The purpose of in-text citations (aka parenthetical or narrative citations) and the list of References is to share information about the sources used to support a writer's argument and claims. APA Style format uses the author-date format. These references to the sources provide readers the information needed to access the original source material. In most cases, the in-text citation will consist of the following in parentheses:
For APA in-text citation style, your list of References will always contain the citation for the full work, whether you use the work in its entirety or you use only a portion of the work. However, the in-text citation can contain more specific information about the location or part of the work you are using. See examples below. More examples can be found in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (more commonly recognized as The APA Manual).
See examples below (Use the in-text citation to find the actual citation below.):
| Type of source | Example |
|---|---|
| Book source with one author | (Achtenberg, 1985). |
| eBook with 3+ authors | (Ghosn et al. 157). |
| Webpage or website with no personal author | (American Psychological Association, 2017). |
| Scholarly journal article with two authors and doi | ((Hashim & Zainol, 2015). |
| Scholarly journal article with three authors and doi | (Baider et al., 1994). |
| Streaming video | (Freebird Meditations, 2012). |
The sources (from the Sample Student Paper in APA format) above are how they would appear in-text in the body of the paper. Below is how the list of References for the above five sources would appear:
References
Achterberg, J.(1985). Imagery in healing. Shambhala Publications. American Psychological Associationg, (2017).Stress in America: The state of our nation. https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2017/state-nation.pdf Baider, L., Uziely, B., & Kaptan De-Noir, A. (1994). Progressive music relaxation and guided imagery in cancer patients. General Hospital Psychiatry, 16(5), 340-347. https://doi.org/10.1016/0163-8343(94)90021-3 Freebird Meditations. (2012, June 17). Progressive muscle relaxation guided meditation [Video]. YouTube. Hashim, H.A., & Zainol, N.A. (2015). Changes in emotional distress, short term memory, and sustained attention following 6 and 12 sessions of progressive muscle relaxation training in 10-11 years old primary school children. Psychology, Health & Medicine, 20(5), 623-628. https://doi.org/10.1080/13548506.2014.1002851 |
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