APA 7 in-text citation rules: author–date, et al., page numbers, and matching the reference list

APA 7 cites sources in the text by author and year. A parenthetical citation puts both in brackets at the end of the sentence, (Levine & Murnen, 2009); a narrative citation names the author in the sentence with the year in brackets, Levine and Murnen (2009). Three or more authors are shortened to the first author plus et al. from the very first citation. Direct quotations add a page number. Every citation must match an entry in the reference list by surname and year, and every entry must be cited. Upload the paper to the free APA format checker to have those matches checked both ways.

Parenthetical and narrative

• Parenthetical: Self-presentation is strategic (Vohs et al., 2005).
• Narrative: Vohs et al. (2005) define self-presentation as strategic.

Inside brackets, join two authors with an ampersand: (Levine & Murnen, 2009). In the sentence, use and: Levine and Murnen (2009). Several sources in one bracket are separated by semicolons, in alphabetical order: (Chen et al., 2022; Levine & Murnen, 2009).

How many authors to name

Authors	First and later citations
One	(Sutton, 2019)
Two	(Levine & Murnen, 2009)
Three or more	(Vohs et al., 2005) — from the first citation
Organisation	(American Psychological Association, 2020); abbreviate on later citations if you introduced the abbreviation

APA 6 listed up to five authors on first citation; APA 7 does not. Writing (Smith, Jones, Brown, & Lee, 2020) is now a deduction.

Page numbers and quotations

A direct quotation needs a page number: (Hoek, 2025, p. 1894), or a paragraph number for sources without pages. Paraphrases do not require one, though instructors sometimes ask for it. Use p. for one page and pp. for a range with an en dash.

Secondary sources

When you read about a study in another source, cite the source you read: (Leary et al., 1986, as cited in Vohs et al., 2005). Only the source you read goes in the reference list.

Matching the reference list

Each citation's surname and year must find an entry in the list, and each entry must be cited at least once. The first author's surname and the year are the key: (Levine & Murnen, 2009) matches Levine, M. P., & Murnen, S. K. (2009). Two works by the same author in the same year are distinguished with letters: 2009a, 2009b, in both places.

Common deductions

• Naming all authors of a three-author paper instead of et al.
• A citation with no matching reference entry, usually a source deleted from the list after an edit.
• A reference entry never cited, usually a source that was cut from the text.
• Missing page numbers on quotations.
• and inside brackets, or & in the running sentence.

Checking it automatically

Veermat reads every citation in the text, matches it to the reference list by surname and year in both directions, flags author lists that should be et al., and reports the results as part of the compliance checklist. Nothing in the text is rewritten; the report tells you what to change.