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APA Style Guide: 7th Edition

How to Incorporate Publication Date

The year of publication should be included in each in-text citation, when available. Select a tab below for more information:

  • The date should be placed directly before or after the author's name
  • Only the year of publication is required
  • The date may appear in the same or in a separate set of parentheses as author's name

For example:

(Smith, 2018)

OR

In his latest work, Smith (2018) suggests that...

OR

In 2018, Smith suggested that...

  • Substitute the abbreviation n.d. to indicate that no date is available

For example:

(Smith, n.d.)

OR

In his latest work, Smith (n.d.) suggests that...

In-text citations for translated, reprinted, reissued, or republished works must contain two dates: the publication year of the original work and the publication year of the translation/reprint/etc., separated with a slash. For example:

Freud (1900/1953)

(Piaget, 1966/2000)

When two sources have the same author name and same date: 

  • Use lowercase letters 'a' and 'b' to help distinguish a difference between resources

For example:

In his latest work, Smith (2018a) suggests that children respond favorably to the time-out method of discipline (p.10). According to a recent study, the time-out method of discipline works best with children under the age of 5 (Smith, 2018b, p.20).