APA Checklist: Formatting & Punctuating In-Text Citations
__Introducing Authors' Names and Titles: In APA style, author names are presented in the first initial with last name format, such as J. Cameron (for Julia Cameron). At the first mention, use the author's first initial and last name with the date of publication in parentheses just after the author’s last name. It’s also a good idea to mention the full title of the work the first time you mention it, to help acquaint readers with your source. After that, refer to the author by his/her last name. Do not use titles such as Dr., Mrs., or Mr. After the first mention, refer to the author by last name only. J. Cameron (2002) discussed the importance of a writer's attitude in her essay, "Let Yourself Listen." Cameron has written several books about writing, including The Artist’s Way.

You may also mention the publication date in the sentence itself, such as in this example:

In 2002, J. Cameron discussed the importance of a writer’s attitude in her essay, “Let Yourself Listen.”

__Signal Phrases and Quotations: Never let a quote stand alone. Use signal phrases, such as “She proved” or ‘He claims that” to introduce a quote, and then explain its importance to your reader. Use past (e.g., “Kim proved”) or present perfect tense (e.g., “Kim has proved”) for past events and literature reviews. Use past to describe results (e.g., “Stocks fell”). Use present tense to discuss results and present conclusions (e.g., “the outcomes show”). __Parenthetical Information: Make sure you have the right information in parentheses at the end of your quoted passage. If the author is named in a signal phrase, put the date and page number in parentheses, followed by a period. In her essay, “Witches,” Atwood rebuffed her critics: “I would like to give gratis, a year’s subscription, to the next literary critic who accuses my work of being unduly pessimistic” (2001, p. 59).

If the author is not named in the signal phrase, put the author’s last name, date, and the page number in parentheses. One feminist writer rebuffed her critics thus: “I would like to give gratis, a year’s subscription, to the next literary critic who accuses my work of being unduly pessimistic” (Atwood, 2001, p. 59).

Notice that the periods in shorter quotations follow the parenthetical citation information. The reverse is true for block style quotations. Notice where the period goes after this block quote:

When we "forget ourselves," it is easy to write. We are not standing there, stiff as a soldier, our entire ego shimmied into every capital "I." When we forget ourselves, when we let go of being good and settle into just being a writer, we begin to have the experience of writing through us. We retire as the self-conscious author and become something else—the vehicle for self-_expression. When we are just the vehicle, the storyteller and not the point of the story, we often write very well—we certainly write more easily. (p. 11)

__Short Quotes: When you quote a text, let the reader know the text page where the quote came from. Also—make sure you quote the text EXACTLY, word for word. Cameron (2002) concluded, "When we forget ourselves, it is easy to write" (p. 11).

Or, if the author’s name is not mentioned in the signal phrase, format it like this: One prominent writer suggested, “When we forget ourselves, it is easy to write” (Cameron, 2002, p. 11).

Notice that each quotation presents the author’s last name, the year of publication, and the page number.

__Long quotes: For long quotations, use a block style, NOT QUOTATION MARKS. When quoting more than 40 words, format your paper like this:

Cameron concluded her essay with words of encouragement for struggling writers: When we "forget ourselves," it is easy to write. We are not standing there, stiff as a soldier, our entire ego shimmied into every capital "I." When we forget ourselves, when we let go of being good and settle into just being a writer, we begin to have the experience of writing through us. We retire as the self-conscious author and become something else—the vehicle for self-_expression. When we are just the vehicle, the storyteller and not the point of the story, we often write very well—we certainly write more easily. (p. 11)

This is good advice for creative writers and students working on critical reading papers, alike. (Notice that the block quote is indented, double-spaced, and note that the quotation marks contained in the block quote exist in the original text.)

__Quotation Marks: Punctuation and quotation marks . . . inside or out? 1. Periods and commas—always inside. (Except for block style quotations.) 2. Colons and semi-colons—always outside. 3. Question marks and exclamation points—inside when they’re part of what you’re quoting, and outside if they apply to the sentence as a whole.

__Punctuation and Quotations: A Quotation with an introduction (signal phrase): comma, colon, or nothing at all? If a quotation is formally introduced with a full sentence, use a colon. In her essay, “Witches,” Atwood rebuffed her critics: “I would like to give gratis, a year’s subscription, to the next literary critic who accuses my work of being unduly pessimistic” (2001, p. 59).

If a quotation is introduced with an expression such as he said, they wrote, or she remarked, use a comma. (Like dialogue.) Atwood claimed, “We’ve had witch-hunts before, and there is every indication that we’re on the verge of having them again” (2001, p. 58). Unless, of course, you’re using the word “that.” Atwood claimed that “[w]e’ve had witch-hunts before, and there is every indication that we’re on the verge of having them again” (2001, p. 58).

When you blend a quotation into your own sentence, follow the normal rules of punctuation. The future champion could, as he put it, “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.” Hudson noted that the prisoners escaped “by squeezing through a tiny window.”

__Ellipsis and Quotations: Use the ellipsis mark correctly. In a recent Vancouver Sun article (2006), B. Wilhelm reported that “a downtown warehouse went down in flames when a homeless person started a fire in an effort to keep warm . . . Homelessness becomes a more pressing problem for the city when the weather turns cold” (C 3).

Notice that the ellipsis mark has a space before it, spaces between the periods, and a space following it. It doesn’t look like … this. Or like………….this. Never use an ellipsis mark at the end of a quotation. Also, take care that the words you omit don’t alter the meaning the speaker/writer intended. If I were quoting someone who said, “I told him never to do that,” and I wrote the following, I would be wrong— very, very wrong: Cohen stated in his memoir, “I told him . . . to do that.” __Brackets and Quotations: Use brackets, which look like this [ ], to include necessary information and to help maintain grammatical correctness, such as subject/verb agreement or verb tense agreement; be sure to keep the original meaning when using brackets. Nunez claimed, “[It] look[s] like a new machine.” __Capitalization and Quotations: Capitalize the first word of a quotation if the quotation can stand on its own as a sentence. If the quotation is blended into your own sentence, do not capitalize. If you must change a capital letter to a lowercase or vice versa, you must indicate that change with the use of a bracket around the changed letter. Schmidt observed that the marketing strategy “was the best approach for his clients.” Schmidt promised, “The marketing strategy was the best approach for his clients.”

__Punctuating Titles: Italicize titles of books, magazines, entire websites, and journals. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn National Geographic Time Use quotation marks around titles of shorter works such as poems, songs, essays, short stories, print articles, and online articles contained within larger websites. "The Road Not Taken" "Love Don't Cost a Thing" "The Perfect Picture"