On this page
- Overview
- APA interactive referencing tool
- Author or authors
- Year of publication
- Quotations and block quotations
- Page numbers
- Reference within a source (secondary source)
- Referencing software
- AI platforms
- Personal communications
- Traditional knowledge or oral traditions of Indigenous Peoples
- Related content
Overview
When you have used a source in an assignment, credit the source for the reader in the body of the assignment as an in-text citation and at the end of the assignment in the reference list. For every in-text citation, there should be a matching entry in the reference list and vice versa.
The in-text citation contains basic information about the source:
- The source's authors
- The year of publication
- Sometimes, the page number
The reference list contains more detailed information about the source, including the title and publishing details.
You must include an in-text citation whenever you use information, ideas, concepts or facts from another source. If you have paraphrased, summarised or quoted another author, you must provide an in-text citation.
Example in-text citation
Example in-text citation
Example
When testing the usability of a website, it is necessary to gather demographic information about the users (Lazar, 2006).
The full stop comes after the closing bracket. Only use the author's surname or family name.
You can also incorporate the author's name into a sentence in the assignment. Cite the name outside the brackets.
Example
Lazar (2006) notes that a fundamental part of usability testing is understanding the demographics of the users.
Citing a source multiple times in 1 paragraph
Citing a source multiple times in 1 paragraph
Sometimes, you need to go into more detail about 1 particular source. Putting an in-text citation after every sentence from that source would look awful and break the flow of your writing, but leaving the in-text citations out risks plagiarism.
Introduce the source early in the paragraph, with the author as part of the sentence rather than in brackets.
Example
Lazar (2006) describes several aspects of the data-gathering process.
For the rest of the paragraph, you can refer to the author by name or pronoun when elaborating on their ideas.
Example
He notes that the relevance and number of questions can affect participation rates. Lazar also found that…
If it's clear to the reader that all the ideas come from that same source, the paragraph flows well and there's no risk of plagiarism.
If you put the author's name in brackets later in the paragraph, for example, if you include a quotation from that source, you should always include the year of publication too.
Multiple sources within the same brackets
Multiple sources within the same brackets
If you want to include several different citations in 1 set of brackets, they should be in alphabetical order, separated by semi-colons.
Example
(Durie, 2013; McShane & Travaglione, 2007; Ministry of Education, 2016)
If there are several citations from 1 set of authors, list the authors then each different year of publication in chronological order, separated by commas.
Example
(Ministry of Education, 2016, 2020)
You can combine these 2 styles.
Example
(Durie, 2013; Ministry of Education, 2016, 2020)
Additional information in citations
Additional information in citations
If additional text, other than the author and date, is with the citation, use commas about the year.
Example
(see Smith, 2022, for further detail).
Use a semi-colon to separate text from a citation in parenthesis.
Example
(e.g., England, Scotland, and Wales; Jenkins, 2019).
APA interactive referencing tool
View customised interactive examples of how to format APA Style references and in-text citations. Select parts of the in-text citation to show the format and where to find the information.
Author or authors
The author can be a person, people, an organisation, a group, a company, a ministry or a combination of people and groups. Write the author's name exactly as it appears on the source.
Sometimes, a source will have more than 1 author, no author or no year of publication.
In some rare cases, there will be 2 different sources with the same author and year of publication. In this case, add a lowercase letter directly after the year to distinguish them, for example 2025a, 2025b and so on. Order the entries alphabetically according to the first word of the title – ignore 'A', 'An', or 'The' if it is the first word.
1 author
1 author
Examples
Lazar (2006) notes that a fundamental part of usability testing is understanding the demographics of the users.
When testing the usability of a website, it is necessary to gather demographic information about the users (Lazar, 2006).
2 authors
2 authors
When a source has 2 authors cited in-text, include both authors every time the source is used.
If the authors' names are part of a sentence, use the word 'and'.
Example
According to Samson and Daft (2005), the …
If the authors' names are in brackets or the reference list, use the ampersand symbol (&).
Example
… from the influence of pressure groups (Samson & Daft, 2005).
3+ authors
3+ authors
In-text citations for works with 3 or more authors include only the first author’s name and et al. (which means 'and others' in Latin) in all citations, including the first in-text citation.
Example
(Smith et al., 2020).
Smith et al. (2020).
Smith et al. (2020) noted that…
Smith et al.’s (2020) research identified…
According to Smith et al.’s (2020) findings, the three key…
If 2 different sources become identical when shortening the list of authors with et al., add enough authors to the in-text citation to differentiate them. For instance, the sources have the same year and first author.
Example
Jensen, Yan, Jessop, Chen, Patel, and Michaels (2010)
Jensen, Yan, Khan, Chen, Patel, and Michaels (2010)
The shortening of these citations is (Jenson et al., 2010), so add enough authors to the in-text references to distinguish them.
