How to write "(e.g. Surname, 2018)" with apacite?

Question

I am trying to write: "(e.g. Surname, 2018)" using apacite package.

I have tried (e.g. \cite{surname2018}}) (too many brackets), \cite{surname2018} (does not have e.g.) , and (e.g. \citeA{surname2018}} but it still does not work.

What should I do in this case?

Answer 1

The apacite package supports two sorts of citation commands, its own version, or the natbib versions (loaded with the natbibapa package option.)

The citation commands support both a pre-note and a post-note. The basic syntax is:

\cite<pre-note>[post-note]{citekey}

where \cite gives you (pre-note Author, Year, post-note), \citeA gives you pre-note Author (Year, post-note).

So to get your example, you would use:

\cite<e.g.>{citekey}.

If you are using the natbibapa option, the command syntax is slightly different:

\cite[pre-note][post-note]{citekey}

yields pre-note Author (year,post-note) while

\citep[pre-note][post-note]{citekey}

yields (pre-note Author, Year, post-note).

Since square brackets are used to delimit both the pre-note and the post-note, you need to provide an empty post-note to get a pre-note only. So your example would be:

\citep[e.g.][]{citekey}

You can find the full set of citation commands in the apacite documentation, or for a quick summary see: What is the relationship between natbib, apacite package, and apa document class?.