how to reference 5 authors

APA Citation Style, 7th edition: Three to Five Authors or Editors

• General Style Guidelines
• One Author or Editor
• Two Authors or Editors
• Three to Five Authors or Editors
• Article or Chapter in an Edited Book
• Article in a Reference Book
• Edition other than the First
• Translation
• Government Publication
• Journal Article with 1 Author
• Journal Article with 2 Authors
• Journal Article with 3–20 Authors
• Journal Article 21 or more Authors
• Magazine Article
• Newspaper Article
• Basic Web Page
• Web page from a University site
• Web Page with No Author
• Entry in a Reference Work
• Government Document
• Film and Television
• Youtube Video
• Audio Podcast
• Electronic Image
• Twitter/Instagram
• Lecture/PPT
• Conferences
• Secondary Sources
• Citation Support
• Avoiding Plagiarism
• Formatting Your Paper

About Citing Books

For each type of source in this guide, both the general form and an example will be provided.

The following format will be used:

In-Text Citation (Paraphrase) - entry that appears in the body of your paper when you express the ideas of a researcher or author using your own words.  For more tips on paraphrasing check out The OWL at Purdue .

In-Text Citation (Quotation) - entry that appears in the body of your paper after a direct quote.

References - entry that appears at the end of your paper.

Information on citing and several of the examples were drawn from the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.).

Book with Three to Five Authors or Editors

The general format below refers to a book with three or more authors.

If you are dealing with a book that has three to five editors instead of authors, you would simply insert the names of the editors into the place where the authors' names are now, followed by "(Eds.)" without the quotation marks (as per the example). The rest of the format would remain the same.

General Format

In-Text Citation (Paraphrase):

(Author Surname et al., Year)

NOTE: The in-text citation for works with three or more authors is shortened to the first author's name followed by et al. and the year.

In-Text Citation (Direct Quote):

(Author Surname et al., Year, page number)

References:

Author Surname, First Initial. Second Initial., Author Surname, First Initial. Second Initial., & Author Surname, First Initial. Second Initial. (Year). Book title: Subtitle . Publisher.

(Johnson et al., 1999)

(Johnson  et al., 1999, p. 72)

Johnson, N. G., Roberts, M. C., & Worell, J. (Eds.). (1999). Beyond appearance: A new look at adolescent girls . American Psychological Association.

Subject Guide

• << Previous: Two Authors or Editors
• Next: Article or Chapter in an Edited Book >>

• Last Updated: Feb 6, 2024 11:45 AM
• URL: https://guides.himmelfarb.gwu.edu/APA

• Himmelfarb Intranet
• Privacy Notice
• Terms of Use
• GW is committed to digital accessibility. If you experience a barrier that affects your ability to access content on this page, let us know via the Accessibility Feedback Form .
• Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library
• 2300 Eye St., NW, Washington, DC 20037
• Phone: (202) 994-2850
• [email protected]
• https://himmelfarb.gwu.edu

Welcome to the Wayne G. Basler Library at Northeast State Community College

APA Citation Guide, 7th edition: Three to Five Authors or Editors

• General Guidelines
• One Author or Editor
• Two Authors or Editors
• Three to Five Authors or Editors
• Article or Chapter in an Edited Book
• Article in a Reference Book
• E-Books, not from a Database
• Edition other than the First
• Translation
• Government Publication
• Journal Article with One Author
• Journal Article with 2 Authors
• Journal Article with 3-20 Authors
• Journal Article 21 or more Authors
• Magazine Article
• Newspaper Article
• Basic Web Page
• Web page from a University site
• Web Page with No Author
• Entry in a Reference Work
• Government Document
• Online Press Release
• Motion Picture
• Youtube Video
• Audio Podcast Episode
• Music Recording
• TikTok Video
• Electronic Image
• Lecture/PPT
• Classical Works
• Secondary Sources
• Avoiding Plagiarism

About Citing Books

For each type of source in this guide, both the general form and an example will be provided.

The following format will be used:

In-Text Citation (Paraphrase) - entry that appears in the body of your paper when you express the ideas of a researcher or author using your own words.  For more tips on paraphrasing check out The OWL at Purdue .

In-Text Citation (Quotation) - entry that appears in the body of your paper after a direct quote.

References - entry that appears at the end of your paper.

Information on citing and several of the examples were drawn from the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association  (7th ed.).

Numbers in parentheses refer to specific pages in the manual.

Book with Three to Five Authors or Editors (pp. 286, 321-322)

• << Previous: Two Authors or Editors
• Next: Article or Chapter in an Edited Book >>
• Last Updated: Mar 6, 2024 6:15 PM
• URL: https://library.northeaststate.edu/APA

APA (7th Edition) Referencing Guide

• Information for EndNote Users

Number of authors

Format of authors, order of authors, when the author isn't a person, no author or anonymous, who's the author.

• In-Text Citations
• Reference List
• Books & eBooks
• Book chapters
• Journal Articles
• Conference Papers
• Newspaper Articles
• Web Pages & Documents
• Specialised Health Databases
• Using Visual Works in Assignments & Class Presentations
• Using Visual Works in Theses and Publications
• Using Tables in Assignments & Class Presentations
• Custom Textbooks & Books of Readings
• ABS AND AIHW
• Videos (YouTube), Podcasts & Webinars
• Blog Posts and Social Media
• First Nations Works
• Dictionary and Encyclopedia Entries
• Personal Communication
• Theses and Dissertations
• Film / TV / DVD
• Miscellaneous (Generic Reference)
• AI software
• APA Format for Assignments
• What If...?
• Other Guides
• How many authors do you have?
• 1-2 Authors
• 3-20 authors
• More than 20 authors

How many authors?

APA has strict rules for how to show the author's names in the text of your assignment and in your reference list. You need to check the number of authors you have for your work, and then format your references accordingly:

• 1-2 authors

See the tabs on this box for details.

Things to Note:

Pay attention to the use of commas, the ampersand (&), and the word "and".

• You use the word "and" when you are using the author's names as part of your sentence, but an "&" when the names are in the brackets or the reference list.
• In text, you will always use a comma after each author (except the last one) when you have more than two names. In your reference list, you put a comma after each author (except the last one).

You always put a full stop after the al. in et al., because it is short for "et alia" ("and others").

For one or two authors , always mention the names of all authors

Narrative citation: Zhang and Webb (2019) noted that students who read bilingual books performed better in vocabulary tests.

Parenthetical citation: Students who read bilingual books may perform better in vocabulary tests ( Zhang & Webb, 2019).

In Your Reference List:

Zhang, Z., & Webb, S. (2019). The effects of reading bilingual books on vocabulary learning. Reading in a Foreign Language, 31 (1), 109–139.  http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/rfl/April2019/April2019/articles/zhang.pdf

When you have 3 or more authors , you only use the first author's surname in text, and abbreviate the rest of the list with "et al." (Latin for "and others"). In your reference list, you list all of the authors (up to 20) .

Narrative citation: Boers et al.'s (2017) research i  nto the use of pictures in glosses found they may decrease the amount of attention given to the words.

Parenthetical citation: Using pictures to illustrate glosses may, in fact, decrease the amount of attention given to the words ( Boers et al. , 2017).

Boers, F., Warren, P., He, L., & Deconinck , J. (2017). Does adding pictures to glosses enhance vocabulary uptake from reading? System, 66, 113-129. https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.system.2017.03.017

When you have more than 3 authors (regardless of how many) , you only use the first author's surname in text, and abbreviate the rest of the list with "et al.". In your reference list, you list the first 19 authors and the last one, using an ellipses (...) to show that some authors have been omitted (do not use an ampersand &).

