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APA Formatting and Style Guide (7th Edition)
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- How to cite a journal article in APA Style
How to Cite a Journal Article in APA Style | Format & Example
Published on November 5, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on January 17, 2024.
An APA Style citation for a journal article includes the author name(s), publication year, article title, journal name, volume and issue number, page range of the article, and a DOI (if available). Use the buttons below to explore the format, or try the free APA Citation Generator to quickly and easily create citations.
Cite a journal article in APA Style now:
Table of contents, basic format for an apa journal citation, citing an article with an elocator or article number, citing unpublished journal articles, special issue of a journal, frequently asked questions about apa style citations.
The article title appears in plain text and sentence case, while the journal name is italicized and in title case (all major words capitalized).
| APA format | Last name, Initials. (Year). Article title. , (Issue), Page range. DOI or URL |
|---|---|
| Mounier-Kuhn, P. (2012). Computer science in French universities: Early entrants and latecomers. (4), 414–456. https://doi.org/10.7560/IC47402 | |
| (Mounier-Kuhn, 2012) |
When viewing a journal article online, the required information can usually be found on the access page.
Linking to online journal articles
A DOI should always be used where available. Some databases do not list one, but you may still find one by looking for the same article on another database. You don’t need to include the name of the database in your citation.
If no DOI is available and the article was accessed through a database, do not include a URL.
If the article is not from a database, but from another website (e.g. the journal’s own website), you should ideally use a stable URL: this is often provided under a “share” button. Otherwise, copy the URL from your browser’s address bar.
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Articles published only in PDF form may provide an article number or “eLocator” instead of a page range; in this case, include the number in your citation, preceded by the word “Article.”
| APA format | Last name, Initials. (Year). Article title. , (Issue), Article Number. DOI or URL |
|---|---|
| Burin, D., Kilteni, K., Rabuffetti, M., Slater, M., & Pia, L. (2019). Body ownership increases the interference between observed and executed movements. , (1), Article e0209899. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209899 | |
| (Burin et al., 2019) |
When citing from an article that has not yet been formally published, the format varies depending on whether or not it has already been submitted to a journal. Note that different formats are used for unpublished dissertations and raw data .
Unpublished article
The text of an article which has not yet appeared online or in publication (i.e. which is only available directly from the author) should be cited as an “Unpublished manuscript.” The title is italicized and information about the author’s university is included if available:
| APA format | Last name, Initials. (Year). [Unpublished manuscript]. Department Name, University Name. |
|---|---|
| Smith, J. M., & Davis, H. (2019). [Unpublished manuscript]. Department of Psychology, University of Notre Dame. | |
| (Smith & Davis, 2019) |
Article submitted for publication
An article that has been submitted to a journal but not yet accepted is cited as a “Manuscript submitted for publication.” The title is italicized, and the name of the journal to which it was submitted is not included:
| APA format | Last name, Initials. (Year). [Manuscript submitted for publication]. Department Name, University Name. |
|---|---|
| Smith, J. M., & Davis, H. (2019). [Manuscript submitted for publication]. Department of Psychology, University of Notre Dame. | |
| (Smith & Davis, 2019) |
Article in press
An article that has been submitted and accepted for publication in a journal is cited as “in press.” Here, the name of the journal is included, university information is omitted, and “in press” is written in place of the year (both in the reference list and the in-text citation):
| APA format | Last name, Initials. (in press). Article title. . |
|---|---|
| Smith, J. M., & Davis, H. (in press). Language acquisition among autistic children. . | |
| (Smith & Davis, in press) |
If you want to cite a special issue of a journal rather than a regular article, the name(s) of the editor(s) and the title of the issue appear in place of the author’s name and article title:
| APA format | Last name, Initials. (Ed. or Eds.). (Year). Title of issue [Special issue]. , (Issue). |
|---|---|
| Pollak, S. D., Camras, L. A., & Cole, P. M. (Eds.). (2019). New perspectives on the development of human emotion [Special issue]. , (9). | |
| (Pollak et al., 2019) |
Note that if you want to cite an individual article from the special issue, it can just be cited in the basic format for journal articles.
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In an APA journal citation , if a DOI (digital object identifier) is available for an article, always include it.
If an article has no DOI, and you accessed it through a database or in print, just omit the DOI.
If an article has no DOI, and you accessed it through a website other than a database (for example, the journal’s own website), include a URL linking to the article.
Include the DOI at the very end of the APA reference entry . If you’re using the 6th edition APA guidelines, the DOI is preceded by the label “doi:”. In the 7th edition , the DOI is preceded by ‘https://doi.org/’.
- 6th edition: doi: 10.1177/0894439316660340
- 7th edition: https://doi.org/ 10.1177/0894439316660340
APA citation example (7th edition)
Hawi, N. S., & Samaha, M. (2016). The relations among social media addiction, self-esteem, and life satisfaction in university students. Social Science Computer Review , 35 (5), 576–586. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894439316660340
The abbreviation “ et al. ” (meaning “and others”) is used to shorten APA in-text citations with three or more authors . Here’s how it works:
Only include the first author’s last name, followed by “et al.”, a comma and the year of publication, for example (Taylor et al., 2018).
You may include up to 20 authors in a reference list entry .
When an article has more than 20 authors, replace the names prior to the final listed author with an ellipsis, but do not omit the final author:
Davis, Y., Smith, J., Caulfield, F., Pullman, H., Carlisle, J., Donahue, S. D., James, F., O’Donnell, K., Singh, J., Johnson, L., Streefkerk, R., McCombes, S., Corrieri, L., Valck, X., Baldwin, F. M., Lorde, J., Wardell, K., Lao, W., Yang, P., . . . O’Brien, T. (2012).
In an APA reference list , journal article citations include only the year of publication, not the exact date, month, or season.
The inclusion of volume and issue numbers makes a more specific date unnecessary.
Cite this Scribbr article
If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.
Caulfield, J. (2024, January 17). How to Cite a Journal Article in APA Style | Format & Example. Scribbr. Retrieved October 14, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/apa-examples/journal-article/
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Cite your source automatically in APA. Please note: the following contains a list of the most commonly cited periodical sources. For a complete list of how to cite periodical publications, please refer to the 7th edition of the APA Publication Manual.
Reference List. Resources on writing an APA style reference list, including citation formats. Basic Rules Basic guidelines for formatting the reference list at the end of a standard APA research paper Author/Authors
This page contains reference examples for journal articles, including articles with article numbers, articles with missing information, retractions, abstracts, online-only supplemental material, and monographs as part of a journal issue.
An APA Style citation for a journal article includes the author name (s), publication year, article title, journal name, volume and issue number, page range of the article, and a DOI (if available).
Reference Guide for Journal Articles, Books, and Edited Book Chapters. Invert names so that the last name comes first, followed by a comma and the initials. Leave a space between initials. Retain the order of authors’ names. Place the year in parentheses. End with a period.
This guide provides information about creating APA 7 Reference List and In-Text Citations