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APA Journal Citation

Generate APA citations from DOIs, titles, or URLs

Journal article
Example result
Watson, J. D., & Crick, F. H. C. (1953). Molecular structure of nucleic acids: A structure for deoxyribose nucleic acid. Nature, 171(4356), 737–738. https://doi.org/10.1038/171737a0
Complete · All key fields present
APA 7th
Watson, James D., and Francis H. C. Crick. “Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid.” Nature, vol. 171, no. 4356, 1953, pp. 737–738. DOI: 10.1038/171737a0.
Complete · All key fields present
APA 7th
Watson, James D., and Francis H. C. Crick. 1953. “Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid.” Nature 171 (4356): 737–38. https://doi.org/10.1038/171737a0.
Complete · All key fields present

APA Format for Journal Articles
7th Edition

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Journal Name, Volume(Issue), pages. https://doi.org/xxx
Author
  • List authors in the order they appear in the article.
  • Format each author as last name, followed by initials.
  • Use “&” before the final author.
  • For 1–20 authors, list all authors.
  • For 21 or more authors, list the first 19 authors, insert an ellipsis (…), and then add the final author.
Year
  • Use the year of publication.
  • If no publication year is available, use (n.d.).
Title of the article
  • Write the article title in sentence case.
  • Capitalize only the first word of the title, the first word after a colon, and any proper nouns.
  • Do not italicize the article title.
Journal Name
  • Write the journal title in italic and title case.
  • Capitalize all major words.
  • Example: Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
Volume & Issue
  • Italicize the volume number.
  • Place the issue number in parentheses immediately after the volume; do not italicize the issue.
  • Use the format: Volume(Issue)
Page Range or Article Number
  • Use the full page range when available, written as 233–248.
  • Use an en dash for page spans.
  • If the article uses an article number or eLocator instead of page numbers, include it in place of the page range.
DOI
  • Always include the DOI when available.
  • Present the DOI in URL format: https://doi.org/xxxxx
  • If no DOI is available and the article is publicly accessible on the publisher’s website, include the URL.
  • Do not include database URLs for articles accessed through academic databases.

APA Journal Examples

One author

Use sentence case for the article title; italicize the journal name and volume.
Example:
Ribner, A. D. (2020). Executive function facilitates learning from math instruction in kindergarten: Evidence from the ECLS-K. Learning and Instruction, 65, 101251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2019.101251

Two authors

Use “&” before the final author; follow the same journal formatting rules.
Example:
Siau, K., & Ling, M. (2017). Mobile Collaboration Support for Virtual Teams. Journal of Database Management, 28(3), 48–69. https://doi.org/10.4018/jdm.2017070103

Three+ authors

List all authors in order; use “&” before the final author.
Example:
Pettersen, E. F., Goddard, T. D., Huang, C. C., Couch, G. S., Greenblatt, D. M., Meng, E. C., & Ferrin, T. E. (2004). UCSF Chimera — A visualization system for exploratory research and analysis. Journal of Computational Chemistry, 25(13), 1605–1612. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcc.20084

Without a DOI (Online Access)

If the article is publicly accessible, include the URL; otherwise, omit retrieval information.
Example:
Banwell, L., & Coulson, G. (2004). Users and user study methodology: The JUBILEE Project. Information Research: An International Electronic Journal, 9(2), paper 167. http://informationr.net/ir/9-2/paper167.html

Without a DOI (Database Only)

If the article is from an academic database and not publicly accessible, do not include a URL.
Example:
Hughes, A. R. (2018). Classroom motivation strategies among college students. Educational Research Quarterly, 42(1), 22–36.

Online-Only Journal Article (No Page Numbers)

If the article has no page range, omit that element.
Example:
Hollett, R., Tomkinson, S., Illingworth, S., Power, B., & Harper, T. (2022). Evidence that digital game players neglect age classification systems when deciding which games to play. PLOS ONE, 17(2), e0263560. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0263560

In-Text Citations

APA style uses two in-text formats: parenthetical citations (author and year in parentheses) and narrative citations (author as part of the sentence).

Basic citation styles

Parenthetical citation

Author and year both appear in parentheses at the end of the sentence.

The results were consistent across studies (Walker, 2020).

Narrative citation

The author is part of the sentence; the year appears in parentheses.

Walker (2020) discusses this in detail.

One Author

Parenthetical citation

Use the author’s last name followed by the year.

The experiment supported this hypothesis(King, 2011)

Narrative citation

Place the author in the sentence and the year in parentheses.

King (2011)reports similar findings in her study.

Two Authors

Parenthetical citation

Join the two authors with an ampersand (&) inside the parentheses.

