APA Style uses the author–date citation system, in which a brief in-text citation directs your reader to a full reference list entry. The in-text citation appears within the body of the paper (or in a table, figure, footnote, or appendix) and briefly identifies the cited work by its author and date of publication. This method enables your reader to locate the corresponding entry in the alphabetical reference list at the end of your paper.
Each work you cite must appear in the reference list, and each work in the reference list must be cited in the text (or in a table, figure, footnote, or appendix) except with the exceptions noted in section 8.4 of the APA style manual and on the Reference List page earlier.
What Do You Cite Within Your Text: (See APA Section 8.2)
Cite all outside sources whose ideas, theories, or research support the ideas, claims, and concepts in your research paper.
Specifically, you cite sources whenever you:
Exceptions: (See APA section 8.4)
Some materials are cited only in the text and are NOT included in the reference list. These are:
Parenthetical and Narrative Citations: (See APA Section 8.11)
In APA style you use the author-date citation system for citing references within your paper. You incorporate these references using either a parenthetical or a narrative style.
Parenthetical Citations
Narrative Citations
In narrative citations, the author name or title of your source appears within your text and the publication date appears in parentheses immediately after the author name.
In-Text Citation Checklist
The APA Style website provides more explanation and examples of specific types of sources you may use in your paper: