ASA Style Guide

In-text citations include the last name of the author(s) and the year of publication. Page numbers should be included in the in-text citation when quoting directly from a work or referring to specific passages. 

American Sociological Association. 2019. American Sociological Association Style Guide. 6th ed. Washington, D. C.: American Sociological Association.

Basic Format

(Author Year)

Examples

If the author's name is not mentioned in the written text:

...for validity and authenticity (Davis 2005). 

 

If the author's name is mentioned in written text:

Giddens (1991) argues that...

 

With page numbers:

Giddens (1991:7) argues...

 

2 Authors

...(Danzigner and Ratner 2010)

 

3 Authors

First citation: (Smith, Davis, and Wolf 2005)

Following citations: (Smith et al. 2005)

 

4-10 Authors

(Potter et al. 1999)

Potter et al. (1999) discovered that...

 

Institutional Authors

To create shorter in-text citations, abbreviations of the institution are preffered.

In-text: (ASA 2018)

Reference: ASA (American Sociological Association). 2018...

 

**For additional examples, consult the ASA Style guide or Purdue Owl website.