraphrased information may also incorrectly appear to be your own work instead of the author you are quoting or paraphrasing. If it is not clear that an instance of quoted or paraphrased information came from another source, the quoted or paraphrased text may be considered plagiarism.
In order to make it clear that quoted or paraphrased information is not your own work, cite every quotation and every new instance of paraphrased information in your paragraphs. Each citation to a quotation should include a parenthetical page number, as well as the author of the quoted text and year of publication. In paragraphs that contain one overall instance of paraphrased information, “cite the source in the first sentence in which it is relevant and do not repeat the citation in subsequent sentences as long as the source remains clear and unchanged” (American Psychological Association, 2020, p. 254). If the paragraph subsequently paraphrases new information from a different location in the source, or from another source, additional citation in the paragraph is appropriate.
Occasionally, a long paraphrase may continue over several paragraphs. Although it may not be necessary to repeat the full in-text citation for the paraphrase in each sentence, it is still necessary to begin subsequent paragraphs with a full in-text citation (APA, 2020, p. 270). If you are citing the same information repeatedly within one or more paragraphs, please see Long Paraphrases from the APA Style website and our Visual Guide to Citing Paraphrases for information on how to format those citations. For detailed information on how to format citations to quoted or paraphrased information in APA Style, please see What is an In-text Citation in APA Style?, What is a Quotation and How Should it be Formatted in APA Style?, and What is Paraphrasing in APA Style? as well as the RRU guide called Quoting, Summarizing, and Paraphrasing.
Reference
American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). //doi.org/10.1037/0000165-0000
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.