- 2 Authors: Always cite both authors' names in-text everytime you reference them. Example: Johnson and Smith (2009) found…
- 6 or More Authors: If a document has six or more authors, simply provide the last name of the first author with “et al.” from the first citation to the last. Example: Thomas et al.
Name
both authors in the signal phrase
or in parentheses each time you cite the work. Use the word “and” between the authors' names within the text and use the ampersand in parentheses.
If there are three or more authors,
list only the first author followed by the phrase et al. (Latin for “and others”) in place of the subsequent authors' names
. (Note that there is a period after “al” in “et al.” Also note that there is never a period after the “et” in “et al.”).
Specifically, articles with one or two authors include all names in every in-text citation; articles with three, four, or five authors include
all names in the first in-text citation
but are abbreviated to the first author name plus et al.
- 2 Authors: Always cite both authors' names in-text everytime you reference them. Example: Johnson and Smith (2009) found…
- 6 or More Authors: If a document has six or more authors, simply provide the last name of the first author with “et al.” from the first citation to the last. Example: Thomas et al.
For a source with three or more authors,
list only the first author's last name, and replace the additional names with et al
.
When you have 3 or more authors, you only use the first author's surname in text, and abbreviate the rest of the list with “et al.” (Latin for “and others”). In your reference list, you list all of the authors
(up to 20)
.
Only when a work has
six or more authors
should the first in-text citation consist of the first author followed by et al. With five or fewer authors, all the author surnames should be spelled out at first mention.
List by last names and initials
; commas separate author names. After the sixth author's name, use an ellipsis in place of the author names. Then provide the final author name. There should be no more than seven names.
Three to five authors
: List all the authors the first time you cite the work: (Ackermann, Benjes-Small, Brainard, Smith, & Vassady, 2009). After the first time, use only the first author's name followed by et al.: (Ackermann et al., 2009). Six authors or more: Never use them all in the in-text citation.
What is in-text citation example?
For every in-text citation in your paper, there must be a corresponding entry in your reference list. APA in-text citation style uses
the author's last name and the year of publication
, for example: (Field, 2005). For direct quotations, include the page number as well, for example: (Field, 2005, p. 14).
If a document has six or more authors, simply
provide the last name of the first author with “et al.” from the first citation to the last
. Example: Thomas et al.
How do you cite two pages in one sentence?
If your references/quotes run concurrent to each other,
you can use one citation at the end
, i.e., (Smith 23, 32). This works best with direct quotes because it indicates that the first quote is from page 23 and the second from 32. The cited text must directly follow each other.