Narrative citation: Tobler et al.'s (2017) research found genetic evidence that suggests Australian Aboriginal people have inhabited the Australian landmass for approximately 50,000 years.

Parenthetical citation: Genetic evidence suggests the Australian Aboriginal people have inhabited the Australian landmass for approximately 50,000 years ( Tobler et al. , 2017).

Always include no more than twenty names, the first 19 and the last one:

Tobler , R., Rohrlach , A., Soubrier , J., Bover , P., Llamas, B., Tuke , J., Bean, N., Abdullah-Highfold , A., Agius , S., O'Donoghue , A., O'Loughlin , I., Sutton, P., Zilio , F., Walshe , K., Williams, A. N., Turney , C. S. M., Williams, M., Richards, S. M., Mitchell, N., ... Cooper, A. (2017) . Aboriginal mitogenomes reveal 50,000 years of regionalism in Australia. Nature, 544 (7649), 180-184. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature21416

• Use only initials of author's first or given names within the reference list
• If the author's first name is hyphenated then format as initial, full stop, hyphen and second initial. For example, Jean-Luc Picard is formatted as Picard, J.-L.
• For hyphenated surnames include both names and the hyphen in the reference list and the in text citation. For example: (Jones-Smith, 2015)
• For surnames with multiple parts that do not include a hyphen include both names separated by a space in the reference list and the in text citation. For example: Arce Arias, A. (2017).
• If the surname includes a particle (for example, van, der, den, la, von etc), include the particle before the surname in the reference list and the in text citation. Follow the authors example regarding capitalisation. For example: (van der Woodsen, 2021) (Del Castillo, 2017)
• If the authors name has a suffix, include the suffix after the second initial in the reference list. For example, Jones, H. W., Jr., & Jones, H. W., Sr. (1941) ... Do not include the suffix in the in-text citation

Some points to remember about authors:

• Do not alter the order of the authors within a citation (that is, the first, second, third etc authors of a work). You should leave them in the order they appear on the work.
• Your reference list will be placed in alphabetical order based on the name of the first author for each reference. See the page on Reference list structure for more information about the order of your references.
• (Corbin, 2015; James & Waterson, 2017; Smith et al., 2016).
• (Corbin, 2015; 2018)
• (Queensland Health, 2017a; 2017b)
• Use only the surnames of your authors in text (e.g., Smith & Brown, 2014) - however, if you have two authors with the same surname who have published in the same year, then you will need to use their initials to distinguish between the two of them (e.g., K. Smith, 2014; N. Smith, 2014). Otherwise, do not use initials in text .

Notes on et al.:

"Et al." is short for "et alia" - which means "and others". Note this is plural - "other s " - you only use it when there is more than one "other" (which is why you never use it for a work with two authors - always name both authors). Never use et al. to replace one person.

If you have the same first author and date for two works, but the other authors are not the same for both works, keep listing authors until the citations are clearly different, and then use et al. for the remaining authors.

For example:

Chan, G. C., Leung, J., Quinn, C., Kelly, A. B., Connor, J. P., Weier, M., & Hall, W. D. (2016). Rural and urban differences in adolescent alcohol use, alcohol supply, and parental drinking. The Journal of Rural Health, 32 (3), 280-286. https://doi.org/10.1111/jrh.12151

Chan, G. C., Kelly, A. B., Connor, J. P., Hall, W., Young, R. M., Toumbourou, J. W., & Williams, J. (2016). Regional versus urban differences in teenage alcohol use: Does parental disapproval account for these differences? Australian Journal of Rural Health, 24 (1), 3-8. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajr.12177

If you used both of these works for your paper you would cite them like this:

(Chan, Leung, et al., 2016)

(Chan, Kelly, et al., 2016)

If the first two or three (etc) authors are the same, keep adding authors until they are different.

(Chan, Kelly, Smith, et al., 2016)

(Chan, Kelly, White, et al., 2016)

Remember, you don't use et al. for only one person, so if there were only three authors and you needed to name the first two authors in your in-text citation, you would name all three authors. If you had only four authors, and you had to include the first three authors to make the citation clear, then you would include all four authors.

When this happens, use an & between your last two authors:

(Smith, Jones & Brown, 2016)

(Taylor, Brown, Gwyrdd & Schwarz, 2016)

There are circumstances where you cannot find a person to use as your author because the "author" is a group, a company or an organisation. Some times there is no author, in which case see " No author or anonymous " below.

Is the author a company or organisation?

• Government bodies (such as the Australian Bureau of Statistics or the Department of Education and Training) are often the official "author" of the works they publish.
• Companies are usually the authors of their web pages

Write the company's name in full, the first time you use them, in text, then you can use an acronym. Always write the name in full in the reference list.

For example :

In text, the first time:

Narrative: The American Psychological Association (APA, 2012) noted that...

Parenthetical: The consumer price index is collated by using around a million pricing structures (Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS], 2018).

In text, subsequent times:

Narrative: As noted by the APA (2012)...

Parenthetical: New weights were used to maximise transaction data (ABS, 2018).

In the reference list:

Do not use acronyms unless the acronym is the official name of the company/organisation - and even then try to find the full version (e.g. CSIRO is Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation). Check the legal information or copyright pages of the organisation's web site.

American Psychiatric Association. (2012). How to write an APA style reference when information is missing . http://blog.apastyle.org/files/missing-pieces---apa-style-reference-table.pdf

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2018). Consumer price index, Australia, Dec 2017 (No. 6410.0). http://www.abs.gov.au

N.B. Write author names "as is" to the best of your ability. Use their capitalisation, spacing and punctuation. If they use an "and" or and "&" in their name (e.g. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service) retain the version of "and/&" they have used.

Is there a corporate body (like a government department or a company) who is responsible for the work? They're probably your author. Take a look at " When the Author isn't a person " above.

Is the work anonymous, or without a byline?

• Sometimes newspaper articles and dictionary or encyclopedia entries don't have an author attributed. Editorials in peer reviewed journals may not have a byline. These works are unattributed, but they are not "anonymous".
• Only list the author as "anonymous" if the article/work has been attributed to "Anonymous" or "Anon". If there is no attribution, follow the advice below.

When there is no attributed author, move the title of the article (or encyclopedia entry, etc) to the first position in the reference list. In text, use the title of the document in "quotation marks" where you would use the author's name. For long titles, it is okay to use only the first few words.

Narrative: In the Nature editorial, "On the March" (2017), it was suggested that crowds might be "painted as hostile" (p. 137) by the media.

Parenthetical: During the 2017 presidential inauguration, there were some moments of awkwardness ("Mrs. Obama Says ‘Lovely Frame’", 2018).

Please note: In text, the title of the article is given title case - that is, major words are capitalised. You do not use title case in the reference list.

On the march. (2017). Nature, 554 , 137. https://www.nature.com/articles/544137a.pdf

Mrs. Obama says ‘lovely frame’ in box during awkward handoff. (2018, February 1). AP News . https://www.apnews.com/31f3520500c94a6ebfdbd2a0db5f4b60

• << Previous: Information for EndNote Users
• Next: Dates >>
• Last Updated: Apr 8, 2024 5:08 PM
• URL: https://libguides.jcu.edu.au/apa

• Joyner Library
• Laupus Health Sciences Library
• Music Library
• Digital Collections
• Special Collections
• North Carolina Collection
• Teaching Resources
• The ScholarShip Institutional Repository
• Country Doctor Museum

APA Citation Style, 6th Edition: Three to Five Authors/Editors

• One Author/Editor
• Two Authors/Editors
• Three to Five Authors/Editors
• Chapter in a Book
• Edition Other Than the First
• Electronic Books
• Journal Article with One Author
• Journal Article with Two Authors
• Journal Article with Three to Six Authors
• Journal Article with Seven or More Authors
• Government Publication
• Magazine Articles
• Newspaper Article
• Reference List

Books with Three to Five Authors

(this libguide is for apa 6th edition, click   here   to visit our new   apa 7th edition libguide ).

