This post is part of a series to give students some perspective on citation & referencing. This one's a beginner's guide to citing. If you're getting started with your semester, reading this one will be useful for getting acquainted with or refreshing on the rules of APA citation style, including how citation differs from and relates to referencing your sources.
What exactly is in-text citation, how does it relate to quotation and referencing, and when do you need to use it? This is your guide to the basics of citing sources—a key piece of your academic writing. As we proceed, all examples will stick to APA (American Psychological Association) Style.
The basic idea
Many students reading this, though not all, will understand the basics of in-text citation. Simply put, citation is about indicating where you’re using other authors' work, such as their ideas, claims, or research, in your writing. The information you include in your in-text citations (i.e., in the body of your writing) will generally be just enough information for the reader to associate it with the full reference that appears at the end of your writing. Conciseness is important—you don't want citations to dominate the writing (so follow the required formatting closely). When citing most books and articles, the in-text citation simply includes the author(s) and the year, but pay close attention to the type of source you're going to cite—sometimes you’ll need to include an institution, username, or other identifying information. Linked here is an excellent guide for how to cite different kinds of sources.
For example, the following sentence might appear in a paper for a psychology course. Note the citation in parentheses at the end:
According to self-determination theory, competence, autonomy, and relatedness are distinct psychological needs (Deci & Ryan, 2000).
You can see that this is not a quotation drawn from Deci and Ryan (2000). That is, it’s not their writing—it’s my own. However, because it’s relaying some information that I found in my reading of the Deci and Ryan source, I need to cite it. Regardless of whether it's my own writing, it is not my intellectual property. I need to show whose intellectual property it is (i.e., Deci & Ryan's). However, by not putting it within quotation marks, I’m showing that it’s my own writing and not a direct quote from Deci and Ryan—it would only appear in quotation marks of it was their writing.
In short, as a student writer, it's your job to use citation to convey as clearly as possible to your reader where your information comes from.
How do you know if you’re formatting the citation correctly?
If the the book or journal article you’re drawing from has 1 or 2 authors, it’s generally the case that you cite all authors as I have shown above, in the previous section (e.g., Deci & Ryan, 2000). However, be aware that somewhat different formatting is required depending on number of authors and type of source (e.g., youtube video, podcast, or government report). If you’re not 100% sure how to cite your source, always have on hand a well-regarded APA citation guide to check whether you’re citing the right way. A good go-to source for how to cite different sources is linked here.
An alternate approach to having a go-to guide like the one linked above is to type your query about citation into a search engine and check consistency across a couple of APA guides. For example, you might search, “APA citation journal article more than 3 authors” or “APA citation youtube video”. In my experience, doing a search is quicker—and, at times, more reliable—than asking your professor for help! But ensure that you can trust the source and have a look at more than one for confirmation.
What I recommend never doing, however, is depending solely on your intuition or a peer's advice about how to cite. In my experience, students are often misinformed by peers (and, in some cases, their instructors). Always check with at least one good online source to ensure the advice you've received is accurate.
It’s also noteworthy that, in APA style, there are a few different ways you might cite throughout your paper to keep things fresh or to meet the needs of desired sentence structure. For example, the following information could be written and cited like this:
According to self-determination theory, competence, autonomy, and relatedness are distinct psychological needs (Deci & Ryan, 2000).
Or, alternatively, like this:
According to Deci and Ryan (2000), competence, autonomy, and relatedness are distinct psychological needs.
There are times when you'll feel that referring to the author as part of your sentence, like the second version above, works better in your writing. It might also sometimes be more persuasive, if that's what you're going for. Note, however, that it can sometimes subtly alter the meaning of what you're saying, so always make sure your writing is communicating what you're intending to communicate. Finally, make sure you're aware of subtle differences in formatting when you move things outside of parentheses. In the above example, you can see that "&” becomes "and" when the authors' names are placed in the sentence instead of in parentheses—there are lots of small things like this to watch out for in APA Style, so keep a formatting guide accessible as you write!
Where to cite
This is where students make a lot of mistakes. Within a given paragraph, you always want to cite your source in the sentence in which you first use the source. By contrast, you are not simply placing your citation at the end of the paragraph (that is, unless only the last sentence uses the source). To repeat: cite at the first usage of the source within the paragraph. For example, if you first use a source in sentence one, you need to cite in that sentence. If, by contrast, the first sentence is your own thought and it's the second sentence where you first use the source, cite it the second sentence instead.
If you are only using one source in that paragraph, you won't generally need to cite again within that paragraph (see section on avoiding over-citing below). However, if you do cite a second source within that paragraph and then return to source 1, you will need to cite it again. The point is to always be clear about what sources you're using and where.
Note that the citation process starts anew in new each paragraph. So, if you cited a source in paragraph 1 and then are continuing to use it again in, say, the first sentence of paragraph 2, you need to cite again in that sentence.
