One author

More than one author

Unknown author

Two or more works by the same author in the same year

Two or more authors with the same last name

Corporation, organization, or government agency as author

Indirect citation (quotation from a secondary source)

Two or more works cited in the same parentheses

When citing ideas, information, or words borrowed from a source, include the author’s last name and the date of publication in the text of your research project. In most cases, you will want to use a signal phrase to introduce the works you are citing, since doing so gives you the opportunity to put the work and its author in context. A signal phrase includes the author’s last name, the date of publication, and a verb that describes the author’s attitude or stance:

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Use a parenthetical citation — (Jones, 2015)— when you have already introduced the author or the work or when citing the source of an uncontroversial fact. When quoting from a source, also include the page number: Smith (2015) complained that he “never got a break” (p. 123). When you are paraphrasing or summarizing, you may omit the page reference, although including it is not wrong.

One author

More than one author In a signal phrase, use the word and between the authors’ names; in a parenthetical citation, use an ampersand (&). When citing a work by three to seven authors, list all the authors in your first reference; in subsequent references, just list the first and use et al. (Latin for and others).

For works with more than seven authors, list the first six, an ellipsis ( . . . ), and the last author.

Unknown author To cite a work when the author is unknown, the APA suggests using a shortened version of the title.

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The full title of the article is “Plastic Is Found in the Sargasso Sea; Pieces of Apparent Refuse Cover Wide Atlantic Region.”

Two or more works by the same author in the same year When your list of references includes two works by the same author, the year of publication is usually enough to distinguish them. Occasionally, though, you may have two works by the same author in the same year. If this happens, alphabetize the works by title in your list of references, and add a lowercase letter after the date (2005a, 2005b).

Two or more authors with the same last name Include the author’s initials.

Corporation, organization, or government agency as author Spell out the name of the organization the first time you use it, but abbreviate it in subsequent citations if readers will know what the abbreviation refers to.

Indirect citation (quotation from a secondary source) To quote material taken not from the original source but from a secondary source that quotes the original, give the secondary source in the reference list, and in your essay acknowledge the original source and cite the secondary source.

Two or more works cited in the same parentheses List sources in alphabetical order, separated by semicolons.