Module 3

APA In-Text Citation

Your reference list tells readers what you used; in-text citations tell them where you used it. Every source you cite in your paragraphs takes one of two forms, and both must match an entry in your reference list.

Video: Parenthetical vs. Narrative Citations

Instructor video coming soon

Two Forms, Same Job

Parenthetical: source in parentheses Sleep deprivation impairs working memory (Nguyen, 2023).

Narrative: author is part of your sentence Nguyen (2023) found that sleep deprivation impairs working memory.

The choice is stylistic: narrative citations emphasize the researcher ("Nguyen found..."), parenthetical citations keep the focus on the idea. Strong writing mixes both.

Author Rules at a Glance

Authors	Parenthetical	Narrative
One	(Lopez, 2024)	Lopez (2024)
Two	(Lopez & Kim, 2024)	Lopez and Kim (2024)
Three or more	(Lopez et al., 2024)	Lopez et al. (2024)
Group author (first cite)	(American Psychological Association [APA], 2020)	American Psychological Association (APA, 2020)

Two rules students miss: use the ampersand (&) inside parentheses but the word "and" in narrative citations, and with three or more authors use "et al." from the first citation onward.

Punctuating "et al."

"Et al." means "and others." Et is a whole word (never a period); al. is an abbreviation (always a period). There are only two correct forms:

The only two correct forms (Lopez et al., 2024) · Lopez et al. (2024) found...

Everything else is some misplacement of that period or an extra comma: et. al., et al without its period, Lopez, et al., or Lopez et al., (2024). One rule covers the commas: the only comma "et al." ever takes is inside parentheses, before the year. Everywhere else, no comma.

Coming From MLA? Drop These Habits

If you learned MLA first, three habits will follow you into APA. Catch them now:

1. First names and initials: gone

APA in-text citations use the last name only. No first names, no initials, no matter how you introduce the source. (Initials live in the reference list, nowhere else.)

MLA habit According to researcher Maria Delgado (2024), grandparent involvement matters.

Also wrong Delgado, M. T. (2024) found that grandparent involvement matters.

APA Delgado (2024) found that grandparent involvement matters.

2. The bare page number: it needs a year and commas

MLA cites as (Delgado 158): name, space, page. APA always includes the year, separates everything with commas, and labels the page:

MLA habit (Delgado 158)

APA (Delgado, 2024, p. 158)

3. The comma before the parenthesis: never

In a narrative citation, the year hugs the name directly. No comma in between:

Wrong Chen, (2022) argued that feedback timing matters.

APA Chen (2022) argued that feedback timing matters.

If It Isn't Your Idea, Point to the Source

Here is the principle underneath every rule in this module: any information that did not come from your own thinking must be connected to its source. That connection can be a citation, or it can be a phrase that points back to an already-cited source: "the study," "the researchers," "their analysis," "these findings."

Watch how one citation plus pointer phrases keeps a whole paragraph attributed:

One citation, clearly attributed throughout Delgado et al. (2024) surveyed 412 adolescent–grandparent pairs in multigenerational homes. The researchers found that shared daily routines predicted lower adolescent stress. Their analysis also ruled out family income as an explanation, and the study's strongest effects appeared when grandparents lived in the household.

Every sentence carries borrowed information, and every sentence tells the reader where it came from. Now remove the pointers:

Same paragraph, attribution lost Delgado et al. (2024) surveyed 412 adolescent–grandparent pairs in multigenerational homes. Shared daily routines predicted lower adolescent stress. Family income did not explain the effect. The strongest effects appeared when grandparents lived in the household.

Sentences two through four now read as your claims. A grader sees uncited borrowed information; that is a plagiarism problem even though the facts are identical and a citation appears in sentence one. The fix costs a few words: "the researchers found," "their analysis showed," "in the study."

The same principle decides whether to cite at all. Statistics, findings, definitions, dates, and expert claims all need a source. Only two kinds of sentences stand alone: your own analysis and common knowledge (facts no reader would question, like "families vary widely in structure").

Practice

Question 1

A source has two authors, Ramirez and Chen (2022). Which parenthetical citation is correct?

Question 2

You're citing Okafor, Silva, Brandt, and Lee (2023) for the first time, as a narrative citation. What's correct?

Question 3

Which sentence uses a narrative citation correctly?

Question 4: Spot the Error

This sentence contains one APA error. What is it?

Recent research shows mindfulness reduces test anxiety (Dubois and Ahmed, 2023).

Question 5

Which "et al." citation is punctuated correctly?

Question 6

Which narrative citation is punctuated correctly?

Question 7

Which sentence is correct APA?

Question 8: Spot the Error