APA parenthetical citation for a glossary definition — guidance for a 54-year-old student

Clear, step-by-step instructions (with examples) for writing APA parenthetical citations for a definition taken from a glossary or online glossary, including what to do if there's no author, no date, or the glossary is generated by AI.

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Short answer: use (Author or Organization, Year). If you quote verbatim, add a page or paragraph locator: (Author, Year, p. X) or (Author, Year, para. X). If there's no author, use a short title in place of the author. If the definition comes from an AI/chat response that is not publicly retrievable, cite it as a personal communication in-text only.

  1. Paraphrase a retrievable glossary entry

    Format: (Author or Organization, Year)

    Example: You paraphrase a definition from the American Psychological Association's online glossary (2020):

    (American Psychological Association, 2020)
  2. Quote a definition verbatim from a retrievable source

    When you copy the definition word-for-word, include a paragraph or page number if available.

    Format: (Author or Organization, Year, para. X) or (Author, Year, p. X)

    Example:

    (Merriam-Webster, 2019, para. 2)
  3. No author listed

    Use a shortened title of the entry in quotation marks (for web page/article-style entries) plus the year.

    Format: ("Short Title of Entry," Year)

    Example (entry titled "operational definition", 2018):

    ("Operational definition," 2018)
  4. No date

    If no publication date is given, use n.d. for "no date."

    Format: (Author or Org, n.d.)

    Example:

    (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, n.d.)
  5. Content from an AI or a non-retrievable glossary (e.g., a chat response)

    APA guidance treats unrecoverable content (like a single chat reply) as personal communication. Cite only in-text — do not add a reference list entry.

    Format: (Source, personal communication, Month Day, Year)

    Example if I (ChatGPT) gave you the definition today:

    (OpenAI ChatGPT, personal communication, August 20, 2025)

Placement and small tips

  • Place the parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence before the period: "...definition." (Author, Year)
  • If you name the author in the sentence, put only the year in parentheses: "According to Merriam-Webster (2019), ..."
  • If you quote directly and the source lacks page numbers, use paragraph numbers: para. 3: (Author, Year, para. 3).
  • Whenever the source is publicly retrievable, include a full reference list entry so readers can find the full glossary entry.

Quick templates

Paraphrase (retrievable): (AuthorOrOrg, Year)
Direct quote (retrievable): (AuthorOrOrg, Year, p. X) or (AuthorOrOrg, Year, para. X)
No author: ("Short Title," Year)
No date: (AuthorOrOrg, n.d.)
AI / non-retrievable: (Name, personal communication, Month Day, Year)

If you want, tell me the exact glossary entry you used (author/organization, entry title, year, and URL if available) and I will give the precise parenthetical citation and the matching reference-list entry in APA 7th edition for you.

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