If you’ve ever stared at a sentence wondering whether to write “and” or “&”, or debated how many authors trigger the dreaded et al., you’re not alone. APA in-text citations follow a surprisingly tight logic: author, year, done. The tricky part is handling multiple authors without losing readers—or grades. This guide walks through the official 7th edition rules with working examples, so your next paper’s citations land correctly the first time.

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Current Edition: 7th · Basic Format: (Author, Year) · Narrative Citation: Author (Year) · Max Authors Before et al.: 2 · Page for Quotes: p. XX

Quick snapshot

1Confirmed facts
  • APA 7th uses et al. from the first citation for 3+ authors (APA Style Official)
  • Two authors: always include both names, use & in parentheses, and in narrative text (Scribbr)
2What’s unclear
  • Handling non-English author names or transliterations
  • Regional variations beyond US/UK/Australia not documented
3Timeline signal
  • APA 7th edition released October 2019, replacing 6th edition rules (MGH Library)
  • Reference list max authors increased from 7 (6th) to 20 (7th) (MGH Library)
4What’s next
  • Step-by-step citation building for each author scenario
  • FAQ resolving the most common in-text citation questions
Rule Value
Edition 7th (2020)
Parenthetical format (Lastname, Year)
Narrative format Lastname (Year)
Quote page number p. 67
Et al. threshold 3+ authors

How do you do in-text citations in APA?

APA 7th edition uses the author-date method. Every in-text citation pairs the author’s last name with the publication year—this two-part signal lets readers locate the full reference in your bibliography (APA Style Official). There are two formats for this: parenthetical and narrative.

Parenthetical citations

  • (Smith, 2020) — place the citation at the end of the sentence, inside parentheses
  • Use the ampersand (&) between two authors in parenthetical citations: (Smith & Jones, 2020)

Narrative citations

  • Smith (2020) states that… — embed the author’s name in your sentence as the subject or agent
  • Use “and” between two authors in narrative citations: Smith and Jones (2020) argue that…

Direct quotes

  • Always include a page number for direct quotes: (Smith, 2020, p. 67)
  • If your source has no page numbers (e.g., a webpage), use a paragraph number or section heading: (Smith, 2020, para. 4)
Bottom line: Two citation formats, one rule: author and year always appear together. The ampersand (&) lives only in parentheses; “and” appears only in narrative text.

How to cite 3 authors APA example?

For works with three or more authors, APA 7th takes a streamlining approach: you cite only the first author’s last name followed by “et al.” in every single citation, even the very first one (APA Style Official). This is a key difference from the 6th edition, which required all author names on first use.

First citation with all names

Not applicable in APA 7th. The rule is consistent: (First author et al., Year) from the start.

Subsequent citations with et al.

  • (Harris et al., 2019) — parenthetical
  • Harris et al. (2019) found that… — narrative

More than 3 authors

The same rule applies regardless of whether there are 3, 5, 12, or 20 authors: first author plus “et al.” every time (Concordia St. Paul Library). For works with 21 or more authors, the in-text citation still uses first author et al., but the reference list includes the first 19 authors, an ellipsis, and the last author.

The catch

If two different works from your reference list would produce identical et al. citations, expand the citation by adding more author names to clarify which source you mean. Purdue OWL calls this the ambiguity resolution rule (Purdue OWL).

Bottom line: Three or more authors means one name plus et al., every citation, from the first. The reference list still lists all authors—it’s only the in-text citation that abbreviates.

How to put 2 in-text citations APA in one sentence?

When you draw from multiple sources within a single sentence, APA stacks citations inside one set of parentheses, separated by semicolons (Scribbr). Order them alphabetically by the first author’s last name, not chronologically.

Same sentence multiple sources

  • Research shows conflicting trends (Harris, 2019; Jones, 2020; Smith, 2018)

Alphabetical order

Yes—always alphabetical. Harris comes before Jones, which comes before Smith. This holds even if you cited Jones’s work last in your research process.

Semicolons between

Each citation inside the parentheses is separated by a semicolon. The format is: (Author1, Year; Author2, Year; Author3, Year).

Note

If two works share the same author and year, APA adds lowercase letters: (Smith, 2018a) and (Smith, 2018b). The reference list must match these suffixes exactly (Purdue OWL).

Bottom line: Two citations in one sentence: alphabetical, semicolons, one set of parentheses. Works by the same author in the same year get distinguishing suffixes (2018a, 2018b).

What are examples of APA citations?

Seeing the patterns in action clarifies what the rules describe in abstract terms. Below are annotated examples drawn from Purdue OWL and Scribbr’s official-style examples (Purdue OWL, Scribbr).