In-text citation example
(Jenson, Yan, Jessop, et al., 2010)
(Jenson, Yan, Khan, et al., 2010)
'et al.' is plural and means 'and others', so it cannot stand for just 1 name. If 2 or more sources have the same year of publication and the same authors, with only the final author different, give all the authors in the citation.
Example
Singh, Shaw, Tuhoro, and Westbrook (2020)
Singh, Shaw, Westrupp, and Wereta (2020)
No author or group author
No author or group author
If no author is named, the source may be written by a group or organisation. This is often true for collaborative or official works from government departments, corporations or other organisations.
In this case, use the group in the author position both in the in-text citation and reference list.
In-text citation example
… matching New Zealand's curriculum documents (Ministry of Education, 1996).
If there's no group author, move the title to the author position. This method is often used for newspaper and magazine articles and encyclopaedia entries with no identified author.
Sometimes the group author is also the publisher.
Group authors with bilingual names
Group authors with bilingual names
Some organisations have bilingual names.
The APA Style manual does not provide specific guidelines for bilingual names. However, the general rule for names is to write them as they appear in the original source.
Write names in the order they appear in the original source.
Separate names with a hyphen.
Example
Ministry of Health–Manatū Hauora. (n.d.).
(Ministry of Health–Manatū Hauora, n.d.).
Title in author position
Title in author position
If there's no group author, move the title to the author position.
Use a shortened version of the source's title – usually the first 2 or 3 words – instead of the author in the in-text citation. If it's a book or web page title, put it in italics. If it's an article or chapter title or an entry title in an encyclopaedia, put it between quotation marks.
Example
(“Beehive updating job,” 2007)
Identical group author and publisher
Identical group author and publisher
Sometimes the group author is also the publisher. When you cite a group author, the publisher and author's names are often identical. In these cases, use the publisher in the author position.
Example
(Radio New Zealand, 2005)
Same author and year of publication
Same author and year of publication
In some rare cases, you may need to reference 2 different sources with the same author and the same year.
Add a lowercase letter (a, b and so on) after the year to distinguish each source.
In the reference list, order the entries with a lowercase letter alphabetically.
APA reference list format: Author – same author and year of publication
Example
According to Johnson (2020a), the …
According to Johnson (2020b), the …
Year of publication
For some sources, such as magazine and newspaper articles, only include the year in the in-text citation. Only include months and days in reference listings.
Examples
(Ministry of Education, 1996).
(Lazar, 2006).
No date of publication
No date of publication
If there is no year, use n.d., meaning 'no date' in place of the year.
Examples
New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage (n.d.).
(New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage, n.d.)
Quotations and block quotations
Direct quotations are usually put inside quotation marks (" "), followed by the reference. Include a page number for quotations where available.
Example
When gathering data it is important to remember that “only relevant types of demographic information should be requested” (Lazar, 2006, p. 52).
If a quotation is longer than 40 words, indent the quotation instead of using quotation marks.
Example
Lazar (2006) describes the delicate balance of survey design:
Only relevant types of demographic information should be requested. Asking inappropriate questions in a survey, interview, or focus group lessens the likelihood that users will respond. Also, if too many questions are asked, users are less likely to respond. (p. 52)
The number of questions depends greatly on…
The full stop comes before the bracket when you indent a direct quote.
Quotations should be identical to the source material. However, you can make small changes.
Quoting audio-visual work
Quoting audio-visual work
When quoting audio-visual material, for example, audiobooks, YouTube videos and TV episodes, provide a timestamp for the beginning of the quotation in place of a page number.
Example
This speaks to the notion of “autonomous awareness and enactment in a liminal space” (Hohepa, 2021, 3:02).
Quoting research participants
Quoting research participants
If you conduct research and include quotes from your participants, you don't need to include in-text citations or a reference listing. The participants are not a locatable source, nor should they be treated as personal communication.
APA Style – Quotations from research participants
The same rules for formatting ordinary quotes apply to research participants.
- Quotes of fewer than 40 words are in quotation marks within the text.
- Indent quotes greater than 40 words without quotation marks below the text.
Make participant quotes clear in the text.
Example
Participants described their experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic. “John” said “it was stressful adapting to the new working environment.”
Assign pseudonyms to participants for confidentiality and anonymity.
Example
Research participants offered a mixed response to the first question. Sarah (a pseudonym) had observed not all children are extrinsically motivated and recalled a student who was “stubborn and seemed to delight in refusing stickers and free time as a reward.”
Page numbers
You must provide a page number when you quote a source if a page number is available. Some sources, such as online sources, do not have page numbers.
Example
When gathering data, it is important to remember that “only relevant types of demographic information should be requested” (Lazar, 2006, p. 52).
Use the abbreviation, 'p.', not 'pg.' or 'page'.
