Avoiding Citation Redundancy
Citing the same source within a paragraph can seem problematic, but it does not have to be. Follow the principles given below, and they should clear up any confusion.
The next page gives another example.
The APA Style blog has offered some suggestions about citing when paraphrasing. Timothy McAdoo (2011) points out that the problem with providing a citation only at the end of the paragraph is that the reader does not know how many of the previous sentences belong to the source you are citing and how many are your own thoughts. He provides the following paragraph as an example, which is technically correct but full of redundancy because of the citations:
The cross-pollination and fusion of musical genres over the last 2 decades has exposed children to a diversity of musical styles (Viglione, 2010). Technology has also made possible the distribution and sharing of music in exciting new ways (Viglione, 2010). Music is shared through social media sites, analyzed and tailored for the individual listener via sites like Pandora, and simply given away by musicians on their websites (Viglione, 2010). As a result, in the future, children will likely develop eclectic musical tastes early and expect a diversity of musical styles at younger and younger ages (Viglione, 2010).
Although technically correct, the citation at the end of each sentence is redundant and boring.
The APA blog provides some suggestions about citing paraphrases. McAdoo advises the following:
When writing a paragraph, you can alternate between citing an author parenthetically and using the author’s name in the running text. You can also use “he” or “she,” when you know the gender of the author (see SA’s reworded paragraph [below]). Just be sure that these pronouns have a clear referent. By using these variations, you can avoid redundancy in your writing and still make clear throughout the paragraph that the ideas are those of the original researcher.
As an example of what that would look like applied to the highlighted paragraph above, one commenter, SA (2011), provided the basis for this sample:
Viglione (2010) suggested that cross-pollination and fusion of musical genres over the last 2 decades has exposed children to a diversity of musical styles. He pointed out that technology has also made possible the distribution and sharing of music in exciting new ways. Music is shared through social media sites, analyzed and tailored for the individual listener via sites like Pandora, and simply given away by musicians on their websites (Viglione, 2010). As a result, Viglione (2010) argued, in the future, children will likely develop eclectic musical tastes early and expect a diversity of musical styles at younger and younger ages.
In each sentence of the paragraph the source is clearly identified. In the first sentence the name appears as part of the narrative, so the date is in parentheses after it. In the second sentence, the author is clearly identified with the personal pronoun, requiring no further citation. In the third sentence, because the author isn’t identified, a parenthetical citation is required. In the fourth sentence, although the author is identified in the narrative, because a parenthetical citation was used in the third sentence, the year needs to be included in subsequent citations within the paragraph.
Reference
McAdoo, T. (2011, March 18). Citing paraphrased work in APA style [Blog post]. Retrieved from
SA. (2011, March 23). Re: Citing paraphrased work in APA style [Blog comment]. Retrieved from