Using Evidence:

Citation Frequency in Summaries

Students often ask if they need to continue to cite their source in each sentence when they summarize just one source over multiple sentences. The answer is maybe. To determine how to cite in a summary, remember the purpose of citing sources: clearly establishing where the information and ideas you include in your writing comes from. Per APA 7, an option is to cite once in the sentence in which the summary or paraphrase begins, and as long as there is some indication that the following information is also from that source, subsequent citations in each sentence are not necessary. With the goal of clarity in mind, a writer might use a blend of narrative citation, parenthetical citation, and other cues and reminder phrases. This approach only applies if the author is focusing on information from one source and not blending information from two or more sources (see APA 7, Section 8.24). 

To determine how to cite in a summary, remember the purpose of citing sources: clearly establishing where the information and ideas you include in your writing come from. This means giving credit to sources for their information and ideas, but also distinguishing which ideas are your own. Because of this, generally in summaries you’ll cite throughout the paragraph, rather than just at the beginning or end of the paragraph. Citing just once in a summary is often not enough to clearly show that you are summarizing only one source.

With that in mind, there are primarily three options for citing in a summary; you should choose an option that best aligns with your faculty’s preferences and your goals in that paragraph. Note, however, that these examples only apply to summaries of one source, not paragraphs where you are incorporating multiple sources in your paragraph (those paragraphs should follow APA's general citation rules). 

One way to cite throughout a summary is to use both narrative and parenthetical citations. These two types of citations, when used together, ensure the reader knows you are summarizing from one source, but help you avoid repetition. Here is an example of this strategy:

Universities are continually looking at ways to better support international student populations, and so student support has become a focus for many researchers. Song and Petracchi (2015) studied international students in higher education, specifically focusing on how to best support international students in social work programs. International students often have difficulties due to a lack of financial, emotional, and social support (Song & Petracchi, 2015). Social work students have better outcomes when they were paired in a mentor–mentee relationship with a retired social worker (Song & Petracchi, 2015). Song and Petrachi’s survey results from 31 participants showed that the international social work students were overwhelmingly interested in participating in a mentor–mentee relationship, and thus such a program is recommended.

This paragraph balances narrative and parenthetical citations, creating an equal focus on the study’s ideas and the study’s authors while also creating some variety and flow in the paragraph. Additionally, in this paragraph it is clear throughout that each idea and sentence is coming from the source. Imagine a few of the citations were not there; without those citations, it might seem like those ideas were the writer’s own ideas or they could be ideas from any source. Finally, note that because this author used multiple narrative citations, she could also simplify those citations with APA’s citation publication year rule.

Example 1

Smith et al. (2017) provided a literature review of current research on climate change and its impact on public health. The authors argued that research thus far shows that climate change will have, and is already having, an impact on human health. Thus, they show the importance of discussing and advocating for climate change policy within the medical and health policy fields. Specifically, Smith et al. used California as an example, showing how effective discussing climate change within the framework of public health can be in making significant policy changes. The main conclusion from this review is that similar approaches could be used throughout the United States.

The focus of this paragraph is explaining Smith et al.'s (2017) literature review findings, and throughout the explanation cues like "the authors," "they show," and "this review" help the reader understand that the ideas are all from the Smith et al. source. Note that because there is more than one narrative citation in the paragraph, the year is not needed after the first one (see APA's citation publication year rule).

Example 2

Universities are continually looking at ways to better support international student populations, and therefore student support has become a focus for many researchers. Song and Petracchi (2015) studied international students in higher education, specifically focusing on how to best support international students in social work programs. They claimed that international students often have difficulties due to a lack of financial, emotional, and social support. Additionally, social work students have better outcomes when they are paired in a mentor–mentee relationship with a retired social worker. The survey results from 31 participants showed that the international social work students were overwhelmingly interested in participating in a mentor–mentee relationship, and thus such a program is recommended.

Again, the focus of this paragraph is explaining the study and findings by Song and Petracchi (2015). After the initial citation, words and phrases, including “they claimed” and “the survey results” are used to help the reader know that the following information continues to be from that source.

One last strategy you can use when citing in summaries is to explicitly cite the source in each sentence using a narrative citation. Although this strategy may technically follow APA’s rules, it is not the preferred method because it is not as smooth as the strategies above and can result in repetition. Here is an example of this strategy:

Fossati (2017) studied the way local governments have stepped in to create universal health care policies in Indonesia. He did so by conducting a thorough literature review. In this literature review, Fossati found that local governments were well positioned to implement innovative health care solutions for their communities. Fossati went on to argue that local innovation can create inequity between different communities, but that it could also provide an impetus for change at a national level. Fossati recommended researchers look at Indonesia for lessons that other developing countries can also learn.

The focus of this paragraph is on the researcher, who is mentioned at the start of each sentence. You may want to use this approach if you want the reader to focus more on the researchers conducting the study rather than the study’s actual findings. However, the use of just narrative citations results in repetition, which means the paragraph is a little choppy and there is less focus on the ideas. Additionally, note that if you decide to use this strategy, APA’s citation publication year rule also applies.