The formatting guidelines below refer to books with three authors. If the book has four or five authors, you would follow this format and add the fourth and fifth author's after the third.

General Format:

In-Text Citation (Paraphrase):

(Author's Last Name, Author's Last Name, & Author's Last Name, year)

In-Text Citation (Direct Quote):

(Author's Last Name, Author's Last Name, & Author's Last Name, year, page number)

References:

Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial., Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial., & Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial. (Year).  Book title: Subtitle.  Location of publication: Publisher.

In-text Citation (Paraphrase):

(Ledlow, Manrodt, & Schott, 2017)

Note: In the first in-text citation, include all of the three to five author's last names. After the first in-text citation, all subsequent in-text citations include the first author's last name, et al., and the year. For example: (Ledlow et al., 2017). See table below for more information.

In-text Citation (Direct Quote):

(Ledlow, Manrodt,  & Schott, 2017, p. 52)

Ledlow, G. R., Manrodt, K. B., & Schott, D. (2017).  Health care supply chain management: Elements, operations, and strategies.  Burlington, MA: Bartlett & Jones Learning.

Books with Three to Five Editors

The formatting guidelines below refer to books with three editors. If the book has four or five editors, you would follow this format and add the fourth and fifth editor's name after the third.

(Editor's Last Name, Editor's Last Name, & Editor's Last Name, year)

(Editor's Last Name, Editor's Last Name, & Editor's Last Name, year, page number)

Editor's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial., Editor's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial., & Editor's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial. (Eds.). (Year).  Book title: Subtitle.  Location of publication: Publisher.

(Blumenthal, Diclemente,  Braithwaite & Smith, 2013)

Note:  In the first in-text citation, include all of the three to five editor's last names. After the first in-text citation, all subsequent in-text citations include the first editor's last name, et al., and the year. For example: (Blumenthal et al., 2013). See table below for more information.

(Blumenthal, Diclemente, Braithwaite, & Smith, 2013, p. 52)

Blumenthal, D. S., Diclemente, R.J., Braithwaite, D., & Smith, S.A. (Eds.). (2013).  Community-based participatory health research : Issues, methods, and translation to practice.  New York: Springer Pub.

More than Five Authors or Editors?

If you are looking to cite a book with more than five authors or editors, follow the same format as three to five authors/editors. The only difference is with in-text citations. Even in your first in-text citation, you can shorten to the last name of the first author followed by et al., and the year. For example: Rodgers, Chung, Hightower, Collins, Long, Carr, & Thomas (2016) would be (Rodgers et al., 2016) starting with the first in-text citation. See the table below for more information or page 177 of the APA Manual, 6th Edition.

Citing References in Text

Carrie forbes, mls.

Page References

Citation information has been adapted from the APA Manual (6th Edition). Please refer to pages 176-177 and 184 of the APA Manual (6th Edition) for more information.

Helpful Tips

-If two or more references of three or more authors/editors and publication year short to the same in-text citation, cite as many last names as needed to differentiate them. Example from p.175 of APA Manual: both Ireys, Chernoff, DeVet, & Kim, 2001 and Ireys, Chernoff, Stein, DeVet, & Silver, 2001 shorten to (Ireys et al., 2001). Instead, use Ireys, Chernoff, DeVet, et al. (2001) and Ireys, Chernoff, Stein, et al. (2001) respectively. Please refer to page 175 of the APA Manual, 6th Edition for more in depth information.

-Be mindful of hyphenated names, particularly hyphenated first names in your reference list. If an author or editor has a hyphenated first name, include first initials for both separated by a hyphen. For example: Lamour, J.-B. for Jean-Baptiste Lamour.

-If your reference list includes publications by two or more authors with the same last name, you should include the first initial in all in-text citations in order to help the reader avoid confusion.

-Suffixes like "Jr." or "III" are not included in in-text citations but are included in the reference list.

Chat with a librarian is only available 9-5 Monday-Saturday.

Need to contact a librarian? Click here!

Or call us:

1-888-820-0522 (toll free)

252-744-2230

• << Previous: Two Authors/Editors
• Next: Chapter in a Book >>
• Last Updated: Jun 22, 2020 8:29 AM
• URL: https://libguides.ecu.edu/apa

• Introduction
• Formatting Your Paper
• In-Text Citations
• Books and eBooks
• Business Reports
• Conference Presentations and Publications
• Dissertations and Theses
• Government Documents, Statutes, and Court Cases
• Images and Advertisements
• Missing Information
• Multiple Authors
• Personal Communications (E-mails, Interviews, etc.)
• Previous Coursework
• Religious Works
• Secondary Source/Indirect Citation (as cited in)
• Social Media
• Video and Audio
• Avoiding Plagiarism
• Annotated Bibliographies
• Get Help Now

APA 7th Edition Citation Guide Multiple Authors

Source with two authors.

Rules for citing more than one author apply to all sources, regardless of format. Below is an example of a book with two authors.

Use the word "and" between the authors' names within the text and use an ampersand (&) for parenthetical citations.

Reference Page Format:

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year of Publication). Format the remainder according to resource type.

Reference Page Example:

Loveless, D., & Griffith, B. (2014).  Critical pedagogy for a polymodal world . Birkhäuser.

In-text Citation Examples:

According to Loveless and Griffith (2014) ... ...(Loveless & Griffith, 2014). ...(Loveless & Griffith, 2014, p. 121).

Source with Three to Twenty Authors

For all sources with three to twenty authors, include all of the authors on your References page. 

For in-text citations, sources with three or more authors can be abbreviated to only the first author's last name followed by "et al." For example, (Author et al., Year).

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., Author, C. C. (Year of Publication).  Format the remainder according to resource type .

Somerville, I., Purcell, A., & Morrison, F. (2011). Public relations education in a divided society: PR, terrorism and critical pedagogy in post-conflict Northern Ireland.  Public Relations Review, 37 (5), 548-555. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2011.09.008

According to Somerville et al. (2011) ... ... (Somerville et al., 2011). ... (Somerville et al., 2011, p. 549).

Source with Twenty-One or More Authors

For sources with twenty-one or more authors, write out the first twenty authors on the References page, add an ellipsis (...), and end with the last author. 

For in-text citations, sources with more than twenty authors can be abbreviated to only the first author's last name followed by "et al." For example, (Author et al., Year).

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., Author, C. C., Author, D. D., Author, E. E., Author, F. F., Author, G. G., Author, H. H., Author, I. I., Author, J. J., Author, K. K., Author, L. L., Author, M. M., Author, N. N., Author, O. O., Author, P. P., Author, Q. Q., Author, R. R., Author, S. S., Author, T. T., . . . Author, Z. Z. (Year of Publication).  Format the remainder according to resource type .

Aad, G., Abbott, B., Abdallah, J., Abdinov, O., Aben, R., Abolins, M., AbouZeid, O. S., Abramowicz, H., Abreu, H., Abreu, R., Abulaiti, Y., Acharya, B. S., Adamczyk, L., Adams, D. L., Adelman, J., Adomeit, S., Adye, T., Affolder, A. A., Agatonovic-Jovin, T., Aguilar-Saavedra, J. A., Alen, S. P., . . . Woods, N. (2015). Combined measurement of the Higgs boson mass in pp collisions at √s=7 and 8 TeV with the ATLAS and CMS experiments.  Physical Review Letters, 114 (19), 1-33. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.191803

According to Aad et al. (2015) ... ... (Aad et al., 2015). ... (Aad et al., 2015, p. 20).