Single author

  • Parenthetical: (Torres, 2019)
  • Narrative: Torres (2019) demonstrates that…

Two authors

  • Parenthetical: (Torres & Lima, 2019)
  • Narrative: Torres and Lima (2019) argue that…

Three or more authors

  • Parenthetical: (Torres et al., 2019)
  • Narrative: Torres et al. (2019) report that…

Books and websites

  • Book chapter: (Smith, 2018, pp. 45–67)
  • Website with author: (Johnson, 2020)
  • Website no author: (“Article Title”, 2020) — use a truncated title in quotes
  • Website no date: (Johnson, n.d.) — use “n.d.” for no date

Paraphrase examples

  • Paraphrasing does not require page numbers, but including them helps readers locate the specific passage if desired
  • (Torres et al., 2019) — general paraphrase, no page number needed
Bottom line: The same three-pattern structure (1 author / 2 authors / 3+ authors) applies across books, chapters, and websites. When in doubt, ask: how many authors, and which format (parenthetical or narrative)?

How to cite sources without author in APA?

Some sources lack a credited individual author—a corporate blog post, a government report, or an unsigned article. APA handles this by substituting the organization name or, when that fails, the title (Scribbr).

No author

  • Use the organization name in place of the author: (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020)
  • If no organization exists, use the title in quotes: (“Climate Report”, 2020)

Group authors

Group authors (organizations, agencies, associations) follow a special rule: write the full name the first time, then use the abbreviated name in subsequent citations (APA Style Official).

  • First citation: (American Psychological Association, 2020)
  • Subsequent citations: (APA, 2020)

Et al. usage

The “et al.” rule applies only to individual human authors—organizations cited by name do not trigger et al., regardless of how many organizations or how many times you cite them.

Why this matters

Students often lose points for citing an organization’s full name in every reference when abbreviation is permitted. APA’s abbreviation rule for group authors saves space and signals professionalism. The MGH Library guide notes this is one of the most commonly overlooked efficiency rules in student papers (MGH Library).

Bottom line: No individual author means organization name or title. Group authors get the full-first/abbreviated-subsequent treatment. Et al. does not apply to organizations cited by name.

Steps: Building APA In-Text Citations

Follow these steps in order for any source you need to cite.

  1. Identify the number of authors. Check the source’s byline or reference entry. Count individual names, not organizations.
  2. Choose parenthetical or narrative format. Parenthetical: (Author, Year). Narrative: Author (Year). Both formats require the same author-name and year information.
  3. Apply the two-author rule. Two authors: include both names every time. Parenthetical uses & between the names; narrative uses “and”.
  4. Use et al. for three or more authors. From the very first citation onward, include only the first author’s last name followed by “et al.”
  5. Add page numbers for direct quotes. Format: (Author, Year, p. XX) for page numbers, or (Author, Year, para. X) for paragraphs without page numbers.
  6. Resolve ambiguity when et al. citations match. If expanding to et al. would create the same citation as another source, include additional author names to distinguish them.

The implication for writers is clear: mastering these six steps covers virtually every in-text citation scenario you will encounter in academic writing using APA 7th edition.

“For a work with three or more authors, include the name of only the first author plus “et al.” in every citation (even the first citation).”

— APA Style, Official Guideline

“If there are three or more authors, only include the first author’s last name followed by “et al.”, meaning “and others”.”

— Scribbr, Academic Resource

Related reading: Difference between affect and effect · What is a hyperlink

Additional sources

library-guides.ucl.ac.uk, guides.westcoastuniversity.edu, utsouthwestern.libguides.com, guides.himmelfarb.gwu.edu, libguides.libraries.claremont.edu, guides.library.uq.edu.au

This overview aligns with official rules, much like the 7th edition guide with examples that illustrates author-date methods for multiple authors and et al.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How to cite a website in APA in-text?

For websites with an author, use the author’s last name and year: (Smith, 2020). If no author is available, use the title in quotation marks: (“Article Title”, 2020). If no date exists, use (Smith, n.d.).

What does et al. mean in APA?

“Et al.” is Latin for “and others.” It substitutes for all but the first author’s name when citing works with three or more authors. APA 7th edition uses et al. from the very first citation onward.

How to cite a paraphrase in APA?

Paraphrasing requires the author’s last name and year only: (Torres et al., 2019). Page numbers are optional but recommended for precision. Unlike direct quotes, paraphrases do not require page numbers.

What if no date in APA in-text?

When a source has no publication date, use “n.d.” in place of the year: (Johnson, n.d.). This tells readers the date is unknown and helps them locate the source in your reference list.

How to cite 20 authors in APA?

For works with 3 to 20 authors, the in-text citation uses only the first author followed by “et al.” every time: (Smith et al., 2020). The reference list must include all 20 authors, but the in-text citation stays abbreviated.

What’s the difference between APA 6th and 7th in-text citations?

APA 7th edition changed two key rules from the 6th edition: first, it introduced et al. starting from the first citation for works with 3+ authors, whereas 6th required all author names on first use. Second, the reference list maximum expanded from 7 authors to 20 authors.

Can I use a citation generator for APA?

Citation generators can speed up the process, but you must verify their output against official APA 7th rules. Generators often make errors with author names (especially for 3+ authors), date formats, and the ampersand versus “and” distinction between parenthetical and narrative citations.