Basics

When using APA format, follow the author-date method of in-text citation. This means that the author's last name and the year of publication for the source should appear in the text, like, for example, (Rogers, 2020). One complete reference for each source should appear in the reference list at the end of the paper.

If you are referring to an idea from another work but NOT directly quoting the material, or making reference to an entire book, article or other work, you only have to make reference to the author and year of publication and not the page number in your in-text reference.

On the other hand, if you are directly quoting or borrowing from another work, you should include the page number at the end of the parenthetical citation. Use the abbreviation “p.” (for one page) or “pp.” (for multiple pages) before listing the page number(s). Use an en dash for page ranges. For example, you might write (Jones, 2020, p. 19) or (Rogers, 2020, pp. 19–21). This information is reiterated below.

Regardless of how they are referenced, all sources that are cited in the text must appear in the reference list at the end of the paper.

Capitalization, Quotes, and Italics/Underlining

• Always capitalize proper nouns, including author names and initials: D. Jones.

• If you refer to the title of a source within your paper, capitalize all words that are four letters long or greater within the title of a source: Studying Skills. Exceptions apply to short words that are verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs: Learning to Study, Is it Worth It?

(Note: in your References list, only the first word of a title will be capitalized: Writing new media.)

• When capitalizing titles, capitalize both words in a hyphenated compound word: Natural-Born Individuals.

• Capitalize the first word after a dash or colon: "Winning Triathlons: Training with Dave Scott."

• If the title of the work is italicized in your reference list, italicize it and use title case capitalization in the text: Fringe; The Boys; Reacher.

• If the title of the work is not italicized in your reference list, use double quotation marks and title case capitalization (even though the reference list uses sentence case): "Planning for the Future: Building Infrastructure;" "The Story of Billy Butcher."

Short Quotations

If you are directly quoting from a work, you will need to include the author, year of publication, and page number for the reference (preceded by "p." for a single page and “pp.” for a span of multiple pages, with the page numbers separated by an en dash).

You can introduce the quotation with a signal phrase that includes the author's last name followed by the date of publication in parentheses.

          According to Rogers (2020), "students often had difficulty studying when learning remotely" (p. 19). 

           Rogers (2020) found "students often had difficulty studying when learning remotely" (p. 19); what implications does this have for teachers?

If you do not include the author’s name in the text of the sentence, place the author's last name, the year of publication, and the page number in parentheses after the quotation.

           He stated, "Students often had difficulty studying when learning remotely" (p. 19)" (Rogers, 2020, p. 19), but she did not offer an explanation as to why.

Long Quotations

Place direct quotations that are 40 words or longer in a free-standing block of typewritten lines and omit quotation marks. Start the quotation on a new line, indented 1/2 inch from the left margin, i.e., in the same place you would begin a new paragraph. Type the entire quotation on the new margin, and indent the first line of any subsequent paragraph within the quotation 1/2 inch from the new margin. Maintain double-spacing throughout, but do not add an extra blank line before or after it. The parenthetical citation should come after the closing punctuation mark.

Quotations from Sources Without Pages

Direct quotations from sources that do not contain pages should not reference a page number. Instead, you may reference another logical identifying element: a paragraph, a chapter number, a section number, a table number, or something else. Older works (like religious texts) can also incorporate special location identifiers like verse numbers. In short: pick a substitute for page numbers that makes sense for your source.

        Rogers (2020) found a variety of reasons for student challenges with studying for exams (paras. 4–5).

        A meta-analysis of available literature (Rogers, 2020) revealed inconsistency across large-scale studies of student learning (Table 3).