APA 7 in-text citations: the format, with examples

APA 7th edition in-text citations look simple, and that is the trap — the format is strict, and small slips add up. Six sloppy citations across an essay is often enough to move you down a grade boundary, even when the writing is good. This guide covers the format and the cases you will actually meet.

The basic format

An APA 7 in-text citation has two parts: the author's surname and the year. If you are quoting or pointing to a specific passage, add a page number with p.

(Smith, 2019)

(Smith, 2019, p. 44)

That is the whole core rule. Everything below is a variation on it.

A very common error is putting too much in the citation:

Wrong: (Smith, J. 2019, The Social Brain, pg 44)

Right: (Smith, 2019, p. 44)

APA 7 wants surname, year, and — if needed — p. No first initials, no title, no "pg". The full details belong in your reference list, not in the text.

One, two, and three-plus authors

One author:

(Smith, 2019)

Two authors — name both every time, joined by an ampersand inside the brackets:

(Smith & Jones, 2020)

If you name them in your sentence, use "and" instead of the ampersand:

Smith and Jones (2020) argued that…

Three or more authors — name the first author only, followed by "et al." from the very first citation:

(Smith et al., 2021)

This is a change from APA 6, which listed up to five authors the first time. In APA 7 it is "et al." from the start.

Quoting versus paraphrasing

Paraphrase — author and year are required; a page number is encouraged but optional:

Social media's effect on wellbeing depends on how wellbeing is measured (Patel, 2022).

Direct quote — you must include a page number:

Wellbeing outcomes were "highly sensitive to the measurement instrument" (Patel, 2022, p. 12).

For a quote from a source with no page numbers, such as a webpage, use a paragraph number or a section heading instead:

(Patel, 2022, para. 4)

Common special cases

Group or organisation as author — spell it out the first time, and abbreviate afterwards if it is well known:

First: (World Health Organization [WHO], 2021)

After: (WHO, 2021)

No date — use "n.d.":

(Smith, n.d.)

Two works in the same brackets — separate with a semicolon, in alphabetical order:

(Jones, 2021; Smith, 2019)

Secondary source, where you read Jones quoting Smith and cannot get the original — cite the one you read:

(Smith, 1998, as cited in Jones, 2021)

Use secondary citations sparingly; find the original where you can.

The small mistakes that cost marks

• Writing pg or page instead of p.
• Adding author initials or the work's title inside the brackets
• Using "and" inside brackets, where it should be &, or & in running text, where it should be "and"
• Listing all authors instead of using "et al." for three or more
• Forgetting the page number on a direct quote
• A missing comma between author and year — it is (Smith, 2019), not (Smith 2019)

A quick check before you submit

Scan every set of brackets and ask: surname, comma, year — and a p. only if I am quoting? If each one passes that test, your in-text citations are clean.