APA Style Journal Article Citations | Format & Examples
Journal articles are common scholarly sources in APA writing because they focus on original research studies and/or highly-specific aspects of an academic discipline.
APA requires two forms of documentation for journal articles:
- In-text citations that include the author and publication year
- Reference list entries that include the author, year, article title, journal title, volume and issue number, page range (with an en dash), and the DOI (a series of numbers that identifies the article and links to additional publication details)
Use the examples below to learn about the APA citation format for journal articles, or try QuillBot’s free Citation Generator to create in-text citations and reference list entries.
| In-text citation | Reference list entry |
|---|---|
| Lowery (2024) argued that book bans hinder opportunities to learn about minoritized individuals and their experiences. |
Lowery, R. M. (2024). But these are our stories! Critical conversations about bans on diverse literature. Research in the Teaching of English, 58(1), 34–47. https://doi.org/10.58680/rte202332608
|
Basic format for APA journal citation
APA reference entries for journal articles include the following elements, most of which are separated by periods.
- Author’s last name, first and middle initials
- Year of publication in parentheses
- Article title in sentence case (only the first word, proper nouns, and the first word after a colon are capitalized)
- Title of the journal in title case and italics, volume number in italics, issue number in parentheses, and page range (omit the volume, issue, or page range if any of these don’t apply)
- DOI hyperlink (if available)
The following example includes all of these elements as well as a hanging indent, which means that all lines after the first line are indented ½ inch.
parasocial attachment. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 6(2), 95–102.https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000116
APA in-text citations follow the (author, year) format. If you quote the author’s exact words, also include a page number. APA does not require page numbers for paraphrasing or summarizing. As with any type of source, there are two types of in-text citations: narrative citations and parenthetical citations.
APA narrative citations are part of signal phrases that include “according to” or a past tense verb (e.g., “wrote” or “explained”).
| APA format |
Name, F. M. (year). Article title in sentence case. Journal Title In Italics and Title Case, Volume(Issue), page range. DOI
|
| APA reference |
Yamaguchi, T. (2024). Practice and relevance of sports psychiatry in promoting athletes’ mental health in Japan. Sports Psychiatry: Journal of Sports and Exercise Psychiatry, 3(2), 91–99.
https://doi.org/10.1024/2674-0052/a000077 |
| APA narrative in-text citation, quotation | Yamaguchi (2024) explained, “A primary target for sports psychiatrists in education and raising awareness on mental health for elite athletes is to reduce and dispel the stigma attached to mental illnesses and disorders” (p. 96). |
| APA narrative in-text citation, paraphrase | Yamaguchi (2024) argued that sports psychiatrists should consider biological, psychological, and social risk factors when assessing athletes’ mental health. |
| APA parenthetical citation, paraphrase | Effective psychiatric treatment of athletes should combine psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy (Yamaguchi, 2024). |
APA format for journal articles with multiple authors
APA has special guidelines for journal articles (and all other sources) with multiple authors.
- For articles with two authors, include both names in the reference entry and the in-text citations. Use the ampersand (&) rather than “and” between the names in the reference entry and parenthetical (but not narrative) in-text citations.
- For articles with three or more authors, use the first name with “et al.” in each in-text citation. On the references list, use all of the last names and first/middle initials.
APA journal article with multiple authors examples
| 2 authors | Reference:
Kelly, W. E., & Mathe, J. R. (2024). Revisiting trait and state predictors of nightmare frequency and nightmare distress. Dreaming, 34(3), 242–256. https://doi.org/10.1037/drm0000266
|
| Narrative in-text citation: Kelly and Mathe (2024) found that … | |
| Parenthetical in-text citation: (Kelly & Mathe, 2024) | |
| 3+ authors | Reference:
Chee, C. L., Shorty, G., & Robinson Kurpius, S. E. (2019). Academic stress of Native American undergraduates: The role of ethnic identity, cultural congruity, and self-beliefs. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 12(1), 65-73. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000094
|
| Narrative in-text citation: Chee et al. (2019) explained … | |
| Parenthetical in-text citation: (Chee et al., 2019) |
DOIs and URLs in reference entries
A DOI is a hyperlink with a series of numbers and letters that readers can follow for more details. Most journal articles have DOIs. Include this detail for both print and online versions of journal articles. If the DOI isn’t explicitly listed on the article’s first page or landing page, you can usually search for it online.
When a journal article doesn’t have a DOI, you can omit this from the references page.
If you accessed an article from the journal’s website, and the article doesn’t have a DOI, use a stable hyperlink (if available) in place of the DOI.
APA online journal article without page numbers
Some journals only publish issues and articles online without PDF or print versions, so there aren’t page numbers to include in the reference entry or in-text citations for quotations. In this situation, omit the page range in the reference entry.
