APA In-Text Citations: Complete Guide

The APA 7th edition reference list is only half the picture. In-text citations are where many students slip up — especially in tricky situations like two authors with the same surname, group authors with long names, or citing something you read about in another source. This guide covers every scenario with clear examples.

The Basic Formula

Every APA in-text citation includes: author surname + publication year. Page numbers are added for direct quotations and recommended for paraphrases from specific pages.

Same Author, Same Year

If you cite two works by the same author published in the same year, add lowercase letters after the year — assigned alphabetically by title:

• (Smith, 2022a) — for the work whose title comes first alphabetically
• (Smith, 2022b) — for the work whose title comes second alphabetically

The same "a" and "b" suffixes must appear in your reference list entries too.

Two Authors with the Same Surname

If two different authors share a surname (and you cite both), include their first initials in every in-text citation to prevent ambiguity — even if the publication years differ:

• (J. Smith, 2019) and (K. Smith, 2022)
• J. Smith (2019) argued... while K. Smith (2022) countered...

Group Authors

For organisations, government bodies, and institutions, APA 7 abbreviates long names after the first citation:

• First citation: (World Health Organization [WHO], 2023)
• Subsequent citations: (WHO, 2023)

If the abbreviation is not well known or would be ambiguous, write the full name every time.

Block Quotes

Use a block quote (also called an extract) when directly quoting 40 words or more. Block quotes:

• Start on a new line
• Are indented 0.5 inches from the left margin (the entire block)
• Are not enclosed in quotation marks
• Have the citation in parentheses after the closing punctuation

Secondary Sources (Citing Something You Read in Another Source)

A secondary source is when you read Author A's idea as quoted or discussed in Author B's work, and you haven't read Author A's original text. APA 7 recommends always tracking down the original — but when you genuinely cannot, use this format:

Personal Communications

Interviews, emails, phone calls, and live lectures count as personal communications. They are cited in-text but do NOT appear in the reference list (because readers cannot retrieve them):

• (J. Omondi, personal communication, March 14, 2024)
• J. Omondi (personal communication, March 14, 2024) stated that...

Multiple Sources in One Citation

When one claim is supported by multiple sources, list them alphabetically (not chronologically) inside a single set of parentheses, separated by semicolons:

(Brown, 2019; Osei, 2021; Wang, 2023)

6 Common APA In-Text Mistakes

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  Using "and" instead of "&" in parenthetical — In parentheses, use "&": (Smith & Jones, 2022). In narrative text, use "and": Smith and Jones (2022). They must differ.
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  Three-author citations using all three names — APA 7 uses et al. from the first citation when there are three or more authors: (Smith et al., 2022), not (Smith, Jones, & Brown, 2022).
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  Forgetting page numbers for direct quotes — Any direct quotation needs a page number (p. 45) or location marker (para. 3 for webpages). Without it, the citation is incomplete.
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  Citing every sentence in a paragraph — If an entire paragraph paraphrases one source, one citation at the end of the paragraph is usually sufficient. Over-citing clutters your writing.
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  Block quote citation before the full stop — Unlike regular citations (which go before the period), block quote citations go after the final full stop. This is the one exception to the usual rule.
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  Listing original author in reference list for secondary citations — When using "as cited in," only the source you read appears in the reference list. The original author is mentioned in-text only.