APA Style, 7th Edition

Information about the various citation elements is provided in chapter 9. APA provides examples of how to cite articles in section 10.1. 

Journal article citations included in the reference list must include the following elements in this order:

Author. (Year). Article title. Title of Journal, Publication information, page numbers. DOI or URL 

• Author's name listed last name then initials, separated by a comma, and ending with a period.
• Multi-author publications follow the recommendations listed in APA section 9.8 and in Hacker examples 2 and 3.
• Publication year of the volume in which the article is published in parentheses followed by a period.
• The article title is not placed in quotation marks or italicized and uses sentence-style capitalization. Separate the title from the subtitle with a colon and place a period at the end of the title.
• Journal title, in italics with all major words capitalized, written exactly as it appears on the title page of the journal. If a sub-title is included on the title page, the sub-title should be included in the citation.  However, if the official title is an abbreviation, use the abbreviation rather than an expanded title. Place a comma at the end of the journal title. 
• Publication information should include the volume number in Arabic numerals. If there is no issue number, place a comma after the volume number
• If an issue number is available, include the issue number in parentheses immediately after the volume number.  No space should separate the volume number and the parentheses.  Place a comma outside the parentheses as seen in example two below.
• Page numbers are the final element in a journal article citation and are followed by a period.
• A DOI if one is assigned to the journal article or a URL should be listed if available.

Most parenthetical citations, placed immediately after a quotation or paraphrase, must include the following elements as shown in section 8.10.

• Include only the author's last name without any initials or suffixes followed by a comma
• Include only the year of publication
• When citing a specific quotation, idea, or figure from a specific page of the source, indicate the page number, chapter, or figure or table number after the publication year with a comma in between.  The word page may be abbreviated but not chapter or figure.
• Place all elements in parentheses with the period after the closing parentheses

This example is for a journal article containing only a volume number.

R: Aponte, E. & Parker, E. L. (2008). Strangers no more: African American and Latinas/os moving toward coalitions as colleagues. Perspectives, 12, 61-74.

P: (Aponte & Parker, 2008, p. 65)

This example shows a journal article containing both volume and issue number.

R: Stewart, K. J. (2008). Evangelicalism and patristic Christianity: 1517 to the present. Evangelical Quarterly 80(2), 307-321.

P: (Stewart, 2008, p. 318)

This example shows a journal article with a DOI. Note the DOI needs https://doi.org placed before the number so that it is in the form of a complete URL.

R: Chung, R. (2009). Cultural perspectives on child trafficking, human rights & social justice: A model for psychologists. Counseling Psychology Quarterly, 22(1), 85-96. https://doi.org/10.1080/09515070902761230

P: (Chung, 2009, p. 90)

Section 9.8 of the APA Manual describes how to list multiple authors of a single source.

In a reference list, list the author's name last name first followed by initials.  All additional authors, up to twenty, are also listed in the same manner. Separate each author's name with a comma. Use & before the final author's name followed by a period.

If there are twenty-one or more authors, list the first 19 authors then an ellipsis and the final author's name. 

The parenthetical citation follows the same format but requires slight changes in how the authors are listed depending on how many authors were involved with the work as outlined in section 8.17.

When citing an item written by one or two authors, give the name of both authors each time you cite the work.  In a parenthetical citation, use & between the author's names.  If mentioning the authors within the text, use and between their names. 

When citing an item written by three or more, give only the first author's name and then the phrase "et al." However, section 8.18 provides additional instructions for times when there are works by the same multiple authors that shortened would be identical. In those cases, include as many author names as needed to distinguish between articles. If it is necessary to include all author names, omit "et al." 

APA indicates a DOI should be included as the final element for any article that has one whether the item was consulted as a full-text article or in print. The DOI must include https://doi.org/. Do not place a period at the end of a DOI.

