APA In-Text Citations

Parenthetical — the citation rides at the end of the sentence: Sleep strengthens new memories (Rasch & Born, 2013). Narrative — the authors are part of your sentence and only the year is parenthesized: Rasch and Born (2013) showed that sleep strengthens new memories. Note the ampersand (&) inside parentheses but the word "and" in running text.

Quoting verbatim adds the page: (Rasch & Born, 2013, p. 685) — or pp. for a range: (pp. 685–687). Sources without pages use what they have: a paragraph number (para. 4), a heading plus paragraph (Discussion section, para. 2), or a timestamp for video (2:30).

Quotes of 40+ words become a block quote: indented ½ inch, no quotation marks, citation after the final period.

• One author: (Dweck, 2006)
• Two authors: (Rasch & Born, 2013) — always both names.
• Three or more: (Harris et al., 2020) — et al. from the very first citation in APA 7.
• Organization: (National Sleep Foundation, 2024); if it has a familiar abbreviation, introduce it once — (World Health Organization [WHO], 2024) — then use (WHO, 2024).
• Same surname, different authors: add initials — (B. Rasch, 2013; T. Rasch, 2019).

• No author: the first words of the title stand in — quoted for articles/pages: ("Sleep and Memory," 2024); italicized for books/reports: (Sleep in America, 2024).
• No date: (Alvarez, n.d.)
• Two works, same author, same year: letter them — (Born, 2013a, 2013b) — matching the letters on the references page.

Stack them in one parenthesis, alphabetical, separated by semicolons: (Born, 2013; Harris et al., 2020; Rasch & Born, 2013). For a secondary source — something you read about but didn't read — cite the version you actually read: (Ebbinghaus, 1885, as cited in Rasch & Born, 2013); only Rasch & Born goes on the references page.

Parenthetical form first, narrative form second:

• One author — (Dweck, 2006) · Dweck (2006)
• Two authors — (Rasch & Born, 2013) · Rasch and Born (2013)
• Three+ authors — (Harris et al., 2020) · Harris et al. (2020)
• Organization — (National Sleep Foundation, 2024) · the National Sleep Foundation (2024)
• Organization w/ abbreviation — first: (World Health Organization [WHO], 2024); after: (WHO, 2024)
• No author — ("Sleep and Memory," 2024) · the article "Sleep and Memory" (2024)
• No date — (Alvarez, n.d.) · Alvarez (n.d.)
• Direct quote — (Rasch & Born, 2013, p. 685); range: (pp. 685–687)
• Web source, no pages — (Alvarez, 2024, para. 3)
• Video/audio — (Kurzgesagt, 2023, 2:30)
• Same author, same year — (Born, 2013a, 2013b)
• Secondary source — (Ebbinghaus, 1885, as cited in Rasch & Born, 2013)
• Personal communication — (M. Alvarez, personal communication, March 18, 2026) — in text only, never on the references page

The citation sits inside the sentence punctuation: …strengthens memory (Rasch & Born, 2013). When a quote ends the sentence, the order is quote mark → citation → period: …"depends on sleep" (Rasch & Born, 2013, p. 685). Block quotes invert it — period first, then the citation, nothing after. And a narrative citation's year always hugs the name — Rasch and Born (2013) found — never floats at the end of the sentence.

• Citing the wrong 'author' — for chapters in edited books, cite the chapter author, never the editor; for organization reports, the organization, not the website hosting it.
• 'et al.' grammar — it's plural: Harris et al. (2020) were, not was. And no comma before et al. in APA text (unlike MLA's reference list).
• Year drift — citing (Rasch & Born, 2013) in one paragraph and (Rasch & Born, 2014) in another for the same paper. One source, one year, everywhere.
• Quote without a locator — every direct quote needs a page, paragraph, or timestamp. 'It's a website' isn't an exemption; count paragraphs.
• Citation laundering — citing a textbook's summary as if it were the original study. Use the secondary-source form or, better, read and cite the original.