Avoid over-citing
While making sure your citation is accurate and complete, try to avoid overburdening or annoying the reader by over-citing. Cite only as much as is required to convey where you’re getting your content. So, imagine you’ve written a paragraph that is entirely paraphrased (i.e., it's put into your own words) from the Deci and Ryan source I cited above. It's important to avoid citing in every single sentence. Can you imagine how maddening it would be to read something in which every sentence is cited?
In the case that you're using only a single source in a particular paragraph, cite in the very first sentence of the paragraph, but generally avoid citing that source again in the next sentence or in the one after that, etc. Expect that the reader is competent enough to know that you’re continuing to get your information from the Deci and Ryan source.
At the same time, be on the reader's team—you should write with enough clarity as possible to help the reader grasp that you’re continuing to use that source throughout. So, for example, as you continue to draw from Deci and Ryan, try not to use words that would falsely suggest that you’re providing your own thoughts or opinions (e.g., “in my view…”) and instead make subtle alterations to your wording that suggests you're continuing to draw from the same source.
It's important to note, however, that when you start a new paragraph that continues to use the Deci and Ryan source, you'll need to cite that source once again. In this way, it's useful to imagine that your reader is starting fresh with the next paragraph and needs a reminder about where you're getting your info.
As I noted above, it's common for students to mistakenly think it's correct to cite at the end of the paragraph instead of in the first sentence in which the source is used. This is problematic because doing so suggests to the reader that only that last sentence is drawn from the source. In other words, it indicates that you're taking personal ownership of all the information that precedes that final sentence. Clearly, that can be misleading. Cite immediately upon beginning to use a source.
Things get more complicated when you’re drawing from more than one piece of work within a paragraph. For example, you might cite Deci and Ryan (2000) then, in the next sentence, cite Zimbardo (1970). If you then went back to using the work of Deci and Ryan (2000), you’d need to cite Deci and Ryan once again. Otherwise, the reader will think you’re getting the Deci and Ryan content from Zimbardo, which would be extremely misleading!
In short, ask yourself, will the reader know where the ideas are coming from? If you’re unsure, opt to cite rather than to not. Showing the reader where you’re getting your ideas is the primary goal—you should ensure that you’re meeting that goal before focusing on reducing the number of times you cite.
What kind of information shouldn't be cited?
When you don’t cite, the reader will generally assume that you’re reporting (a) your own thoughts (e.g., personal ideas, attitudes, and beliefs) or experiences (e.g., anecdotes or research you've conducted) or (b) things that are common knowledge. As such, if you’re presenting ideas that come from another source, but you haven’t cited that source, it can often come across as though you've been lazy with citation or you’re aiming to take ownership of those ideas. You want to avoid misleading the reader like this because it can look sloppy or even count as plagiarism.
So, when should you not cite?
First, you shouldn’t cite if you’re setting forth an idea, opinion, argument, or experience that comes directly from your thoughts. Sometimes students get confused about what does and doesn't count as one of their own own ideas. It's yours if you came up with the idea on your own, are reporting your personal feelings about something, or you’re reporting an experience that you had (and, clearly, you don’t have to cite anyone in those cases!).
However, if you're drawing from memory some bit of semantic knowledge you acquired last week or seven years ago, it’s not yours (you should probably cite!). It doesn’t matter if, at the time of writing, it was drawn from your memory and it doesn't matter if you forgot where you got the information—you still need to cite it. Even if you can’t remember where you learned it, it doesn't count as yours. For example, if you draw from your memory something you learned in high school about the research of Stanley Milgram, the social psychologist who conducted a series of famous studies on obedience, don’t just report what you remember from memory and neglect to cite. Make the effort to find the correct source, make sure the thoughts that you're presenting are accurate, and cite that source in your paper. It may take a lot of extra effort, but it's your job.
There's an exception—you don't have to cite common knowledge (visit this linked site and this one for further support regarding citation and common knowledge). Common knowledge is information known by most people in your intended audience. This is sometimes tricky—it won’t always be clear whether something should be taken as common knowledge. At times, you might feel certain that something is common knowledge, but your professor might disagree. This demands some perspective taking. If you think it might not be construed as common knowledge by your professor, another informed reader, or the intended audience for the assignment—if you have any uncertainties—cite it to be safe.
Famous dates and important events from history generally count as common knowledge. For example, you don't need to cite a source if you are noting the basic events surrounding the 9/11 attacks. However, what is and is not understood to be common knowledge will differ depending on cultural group, education level, and field of study, for example. Consider your audience. That's because—don't forget—you're writing to inform.
Well-established facts that are known in the general public count as common knowledge. It should be obvious that you don’t need to cite some scientific work when you write that every functioning human brain is located inside the skull, or that the brain is attached to the spinal cord (though, you might question why you would even need to report such obvious things in a paper!). Small children know these things—they’re definitely common knowledge.
It’s perhaps a little less obvious that you don’t need to cite things that are long-established in the field within which you’re writing. For instance, the neuron is a cell that transmits information in the nervous system. While this may not be known by the majority of people in the general public, every neuroscientist, psychologist, and psychology instructor knows this to be the case (hopefully!). It doesn’t need to be cited. What’s tricky here is that, as a student, you may not know what’s common knowledge within the field of psychology. It's also possible that your instructor wants you to write for an intended audience other than experts in the field. If you’re at all uncertain, opt to cite. You shouldn’t be penalized for erring on the side of showing where your info is coming from.
