In-Text Citations: APA, MLA and Chicago Examples Side by Side

An in-text citation points the reader from a sentence to the full entry in your reference list. APA uses author and year, (Okafor, 2021). MLA uses author and page, (Okafor 214). Chicago uses either numbered notes or author-date, (Okafor 2021, 214). This guide shows fifteen cases in all three styles, side by side.

What is an in-text citation?

An in-text citation is the short mark in your sentence that tells the reader where an idea or quotation came from, so they can find the full entry in your reference list. Every style needs two things to match: the short form in the text and the full entry at the end.

The three styles most students meet look like this:

All names, titles and years in this guide are invented for the examples. Your instructor's style guide and edition always overrule general advice. The official pages are the APA author-date guidance, the MLA in-text citation guidance and the Chicago Manual of Style (the pages loaded on 2026-11-01; Chicago's full Manual may need a subscription or a library login).

Parenthetical or narrative: two ways to place a citation

Every style lets you put the source in brackets at the end of the sentence (parenthetical) or build it into the sentence (narrative).

• Parenthetical: Urban gardens can raise neighbourhood food security (Okafor, 2021).
• Narrative: Okafor (2021) argues that urban gardens can raise neighbourhood food security.

Use the narrative form when the author matters to your point, for example when you compare two researchers. Use the parenthetical form when the idea matters more than who said it. Mixing both keeps long paragraphs readable.

The fifteen cases, in all three styles

Source details used below: Ngozi Okafor, Harbour Towns (2021); Maria Reyes and Okafor, a 2020 article; Okafor, Reyes and Lin, a 2019 report; and so on. Page numbers are invented.

1. One author

• APA: (Okafor, 2021)
• MLA: (Okafor)
• Chicago author-date: (Okafor 2021)
• Chicago note: 1. Okafor, Harbour Towns, 14.

MLA needs a page number only when the source has pages and you point to a specific place. For a general idea from a whole book, the author alone is acceptable.

2. Two authors

• APA: (Okafor & Reyes, 2020)
• MLA: (Okafor and Reyes)
• Chicago author-date: (Okafor and Reyes 2020)
• Chicago note: 2. Okafor and Reyes, "Tide Tables," 88.

APA uses an ampersand inside brackets and "and" in running text. MLA and Chicago use "and" everywhere.

3. Three or more authors

• APA: (Okafor et al., 2019), from the first mention
• MLA: (Okafor et al.)
• Chicago author-date: (Okafor, Reyes, and Lin 2019) for three; four or more use et al.
• Chicago note: 3. Okafor, Reyes, and Lin, Port Report, 12.

APA and MLA switch to "et al." from three authors. Chicago lists up to three. If two sources would shorten to the same form in APA, add more names until they differ. See et al. and ibid. explained for the punctuation.

4. A direct quotation with a page number

• APA: Okafor (2021) wrote that "the harbour set the rhythm of the town" (p. 14).
• MLA: Okafor wrote that "the harbour set the rhythm of the town" (14).
• Chicago author-date: Okafor (2021, 14) wrote that "the harbour set the rhythm of the town."
• Chicago note: the quote, then superscript 4, and note: 4. Okafor, Harbour Towns, 14.

A direct quotation always needs a page, paragraph or other locator when the source has one. In APA the abbreviations are p. for one page and pp. for a range; MLA and Chicago give the number alone in the bracket.

5. A paraphrase

• APA: The harbour shaped daily life in the town (Okafor, 2021).
• MLA: The harbour shaped daily life in the town (Okafor 14).
• Chicago author-date: The harbour shaped daily life in the town (Okafor 2021, 14).

APA treats the page as optional for a paraphrase but encourages it for a long source. MLA and Chicago expect it where the idea sits on a particular page.

6. A page range

• APA: (Okafor, 2021, pp. 14-16)
• MLA: (Okafor 14-16)
• Chicago author-date: (Okafor 2021, 14-16)

7. No page numbers (web pages, e-books)

• APA: (Okafor, 2021, para. 3) or a heading: (Okafor, 2021, "Early Years" section)
• MLA: (Okafor), or use a chapter or paragraph number if the source supplies one
• Chicago: add a section heading in the note or text, as in Okafor 2021, under "Early Years"

Do not invent page numbers from your screen or from print preview. Use the locator that the source itself provides.

