In-text citations are used within the body of the essay to give credit to the sources consulted. They provide brief information about the source and allow readers to locate the whole reference in the Reference list. In APA format, there are two main types of in-text citations: narrative and parenthetical.
a. Narrative In-text Citations:
Narrative in-text citations involve incorporating the author’s name into the sentence itself, followed by the publication year in parentheses. This format is typically used when the author’s name is an integral part of the sentence. Examples:
According to Johnson (2019), the study revealed significant results.
In the research conducted by Smith and Brown (2020), it was found that…
b. Parenthetical In-text Citations:
Parenthetical in-text citations are enclosed within parentheses and include the author’s name and publication year. This format is used when the author’s name is not explicitly mentioned in the sentence. Examples:
The impact of climate change is a pressing global concern (Smith, 2019).
Recent studies have shown conflicting results (Johnson & Brown, 2020).
Note: For direct quotations, page numbers should be included after the publication year.
References
The reference list is a separate section at the end of your essay that provides complete details about the sources you have cited in your paper. Each entry in the reference list includes essential information to allow readers to locate and verify the sources.
The APA referencing style for entries varies depending on the type of source. Here are some common types of sources and their reference formats:
Books:
Author Surname, F. M. (Publication Year). Title of the book. Publisher.
Journal Articles:
Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, Volume (Issue), Page range. DOI or URL
Websites:
Author or Name of Organization. (Year, Month Day of Publication). Title of webpage/document. Site Name. URL
Newspaper:
Author Surname, (Publication Date). Title of the article. Newspaper Title or Magazine Title. URL
Online Scholarly Journal Articles with a Digital Object Identifier (DOI):
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, Volume (Issue), Page range. DOI
YouTube Video:
Uploader’s Name, F. (Year, Month Day of Publication). Title of the Video. YouTube. URL
Formatting Guidelines for APA Essays
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