Please be aware that automatically generated citations may not provide accurate results. If you choose to use a citation generator, you need to take the time to double check your reference list for incorrect formatting and make any necessary corrections. It is your responsibility to double check!
The official APA Style website from the American Psychological Association
The APA Style Blog is run by experts from the American Psychological Association. It is considered an official resource to go along with the APA Publication Manual.
Online APA formatting and style guide, with citation and reference examples
When you quote directly from a source, enclose the words in quotation marks and add the page number to the in-text citation. There are two basic formats which can be used.:
1. When you DO NOT MENTION the author's name in the sentence, the author's name, the year of publication, and the page number are placed in parenthesis at the end of the sentence, separated by commas.
2. When you MENTION the author's name in the the sentence, the year of publication is placed in parenthesis after the author's name is mentioned, and the page number is listed in parenthesis at the end of the sentence.
Examples:
Fractions, decimals and percents "come up in situations involving tipping, taxes, inflation, finance, mortgages, credit cards, sales, cooking, sports, gambling, [and] measurement" (Ryan, 2002, p. 27).
According to Ryan (2002), fractions, decimals and percents "come up in situations involving tipping, taxes, inflation, finance, mortgages, credit cards, sales, cooking, sports, gambling, [and] measurement" (p. 27).
What Is a Long Quotation?
If your quotation extends to more than forty words as you're typing your essay, it is a long quotation. This can also be referred to as a block quotation.
Rules for Long Quotations
There are 4 rules that apply to long quotations that are different from regular quotations:
Example of a Long Quotation
At the end of Lord of the Flies the boys are struck with the realization of their behaviour:
The tears began to flow and sobs shook him. He gave himself up to them now for the first time on the island; great, shuddering spasms of grief that seemed to wrench his whole body. His voice rose under the black smoke before the burning wreckage of the island; and infected by that emotion, the other little boys began to shake and sob too. (Golding, 1960, p.186)
When you write information from a source in your own words, cite the source by adding an in-text citation at the end of the paraphrase.
Examples:
Everyday math is easier when you have an understanding of fractions, decimals and percents (Ryan, 2002, p. 27).
According to Ryan (2002), everyday math is easier when you have an understanding of fractions, decimals and percents (p. 27).
In APA, in-text citations are inserted in the body of your research paper to document the source of your information. In-text citations point the reader to more complete information in the reference list at the end of the paper.
Signal Phrase
If you refer to the author's name in a sentence you do not have to include the name again as part of your in-text citation, instead include the date after the name and the page number (if there is one) at the end of the quotation or paraphrased section. For example:
Hunt (2011) explains that mother-infant attachment has been a leading topic of developmental research since John Bowlby found that "children raised in institutions were deficient in emotional and personality development" (p. 358).