ASA (7th ed.) Citation Style Guide: In-Text Citations

• Each source used in a paper has two parts - the in text citation and a corresponding citation in the reference list. 
• The in text citation consists of the author and the date of publication.  It appears within the text of the paper.  
• The in text citation gives the surname(s) of the author(s) or the group author(s).  
• Use only the year in the in text citation, even if the citation in the reference list contains a more specific date.  
• For works with no date, use n.d. in the in text citation. 

(American Sociological Association Style Guide, 7th ed., 2022:55-58)

There are two formats for in-text citations - parenthetical and narrative.  In parenthetical citations, the author's name and the publication date appear in parentheses. In narrative citations, the author's name and publication date is included in the text as part of the sentence.  

In a parenthetical citation both the author and the date appear in parenthesis and are separated by only a space (no punctuation).  A parenthetical citation can go at the end of the sentence or within it. When it is at the end of a sentence, the period appears after the closing parenthesis.  

Humanity needs to rethink our agricultural practices to make them sustainable by becoming stewards of the land (Fitzgerald & Gershuny 2019).

Narrative Citation

Usually the author's name appears in the text and the date appears in parentheses immediately after the author's name. If you include the author's name in the sentence, do not include it in the parentheses. Occasionally the author's name and the date both appear in the text.  When this happens, do not use parentheses.  

Fitzgerald and Gershuny (2019) describe how humans have a stewardship obligation to both the land and to future generations. 

In their 2019 essay, Fitzgerald and Gershuny discuss challenges, tools, and opportunities for the future of agriculture. 

For further information, see American Sociological Association Style Guide, 7th ed., 2022:55-58.

Parenthetical citations of multiple works are listed alphabetically and separated with semicolons.

(Carson 2019; Lewis et al. 2020; Sanders and Turner 2018)

For two or more works by the same author, arrange by the year of publication. Place the citations with no date first. Provide the author's surname once and then just the date for subsequent works.

Konepeleny (n.d., 2015, 2020)

For multiple references that have an identical author (or authors) and publication year, include a lowercase letter after the year. These letters are assigned when the references are placed in order in the reference list (alphabetically by title). The year-letter combination is used in both the in-text and the reference list entry. Use only the year with a letter in the in-text citation, even if the reference list entry contains a more specific date.

(Richards, 2018a, 2018b, 2020)

When multiple citations are cited narratively within a sentence, they can appear in any order.

Rogers (2019), Mason (2020), and Pompeo (2015) studied.....

When more than one reference has the same author and publication year, include a lowercase letter after the year. This year-letter combination is used in both the reference list entry and the in-text citation. Use only the year-letter in the in-text citation even if the reference entry has a more specific date. In the reference list, order such references in alphabetical order by title. 

(Munroe, 2019a)

(Munroe, 2019b)

(Sawatzky, n.d.-a)

(Satwatzky, n.d.-b)

(American Sociological Association Style Guide, 7th ed., 2022:69)

When multiple references have authors with the same surname, include the authors' first initials in all in-text citations. This helps to avoid confusion.

(S. Rogers, 2020)

(K. Rogers & Tonnelo, 2019)

When quoting directly, always provide the author, date and page number of the quotation in either the parenthetical or narrative format.  

When providing a direct quote, a page number is included. "Page numbers follow the year of publication after a colon, with no space between the colon and the page number" (American Sociological Association Style Guide, 7th ed., 2022:55).

Short Quotations (Fewer than 50 Words)

Incorporate a short quotation (fewer than 50 words) into the text of your essay and enclose the quotation in double quotation marks.

Morey (2019:225) found that the "placebo effect, which had been verified in previous studies, disappeared when only the first group's behaviours were studied in this manner."

Block Quotations (50 Words or More)

When a quotation has 50 words or more, treat it as a block quotation and omit the quotation marks.  Start a block quotation on a new line and indent the whole quotation .5 inch from the left margin. Block quotes may be single-spaced.

If citation information follows the block quotation, it should be after the period. 

Morey (2019:255) found the following:

The placebo effect, which had been verified in previous studies, disappeared when behaviours were studied in the this manner. Furthermore, the behaviours were never exhibited again, even when real drugs were administered. Earlier studies were clearly premature in attributing the results to a placebo effect.

For more information see American Sociological Association Style Guide, 7th ed., 2022:32-33, 116.

"Personal communication, whether face-to-face conversations, email, text messages, or messages shared through social media are usually run in text or given in a note. They are rarely entered in a reference list."

"When referring to communication by email or text messages, obtain the permission of the owner before using it."

Unpublished personal documents like letters, diaries, and memoirs are treated similarly.

(American Sociological Association Style Guide, 7th ed., 2022:66, 91)

Parenthetical citation:

(N. Smith, personal communication, April 8, 2020)

(N. Smith, unpublished data, May 2023)

Narrative citation:

N. Smith said in her email ....(personal communication, April 8, 2020)

"To facilitate shorter in-text citations, an abbreviation followed by the full organization name is acceptable.

• For example, a text reference might be (ASA 2018) and the reference list entry would be ASA (American Sociological Association) 2018..."

(American Sociological Association Style Guide, 7th ed., 2022:68-69)

For works with an unknown author, include the title and year of publication in the in-text citation (note that the title moves to the author position in the reference list entry as well).

Book with no author: (Interpersonal Skills 2019)

Magazine article with no author: ("Understanding Sensory Memory," 2018)

When the author of a work is overtly designated as "Anonymous," "Anonymous" takes the place of the author name in the in-text citation.

(Anonymous, 2017)