APA Style 7th edition: parenthetical or narrative citation? Here's how to choose, by APA Style, Official on YouTube. 1 min 45 s.
- Video length
- 1 min 45 s
- Time to do it
- 5 minutes
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Steps
- 8
What you need
Steps
Find the author and the year for your source before you write the sentence. For a website, the author is often an organisation rather than a person.
Decide what your sentence should emphasise. Name the author in the sentence when the person or group matters, and use a parenthetical citation when the finding matters more.
For a parenthetical citation, put both parts in brackets at the end of the sentence: (Smith, 2020). Place it before the full stop.
For a narrative citation, use the author as part of the sentence and put only the year in brackets: Smith (2020) found that...
Use the word and in narrative citations and the ampersand in parenthetical ones: Smith and Jones (2020) versus (Smith & Jones, 2020).
Add a page number for a direct quote: (Smith, 2020, p. 14). For a web page without pages, use a paragraph number instead.
Fill in gaps. Write n.d. when there is no date, and use a shortened title in place of the author when none is given.
Check that every in-text citation matches an entry in your reference list, with the same author and year.
Tips and common mistakes
Both formats are correct, so pick per sentence rather than forcing one style throughout the paper.
Do not repeat the year twice in a narrative sentence, for example Smith (2020) found in 2020.
Never put the author's initials in an in-text citation; those belong only in the reference list.
A narrative citation works well the first time you introduce a source, since it names the author clearly.
Questions
Which format should I use?
Either is acceptable in APA 7th edition. Choose narrative when you want the reader to notice who did the work, and parenthetical when the idea itself is the point.
Can I mix both formats in one paper?
Yes. You can switch between them from sentence to sentence, as long as each citation is formatted correctly and matches your reference list.
Do I always need a page number?
No. Page numbers are required for direct quotations and are helpful for closely paraphrased passages, but a plain paraphrase only needs author and year.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
