How to Do In-Text Citations (APA, MLA, and Chicago)
The in-text citation is the pointer in your sentence that links a claim to its source. Here is how in-text citations work in APA, MLA, and Chicago, with examples.
Every citation has two halves. The full reference sits in your list at the end; the in-text citation is the small pointer inside your sentence that tells the reader which source a claim came from, and often where in it. People usually get the reference list roughly right and then fumble the in-text part, which is the half a marker actually reads as they follow your argument. Here is how it works in the three main styles.
The golden rule underneath all of them: EVERY quote and EVERY paraphrase of a source needs an in-text citation, not just direct quotes. And the first thing in your in-text citation must match the first thing in the matching reference-list entry, so the reader can find it.
APA: author and date
APA is author-date. Put the author's surname and the year; add a page number for a direct quote.
Parenthetical: (Kahneman, 2011) or, for a quote, (Kahneman, 2011, p. 42). Narrative: Kahneman (2011) argued that… Two authors: (Smith & Lee, 2020). Three or more: (Jumper et al., 2021).
MLA: author and page
MLA is author-page, with no comma and no 'p.' — just the surname and the page number.
Parenthetical: (Kahneman 42). Narrative: Kahneman argues that… (42). Two authors: (Smith and Lee 42). Three or more: (Jumper et al. 583).
Chicago: a footnote, not a parenthetical
The most common Chicago style (notes-bibliography) does not use a parenthetical at all. You put a superscript number at the end of the sentence, and it points to a footnote with the full details.
In the text: …consolidated during sleep.¹ The footnote: 1. Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011), 42.
Get both the in-text citation and the full reference-list entry, in APA, MLA, Chicago, and more, built from the real source.
Citation Generator →The three things people get wrong
- Only citing quotes. A paraphrase is still someone else's idea in your words, so it needs an in-text citation too.
- A page number only for quotes in APA/MLA — but always include one when you quote directly, and when you point to a specific passage.
- Mismatched names: whatever starts your in-text citation (an author, or the title if there's no author) must be the first thing in the reference-list entry, or the reader can't find the source.
Get both the in-text citation and the full reference-list entry, in APA, MLA, Chicago, and more, built from the real source.
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