• << Previous: Missing Information
• Next: Personal Communications (E-mails, Interviews, etc.) >>
• Last Updated: Jan 23, 2024 8:28 AM
• URL: https://library.csp.edu/apa

• Find Resources

Library and Academic Support Services Concordia University, St. Paul 1282 Concordia Aveneu Saint Paul, MN 55104

• 651-641-823
• [email protected]
• Report a problem

Connect with us

© Concordia University, St. Paul

APA 7th Edition: Basics

• APA Style: Home
• APA 7th Edition - What's changed?
• Book with One Author or Editor
• Book with Two Authors or Editors

Book with Three to Five Authors or Editors

• Electronic Books (eBooks)
• Article in a Reference Book
• Article or Chapter in an Edited Book
• Journal Article with One Author
• Journal Article with Two Authors
• Journal Article with Three to Seven Authors
• Journal Article with Seven or More Authors
• Magazine Article
• Newspaper Article
• Website / Basic Web Page
• Facebook / Twitter / Instagram
• YouTube Video
• Lecture / PPT
• Reference Lists

The general format below refers to a book with three or more authors.

If you are dealing with a book that has three to five editors instead of authors, you would simply insert the names of the editors into the place where the authors' names are now, followed by "(Eds.)" without the quotation marks (as per the example). The rest of the format would remain the same.

General Format

In-Text Citation (Paraphrase):

(Author Surname et al., Year)

*NOTE:  The in-text citation for works with three or more authors is shortened to the first author's name followed by et al. and the year.

In-Text Citation (Direct Quote):

(Author Surname et al., Year, page number)

References:

Author Surname, First Initial. Second Initial., Author Surname, First Initial. Second Initial., & Author Surname, First Initial. Second Initial. (Year).  Book title: Subtitle . Publisher.

(Johnson et al., 1999)

(Johnson et al., 1999, p. 72)

Johnson, N. G., Roberts, M. C., & Worell, J. (Eds.). (1999).  Beyond appearance: A new look at adolescent girls . American Psychological Association.

• << Previous: Book with Two Authors or Editors
• Next: Electronic Books (eBooks) >>
• Last Updated: Sep 18, 2023 5:16 PM
• URL: https://lawsonstate.libguides.com/_Lawson23

APA Style -6th edition

• C. Three to Five Authors or Editors
• General Guidelines
• A. One Author or Editor
• B. Two Authors or Editors
• D. Article or Chapter in an Edited Book
• E. Article in a Reference Book
• F. No Author
• H. Edition other than the First
• I. Translation
• J. Government Publication
• A. Journal Article with One Author
• B. Journal Article with 2 Authors
• C. Journal Article with 3-5 Authors
• D. Journal Article with 6 or more Authors
• E. Magazine Article
• F. Newspaper Article
• A. Basic Web Page
• B. Web Page from a University Site
• C. No Author
• D. Blog Post
• E. Entry in a Reference Work
• F. Government Document
• A. Motion Picture
• B. Youtube Video
• C. Audio Podcast
• A. Electronic Image
• A. Interview
• D. Classical Works
• E. Secondary Sources
• F. Legal Materials
• Evaluating Sources
• Zotero This link opens in a new window
• Sample APA Paper

Book with Three to Five Authors or Editors

• In-text citation, paraphrase: (Author's surname, Author's surname, & Author's surname, year)

NOTE: Although the first in-text citation for a work with three to five authors/editors includes all of the names of the authors/editors, subsequent citations require only the first author's/editor's surname, followed by et al. and the year.

• In-text citation, quotation: (Author's surname, Author's surname, & Author's surname, year, page number)  

Reference list citation:  

Author's surname, Initial(s)., Author's surname, Initial(s)., & Author's surname, Initial(s). (Date of publication). Title of work: Subtitle

of work . Place of publication: Publisher.

• In-text citation, paraphrase: (Johnson, Roberts, & Worell, 1999)

NOTE: A subsequent citation would appear as (Johnson et al., 1999)

• In-text citation, quotation: (Johnson, Roberts, & Worell, 1999, p. 72)  

Johnson, N. G., Roberts, M. C., & Worell, J. (Eds.). (1999). Beyond appearance: A new look   at adolescent girls . Washington, DC:

American Psychological Association.

• << Previous: B. Two Authors or Editors
• Next: D. Article or Chapter in an Edited Book >>
• Last Updated: Jun 15, 2023 2:57 PM
• URL: https://otterbein.libguides.com/apa

• Bipolar Disorder
• Therapy Center
• When To See a Therapist
• Types of Therapy
• Best Online Therapy
• Best Couples Therapy
• Best Family Therapy
• Managing Stress
• Sleep and Dreaming
• Understanding Emotions
• Self-Improvement
• Healthy Relationships
• Student Resources
• Personality Types
• Guided Meditations
• Verywell Mind Insights
• 2023 Verywell Mind 25
• Mental Health in the Classroom
• Editorial Process
• Meet Our Review Board
• Crisis Support

How to Reference Single and Multiple Authors in APA Format

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Emily is a board-certified science editor who has worked with top digital publishing brands like Voices for Biodiversity, Study.com, GoodTherapy, Vox, and Verywell.

• Multiple Authors

APA format establishes a number of clear rules for how to list reference works using author information. How you reference different sources varies depending on the number of authors to whom the source is attributed. For example, the way that you reference a single author will differ somewhat from how you reference a source with multiple authors.

Before you create a reference section for a psychology paper, it is important to know how to properly list books, articles, and other sources as well as in-text citations in APA format. The following guidelines can help you prepare a reference section for your APA format paper.

These guidelines are sometimes referred to as APA 7 since the guidebook for APA formatting is the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition .

APA Format for No Author

Articles and other works that do not provide an author attribution should begin with the title of the work . If the title is a book, list the title in italics. The volume number, issue number (if available), and page numbers should follow journal titles, while book titles should be followed by the publisher's name.

For example:

• A student guide to APA format. (1997). Psychology Weekly, 8, 13-27.
• The ultimate APA format guidebook. (2006). Student Press.

For in-text citations or those referenced within the body of the text, you will also use the title, either in italics (for books) or in quotation marks (for articles). For example: Using proper APA format ("A student guide to APA format," 1997).

APA Format for One Author

Works by a single author should list the author's last name and initials. The date of publication should be enclosed in parentheses and followed by the title of the article or book. Books and journal titles should be listed in italics. The volume number, issue number, and page numbers of the article should follow journal titles, while book titles should be followed by the name of the publisher.

• McCrae, R. R. (1993). Moderated analyses of longitudinal personality stability. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65 (3), 577-585.
• Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Prentice-Hall.

One-author in-text citations should include the surname without any suffixes (Jr.) and the date of publication in parenthesis. For example: As Bandura (1997) mentions... or (Bandura, 1977). If you are citing different authors with the same last name, include the first initial: (A. Alper, 2004) and (B. Alper, 2005).

APA Format for Multiple Authors

The APA format for multiple authors varies depending on how many authors a publication has.

Two Authors

Works by two authors should list the last names and first initials separated by an ampersand (&). These names should be followed by the date of publication enclosed in parentheses.

If the work is a journal article, the title of the article should immediately follow the publication date. Next, the title of the book or journal should be listed in italics. If the reference is a journal article, provide the volume number, issue number, and page numbers. For books, list the name of the publisher.

