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Citation Guide (archived): Articles - APA

A guide to creating citations for bibliographies and works cited pages

This guide does NOT use the latest APA style guidelines

These examples follow guidelines from the 6th edition of the APA Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (2013), which are currently out of date. Examples that reflect the 7th edition guidelines (2020) are available now at libguides.aacc.edu/citationguide/apa.

Websites for APA Style Citations

Many of these sites offer information about constructing in-text citations, as well as constructing citations for bibliographies and references lists: 

Periodical Info - APA

Names

  • If the first element of a citation, display an author's last name first, followed by first and middle initials
  • Separate names with a comma; use an ampersand (&) before the last author (if there are more than seven authors, use an ellipses after the sixth author's name, then include final author)
  • If no author is given, article title appears first, then date

Dates

  • Do not abbreviate month names
  • Daily periodicals: (year, month day)
  • Monthly or quarterly periodicals: (year, month or season)
  • Use (n.d.) if no date is provided

Titles

  • Article titles and subtitles: capitalize the first word and proper nouns
  • Periodical titles: italicize, and capitalize all words except articles and prepositions

Issue Numbers 

  • Include issue number, especially if paginated by issue

Page numbers

  • Newspapers: use p. for one page, pp. for two or more pages
  • Magazines and journals: do not use p. or pp.

DOI's

  • When available, include a DOI (digital object identifier); look for a DOI at the beginning or end of an article
  • Many DOIs will start with http://dx.doi.org or https://doi.org
  • Using https://doi.org is now preferred by APA
  • For more information, see www.doi.org; to see if an article has a DOI assigned to it, use www.crossref.org/guestquery

Electronic Info - APA

DOIs

  • When available, include a DOI (digital object identifier); look for a DOI at the beginning or end of an article
  • Many DOIs will start with http://dx.doi.org or https://doi.org
  • Using https://doi.org is now preferred by APA
  • For more information, see www.doi.org; to see if an article has a DOI assigned to it, use www.crossref.org/guestquery
  • For more information, see the DOI website. To see if an article or book has a DOI assigned to it, use crossref.org.

Library Databases - No DOI

  • For an article, use the periodical's homepage URL instead; if none exists, use the Database Name instead
  • For eBooks, we well as video, audio, and other multimedia resources, use the Database name instead

URLs

  • web address usually starts with http:// or https://
  • Provide the homepage URL, rather than a very long direct URL, when an item is easily found with a search

Dates

  • If unlikely to change (like articles in library databases, or any works also published in print), a retrieval date is not needed
  • Use (n.d.) if no date is given for publication or copyright

Please Note

Citations should be double-spaced in an actual Bibliography, Works Cited, or References list, and works should be ordered alphabetically by author.

Citing Articles from Print Journals, Magazines, Newspapers - APA

Articles in journals and magazines
Author(s). (Date). Title of article. Journal or Magazine Title, volume number(issue number, if any), page(s).
https://doi.org/... (if given)

Gerry, R. (1997, April-June). Tempo training for freestyle. Swimming Technique, 34(1), 40-42.

Rehder, B. (2007, September 17). Pure muscle and all heart: Ezzy, a doting Pit bull. Newsweek, 150(2), 19.

Watson, J. D., & Crick, F. H. (1953). A structure for deoxyribose nucleic acid. Nature171, 737-738.

Articles in daily newspapers
Author(s). (Year, Month day). Title of article. Newspaper Title, p. or pp. page(s). https://doi.org/... (if given)

Munsey, C., & Shuey, P. J. (1997, May 8). Bomb threats to become felony. The Capital, pp. A1, A6.

Book and film reviews
Reviewer Name(s), if given. (Date). Title of review (if any) [Review of the book/film Title, by Author(s), Editor(s), or Producer(s), Director, etc., year of release (if a film, DVD, video game, etc.)]. Periodical Title, volume(issue), pages(s).
https://doi.org/... (if given)

Carothers, T. (2018, September 16). A relentlessly dark indictment of global capitalism, with a Trumpian twist [Review of the book American: The farewell tour, by C. Hedges]. The Washington Post, p. B6.

Maslin, J. (1998, December 11). The causes [Review of the DVD Gang Context, produced by Police Now, 1998]. Reels, 8(4), 45.

Unsigned articles in newspapers
Title of article. (Year, month day). Newspaper Title, p. or pp. page(s). https://doi.org/... (if given)

Haley charged. (2009, June 1). Springfield Post, p. A1, A10.

Editorials and letters to Editors of newspapers
Author. (Date). Title, if any [Editorial or Letter to the Editor]. Newspaper Title
, p. or pp. page(s). https:doi.org/... (if given)

Beckmann, A. (2018, January 15). State songbirds matter [Letter to the Editor]. The Baltimore Sun, p. D10.

Citing Articles from Library Databases - APA

Periodical articles - library databases, with DOI
 (Cite as you would articles in print). http://dx.doi.org/...

(For more information about DOIs, see left, "Electronic Info - APA")

Hirata, S. (2018). Fake snakes uncover chimpanzees' mind-reading ability. Learning & Behavior, 46(3), 225-226. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13420-018-0324-3

Martin, J., & Tokada, K. (2007, December). Face recognition in chimpanzees. Behavioral Sciences Journal, 21(4), 39-57. https://doi.org/10.1037/0735-7044.121.6.1145

Periodical articles - Library Databases, no DOI
(Cite as you would articles in print, omitting, if not provided, page numbers). Retrieved from hompage URL of the periodical - if none exists, Database Name.

Gerdes, V. (1963). Insuring the flood peril. Journal of Insurance, 33(4), 547-553.  Retrieved from JSTOR database. 

Spending at Humana trims profit. (2012, May 1). The New York Times, p. B2. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com

Citing Articles from Periodical Websites - APA

Periodicals articles from websites 
(Cite as you would
articles in print, omitting, if not provided, page numbers). https://doi.org/... or Retrieved from periodical hompage URL

Bishop, K. & Kimball, M. A. (2006, Fall). Engaging students in storytelling. Teacher Librarian, 33(4), 28-31. Retrieved from http://www.teacherlibrarian.com

Muller, C. M. P., Brenner, E., & Smeets, J. B. J. (2009). Maybe they are all circles: Clues and cues. Journal of Vision, 9(9), 1-5. https//doi.org/10.1167/9.9.10

Online-only periodical supplements
(Cite as you would
articles in print, omitting, if not provided, page numbers; include descriptions in brackets that help locate materials, e.g., [Supplemental material], [Audio podcast], [Editorial], etc.). https://doi.org/... or Retrieved Access date (only if material is likely to change), from periodical homepage URL

Beconyte, G., Eismontaite, A. & Zemaitiene, J. (2014, January 10). Mythical creatures of Europe [Supplemental material: Main map]. Journal of Maps, 10(1), 53-60. https://doi.org/10.1080/17445647.2013.867544

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