In-text citations
In-text citations are identified in APA 7 style by a parenthetical citation that includes the author’s last name and the year of publication of the source document. A parenthetical citation can be indicated by both round and square brackets, especially if you use round brackets for other purposes in the text. However, the marking of in-text citations should be consistent throughout the paper.
Text citation… (author, year of publication).
Text citation… [author, year of publication].
If the author’s name appears naturally in the text, it is a so-called narrative citation and only the year of publication is given in brackets.
According to this author’s theory (year of publication), it appears …
In the case of a direct quotation (a verbatim quotation, which you should try to avoid as much as possible), you add a comma followed by an “p.” and the page number.
“Text of citation” (author, year, p. xy).
Placement of citation brackets
The APA distinguishes between direct quotation and paraphrase editing, which determines the placement of the parenthetical citation.
Direct quotation
In addition to the author, the page (or other form of location) from which the quotation is taken is indicated in parentheses. The indication of the direct quotation is based on its length:
- Short quotation (fewer than 40 words)
Quotation is indicated by quotation marks and the citation bracket is placed before the period of the last sentence.
“One lives in the interplay or conflict of one’s intentions-decisions and what comes to one’s mind-ness” (Sokol, 2004, p. 13).
- Block quotation (40 words or more)
It is used rarely and its use is not recommended unless necessary. Such direct quotations should be block-aligned and indented from the rest of the text. The parenthetical citation is placed after the period of the last sentence.
Paraphrases
Even paraphrases can be divided into short and long according to APA 7.
In a short paraphrase, the parenthetical citation may be placed anywhere in the sentence, but generally before the period. For example:
Sokol (2004), points out that man is the centre of his experiential world and his life is determined by the conflict or interplay between his intentions and what is happening around him.
Some authors (Sokol, 2004, p. 13) follow Heidegger’s concept of stay (Dasein), which is characterised by thrownness (…).
If you also mention the author’s name and the year of publication in the text, the parentheses can be omitted from this type of citation.
In his 2004 book, Sokol points out (…).
In the case of a long paraphrase, i.e., a paraphrase with several sentences, the citation is made in the first sentence (parenthesis with the author and year of publication). If the author’s name is directly in the sentence, then only the bracket with the year is added. The citation bracket need not be repeated as long as it is clear from the text that the same work is still being referred to. If the continuity of the text is broken, the citation must be reinserted.
More information about in-text citations on APA Style web sites.
Specific in-text citations
As it happens, there are sometimes exceptions and various other specialities in all rules. It is also the case with in-text citations according to the APA style.
If you include information obtained in a personal communication or interview (if it has not been published) in a professional text, you do not need to create a reference list entry for this interview. Therefore, in these cases, only a parenthetical citation in the text containing the author’s name, the words “personal communication”, and the date the interview took place is required. If the author of the statement is mentioned in the text, it is no longer necessary to include the author in parentheses. Statements from electronic personal communications (e.g. emails, SMS messages, chat tools, etc.) are then quoted in the same way.
Quotations of personal communication in the text may then look like this:
The HR department has only recently been established (T. Nguyen, personal communication, February 24, 2020).
E. M. Paradis confirmed this hypothesis (personal communication, August 8, 2022).
You may want to cite content that someone else has already cited. This is called secondary citation because, at that point, you are citing the primary source through a secondary source. However, using this type of citation is not recommended. It can only be used in exceptional circumstances if the original work is unavailable or written in a language you do not understand.
For example, if the publication Lyon et al. (2014) cited Rabbitt and you cannot read this original work, cite this author (Rabbitt) as the primary source and the publication (Lyon et al.) where you found this work as the secondary source. For example, (Rabbitt, 1982, cited in Lyon et al., 2014). Only the Lyon et al. publication appears in the list of references used.
If the primary text’s publication year is unknown, omit it from the in-text citation. E.g. Allport’s diary (cited in Nicholson, 2003)
Remember that you must also cite information from your own research/text that has already been published somewhere or that you have received an exam or credit based on. Then, indicate your own text by in-text citation, e.g. with the sentence “As I have stated in previous works…” or “As I wrote in the past…”.
The self-citation in the text can look like this:
As I have already stated in my bachelor thesis (Bláhová, 2020) …
If you only mention a tool or website in the text without citing specific information from it, you do not need to cite the source. Just mark it in italics and add a web link if necessary.
For example, a mention might look like this:
ABC also uses social networks such as Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/abc) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/abc) to communicate with its clients.
Tables, graphs and figures from various documents can be cited in two ways:
- In quotation form, you take the object as a whole and cite it as a whole (quotation), including a reference to its location in the source document.
- You only process the data in the table/graph into your own form (other tables, etc.).
All figures and tables must be mentioned by their number in the text (a “callout”). Do not refer to the table/figure using either “the table above” or “the figure below.”
Assign table/figure number in the order as it appears, numbered consecutively, in your paper – not the figure number assigned to it in its original resource.
A note is added when further description, for example, definitions or copyright attribution, is necessary to explain the figure or table. Most student papers will require a general note for citation whether it is reprinted or adapted from another source. All the sources must have citation in note and full bibliographic entry in your Reference List.
For further information, you can use the APA 7th style website. Although APA style specifies that you must indicate the type of license and copyright permissions for use in the note for these materials, this information is not required for the purposes of qualifying papers in Prague University of Economics and Business. Keep in mind, however, that some license types (e.g., Creative Commons) are preferable to indicate for images because the license itself requires it.
Examples:
Figure 1
Publishing in Czechia 2012-2015.
Note. Graph made by author based on data from Statista: Forecast: Industry revenue of “publishing of books, periodicals“ in Czechia 2012-2025 (2021).
Figure 2
The Global Inflation Outlook.
Note. From Statista The global inflation Outlook (Buchholz, 2022). CC BY-ND 4.0.
References
Buchholz, K. (2022-11-02). Infographic: The Global Inflation Outlook. Statista. https://www.statista.com/chart/27480/projected-annual-inflation-by-country/
Statista. (2021). Forecast: Industry revenue of “publishing of books, periodicals“ in Czechia 2012-2025 [Data set]. Statista. https://www.statista.com/forecasts/397929/publishing-of-books-periodicals-revenue-in-Czechia