By contrast, what kinds of information is not common knowledge and must be cited? If you’re reporting about some specific theory, research, or statistic, you generally need to cite it. If you’re giving a definition of a term that the average reader in your audience is unlikely to know, you should cite the source. Many people won’t know anything about the concept that you’re reporting on—don’t assume it's common knowledge because you know it now. This is particularly important when it comes to methods or findings from a scientific study. The target audience probably doesn't know anything about it, and needs to know where you’re getting this information.
Some expansion on citations vs. references
Every semester, I have at least a few students who confuse citations with references, thinking for example that while it’s correct to place references in the references section, you don’t need to cite within your writing. Hopefully, you can see by now that this is wrong.
Here’s some additional clarity on citation vs. references. Generally speaking, for each source you use, you need to both cite and reference (there are occasionally exceptions in which you would cite but not reference, such as with the citation of personal communications, but you can put that aside and deal with those if they arise—they should generally appear only rarely and if necessary).
As noted above, citations appear in the body of writing—often including only the author names and year (e.g., Smith, 1997). APA style asks us to keep it short—so as not to burden the reader with superfluous information—while containing enough information for your reader to find the full information at the end of your work, in the aptly titled "References" section. It would make for an utterly terrible read if, in the main writing, you had all the information to be found in the references section. That’s why most of the information goes in your references section rather than in the text itself.
So, for example, if your reader wanted to get the source for something they’ve read in your work, they will note the citation (e.g., “Deci & Ryan, 2000”). Then they would go to the references section to find, listed in alphabetical order among the other references, those authors and year along with all additional information they need to look up the source on their own, like the title of the article and the journal in which it appears. Like this:
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The "what" and "why" of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11, 227–268. doi:10.1207/S15327965PLI1104_01
In short, citation and references work together to help the reader find your source. Referencing style is extremely particular to the kind of source you’re using, so you’ll need to have a good guide to APA formatting to get it right. Linked here is my choice for a great one to use. Be extremely careful about the small stuff when you’re referencing—italics, capitalization, punctuation, indenting, etc—professors will range in how strict they are about small errors, so seek to get it right.
Citations vs. quotations
It’s also common for students to confuse citation and quotations. Quotations are direct copies of what someone else has said or written. For instance, here’s a quote: “In order for children to be curious, they must be aware of what they do not yet know. In other words, they must possess metacognitive faculties at an early age.” (Dehaene, 2019, p. 193).
Quotations appear in quotation marks—or, if they’re longer quotes, they're generally offset as a block of text—to indicate that the writing comes directly from another source. Often, but dependant on the type of source, the citation for a quote will include a page number to indicate the specific location of the original text. Page numbers don’t appear when you’re citing a source but not quoting from it (e.g., when you're paraphrasing, which means you're putting things in your own words).
Sometimes, students think they only need to give the source when they’re quoting. In other words, that they don’t need to cite when paraphrasing what someone else has written. What you’ve learned above should dispel that notion. You must cite information you get from your sources regardless of whether you're paraphrasing or conveying information as a quote.
Citation and your reading
It should go without saying that you generally shouldn’t cite a source unless you’ve read, watched, or listened to that source. However, there is an exception to note. Sometimes, you may be working solely with a secondary source, like your course textbook. In your course materials, you may not have the primary source for the information you're working with, like a research article that describes a study, but instead a source that collects this and other research done by various researchers (a secondary source).
You might have to depend solely on a secondary source if (a) you can’t get access to the original source or (b) you’re doing an assignment for which your instructor doesn’t expect you to go beyond the provided course material. While it’s generally better to have gotten your info from the primary source, that’s not always possible or desirable, given the nature of an assignment.
There’s a special way to indicate that you’re getting your information from a secondary source. Imagine that your textbook (a secondary source) cites a research study conducted by Johnson (1985), and you want to incorporate information about that study into your writing. For our purposes, you can imagine that the textbook that cites Johnson's (1985) research is Anderson (2018). If you’re not planning to go beyond the course material for the assignment, you’re not allowed to cite the primary source because you haven’t read it! And you can’t just cite the textbook because that’s not where the research is initially reported. So, what should you do?
Simply cite the study like this: (Johnson, 1985, as cited in Anderson, 2018). This is a concise way of showing (a) where the research comes from initially and (b) where you read about the research. It also establishes for the reader that you haven’t read the primary source. Finally, although you’ve cited both sources in your writing, you only need to reference the secondary source in the references section (i.e., the Anderson source).
Citing this way is honest about what reading you’ve actually done. It also protects you in an important way: if there ends up being an inaccuracy in your writing because your course textbook made an error in reporting the research (it happens!), the reader will be able to attribute your error to the textbook rather than to your own misreading or miscommunication of the research.
There you go! That's a lot, but that's the stuff you need to know to get started with citation and referencing.