• Kanfer, F. H., & Busemeyer, J. R. (1982). The use of problem-solving and decision-making in behavior therapy . Clinical Psychology Review, 2 (2) , 239-266.
• Buss, A. H., & Pomin, R. (1975). A temperament theory of personality development . Erlbaum.

In-text citations of works by two authors should include the surnames of both authors separated by the word "and" or by an ampersand if using parenthesis. For example: Studies by Buss and Pomin (1975) support... or (Buss & Pomin, 1975).

Three to 20 Authors

According to APA 7 guidelines, works by three to 20 authors are cited by listing the last names and first initials of each author separated by an ampersand. Author names should be followed by the date of publication enclosed in parentheses.

If the work is a journal article, include the title of the article immediately following the publication date. The title of the book or journal should then be listed in italics. If the reference is a journal article, provide the volume number, issue number, and page numbers. For books, list the name of the publisher.

• Abma, J. C., Chandra, A., Mosher, W. D., Peterson, L. S., & Piccinino, L. J. (1997). Fertility, family planning, and women’s health: New data from the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth. Vital and Health Statistics, 23 (9), 1-67.
• Alper, S., Schloss, P. J., Etscheidt, S. K., & Macfarlane, C. A. (1995). Inclusion: Are we abandoning or helping students? Corwin Press.

In-text citations for works by three or more authors should list the first author's name, followed by "et al." in every citation. For example: Alper, et al. (1995) supports...or (Alper, et al, 1995).

However, if you are citing multiple works by similar groups of authors, you may need to include multiple names to avoid confusion. For example: Alper, Schloss, Etscheidt, et al. (1995) discovered...or (Alper, Schloss, Etscheidt, et al., 1995).

Whether citing a source with three, five, seven, or 20 authors, the APA format is the same.

More Than 20 Authors

When a work is credited to more than 20 authors, the reference is listed by providing the names of the first 19 authors followed by . . . and then the final author. The remainder of the reference follows the same format as that for 20 or fewer authors.

Authors' last names and initials are followed by the date of publication enclosed in parentheses. The name of the article is listed immediately after the publication date. The title of the journal or the book title should be provided in italics. The volume number, issue number, and page number should follow journal titles, while book titles should be followed by the publisher's name.

• Pegion, K., Kirtman, B. P., Becker, E., Collins, D. C., LaJoie, E., Burgman, R., Bell, R., DelSole, R., Min, D., Zhu, Y., Li, W., Sinsky, E., Guan, H., Gottschalck, J., Metzger, E. J., Barton, N. P., Achuthavarier, D., Marshak, J., Koster, R., . . . Kim, H. (2019). The subseasonal experiment (SubX): A multimodel subseasonal prediction experiment.  Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society ,  100 (10), 2043-2061.
• Arlo, A., Black, B., Clark, C., Davidson, D., Emerson, E., Fischer, F., Grahmann, G., Habib, H., Ianelli, I., Juarez, J., Kobayashi, K., Lee, L., Martin, M., Naim, N., Odelsson, O., Pierce, P., Qiang, Q., Reed, R., Scofield, S., . . . Thatcher, T. (2001). Instructive falsehoods: Examples and sources . Thommel-Reed.

In-text citations should list the first author's name, followed by "et al." in every citation. You can read more about a few different aspects of referencing sources in APA format if you have book references , article references , and electronic sources .

Frequently Asked Questions

How do i cite a website with no author in apa format.

If a website has no author, cite the title (or the first few words of the reference list entry) followed by the year. APA website citations will also include the website name and URL.

How do I cite a publication with no author in APA format?

If there's no author, the title of the work is listed first followed by the volume number, issue number (if available), and page numbers. If it's a book, the title should be in italics and followed by the publisher's name.

How do I cite an author with two last names?

Works by an author with two last names should list both names. If the name is hyphenated, include both names and the hyphen.

American Psychological Association.  Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association  (7th ed.). Washington DC: The American Psychological Association; 2019.

Purdue Online Writing Lab. In-text citations: Author/authors .

Purdue Online Writing Lab. Reference list: Author/authors .

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

APA Citation Style Guide (6th Ed.): 3 - 5 Authors

• In-text Citation
• Two Authors
• 3 - 5 Authors
• 6 or More Authors
• Magazine Article
• Newspaper Article
• One Author or Editor
• Two Authors or Editors
• 3-5 Authors or Editors
• Article or Chapter in an Edited Book
• Article in a Reference Book
• Book with No Author
• Book Edition
• Translation
• Web Pages and Blog Posts
• Motion Picture
• YouTube Video
• Audio Podcast
• Music Recording
• Images and Art
• Classical Work
• Secondary Source
• Government Publication

Article with 3-5 Authors

General Format

• << Previous: Two Authors
• Next: 6 or More Authors >>
• Last Updated: Jul 6, 2020 9:13 AM
• URL: https://uscmed.sc.libguides.com/APAStyle

Home / Guides / Citation Guides / Harvard Referencing / Harvard Referencing Style Examples / Referencing multiple authors in Harvard style

Referencing multiple authors in Harvard style

Referencing allows you to acknowledge different ideas and materials that you borrow from other authors’ works. Harvard style referencing has two parts:  

• In-text citation – A citation that’s provided in your work (in-text) that indicates where a stated idea or direct quotation comes from.
• Reference list – A list of references that correspond to all in-text citations in the text. Each reference is longer than the in-text citation and contains details like the author’s name, publisher name, year published, place of publication, volumes, and other source information.

Below we will cover how to cite multiple authors in both an in-text citation and a reference.

Two authors are provided

When referencing a source that has two authors, the reference should have the names of both the authors.  

For in-text citations, include the surnames of both authors and the year published.

For references, the surname and first-name initial of each author is listed with “and” between them.  

In-text citation structure:

“Quote” or paraphrase (Surname 1 and Surname 2, Year published)

Surname 1 and Surname 2 (Year published)

In-text citation example:

“Ridley noticed that the ornament from Lena’s graduation had already joined her charm collection” (Garcia and Stohl, 2015).

Garcia and Stohl (2015) noticed that…

Example reference structure (book):

Surname 1, Initial(s). and Surname 2, Initial(s). (Year published) Title in Italics . Place of publication: Name of publisher.

Reference example:

Garcia, K. and Stohl, M. (2015) Dangerous creatures. London: Penguin Books.

Three authors are provided

A reference for a source with three authors will have the names of all three authors. List the authors in the order they are presented in the source (not in alphabetical order).  

For in-text citations, include the surnames of all authors and the year published.

For references, the surname and first-name initial of each author is listed. A comma separates the first and second author names; the word “and” separates the second and third author names.  

“Quote” or paraphrase (Surname 1, Surname 2 and Surname 3, Year published)

Surname 1, Surname 2 and Surname 3 (Year published)

“The parts of the brain are the cerebral hemispheres, the cerebellum, and the brainstem” (Drake, Vogl and Mitchell, 2015).

Surname 1, Initial(s)., Surname 2, Initial(s). and Surname 3, Initial(s). (Year published) Title in Italics . Place of publication: Name of publisher.

Drake, R.L., Vogl, A.W. and Mitchell, A.W.M. (2015) Gray’s anatomy for students . 3 rd rev. edn. Philadelphia, PA: Churchill Livingstone/Elsevier.

Four or more authors are provided

When referencing a source that has four or more authors, use “ et al.” to shorten your list of authors mentioned.  

