I get pulled down an entire grade because of my inability to reference in the body of the text. I understand how to complete a reference list entirely correctly, and I understand APA referencing.

I just have no idea how to reference in the body of the text - though I've tried to understand it.

Do I just quote the referenced part? Do I leave some sort of number after what is quoted? Or something? Do I use that number later in the reference list?

I've tried to read up on this but different places tell me different things. Any help?

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

This is the APA section from Purdue University's website. I trust them much more than lots of other places!! Be sure you add this webpage to your Favorites before doing anything else.

Scroll down until you reach a series of links, two of which refer to in-text citations. In the first one (The Basics), there are very clear explanations and examples for short quotations, long quotations, and paraphrases. In the second one (Author/Authors), you are given explanations and examples for different cases: single author, two authors, three or more authors, etc.

If you want to put up an example from your paper, I'll critique it for you.

=)

I understand that referencing in the body of the text can be confusing, but I'm here to help. To reference in the body of the text using APA style, there are a few key things to keep in mind.

1. Quoting: If you directly quote a source, you need to include the author's last name, the year of publication, and the page number(s) where the quote appears. For example, if you are quoting from a book by John Smith published in 2019 and the quote is on page 10, you would write (Smith, 2019, p. 10) after the quote.

2. Attribution with Paraphrasing: If you're paraphrasing or summarizing information from a source, you still need to include an in-text citation. In this case, you only need to include the author's last name and the year of publication. For example, (Smith, 2019).

3. Multiple Authors: If a source has multiple authors, you can either list all the authors' last names in the citation the first time they appear, or you can use "et al." after the first author's last name. For example, (Smith et al., 2019) or (Smith, Jones, & Johnson, 2019).

4. No Author: If a source doesn't have an author, you can use the title of the source in place of the author's name. For example, ("Title of Source," 2019).

5. Different Cases: The Purdue University's Online Writing Lab (OWL) has a section dedicated to APA citation style. The link you provided (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/) is a reliable source that provides clear explanations and examples for different cases of in-text citations.

I recommend going to that webpage and scrolling down to find the links that specifically address in-text citations. The first link, "The Basics," explains how to cite short quotations, long quotations, and paraphrases. The second link, "Author/Authors," provides examples and explanations for citing different author scenarios.

If you have any specific examples from your paper, feel free to share them, and I'll be happy to provide feedback. Remember to bookmark the Purdue OWL website for future reference.