Subject guides: CDU APA Referencing: In-text Citations

CDU APA 7th is an author-date style. This means your in-text citations need these two elements to be correct. There are two types of in-text citations, narrative citations and parenthetical citations.

Narrative Citations (when the author is part of the text)

A narrative citation includes the author’s name in the sentence, with the year in parentheses. This format is useful when you want to emphasise the author’s contribution or connect their work to your discussion.

Example: Carter (2021) found that regular physical activity reduces the risk of heart disease.

Parenthetical Citations (when the citation is all in brackets)

A parenthetical citation places both the author’s name and the year in parentheses at the end of the sentence. This is useful when the focus is on the information rather than the author.

Example: A balanced diet plays a key role in maintaining gut health (Lee & Patel, 2020).

Examples of In-text Citations

One author

Walker (2017) or (Walker, 2017)

Two authors

(Jones & Taylor, 2020) or Jones and Taylor (2020)
Pay attention to the use of &/and in the citations.

Three or more authors

(Brown et al., 2021) or Brown et al. (2021)
et al. means ‘and others’ and fills the other authors’ place.

Organisation as author that can be identified through abbreviation

All abbreviations must be explained (use the full name) before being used.
First narrative citation: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW, 2018)
First parenthetical citation: AIHW (2018)
Subsequent narrative citations: (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare [AIHW], 2018)
Subsequent parenthetical citations: (AIHW, 2018)

Organisation as author – no abbreviation

(Diabetes Australia, 2017) or Diabetes Australia (2017)
Do not abbreviate these organisations. I.e. Diabetes Australia would not be DA.

Multiple sources in the same sentence

Use this format when one sentence has ideas from several resources, and you need to cite them.
Narrative citation – authors can be in any order: Diabetes Australia (2017), Parnell (2018) and Kerridge et al. (2013) discuss…
Parenthetical citation – must be in alphabetical order: (Diabetes Australia, 2017; Kerridge et al., 2013; Parnell, 2018)