For in-text citations, use “ et al.” in italics after the surname of the first author. The meaning of “et al.” is ‘and others’. See this guide on when to use et al. in Harvard style for more details.

References can also use “ et al. ” to shorten the list of authors. However, if your institution prefers to have all names listed in a reference, list all the authors by surname and first-name initial. A comma separates the all author names except for the last two names. The word “and” separates the last two author names.  

“Quote” or paraphrase (Surname 1 et al. , Year published)

Surname 1 et al. (Year published)

“Normal ventricular depolarization proceeds as a rapid, continuous spread of activation wave fronts” (Jameson et al., 2018, p. 1676).

Example reference structures (book):

Surname 1, Initial(s). et al . (Year published) Title in Italics . Place of publication: Publisher.

Surname 1, Initial(s)., Surname 2, Initial(s)., Surname 3, Initial(s)., and Surname 4, Initial(s). (Year published) Title in Italics . Place of publication: Name of publisher.

Example references (book):

Jameson, J.L. et al. (2018) Harrison’s principles of internal medicine . New York: McGraw Hill Education.

Jameson, J.L, Fauci, A.S., Kasper, D.L., Hauser, S.L, Longo, D.L. and Loscalzo J. eds. (2018) Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine . New York: McGraw Hill Education.

Published October 29, 2020.

Harvard Formatting Guide

Harvard Formatting

• et al Usage
• Direct Quotes
• In-text Citations
• Multiple Authors
• Page Numbers
• Writing an Outline
• View Harvard Guide

Reference Examples

• View all Harvard Examples

How useful was this post?

Click on a star to rate it!

We are sorry that this post was not useful for you!

Let us improve this post!

Tell us how we can improve this post?

Harvard Referencing Examples

Writing Tools

Citation Generators

Other Citation Styles

Plagiarism Checker

Upload a paper to check for plagiarism against billions of sources and get advanced writing suggestions for clarity and style.

Get Started

APA 5th edition Referencing Guide (updated Apr 2024)

This is the citationsy guide to apa 5th edition citations, reference lists, in-text citations, and bibliographies. the complete, comprehensive guide shows you how easy citing any source can be. referencing books, youtube videos, websites, articles, journals, podcasts, images, videos, or music in apa 5th edition..

How do you cite a book in the APA 5th edition referencing style? (2024 Guide)

How to reference a journal article in the apa 5th edition citation style, how do you cite scientific papers in apa 5th edition format, how to cite a website in a paper in apa 5th edition style, how to cite a youtube video apa 5th edition in 2024, how to cite a podcast using apa 5th edition referencing style, how to cite a piece of music or a song using apa 5th edition referencing style.

Library Services

UCL LIBRARY SERVICES

• Guides and databases
• Library skills

Citing authors with Harvard

• A-Z of Harvard references
• Page numbers and punctuation
• References with missing details
• Secondary referencing
• Example reference list
• Journal article
• Magazine article
• Newspaper article
• Online video
• Radio and internet radio
• Television advertisement
• Television programme
• Ancient text
• Bibliography
• Book (printed, one author or editor)
• Book (printed, multiple authors or editors)
• Book (printed, with no author)
• Chapter in a book (print)
• Collected works
• Dictionaries and Encyclopedia entries
• Multivolume work
• Religious text
• Thesis or dissertation
• Translated work
• Census data
• Financial report
• Mathematical equation
• Scientific dataset
• Book illustration, Figure or Diagram
• Inscription on a building
• Installation
• Painting or Drawing
• Interview (on the internet)
• Interview (newspaper)
• Interview (radio or television)
• Interview (as part of research)
• Act of the UK parliament (statute)
• Bill (House of Commons/Lords)
• Birth/Death/Marriage certificate
• British standards
• Command paper
• European Union publication
• Government/Official publication
• House of Commons/Lords paper
• Legislation from UK devolved assemblies
• Statutory instrument
• Military record
• Film/Television script
• Musical score
• Play (live performance)
• Play script
• Song lyrics
• Conference paper
• Conference proceedings
• Discussion paper
• Minutes of meeting
• Personal communication
• PowerPoint presentation
• Published report
• Student's own work
• Tutor materials for academic course
• Unpublished report
• Working paper
• Referencing glossary

Harvard referencing uses in-text citations, in an author-date format. 

Sometimes you might be referencing a source that has more than one author. Or, you might reference several different sources by the same author published in the same year.

This page gives you guidelines and examples for using Harvard in these scenarios. 

Multiple sources with the same author and year

If you are citing more than one source by the same author which are also published in the same year, you will need to differentiate between the sources in your in-text citations. 

You can do this by adding a lower-case letter to the publication date in your in-text citation, and again in your reference list so that the dates and letters match. The first reference should appear as (Author, Yeara), the second as (Author, Yearb) and so on. 

The rest of the reference should follow the usual style for the type of source you are citing.  

In-text citations: 

(Kubler-Ross, 1993a)

(Kubler-Ross, 1993b)

Reference list: 

Kubler-Ross, E. (1993a).  AIDS: The ultimate challenge.  New York, NY: Collier Books.

Kubler-Ross, E. (1993b).  Questions and answers on death and dying.  New York, NY. Collier Books.

Sources with two or three authors

If you are citing a source with two or three authors, the surname of all of the authors should be listed in your in-text citation. You should keep the names in the same order as they are in the source.

The surname and initial(s) of all the authors should appear in the full reference for the source. 

In-text citation:

(Reiss and White, 2013, p.6)

Reference list:

Reiss M.J. and White, J. (2013).  An aims-based curriculum: the significance of human flourishing for schools.  London: IOE Press.

Sources with four to seven authors

If you are citing a source with four, five, six or seven authors, the surname of only the first person attributed as one of the source's authors should be included in your in-text citation, followed by the words 'et al'.

(Rogers et al., 2018)

Rogers, L., Hallam, S., Creech, A. and Preti, C. (2018). ‘Learning about what constitutes effective training from a pilot programme to improve music education in primary schools’,  Music Education Research , 10(4), pp.485-497.

Sources with eight or more authors

If you are citing a source with eight or more authors, the surname of only the first person attributed as one of the source's authors should be included in your in-text citation, followed by the words 'et al'.

The surname and initial(s) of the first eight attributed authors should appear in the full reference for the source, followed by the words 'et al'. If there are more than eight authors, do not include the word 'and' between the seventh and eight author.

(Clark et al., 2020)

Clark, K., Cletheroe, D., Gerard, T., Haller, I., Jozwik, K., Shi, K., Thomsen, B., Williams, H., et al. (2020). ‘Synchronous subnanosecond clock and data recovery for optically switched data centres using clock phase caching’,  Nature Electronics , 3, pp.426-433.

Quick links

• Harvard references A-Z
• << Previous: A-Z of Harvard references
• Next: Page numbers and punctuation >>
• Last Updated: Feb 28, 2024 12:08 PM
• URL: https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/harvard

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

In-Text Citations: The Basics

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

Note:  This page reflects the latest version of the APA Publication Manual (i.e., APA 7), which released in October 2019. The equivalent resource for the older APA 6 style  can be found here .

Reference citations in text are covered on pages 261-268 of the Publication Manual. What follows are some general guidelines for referring to the works of others in your essay.

Note:  On pages 117-118, the Publication Manual suggests that authors of research papers should use the past tense or present perfect tense for signal phrases that occur in the literature review and procedure descriptions (for example, Jones (1998)  found  or Jones (1998)  has found ...). Contexts other than traditionally-structured research writing may permit the simple present tense (for example, Jones (1998)  finds ).

