Citation Basics
In-Text Citations Explained
Every reference list entry needs at least one in-text mention. Here is how parenthetical and narrative citations work.
An in-text citation tells your reader where a quotation, paraphrase or statistic comes from. There are two main forms.
Parenthetical
Author and year (and page, where required) appear in brackets at the end of the sentence.
Narrative
The author's name appears in the running text and the year follows in brackets: Smith (2024) argues that...
Page numbers
Always include page numbers for direct quotations. APA recommends them for paraphrases of specific passages too.
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