Final answer:
The example given is not a correct APA citation; the proper APA in-text citation for three or more authors would be (Brown et al., 1986). Proper in-text citations are crucial for crediting original authors and enhancing writing credibility.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement 'This has also been shown to be beneficial when imagery instructions are used (Brown, P., Keenan, J., and Potts, G., 1986)' is an attempt to correctly cite a reference in text; however, this citation is not wholly correct per the APA style guidelines. The correct APA in-text citation format typically includes the author's last name, the year of publication, and may also include the page number if quoting directly. For example, a proper APA in-text citation would look like this: (Brown, Keenan, & Potts, 1986).
When citing a work with three or more authors, as shown in the example given, APA style now recommends using the first author's last name followed by 'et al.' for the first and subsequent citations. Thus, the corrected citation should read: (Brown et al., 1986).
The importance of proper in-text citations cannot be overstated as they help to provide credit to the original authors and enhance the credibility of the writing by pointing readers to the sources in a Works Cited or References page. The APA and MLA are two commonly used documentation styles in academic writing, each with specific rules for citing sources internally within the text and externally in the list of references.
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