Ah, the parenthetical citation—the little side note in parentheses. This is where people panic. But don’t. If you’re putting the citation in parentheses at the end of a sentence, you still use “and,” but now you add the page number. Example: (Smith and Jones 45). Notice the space after “and”? Yes, it matters. And no comma between the names and the page number. Just a space. Breathe.
“But what if I use the authors’ names in the sentence itself?” Great question, coffee buddy! Then you don’t need the parentheses for the names. You just put the page number at the end in parentheses. Like this: Smith and Jones argue that this is simple (45). You used their names naturally, so the parentheses just hold the page number. Elegant, right?
What if there are three authors? (Spoiler: different rules)
Hold up—we’re only talking about two authors here. Three or more? MLA changes the rules. For three or more, you use the first author’s name followed by “et al.” which means “and others.” But for two? Never use “et al.” That’s a party foul. Two authors are a duo, a pair, a double act. Respect that.
Let’s mess around with examples, because examples are like practice swings. Imagine you’re citing a book by Wanda Wonder and Bob Bounce. In text: “Wonder and Bounce argue that coffee is essential for writing (87).” Or if you want to be cheeky: “Coffee is essential for writing (Wonder and Bounce 87).” Both are correct. Choose your adventure.
How To Write In Text Citations Apa For Multiple Authors - Free
But here’s a secret: consistency is king. Don’t use “and” in one sentence and then an ampersand (&) in the next. MLA says “and” always. No shortcuts. The ampersand is for APA style, and we’re not APA right now. We’re sipping coffee and doing MLA, thank you very much.
