How to Cite Doctors in APA | Pen and the Pad
NEWLearn new words with our Vocabulary Swiper!

How to Cite Doctors in APA

How to Cite Doctors in APA
Written By
Kristie Sweet
Kristie Sweet
May 22, 2011
1 minute read

Although you may think explaining that an author of one of your research paper's sources holds a professional degree like Doctor of Medicine, the American Psychological Association, or APA, style does not include indications such as M.D. in either in-text citations or the references list at the end.

Formatting Requirements

In APA style, in-text citations include only the author's last name along with the date. First initials only appear if you have multiple authors with the same last name. Therefore, no professional degree indications appear.

A citation from a doctor would look like this: (Hazu, 2014). You may instead include information within a signal phrase to indicate the source's expertise, such as, "Dr. Hazu, an internist with 30 years' experience at the Mayo Clinic, disagrees."

Likewise, no indication of the doctor's professional degree appears on the references entry. The entry for Dr. Hazu would follow this structure:

Hazu, D. (2014). Pandemics in the 21st century. American Medical Journal, 13(3), 24-29.

Need help with a citation? Try our citation generator.

Kristie Sweet

Kristie Sweet has been writing professionally since 1982, most recently publishing for various websites on topics like health and wellness, and education. She holds a Master of Arts in English from the University of Northern Colorado.

Sponsored
Pen and the Pad Logo

Pen and the Pad is your resource for writing, grammar, citations, and the craft of language and literature.

Property of TechnologyAdvice. © 2026 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.