In-Text Citations

This section will cover any details and nuances when writing in-text citations. These sections are listed below to easily jump to which section you need. For more specific in-text citation questions, visit the APA Style page on In-text citations.

Parenthetical Citations

In APA, parenthetical citations are formatted most simply as (Author, Date). When page numbers are needed, use p. for one page number and pp. for multiple page numbers, followed by an en-dash (–) between the page range. The period comes after the parenthetical citation. Examples for each are listed below. 

(Johnson, 2024).

(Diaz, 2022, p. 1).

(Hinesley, 2019, pp. 24–36).

When paraphrasing, you only need to include the author and the date in parentheses. However, when citing a longer work, such as a book, APA guidelines do urge readers to add page numbers even when paraphrasing for easier access to the paraphrased information. 

Writing centers help students understand the strengths and weaknesses in their own writing (Johnson, 2024). 

For direct quotes, it is required to list the author, date, and page number. 

After writing center sessions, reflection “can create more relaxed tutors that monitor what they or their clients are feeling at a given moment” (Johnson, 2024, p. 23).

Narrative Citations

Alternatively to parenthetical citations, you may also use narrative citations, which consist of first the author’s name, followed by the date in parentheses. Then, at the end of the sentence, you state the page number(s). Narrative citations are primarily used when your paper is focusing on the author of a work rather than the information provided:

Bree Johnson (2024) studied the impact of emotional mindfulness training on tutors throughout an academic semester (p. 1). 

Citing Work Titles

When citing work titles (the title of a book, article, webpage, etc.) in a paper, all proper nouns must be capitalized (also known as title case). For longer works (books, websites, etc.), the title will be italicized. For shorter works (journal articles, book chapters, etc.), the title will be in quotation marks. Examples for both are listed below. 

In Bree Johnson’s (2024) book, The Age of the Writing Center, they conclude that writing centers can help further your education.

In Bree Johnson’s (2024) article, “Take a Breath: Building an Emotionally Mindful Writing Center through Mindfulness Education for Tutors,” they outline in detail the mindfulness training they facilitated for their fellow tutors. 

For more information on using title case, visit the section in this guide on Title Formatting.

Long Quotations

When a quote is 40 words or longer, it can be written as a block quote. To write a block quote, you start with a narrative citation. Then, before writing your quote, end the sentence with a colon. On the next line, indent the entire quote ½ inch away from the margin. To finish the quote, end with a period, followed by the corresponding page number(s). An example is listed below. 

Emotional mindfulness ultimately benefited tutors and how they responded to emotions in writing center sessions. Johnson’s (2024) study concluded the following: 

The results ultimately proved that the presentation was successful in educating tutors in emotional mindfulness, whether consciously or unconsciously. Furthermore, the results displayed the adaptive nature of tutors through task-related and emotion-related metacognitive control strategies and stressed the importance of implementing tutor reflection into writing center practices so tutors can process their emotions regarding sessions and their abilities as tutors. (pp. 25–26)

Below are instructions for indenting a quote away from the margin in Microsoft Word and Google Docs: 

Google Docs

1. Highlight the quote you wish to indent. 
2. On the bar below the Google Docs toolbar on the far right, look for the “Increase indent” icon ().
3. Deselect your text and the entire quote should be indented. 

Microsoft Word

1. Highlight the quote you wish to indent. 
2. On the Microsoft Word home toolbar above your document, click the Increase Indent icon () in the Paragraph settings.
3. Deselect your text and the entire quote should be indented. 

No Pages?

When a work has no pages, other identifiers can be used for the location of a location, including paragraph numbers, a chapter number, a section number, a table number, or something else. While paragraph numbers are the most common substitute, ultimately pick an identifier that works best for your source. 

Bree Johnson (2024) discovered that tutors are both consciously and unconsciously labeling emotions in tutoring sessions (para. 8).