Which of the following in-text citations is correctly cited?

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

When evaluating which in-text citation is correctly formatted, we must compare each option to standard in-text citation rules.
Option 1: 'It was determined that there is a positive correlation between the two variables (J. Smith, 2008).' This choice is incorrect because it presents the author with an initial before the surname in the parentheses. APA-style in-text citations typically use the author’s surname only (Smith, 2008) inside parentheses, not 'J. Smith'. The structure also awkwardly combines a narrative claim with parentheses, which muddles the citation format.
Option 2: 'There was a positive correlation between the two variables (Smith, 2008).' This option follows the conventional author–date format: the author’s surname followed by a comma and the year within parentheses. It matches standard APA-style in-text citation rules for a parenthetical citation accompanying a statement.
Option 3: 'Smith said there is a positive correlation between the two variables.' This is incorrect because it lacks a citation to the source year and uses a narrative tag without any parenthetical citation. It also presumes the source as a direct quote or paraphrase without properly crediting the year, which weakens verifiability.
Option 4: '(Smith, 2008) determined that there is a positive correlation between the two variables.' This formulation misplaces the citation; placing the parenthetical citation at the start of the sentence creates an awkward structure and makes the sentence read as if the citation itself determined the finding rather than the author. Additionally, the year and author are separated from the verb and subject in an atypical way for standard prose.
In summary, Option 2 aligns with standard in-text citation conventions by presenting the author and year in parentheses after the statement, without extraneous formatting or missing information.

Which of the following in-text citations is correctly cited?

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