Paraphrasing is restating an author's information in your own words. Paraphrases are shorter than the original work and can condense ideas from the source. If you are paraphrasing an idea, you only have to make reference to the author and year of publication in your in-text reference although you can provide a page or paragraph number.
Examples
One Author Include the author’s last name as a part of the sentence, followed immediately by the year of publication in parenthesis.
Jones (2009) stated that all ants crawl.
Two Authors Citation for two authors is the same as a single author with both last names listed. NOTE: When used as a part of the sentence the word ‘and’ is used (unlike the parenthetically citation that uses an ampersand).
Jones and Thomas (2009) stated that all ants crawl.
More than Two Authors If three or more authors are present for a source, list all of them in the first citation then just the first listed author and et al. in subsequent citations. For six or more authors, use et al. for all citations. All instances include the publication year in parenthesis immediately following the author’s last names.
First in-text citation:
Jones, Thomas, and Dixon (2009) stated that all ants crawl.
All subsequent citations:
Jones et al. (2009) also argued that snakes actually slither.
No Author & Corporate Author For websites and other sources where no author is listed, include the corporate author or content
owner as a part of the sentence immediately followed by the year in parenthesis. However, if there is no author found, then you would not use a narrative citation.
World Wildlife Federation (2009) conclude that all ants crawl.
Need more examples? Check out the in-text citations page from Purdue OWL.
Anytime ideas are used verbatim from a source in your writing, they need to be separated by quotation marks to show exactly what was directly from the source (author and date of publication) as well as include a page or paragraph number. Quotations that are 40 words or longer are formatted a block quotation.
Examples
One Author
Parenthetical in-text citation:
“All ants crawl” (Jones, 2009, p. 45).
(p. 45 means the quote was found on page 45)
Narrative in-text citation:
According to Jones (2009), “All ants crawl” (p. 45).
(Notice how in both examples the closing punctuation mark comes outside of the closing parentheses)
Two Authors
Parenthetical in-text citation:
“All ants crawl” (Jones & Thomas, 2009, p. 64).
(Notice that the “&” is used between the authors last names. In a parenthetical citation, use the & before the last author listed.)
Narrative in-text citation:
According to Jones and Thomas (2009), “All ants crawl”(p. 64).
(Notice that the word “and” is used between the authors last names)
More than Two Authors
Parenthetical in-text citations; first citation:
“All ants crawl” (Jones, Thomas, & Dixon, 2009, p. 23).
(Notice that the “&” is used before last author listed.)
All subsequent citations:
“All ants crawl” (Jones et al., 2009, p. 23).
Narrative in-text citation; first citation:
As surmised by Jones, Thomas, and Dixon (2009), “All ants crawl” (p. 23).
(Notice that in the narrative citation that the word “and” is used before the last author listed.)
All subsequent citations:
Jones et al. (2009) surmised, “Snakes actually slither because they have no legs.” (p. 23).
No Author & Corporate Author
Parenthetical in-text citations; corporate author:
“All ants crawl” (World Wildlife Federation, 2009, para. 4).
(“para.” stands for the paragraph of where the quote was found if there are no page numbers)
Narrative in-text citations; corporate author:
The World Wildlife Federation (2009) stated “All ants crawl” (para. 4).
No author found:
“All ants crawl” (“Why Ants,” 2009, para. 4).
Quotes Longer Than 40 Words: Block Quotations Quotes of more than 40 words are included in a block format, indented 5 spaces to the right from the main paragraph. The quote is double-spaced and there are NO quotation marks. The parenthetical citation information is the same as that used for a quote of fewer than 40 words. Notice the period is before the in-text citation for block formatting. This is an exception to the rule.
Parenthetical in-text citation:
Fire ants are known for their lively and aggressive behavior, warming over anyone or anything that disturbs their nest, often attacking wild animals, baby animals, pets or people, in some instances, even killing them. And it appears taht the situation with fire ants will not get any better. The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) released a new report this month on fire ants. Fire ants can be deadly to wildlife and can generate unpleasant burning and blistering on human skin when attacked by these ants in large numbers. Fire ants are making their way northward as climate change provides more suitable habitat. (World Wildlife Federation, 2009, para. 4)
Narrative in-text citation:
The World Wildlife Federation (2009) detailed the habits of fire ants in the annual Ant Anthology: Fire ants are known for their lively and aggressive behavior, swarming over anyone or anything that disturbs their nest, often attacking wild animals, baby animals, pets or people, in some instances, even killing them. And it appears that the situation with fire ants will not get any better. The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) released a new report this month on fire ants. Fire ants can be deadly to wildlife and can generate unpleasant burning and blistering on human skin when attacked by these ants in large numbers. Fire ants are making their way northward as climate change provides more suitable habitat. (para. 4)
Personal Communication If information comes from an unpublished source, such as an interview or email communication, include the author’s first initial and last name as a part of the sentence. Address it as a personal communication and list the date in parenthesis after the idea. NOTE: personal communications citations are only in the text of your paper and NOT in your reference list.
T. Jones stated that all ants crawl and snakes slither (personal communication, February 2, 2011).
As a writer you do not have to rely on just paraphrasing or just quoting sources. Good writers often intertwine the two. Good writers also use a combination of parenthetical and narrative citations.
APA requires specific kinds of information be included in in-text citations: the author's last name and work's date of publication must always appear. If you use direct quotes, a page or paragraph number(s) must also be included. Placement of the citation can vary within the text:
-The name of the author can be incorporated into the narrative of the paper
Example: Smith (2009) suggested adults learn best when....
-The name of the author and date may be stated in the narrative
Example: In 2009 Smith suggested adults learn.....
-The name of the author and date appear within parentheses
Example: One researcher suggested adults learn best when.... (Smith, 2009)
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