Is it acceptable to paraphrase a source without citation in my APA essay?

No, it is not acceptable to paraphrase a source without citation in your APA essay. You must always include an in-text citation whenever you use someone else’s ideas, even if you have completely rewritten the sentences in your own words. Failing to credit the original author constitutes plagiarism, regardless of how thoroughly you rephrased the content. The most helpful concrete advice is to treat the source’s core idea as the element that requires attribution, not just the specific sentence structure. When you paraphrase, you are borrowing the intellectual property of the researcher, so you need to guide your reader back to that origin. For example, if you read a study stating that sleep deprivation impairs memory consolidation, and you write that "lacking rest hinders the brain's ability to store new information," you still need to cite that study. Without the citation, your reader might assume you discovered or invented that connection yourself, which misrepresents the academic record. In APA style, a proper citation for paraphrased material involves placing the author’s last name and the publication year in parentheses at the end of the sentence or clause containing the idea. If you are quoting directly, you would also include the page number, but for paraphrasing, the page number is optional unless the idea is so specific that it needs pinpointing. Since your campus writing center is closed, double-check your course handbook for any specific formatting preferences, but the standard APA rule remains consistent: if it isn’t common knowledge, cite it. This practice protects your academic integrity and helps your instructor verify your sources. By consistently citing paraphrased material, you demonstrate that you have engaged deeply with the literature and are building your argument on a solid foundation of verified evidence.