R: Kelemen, K. &  Johansson, M. C. (2013). Still neglecting the demand that fuels human trafficking: A study comparing the criminal laws and practice of five European states on human trafficking, purchasing sex from trafficked adults and from minors. European Journal Of Crime, Criminal Law & Criminal Justice 21(3/4), 247-289. https://doi.org/10.1163/15718174-21042030

P: (Kelemen & Johansson, 2013, p. 250)

For help finding a DOI, use the website below.

When no DOI is available but the journal was found online, include the URL at the end of the citation. APA provides the following specifications regarding the URL in section 9.34:

• If the work was found on a website but not an academic research database, include the URL.
• If the work was found in an academic research database, do not include the URL.
• If the database includes works of a limited circulation such as ERIC or an institutional repository include the URL. APA indicates that if the URL requires a login, use the URL of the database or archive home page.
• If the URL is no longer functional, treat the source as a nonrecoverable source as described in section 9.37.

This example is for an article found online through one of the library's databases.  Note that no URL is included as it is an academic research database.

R: Ronning, J. L. (2007). The Targum of Isaiah and the Johannine literature. Westminster Theological Journal, 69(2), 247-278. 

P: (Ronning, 2007, p. 250)

This example is for an article found in an online journal.

R: Lederleitner, M. M. (2008). Perspective transformation: Application for mission curriculum in churches. Common Ground Journal, 5(2), 33-43. https://www.edcot.com/cmngrnd/volnum/v05n02.pdf

P: (Lederleitner, 2008, p. 37)

A magazine contains brief articles and focuses on current events and news.  Magazine articles are more likely to be written by journalists and not have bibliographic citations.  For more infomation on the difference between scholarly journal articles and magazine articles, please refer to the Scholarly Article guide listed below.

Section 10.1 example 3 and 15 demonstrate how to cite a magazine article. 

When citing a magazine article, place the publication year followed by a comma and the month then day, if available, in parentheses. The first example is from a print only magazine while the second example was found in a library database. Note that no DOI is available and no URL is included.

R: Jackson, C. (2008, November/December). Launching a church outward. Ministry Today, 26(6), 64-68.

P: (Jackson, 2008, p. 66)

R: Morgan, T. C., & Phiri, I. (2008, November). Hunger isn't history. Christianity Today, 52(11), 26-33. 

P: (Morgan & Phiri, 2008, p. 29)

Newspaper articles should be cited in the same format as a magazine article.  APA section 10.1 example 16 indicates newspaper articles should be included in the reference list and as parenthetical citations.  

For newspaper articles found online in a library website, not URL is needed. For newspaper articles found on a newspaper website, include the URL of the article.  An online article does not need to include page numbers.

R: Chick, K. (2010, May 24). How bad is Gulf oil spill? A global Q&A on offshore oil spills. Christian Science Monitor. 

P: (Chick, 2010)

R: Paquette, D. (2020, June 16). Kids around the world are out of school. Millions of girls might not go back. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/coronavirus-girls-education-west-africa/2020/06/12/84a23c44-a5a8-11ea-b619-3f9133bbb482_story.html

P: (Paquette, D. 2020, June 16) 

Book and performance reviews appear in a variety of publications.   APA section 10.7 indicates reviews should be included in the reference list and as parenthetical citations. The format should be the same as other content in the same type of source.

The following components should be included in a citation for a review:

• The name of the reviewer followed by a period.
• Publication date in parentheses
• Title of the review in sentence style capitalization with no period at the end
• After the title, place the words "review of" followed by the title of the item being reviewed and the author or originator of the item in brackets and a period outside of the brackets.
• The name of the periodical where the review appeared followed by the appropriate volume, issue, and page number information according to the guidelines for the periodical type.
• A DOI or URL if required for the source type

R: Irvine, S. (2008). Mend the gap: Can the church reconnect the generations? [Review of the book Mend the gap by Jason Gardner]. Journal of Education & Christian Belief, 12(2), 183-184.

P: (Irvine, 2008, p. 183)