If you quote the article and therefore need locator information for the in-text citation, cite the section title and/or paragraph number instead of a page number. Use title case for section titles followed by the word “section.” If you cite both a section title and a paragraph number, place a comma between those two items.
| APA reference |
Amicucci, A. M., (2024). Effective video instruction in online courses: Suggestions grounded in Universal Design for Learning. Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy, 28(2). https://doi.org/10.7940/M328.2.PRAXISWIKI.AMICUCCI
“Universal Design for Learning” is the proper noun for a teaching method, hence the capitalization in the article title. |
| APA narrative in-text citation, quotation | Amicucci (2024) explained, “An online course created with UDL guidelines in mind will take a complex concept and break it into learning steps that engage students and allow for student agency” (Breaking Online Learning into Small Chunks section, para. 2). |
| APA narrative in-text citation, paraphrase | Amicucci (2024) argued that instructional videos should help students make an emotional connection to the presenter and the content. |
When you access journal articles in an academic database, look for the option to read a PDF version, which usually includes the same pagination as the print version.
APA online journal article with an eLocator or article number
Some online journals assign an eLocator or number to each article. If an eLocator/article number is available, include it before the DOI.
Where to find the details for APA journal article references
You can usually find the reference entry details on the first page of the journal article or the landing page where you access the article.
The first page of a PDF or print version usually includes the author(s), publication year, title, volume/issue numbers, and the DOI. These same details are often at the top of the page for a web version, too. When the DOI isn’t in one of these places, you can usually search for the DOI online.
Frequently asked questions about APA journal article citations
- What is a journal article?
-
A journal article is a type of scholarly source that is common in academic writing. Journals are periodicals, which means that they are published multiple times per year (like magazines). Each journal is focused on a specific aspect of a larger academic field. For example, within the broader field of nursing, there are scholarly journals about nursing education, intensive care nursing, cardiovascular nursing, and many other subcategories.
Each issue of a journal includes multiple articles by different authors. Journal articles often focus on original research experiments.
If you quote, paraphrase, or summarize journal articles in your writing, follow the format for APA style journal article citations, MLA citations, or whichever citation format you’re using.
You can also use QuillBot’s free Citation Generator to create journal article citations.
- When should I include a DOI or URL in an APA citation?
-
The following guidelines will help you correctly include a DOI or URL in APA style journal article citations or APA book citations.
DOIs and URLs are sometimes necessary in reference entries but never in in-text citations.
For all sources that have DOIs, put the DOI at the end of the reference entry. The DOI should be a hyperlink that readers can follow for more details about the publication.
If a DOI isn’t listed on the source, you can usually search for the DOI online. If you confirm that a source doesn’t have a DOI, you can omit it from the references entry.
Only include a URL (in place of a DOI) for journal articles that don’t have DOIs and that you accessed on the journal’s homepage.
QuillBot’s free Citation Generator can help you use DOIs and URLs correctly in your APA reference entries.
- What is the APA page number format for in-text citations?
-
The APA page number format for in-text citations is (author, date, p. xx) or (p. xx) depending on whether you’re using a parenthetical or a narrative in-text citation.
APA only requires page numbers for direct quotations. Page numbers are optional for paraphrasing and summarizing.
When you quote and cite a book in APA style (or any other paginated source), the page number or page range (if the quotation spans two pages) should look like these examples.
APA book citation Bradshaw and Ellis (2016) explained, “First impressions are crucial—if either the dog or cat is spooked during their first actual physical encounter, later meetings are less likely to go well” (p. 150).Bradshaw and Ellis (2016) explained, “Cats instinctively like to go into small spaces because they feel secure there, and their exceptional agility means that they know that if they have to, they can quickly make their escape” (pp. 179–180).
QuillBot’s free APA Citation Generator can help you quote and cite page numbers correctly in APA format.
- What are the guidelines for APA title capitalization?
-
APA title capitalization can be sentence case or title case depending on the type of source and where you’re using the title in the document.
Title case means that you capitalize the first word, major words (e.g., “job” or “parents”), and all minor words that are four letters or longer (e.g., “with”), but not minor words like “at” or “the.”
Sentence case means that you only capitalize the words that you’d capitalize in a sentence—the first word, proper nouns, and the first word after a colon.
When you mention a title within the prose of your document, always use title case (e.g., “The Paradox of Stay-at-Home Parents” in The Atlantic).
In reference list entries, use sentence case for any work that’s contained within a larger source (such as a journal article) as well as self-contained works (e.g., books or websites). The following is an example of a reference entry for a book in APA style.
APA book reference entry example Bradshaw, J., & Ellis, S. (2016). The trainable cat: A practical guide to making life happier for you and your cat. Basic Books.Use title case for the titles of periodicals (e.g., journals) in reference list entries, such as this example for a journal article in APA.
APA journal article reference entry example Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370–396. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0054346QuillBot’s free APA Citation Generator can help you follow APA guidelines for title capitalization in your own writing.