These effects have been replicated in later work(Lopez & Chen, 2019).

Narrative citation

Use “and” between authors when they appear in the sentence.

Lopez and Chen (2019) highlight this trend in their article.

Three or More Authors

Parenthetical citation

Use the first author’s name followed by “et al.”

Subsequent trials showed similar outcomes(Patel et al., 2022).

Narrative citation

Use the first author’s name plus “et al.” in the sentence.

Patel et al. (2022)found consistent improvements over time.

Organization as Author

Parenthetical citation

Use the organization’s full name as the author.

Recent guidelines stress regular screening (World Health Organization, 2020).

Narrative citation

Mention the organization in the sentence and add the year in parentheses.

The World Health Organization (2020)recommends routine monitoring.

No Author

Parenthetical citation

Use the article title in quotation marks followed by the year.

This pattern has been observed in several samples("Sleep and Mood," 2018, 2019).

Narrative citation

start the sentence with the article title, then add the year.

"Sleep and Mood" (2018) reports a strong link between insomnia and anxiety.

Same Author, Same Year (a / b)

Parenthetical citation

Add letters (a, b, c) after the year to distinguish multiple articles.

Different coping styles showed distinct outcomes(Garcia, 2021a, 2021b).

Narrative citation

Use the same letters in the sentence to match the reference list.

Garcia (2021a, 2021b)compared short-term and long-term effects.

Direct quotes from journal articles

Parenthetical citation

Include the page number after the year for direct quotations.

The authors note that the effect was “surprisingly robust”(Nguyen, 2017, p. 45).

Narrative citation

Put the author and year in the sentence, and the page number at the end.

Nguyen (2017)describes the effect as “surprisingly robust”(p. 45).

Multiple journal articles in one citation

Parenthetical citation

List works alphabetically by author and separate them with semicolons.

These findings are widely supported(Chen et al., 2019; Lopez, 2020; Taylor & Kim, 2022).

Narrative citation

Combine narrative and parenthetical forms when needed.

Lopez (2020) and Taylor and Kim (2022)both report similar results.

Quick Checklist

Common Mistakes & How to Fix Them

Mistake 1

Using title case for the article title

APA uses sentence case for journal article titles. Only the first word and proper nouns are capitalized.

Wrong

✕ The Effects Of Memory Training On Older Adults

Correct

✓ The effects of memory training on older adults

Mistake 2

Italicizing the article title

In APA, the article title is not italicized. Only the journal name and volume number use italics.

Wrong

✕ The effects of memory training on older adults. Journal of Aging Research

Correct

✓ The effects of memory training on older adults.Journal of Aging Research

Mistake 3

Not italicizing the volume number

APA italicizes the journal title and the volume number, but not the issue number.

Wrong

✕ Journal of Cognitive Science, 28(3)

Correct

✓Journal of Cognitive Science , 28(3)

Mistake 4

Including a URL from an academic database

APA 7th does not require database URLs for standard scholarly journal articles.Only include a DOI if available.

Wrong

✕Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/1234567

Correct

✓ https://doi.org/10.1037/arc0000123

Mistake 5

Using “DOI:” instead of the DOI URL format

APA requires the DOI in URL form. do not use “DOI:” or “doi:”.

Wrong

✕ DOI: 10.1037/abc0000988

Correct

✓ https://doi.org/10.1037/abc0000988

Mistake 6

Using full first names for authors

APA uses initials for first and middle names.

Wrong

✕ Johnson, Emily R., & Carter, Michael T.

Correct

✓ Johnson, E. R., & Carter, M. T.

Mistake 7

Incorrect capitalization of the journal title

Journal titles use title case, not sentence case.

Wrong

✕ journal of experimental psychology: general

Correct

✓ Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

Mistake 8

Missing page range for print or PDF articles

If the article has page numbers, APA requires them.

Wrong

✕ Smith, J. L. (2022). … Psychology Review, 15(2).

Correct

✓ Smith, J. L. (2022). … Psychology Review, 15(2), 145–162.

Mistake 9

Not using “et al.” for three or more authors

After the first author, APA uses et al. for journal article in-text citations and reference entries where applicable.

Wrong

✕ Smith, J. L., Johnson, R. K., & Lee, M. T. (2022). … Psychology Review, 15(2), 145–162.

Correct

✓ Smith, J. L., et al. (2022). … Psychology Review, 15(2), 145–162.

APA Journal Citation FAQ

If a journal article has no DOI and you accessed it through a standard academic database, do not include a URL. Simply end the reference after the page range.

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of the article. Journal Title, Volume(Issue), pages.

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