If you have only paraphrased or summarised a source, a page number is not compulsory under APA style. However, it can help readers to include it, especially for longer texts:
Although it is not required to provide a page or paragraph number in the citation for a paraphrase, you may include one in addition to the author and year when it would help interested readers locate the relevant passage within a long or complex work (e.g., a book). (American Psychological Association, 2020, p. 269)
Many lecturers prefer you to provide a page number in every in-text citation. Some lecturers only want page numbers for direct quotations. If unsure, ask your course coordinator for clarification.
No page numbers
No page numbers
Some sources, particularly web pages, don't have page numbers. Most of the time, it's enough to cite the author and the year of publication.
If you have to cite a particular part of an unpaginated source, use 'para' to indicate which paragraph you're citing. Manually count paragraphs if not numbered.
Example
(Benson, 2006, para. 2)
If you're citing a longer source with chapters or sections, use the section title before the paragraph number.
Example
(Benson, 2006, Discussion section, para. 2)
If referring to text formatted for a particular e-reader, for example, Kindle, don't give the location number specific to the e-reader. This may vary between devices.
Reference within a source (secondary source)
Many academic books and journal articles quote earlier books or articles on the same topic. If you can't access the original source because it's out of print or unavailable through the library, you can cite the secondary source instead.
Example
The work of Chi (2020, as cited in Lazar, 2022)…
In this example, the quoted source (the original source) is Chi (2020). The quoting source (the secondary source) is Lazar (2022). Mention the original source first, followed by 'as cited in' and then the secondary source. If the date of the cited source (the original source) is unknown, omit it from the in-text citation.
Example
The work of Chi (as cited in Lazar, 2022)…
Because you've not viewed Chi, it only appears in the in-text citation and not in the reference list. List the secondary source (Lazar, 2022) in the reference list according to the format for that source type.
If an entire article or chapter has been reproduced exactly in another source, then you can cite the original source and disregard the secondary source.
Referencing other material in APA: Lecture notes and study material
Referencing software
Learn about EndNote and Zotero referencing software.
AI platforms
If you have permission to use AI in assessments, such as for developing initial ideas for your critical examination, you must acknowledge it. The APA Style Guide provides guidance on how to reference Chat GPT.
Others cannot retrieve the outputs of ChatGPT. Unretrievable outputs are usually referenced as personal communications, however, in the case of AI there is no person being communicated with. According to APA, AI output is therefore more like the output of an algorithm. As such, it is the author of the algorithm, so the company that has created the AI platform should be credited in the in-text citation and corresponding entry in the reference list.
APA Style: Blog – How to cite ChatGPT
APA referencing online material: AI platforms
In-text citations should follow the basic format for APA Style in-text citations but include the author of the generative AI model in the author position.
Example
(OpenAI, 2023)
OpenAI (2023)
Note: Be very cautious citing sources generated by AI. Sometimes, it can create sources that do not exist. Make sure you check all sources generated by AI tools.
Personal communications
Personal communications describe any source that is not archived. Personal communications include emails, conversations, interviews and face-to-face lectures.
Readers cannot access these sources, so don't include them in the reference list. Instead, they're listed as a special type of in-text citation only.
Example
(T. Williams, personal communication, November 9, 2019)
Give the first initials and surname of the source, followed by the words 'personal communication' and the date of contact.
As with any other in-text citation, you can move the name out of the brackets and into a sentence.
Example
According to T. Williams (personal communication, November 9, 2019), the …
Remember that printed and verified sources are usually more reliable than personal communications.
Traditional knowledge or oral traditions of Indigenous Peoples
How you cite information from Traditional Knowledge depends on how you source it.
If the reader can locate the information, for example, a publicly available recording or publication, then cite as an ordinary audio-visual recording or publication.
If you cite information that is not locatable and the person is not a research participant, then provide as much detail in-text, including their specific Indigenous group, for example, nation, iwi or hapū, followed by the words 'personal communication' and the date of the communication. For example:
Tamati Hoera (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahangunu, personal communication, February 16, 2023) suggests that although…
In APA Style, capitalise most terms related to Indigenous Peoples as a sign of respect, including proper nouns such as specific iwi and hapū and concepts and terms such as Traditional Knowledge, Oral Tradition, Kaumātua or Kuia.
It is also important to ensure that the person agrees to have their name and information included in your assignment and confirms the accuracy and appropriateness of your information.
Refer to Section 8.9 of the APA Publication Manual (7th ed.) for more about citing information from Indigenous Peoples. You can find the manual using the Library Discover search.
Find more information about in-text citations and references on the APA website.
Referencing disclaimer
This page is a guide to proper referencing. Your course, department, school or institute may prescribe specific conventions. Their recommendations supersede these instructions. If your questions are not covered here, ask your course coordinator or ask on our Academic Q&A forum.
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