8. No author

• APA: use the title in brackets, shortened, in sentence case: ("Harbour Dredging Plan," 2022). A web page title is in italics instead.
• MLA: use the title as it appears, shortened: ("Harbour Dredging" 3)
• Chicago: begin with the title in the note or in the author slot: ("Harbour Dredging Plan" 2022)

If the author is an organization, treat it as the author: (World Health Organization, 2022) in APA, and the same name in the other styles.

9. No date

• APA: (Okafor, n.d.)
• MLA: (Okafor 14), because MLA does not put the year in the citation
• Chicago author-date: (Okafor n.d.)

10. Two works by the same author in the same year

• APA: (Okafor, 2021a) and (Okafor, 2021b), matching the letters in the reference list
• MLA: (Okafor, Harbour Towns 14) and (Okafor, "Tide Tables" 88), using short titles
• Chicago author-date: (Okafor 2021a, 14) and (Okafor 2021b, 3)

11. Several sources for one idea

• APA: (Lin, 2019; Okafor, 2021; Reyes, 2020), alphabetical by first author, separated by semicolons
• MLA: (Lin 33; Okafor 14; Reyes 9), separated by semicolons
• Chicago author-date: (Lin 2019, 33; Okafor 2021, 14; Reyes 2020, 9)
• Chicago notes: one note with the sources separated by semicolons

Think twice before stacking five sources behind a weak claim. One strong source, clearly cited, is more persuasive.

12. A source cited inside another source (secondary source)

• APA: (Reyes, as cited in Okafor, 2021). Only Okafor goes in the reference list.
• MLA: (qtd. in Okafor 14). Okafor goes on the works cited list.
• Chicago: Reyes, quoted in Okafor, Harbour Towns, 14.

Use these only when the original is truly out of reach. Whenever you can, find and read the original.

13. A block quotation

• APA: 40 words or more, indented block, no quotation marks; the citation goes after the final punctuation.
• MLA: more than four lines of prose, indented block; the citation follows the final punctuation.
• Chicago: usually 100 words or more, or five or more lines, as a block; check your edition.

Short quotations stay inside your sentence in quotation marks. Block quotations are a last resort, not a way to fill a word count.

14. A quotation with your own addition or omission

• APA: "the harbour set the rhythm [of daily life]" (Okafor, 2021, p. 14), using square brackets for your words
• MLA: "the harbour set . . . the rhythm of the town" (Okafor 14), using spaced dots for an omission
• Chicago: "the harbour set . . . the rhythm of the town" (Okafor 2021, 14)

15. A personal communication, interview or lecture

• APA: personal communications (emails, private interviews) get an in-text citation only: (M. Reyes, personal communication, May 3, 2025). They are not in the reference list.
• MLA: a works cited entry is normally expected, cited by the interviewee's name: (Reyes)
• Chicago: a note is enough: 5. Maria Reyes, interview by author, May 3, 2025.

Which tool puts the citation where?

For the difference between a reference list and a bibliography, see bibliography vs reference list. For notes, see footnotes vs endnotes.

Common mistakes

Quotes versus paraphrases

A direct quotation is the author's exact words in quotation marks, with a page. A paraphrase restates the idea in your own sentences and still needs a citation. Changing a few words and keeping the sentence shape is not a paraphrase; it is a close copy that most plagiarism policies treat as copying. For the difference, read paraphrasing vs summarizing vs quoting and how to avoid plagiarism.

Checklist before you submit

1. Which style and edition does the assignment require?
2. Does every in-text citation have a matching full entry?
3. Is each direct quotation in quotation marks, with a page or other locator?
4. Did you use "et al." only at the right number of authors?
5. Are secondary sources marked as such?
6. Do the brackets, commas and full stops follow the style?
7. Have you used the same style from the first page to the last?

Use AdeptWrite for the matching entry

The Citation Generator builds the full reference entry in APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago, Harvard or IEEE from the details you enter, in your browser. It does not write your in-text citations for you, and its output should be checked against your style guide, because editions differ. After drafting, run the text through the Plagiarism Checker to see which passages match open encyclopedic and academic sources, and use the Grammar Checker to catch stray punctuation around your brackets. For the full rules of each style, see the APA 7 citation guide, the MLA format guide and the guide to Harvard referencing.

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