APA Citation Basics

When using APA format, follow the author-date method of in-text citation. This means that the author's last name and the year of publication for the source should appear in the text, like, for example, (Jones, 1998). One complete reference for each source should appear in the reference list at the end of the paper.

If you are referring to an idea from another work but  NOT  directly quoting the material, or making reference to an entire book, article or other work, you only have to make reference to the author and year of publication and not the page number in your in-text reference.

On the other hand, if you are directly quoting or borrowing from another work, you should include the page number at the end of the parenthetical citation. Use the abbreviation “p.” (for one page) or “pp.” (for multiple pages) before listing the page number(s). Use an en dash for page ranges. For example, you might write (Jones, 1998, p. 199) or (Jones, 1998, pp. 199–201). This information is reiterated below.

Regardless of how they are referenced, all sources that are cited in the text must appear in the reference list at the end of the paper.

In-text citation capitalization, quotes, and italics/underlining

• Always capitalize proper nouns, including author names and initials: D. Jones.
• If you refer to the title of a source within your paper, capitalize all words that are four letters long or greater within the title of a source:  Permanence and Change . Exceptions apply to short words that are verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs:  Writing New Media ,  There Is Nothing Left to Lose .

( Note:  in your References list, only the first word of a title will be capitalized:  Writing new media .)

• When capitalizing titles, capitalize both words in a hyphenated compound word:  Natural-Born Cyborgs .
• Capitalize the first word after a dash or colon: "Defining Film Rhetoric: The Case of Hitchcock's  Vertigo ."
• If the title of the work is italicized in your reference list, italicize it and use title case capitalization in the text:  The Closing of the American Mind ;  The Wizard of Oz ;  Friends .
• If the title of the work is not italicized in your reference list, use double quotation marks and title case capitalization (even though the reference list uses sentence case): "Multimedia Narration: Constructing Possible Worlds;" "The One Where Chandler Can't Cry."

Short quotations

If you are directly quoting from a work, you will need to include the author, year of publication, and page number for the reference (preceded by "p." for a single page and “pp.” for a span of multiple pages, with the page numbers separated by an en dash).

You can introduce the quotation with a signal phrase that includes the author's last name followed by the date of publication in parentheses.

If you do not include the author’s name in the text of the sentence, place the author's last name, the year of publication, and the page number in parentheses after the quotation.

Long quotations

Place direct quotations that are 40 words or longer in a free-standing block of typewritten lines and omit quotation marks. Start the quotation on a new line, indented 1/2 inch from the left margin, i.e., in the same place you would begin a new paragraph. Type the entire quotation on the new margin, and indent the first line of any subsequent paragraph within the quotation 1/2 inch from the new margin. Maintain double-spacing throughout, but do not add an extra blank line before or after it. The parenthetical citation should come after the closing punctuation mark.

Because block quotation formatting is difficult for us to replicate in the OWL's content management system, we have simply provided a screenshot of a generic example below.

Formatting example for block quotations in APA 7 style.

Quotations from sources without pages

Direct quotations from sources that do not contain pages should not reference a page number. Instead, you may reference another logical identifying element: a paragraph, a chapter number, a section number, a table number, or something else. Older works (like religious texts) can also incorporate special location identifiers like verse numbers. In short: pick a substitute for page numbers that makes sense for your source.

Summary or paraphrase

If you are paraphrasing an idea from another work, you only have to make reference to the author and year of publication in your in-text reference and may omit the page numbers. APA guidelines, however, do encourage including a page range for a summary or paraphrase when it will help the reader find the information in a longer work. 

Apple Watch

Apple watch ‘ghost touch’ problem continues to haunt users as apple investigates.

Apple has once again acknowledged an ongoing “false touch” problem affecting Apple Watch users. Oftentimes referred to as “ghost touches,” this issue causes the Apple Watch to act as if the display is being tapped, even when it isn’t.

Apple first referenced this problem in a memo sent to Authorized Service Providers in February. At the time, Apple said it was aware of reports that “false touches” were affecting Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 users. In that memo, Apple told service providers to not replace any affected units and instead advise customers to wait for a software update as it investigated the issue.

In a new memo sent to Authorized Service Providers this week, shared by Stella Fudge on social media , Apple has also confirmed that the problem affects the Apple Watch Series 7, Apple Watch Series 8, and the first-generation Apple Watch Ultra.

Still, Apple advises its service providers not to replace affected Apple Watch units. Apple says that affected Apple Watch users should restart their device by holding the side button and Digital Crown for 10 seconds, while also staying up-to-date on watchOS software updates.

The “ghost touch” problem has haunted Apple Watch users for months. On Apple’s Support Forums and Reddit, some Apple Watch users go as far as to say the problem makes their devices unusable. The problem is particularly nefarious on the watchOS passcode screen:

“Had by Ultra 2 for just over 2 months. Yesterday evening my watch became possessed. Ghost touching to the extreme and the screen was glitching as if it had a power issue. After the thing locked me out by randomly tapping numbers itself, I put it in the charger.” “A few days ago my Ultra 2 was “possessed”, I woke up and it was “wrong passcode try again in 3 hours”. It was having ghost touches and failed to respond to my touch, and I couldn’t shut it down either so I had to force restart, but the problem persisted.”

Ideally, Apple will actually roll out a software fix for this problem sooner rather than later. For the time being, however, the ghosts may continue to haunt.

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news:

Apple Watch is Apple's wearable is designed to h…

Chance is an editor for the entire 9to5 network and covers the latest Apple news for 9to5Mac.

Tips, questions, typos to [email protected]

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, generate accurate citations for free.

• Knowledge Base
• Working with sources
• How to Paraphrase | Step-by-Step Guide & Examples

How to Paraphrase | Step-by-Step Guide & Examples

Published on April 8, 2022 by Courtney Gahan and Jack Caulfield. Revised on June 1, 2023.

Paraphrasing means putting someone else’s ideas into your own words. Paraphrasing a source involves changing the wording while preserving the original meaning.

Paraphrasing is an alternative to  quoting (copying someone’s exact words and putting them in quotation marks ). In academic writing, it’s usually better to integrate sources by paraphrasing instead of quoting. It shows that you have understood the source, reads more smoothly, and keeps your own voice front and center.

Every time you paraphrase, it’s important to cite the source . Also take care not to use wording that is too similar to the original. Otherwise, you could be at risk of committing plagiarism .

What is your plagiarism score?

Compare your paper with 99.3 billion webpages and 8 million publications.

• Best plagiarism checker of 2021
• Plagiarism report & percentage
• Largest plagiarism database

Scribbr Plagiarism Checker

Table of contents

How to paraphrase in five easy steps, how to paraphrase correctly, examples of paraphrasing, how to cite a paraphrase, paraphrasing vs. quoting, paraphrasing vs. summarizing, avoiding plagiarism when you paraphrase, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about paraphrasing.

If you’re struggling to get to grips with the process of paraphrasing, check out our easy step-by-step guide in the video below.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

Putting an idea into your own words can be easier said than done. Let’s say you want to paraphrase the text below, about population decline in a particular species of sea snails.

Incorrect paraphrasing

You might make a first attempt to paraphrase it by swapping out a few words for  synonyms .

Like other sea creatures inhabiting the vicinity of highly populated coasts, horse conchs have lost substantial territory to advancement and contamination , including preferred breeding grounds along mud flats and seagrass beds. Their Gulf home is also heating up due to global warming , which scientists think further puts pressure on the creatures , predicated upon the harmful effects extra warmth has on other large mollusks (Barnett, 2022).

