| American Psychological Association (APA) Referencing Guidelines - In-text citations |
Follow the APA’s Basic Principles of Citation.
Any in-text citation should include the author(s) surname and the year of publication details. Depending on the nature of the sentence/paragraph that is being written, references to sources may be cited in the text in the following manner.
| One Author: |
Narrative citation - If the author’s name occurs naturally in the sentence, the author’s surname is followed by the year of publication of their work in brackets. For example:
In general, when writing for a professional publication, it is essential to make reference to other relevant published work. This view was supported in the work of Parahoo (2014).
Parenthetical citation - If the author’s surname does not occur naturally in the sentence, then both the author’s surname and publication year are placed at the relevant point in the sentence or at the end of the sentence in brackets. Note that there is a comma between the author and year. For example:
Literature reviews provide a summary of the literature on a subject (Aveyard, 2019).
| For two authors of the same work: |
When there are two authors for a work, they should both be noted in the text. Follow the order of the authors shown in the publication.
Narrative citation - Where the authors’ names occur naturally in the sentence, the authors’ surnames are followed by the year of publication of their work in brackets. Separate each author’s surname with the word and. For example:
Sutton and Douglas (2020) have recognised the difficulty in defining a group.
Parenthetical citation - If the authors’ surnames do not occur naturally in the sentence, then both the authors’ surnames and publication year are placed at the relevant point in the sentence or at the end of the sentence in brackets. Note that there is a comma between the second author surname and year. Separate each author surname with an ampersand &. For example:
It is difficult to provide a definition of a group (Sutton & Douglas, 2020).
| For three or more authors of the same work: |
Where there are 3 or more authors cite only the first author's surname followed by et al.
Narrative citation - Where the author’s name occurs naturally in the sentence, the first author’s surname is followed by et al., followed by the year of publication of their work in brackets. For example:
Lox et al. (2020) consider the relationship between trait theories and levels of physical activity.
Parenthetical citation - If the author’s name does not occur naturally in the sentence, then both the first author’s surname followed by et al. and publication year are placed at the relevant point in the sentence or at the end of the sentence in brackets. Add a comma after et al.
For example:
Consideration has been given to the relationship between trait theories and physical activity (Lox et al., 2020).
| For corporate authors: |
If the work is by a recognised organisation and has no personal author then it is usually cited under the body that commissioned the work. This applies to publications by associations, companies, and government departments etc.
Narrative citation:
The policy produced by Ulster University (2022)...
Parenthetical citation:
…clearly stated in the policy documentation (Ulster University, 2022).
It is acceptable to use standard abbreviations for these bodies, for example, APA, in your text, providing that the full name is given at the first citing with the abbreviation in square or round brackets as appropriate:
Narrative citation - 1st citation:
Standards produced by the British Psychological Association (BPS, 2021) …
Subsequent citations:
Guidance produced by the BPS (2018) …
Parenthetical citation – 1st citation:
…which are clearly stated in these standards (British Psychological Association [BPS], 2021).
Subsequent citations:
…as reported in the guidance documentation (BPS, 2018).
In the BPS (2018) code for professional members…
Note there are some exceptions to this such as BBC where the abbreviations or initials form part of the official name.
| No author provided: |
Where no author is listed in the publication include the title and year in the in-text citation. If the title is italicised in the reference list, also italicise it in the in-text citation. For example:
(Referencing and RefWorks for Psychology Students, 2020)
If the title is not italicised in the reference list, use double quotation marks around the in-text citation. For example,
(“The Harms of Lockdown for Young People”, 2020)
Please note:
Additional information is available in In-Text Citation Checklist.
| Inserting quotations within the text: |
If a quotation is fewer the forty words, include it in the body of the text in double quotation marks, for example:
According to Aveyard (2019) “theoretical literature is literature that describes expected or anticipated relationships about the way things happen” (p.44).
If the quotation is forty or more words it should be written on a new line, double spaced, indented and should not be enclosed in quotation marks, for example:
Aveyard (2019) states that:
A thorough search and analysis of the literature lead you to new insights that are only possible when all the literature is reviewed together and each piece of relevant information is seen in the context of other information. If you think of one piece of literature as one piece of the jigsaw, you will see how a review is like completing the jigsaw. (p.2)
Note the positioning of the full stops in both examples.
Further guidance is available in Quotations.