In-Text Citation: How to Cite Sources in APA, MLA and Chicago, With Examples

An in text citation is the brief reference inside your sentence that tells a reader which source an idea or quotation came from, and usually where in that source. It is half of a pair: the citation in the text points to a full entry in the reference list, works-cited list or bibliography. This guide shows the forms APA, MLA and Chicago use, as each style's own pages set them out, with invented example sources so you can see the pattern without confusing it with a real book.

What an in-text citation does

Every style agrees on the job. The MLA Style Center's overview of in-text citations describes them as brief references that direct readers to the works-cited entry for a source and, where relevant, to the location in the source. APA's page on the author-date system puts it the same way from the other side: each work has two parts, an in-text citation and a matching reference list entry.

That pairing is the rule to remember. The first word of your in-text citation should be the first word of the matching entry, so a reader can find it at a glance. For the full entries themselves, the guide to citing a website so readers can check it covers the end-of-paper half.

APA in-text citation

APA 7 uses author and year. A citation can be parenthetical, with everything in parentheses, or narrative, with the author's name in your sentence and the year in parentheses after it. APA's author-date page sets two small rules for names: in parenthetical citations use an ampersand (&) between two names, and in narrative citations always spell out "and."

Number of authors

For one or two authors, APA includes the name or names in every citation. For three or more authors, it gives only the first author's name plus "et al." in every citation, even the first one. The table uses invented authors for illustration.

Dates, no date and unknown authors

APA uses only the year in the text, even when the reference entry has a full date, and the year must match the entry. For a work with no date, write "n.d." For a work not yet published but accepted, write "in press." For a work with an unknown author, APA says to include the title and the year. Define a group author's abbreviation once, then use the abbreviation.

Quotations and page numbers

APA's page on quotations says that for a direct quotation you always include a full citation in the same sentence, with the page number or other location information such as a paragraph number. Place a parenthetical citation right after the quotation or at the end of the sentence. In a narrative citation, give the author and year in the sentence and the page in parentheses after the quotation.

• Parenthetical (example): Readers skim more on screens because "the page never ends" (Ortiz, 2021, p. 45).
• Narrative (example): Ortiz (2021) argued that "the page never ends" (p. 45).

APA also says not to use "ibid." When you repeat a citation, show the whole citation. In narrative citations you may drop the year the second and later times within the same paragraph. A quotation of 40 words or more becomes an indented block with no quotation marks. For when to quote at all, see how to cite a quotation; for borrowed ideas in your own words, how to paraphrase and still credit the source.

MLA in-text citation

MLA 9 uses author and page, with no year. The MLA overview says a citation begins with whatever comes first in the works-cited entry, which is usually the author's name and sometimes a title. The page number, line number or time stamp follows when you quote or paraphrase a specific part of a work.

• Author in your sentence (example): According to Maya Ortiz, skimming is "a habit of the scroll" (45).
• Author in parentheses (example): Skimming is "a habit of the scroll" (Ortiz 45).
• No specific location (example): At least one researcher has studied screen skimming (Ortiz).

Note what MLA leaves out: no comma between name and page, no "p." and no year. The overview also warns against naming the author both in your sentence and in the parentheses. Write "According to Maya Ortiz ... (45)," not "(Ortiz 45)" after her name. When the works-cited entry starts with a title because there is no author, the citation starts with that title, shortened. For other cases, the overview points to sections 6.3 to 6.30 of the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook.

Chicago: notes or author-date

Chicago has two systems, and your instructor or field decides which one you use. In notes and bibliography, a superscript number in your sentence points to a footnote or endnote. In author-date, the citation sits in parentheses, as author, year and page, with no comma between author and year. The Chicago Manual of Style citation quick guide (18th edition) shows both, and notes that a place of publication is no longer required in book citations.

• First note (example): 1. Maya Ortiz, The Quiet Archive (Example Press, 2021), 45.
• Shortened note (example): 2. Ortiz, Quiet Archive, 48.
• Author-date (example): (Ortiz 2021, 45)

The quick guide's shortened notes give the author's surname, a short form of the title with a leading "The" dropped, and the page. Its bibliography entries invert the first author's name and end with publisher and year.

APA, MLA and Chicago side by side

A worked example: one sentence in three styles

Here is an invented source and one sentence of a student paper, cited three ways. The source: a 2021 book by two authors, Maya Ortiz and Daniel Lam, titled The Quiet Archive, from Example Press; the quotation is on page 112.

• APA (example): Archives favor the loud, since "what was never written down cannot be kept" (Ortiz & Lam, 2021, p. 112).
• MLA (example): Archives favor the loud, since "what was never written down cannot be kept" (Ortiz and Lam 112).
• Chicago author-date (example): Archives favor the loud, since "what was never written down cannot be kept" (Ortiz and Lam 2021, 112).

Each version keys to an entry that starts with "Ortiz." Only APA uses an ampersand inside the parentheses and "p." before the page. If the same book had three or more authors, APA would give (Ortiz et al., 2021, p. 112) every time.

How to add in-text citations as you write

1. Highlight the exact words or idea

   Mark the passage in the source as you read, and note the page, paragraph or time stamp beside it. A citation without a location is a guess later.

2. Write the full entry first

   Build the reference entry before the in-text citation, so you know which word comes first.

3. Cite in the same sentence

   Put the citation in the sentence that uses the source, especially for quotations.

4. Choose parenthetical or narrative

   Narrative citations read well when the author matters; parenthetical ones keep the focus on the idea.

5. Check every citation against the list

   Each in-text citation must match one entry, and every entry should be cited at least once.

Common mistakes

• Mixing styles. A comma and "p." in an MLA paper, or a missing year in APA, signals a copied template.
• Naming the author twice. If the name is in your sentence, leave it out of the parentheses.
• Using ibid. in APA. APA does not use it; repeat the citation instead.
• Dropping the page for a quotation. APA requires a page or other location for every direct quotation.
• Citing the year in MLA. MLA does not include it by default.

Tips

• Keep a source log as you read. Author, year, title and page beside each highlight saves the hunt later.
• Ask which edition. Instructors may still expect older rules; APA 7, MLA 9 and Chicago 18 are current.
• Use the style's own examples. Match punctuation to the style guide, not to a generator's output.

Whatever the style, an in text citation has one job: to get a reader from your sentence to the exact source and place in seconds. Match the first word to your list, add a year or page as the style asks, and check every pairing before you submit. More guides to keeping a reliable record of your reading are on the record hub.