Citation Styles Playbook

When referencing an author in the narrative, follow the last name with parentheses containing the year the work was published. If there is no date, use n.d. in parentheses.

Kessler (2003) found that among epidemiological samples, results varied.

Smith (n.d.) writes that rising early is particularly difficult for adolescents.

When referencing the author in parentheses, use the last name followed by a comma and the year of publication), or n.d. if the work has no date.

Early onset results in a more persistent and severe course (Kessler, 2003).

Rising early can be particularly difficult for adolescents (Smith, n.d.).

Refer to the authors by their last names and follow this with the year of publication (or n.d. if there is no date) in parentheses.

Smith and Jones (2007) conducted several studies on the subject.

Harrison and Leigh (n.d.) discovered that some of the samples had been contaminated.

When referencing more than one author in parentheses, use an ampersand (&) before the last surname and follow that with a comma and the year of publication (or n.d.).

Some authors conducted longitudinal studies that spanned decades (Smith & Jones, 2007).

Include the name of the first author, followed by et al.

Smith et al. (2010) found that...

NOTE: To avoid ambiguity, when the in-text citations of multiple works with three or more authors shorten to the same form, write out as many names as needed to distinguish the references, and use et al.

Example:

Kapoor, Bloom, Montez, Warner, and Hill (2017)

Kapoor, Bloom, Zucker, Tang, Koroglu, L'Enfant, Kim, and Daly (2017)

These two shorten to Kapoor et al. (2017), so they need modification:

Kapoor, Bloom, Montez, et al. (2017)

Kapoor, Bloom, Zucker, et al. (2017)

When only the final author is different, spell out all the names in every citation.

Include the last name of the first author, et al., and the year of publication. To avoid ambiguity, follow the same procedure described above.

(Martin et al., 2020)

(Kapoor, Bloom, Zucker, et al., 2017)

Insert the abbreviation in the parentheses, before the year.

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH, 2020)

Insert full group author name, abbreviation (in square brackets), and year.

(National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2020)

Place a semicolon between the references.

Good et al. (2001); Hedden and Gabrieli (2004); Raz (2000); and West (1996), indicated that recent behavioral research has revealed changes that occur with aging in the regulation and processing of emotion.

Place a semicolon between the references.

Recent behavioral research has revealed changes that occur with aging in the regulation and processing of emotion (Good et al., 2001; Hedden & Gabrieli, 2004; Raz, 2000; West, 1996).

When the same authors have published more than one study in the same year, and every study lists their name in the same order, identify each study with a letter after the year (1996a, 1996b, etc.)

Several studies conducted by Smith and Harrison (2005a, 2005b) indicate that increased education has reduced crime in metropolitan areas.

Same as above, but the information is placed within the parentheses.

Several studies indicate that increased education has reduced crime in metropolitan areas (Smith & Harrison, 2005a, 2005b).

When quoting material that contains embedded citations, include these citations within the quotation. Do not include these works in the reference list unless you have used them as primary sources elsewhere in your paper. In the example below, Panero et al. (2016) would appear in the reference list, but the Stanislavski citation would not.

Actors "are encouraged to become immersed in a character's life (Stanislavski, 1936/1948,1950), an activity that calls for absorption" (Panero et al., 2016, p. 234).

If your source includes a direct quotation from another work, and you would like to use the same direct quotation in your paper, it is best to read and cite the original source directly.

If you are unable to find the original source, cite as follows:

(Smith, 1926, as cited in Bradford, 2008).

This indicates that Smith is the original source and Bradford is the source you have read. Cite the source you have read (in this case, Bradford), in the References list.

When using a direct quotation under 40 words, use quotation marks around it followed by parentheses containing the name of the author(s), a comma, the year of publication, and the page number preceded by p. for one page, and pp. for a page range.

Confusing this issue is the overlapping nature of roles in palliative care, whereby “medical needs are met by those in the medical disciplines; nonmedical needs may be addressed by anyone on the team” (Csikai & Chaitin, 2006, p. 112).

Note: When using direct quotations, page numbers or other locators should be provided in the parenthetical citation.  For sources without page numbers, see the example below.

If a source does not have page numbers, use paragraph numbers. If possible, use a section heading plus the paragraph number within that section. If the section heading is very long, use an abbreviated heading (e.g. first few words of heading) with quotation marks.

“Sometimes interrogators went beyond the guidelines” (Frankel, 2004, Broad Public Support section, para. 4). 

“Unlike professional basketball and American Football, interest in baseball has not been sweeping the globe” (Lahman, 2014, “Origins of the Game,” para. 1).

Omit quotation marks and start a block quotation on a new line and indent one-half inch from the left margin, double-spaced. Provide page numbers or other location markers.

Others have contradicted this view:

Co-presence does not ensure intimate interaction among all group members. Consider large-scale social gatherings in which hundreds or thousands of people gather in a location to perform a ritual or celebrate an event (Smith et al., 2007, p. 12).

To directly quote from religious or classical works, use the name of the book, chapter, verse, line, and/or canto instead of page number.

The person vowed to "set me as a seal upon thine heart" (King James Bible, 1769/2017, Song of Solomon 8:6)

In Much Ado About Nothing, Don John said, "In the meantime / let me be that I am and seek not to alter me" (Shakespeare, 1623/1995, 1.3.36-37).

NOTE: 1.3.36-37 refers to Act 1, Scene 3, Lines 36 and 37.