This attempt at paraphrasing doesn’t change the sentence structure or order of information, only some of the word choices. And the synonyms chosen are poor:

• “Advancement and contamination” doesn’t really convey the same meaning as “development and pollution.”
• Sometimes the changes make the tone less academic: “home” for “habitat” and “sea creatures” for “marine animals.”
• Adding phrases like “inhabiting the vicinity of” and “puts pressure on” makes the text needlessly long-winded.
• Global warming is related to climate change, but they don’t mean exactly the same thing.

Because of this, the text reads awkwardly, is longer than it needs to be, and remains too close to the original phrasing. This means you risk being accused of plagiarism .

Correct paraphrasing

Let’s look at a more effective way of paraphrasing the same text.

Here, we’ve:

• Only included the information that’s relevant to our argument (note that the paraphrase is shorter than the original)
• Introduced the information with the signal phrase “Scientists believe that …”
• Retained key terms like “development and pollution,” since changing them could alter the meaning
• Structured sentences in our own way instead of copying the structure of the original
• Started from a different point, presenting information in a different order

Because of this, we’re able to clearly convey the relevant information from the source without sticking too close to the original phrasing.

Explore the tabs below to see examples of paraphrasing in action.

• Journal article
• Newspaper article
• Magazine article

Once you have your perfectly paraphrased text, you need to ensure you credit the original author. You’ll always paraphrase sources in the same way, but you’ll have to use a different type of in-text citation depending on what citation style you follow.

Generate accurate citations with Scribbr

Scribbr citation checker new.

The AI-powered Citation Checker helps you avoid common mistakes such as:

• Missing commas and periods
• Incorrect usage of “et al.”
• Ampersands (&) in narrative citations
• Missing reference entries

It’s a good idea to paraphrase instead of quoting in most cases because:

• Paraphrasing shows that you fully understand the meaning of a text
• Your own voice remains dominant throughout your paper
• Quotes reduce the readability of your text

But that doesn’t mean you should never quote. Quotes are appropriate when:

• Giving a precise definition
• Saying something about the author’s language or style (e.g., in a literary analysis paper)
• Providing evidence in support of an argument
• Critiquing or analyzing a specific claim

A paraphrase puts a specific passage into your own words. It’s typically a similar length to the original text, or slightly shorter.

When you boil a longer piece of writing down to the key points, so that the result is a lot shorter than the original, this is called summarizing .

Paraphrasing and quoting are important tools for presenting specific information from sources. But if the information you want to include is more general (e.g., the overarching argument of a whole article), summarizing is more appropriate.

When paraphrasing, you have to be careful to avoid accidental plagiarism .

This can happen if the paraphrase is too similar to the original quote, with phrases or whole sentences that are identical (and should therefore be in quotation marks). It can also happen if you fail to properly cite the source.

Paraphrasing tools are widely used by students, and can be especially useful for non-native speakers who may find academic writing particularly challenging. While these can be helpful for a bit of extra inspiration, use these tools sparingly, keeping academic integrity in mind.

To make sure you’ve properly paraphrased and cited all your sources, you could elect to run a plagiarism check before submitting your paper. And of course, always be sure to read your source material yourself and take the first stab at paraphrasing on your own.

If you want to know more about ChatGPT, AI tools , citation , and plagiarism , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• ChatGPT vs human editor
• ChatGPT citations
• Is ChatGPT trustworthy?
• Using ChatGPT for your studies
• What is ChatGPT?
• Chicago style
• Critical thinking

 Plagiarism

• Types of plagiarism
• Self-plagiarism
• Avoiding plagiarism
• Academic integrity
• Consequences of plagiarism
• Common knowledge

To paraphrase effectively, don’t just take the original sentence and swap out some of the words for synonyms. Instead, try:

• Reformulating the sentence (e.g., change active to passive , or start from a different point)
• Combining information from multiple sentences into one
• Leaving out information from the original that isn’t relevant to your point
• Using synonyms where they don’t distort the meaning

The main point is to ensure you don’t just copy the structure of the original text, but instead reformulate the idea in your own words.

Paraphrasing without crediting the original author is a form of plagiarism , because you’re presenting someone else’s ideas as if they were your own.

However, paraphrasing is not plagiarism if you correctly cite the source . This means including an in-text citation and a full reference, formatted according to your required citation style .

As well as citing, make sure that any paraphrased text is completely rewritten in your own words.

Plagiarism means using someone else’s words or ideas and passing them off as your own. Paraphrasing means putting someone else’s ideas in your own words.

So when does paraphrasing count as plagiarism?

• Paraphrasing is plagiarism if you don’t properly credit the original author.
• Paraphrasing is plagiarism if your text is too close to the original wording (even if you cite the source). If you directly copy a sentence or phrase, you should quote it instead.
• Paraphrasing  is not plagiarism if you put the author’s ideas completely in your own words and properly cite the source .

Try our services

To present information from other sources in academic writing , it’s best to paraphrase in most cases. This shows that you’ve understood the ideas you’re discussing and incorporates them into your text smoothly.

It’s appropriate to quote when:

• Changing the phrasing would distort the meaning of the original text
• You want to discuss the author’s language choices (e.g., in literary analysis )
• You’re presenting a precise definition
• You’re looking in depth at a specific claim

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Gahan, C. & Caulfield, J. (2023, June 01). How to Paraphrase | Step-by-Step Guide & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved April 9, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/working-with-sources/how-to-paraphrase/

Is this article helpful?

Courtney Gahan

Other students also liked, how to write a summary | guide & examples, how to quote | citing quotes in apa, mla & chicago, how to avoid plagiarism | tips on citing sources, "i thought ai proofreading was useless but..".

I've been using Scribbr for years now and I know it's a service that won't disappoint. It does a good job spotting mistakes”

Samsung confirms Galaxy AI is coming to more devices ‘soon’

In announcing the expansion of language support for its new AI features , Samsung has also directly confirmed that Galaxy AI is coming to more devices sometime soon.

Samsung’s suite of Galaxy AI features are available on the Galaxy S24 series and, more recently, on 2023 Galaxy releases such as the Fold 5 and Flip 5. But there have also been rumors of Samsung expanding support to even older devices, such as the Galaxy S22 series .

In yesterday’s press release regarding additional language support, Samsung also directly confirmed that it intends to bring Galaxy AI to more devices in time.

Samsung lists out the currently supported devices, ending with a teaser for “more coming soon,” referring to other Galaxy devices that don’t already have Galaxy AI.

Samsung says :

The newly supported Galaxy AI languages and dialects will each be available for download as a language pack from the Settings app across all devices that support Galaxy AI. That includes the Galaxy S24 series, Galaxy S23 series, Galaxy S23 FE, Galaxy Z Flip5, and Galaxy Tab S9 series, with more coming soon.

What might be next in line? That remains to be seen, but the Galaxy S22 series, Galaxy Z Fold 4, and Galaxy Z Flip 4 seem like obvious candidates.

More on Samsung:

• Galaxy AI features like Live Translate add more languages
• Galaxy Tab S6 Lite (2024) arrives in the US as an Amazon Exclusive for $329
• Samsung’s Object Eraser gets a magnetic lasso option for precise object selection

Follow Ben:   Twitter/X ,  Threads , and  Instagram

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Check out 9to5Google on YouTube for more news:

Samsung is a technology conglomerate based out o…

Ben is a Senior Editor for 9to5Google.

Find him on Twitter @NexusBen. Send tips to [email protected] or encrypted to [email protected].

Ben Schoon's favorite gear

Google Pixel Watch 2

Ben's smartwatch of choice with his phone is the Google Pixel Watch 2.

Reserve Galaxy S24

Reserve the Galaxy S24 series for free and get a $50 credit, no obligation required.