Basic Citation Formulas
Introduction to Citation
Citation Elements
Table 1
Citation Elements
| Parenthetical Citation | “The deployment of the cultural mythology of the veil in the service of empire is not unique to the U.S. context” (Jarmakani, 2008, p. 162). |
| Narrative Citation | Amira Jarmakani (2008) argued that “the deployment of the cultural mythology of the veil in the service of empire is not unique to the U.S. context” (p. 162). |
| Corresponding Reference List Entry | Jarmakani, A. (2008). Imagining Arab womanhood: The cultural mythology of veils, harems, and belly dancers in the U.S. Palgrave Macmillan. |
Note. Adapted from American Psychological Association, 2020, p. 262.
Parenthetical citation format and narrative citation format both require the author’s last name, a year of publication, and a page number. Each in-text citation must correspond with a reference list entry.
If a source does not have a page number, it is appropriate to use another location indicator such as a paragraph number, slide number, or subtitle.
Basic Citation Formulas
Table 2
Styles of Citation
| Author | Parenthetical | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| One Author | (Massoud, 2020, p. 4) | Massoud (2020) argued… (p. 4). |
| Two Authors | (Ali & Thompson, 1999, p. 3) | Ali and Thompson (1999) described… (p. 3). |
| Three or more authors | (Rubin et al., 2004, para. 6) | Rubin et al. (2004) indicated… (para. 6). |
| Group author without abbreviation | (The University of Ottawa, 2009, slide 11) | The University of Ottawa (2009) suggested… (slide 11). |
| Group author with abbreviation *first citation | (The American Psychological Association [APA], 2020, p. 20) | According to the American Psychological Association (APA, 2020)… (p. 20). |
| Unknown Author *use source title in place of author | For a book or website: (How Project-Based Learning Helps, 2014, p. 41) | How Project-Based Learning Helps (2014) revealed… (p. 41). |
| Unknown Author *use source title in place of author | For an article: ("Achieving Change," 2013, para. 4) | "Achieving Change" (2013) inspired… (para. 4). |
| Unknown Date | (Conestoga College, n.d., para. 4) | Conestoga College (n.d.) showed… (para. 4). |
Note. Adapted from American Psychological Association, 2020, p. 266.