APA Citation Guide (APA 7th Edition): Citation Basics

What are Citations?

Citations tell your reader about the sources you’ve used in your work

Why do we cite?

• Citations give credit and show respect to the original authors of your sources.
• Citations help avoid plagiarism by identifying parts that are not your own words or ideas.
• Citations show that you’ve researched your topic.
• Citations help your readers find the sources you’ve used in your work

How do we cite?

Citation rules vary depending on the citation style selected. At Seneca, the common citation styles are APA & MLA. Check with your instructor if you’re not sure what style is required for your assignment. 

There are two parts to citing:

• Reference (APA) or Works Cited List (MLA) is the detailed list of all the sources you have cited in your work. It provides full information on each source you’ve used
• In-text Citations are short citations that indicate you have used someone else's ideas, words, or research. They are surrounded in parentheses and follow a direct quote or paraphrase.

You need to include both Reference/Works Cited citations and in-text citations in your work. Both work together to properly give credit to the authors of your sources.

Check out the library’s citation guides for more information on creating in-text and Reference / Works Cited List citations.

What are the Parts of an APA Reference List Citation?

Here are the basic parts of APA Reference List citations that generally appear at the end of assignments and other coursework:

• Who is the author? The citation often begins with the names of the author. Authors can be individuals. Authors can also be groups such as companies.
• When was the source created? The citation mentions when the source was created or updated such as an article’s publication date. 
• What is the source? The citation includes the full title of the source. 
• Where is the source located? Lastly, citations include info on where to find the source such as the journal where the article came from or the website name and link where a video was found.

Example

Now that we know the basic parts of a citation, let’s look at an example of a Reference List Citation for Webpage by a Group Author:

Diabetes Canada. (n.d.). Preventing diabetes. https://www.diabetes.ca/signs,-risks---prevention/preventing-diabetes

• Who: Diabetes Canada
• When: Use n.d. if there's no date given.
• What: Add the title of the source. Capitalize the first word of the title, subtitle, and any proper nouns.
• Where: Add the link to the source.

Remember!

APA has different rules for each type of source. Check out the library's APA Citation Guide for more examples.

What are in-text citations?

In-text citations are short references that show when you have used information or ideas from a source. They also guide readers to the matching citations in your Reference List.

When do you use in-text citations?

Quoting Directly

• When using the author’s exact words in your work. 
• The general format is: (Author’s Last Name, Year, p. Page Number)
• For example: “This is a quote” (Turner & Li, 2023, p. 18).

Paraphrasing

• When using your words to describe or summarize information from the source.
• The general format is: (Author’s Last Name, Year)
• For example: This is a paraphrase (Turner & Li, 2023).

Note: Check with your instructor since they may require page numbers for paraphrased information.

Types of in-text citations

Parenthetical in-text citations

The authors are mentioned in the citation. For example: This is my sentence (Turner & Li, 2023).

Narrative in-text citations

The authors are mentioned in the sentence. For example: In their study, Turner and Li (2023) found...

What if there's missing information?

No date? Use n.d. instead. For example: (Turner & Li, n.d.).

No page numbers? Include another way to locate the information such as a paragraph number. For example: (Martinez, 2023, para. 4).

For more examples, check out the library’s citation guides.