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Albert S. Cook Library

APA Style

Citation guide for the Publication Manual for the American Psychological Association (7th ed).

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Elements in an Article Citation

Basic information needed for a citation:

  1. Author(s)'s last name(s) and first initial(s) (if known)
  2. Date of journal/magazine/newspaper - Note: include more specific dates (such as month and day) for newspaper articles and magazines, when available
  3. Title of article/document
  4. Title of journal/magazine/newspaper
  5. Publication information: volume, issue, page numbers (if known)
  6. Retrieval information (if known): DOI or URL

A note about DOIs and URLS

When possible, APA Style includes digital object identifiers (DOIs) in an article citation.

  • DOIs are usually located on the article or in the database where the article was found
  • Some articles do not have a DOI
    • If the article has a stable URL, replace the DOI with the URL
    • If the article has no stable URL and no DOI, do not include any additional retrieval statement
  • You may use shortDOI or shortened URLs for long or complex links, but you must make sure that the shortened link directs the reader to the correct article 

Journal Articles

Journal Article with DOI

Author, Initials. (Date). Article title. Journal TitleVolume(Issue), page numbers. https://doi.org/xxxxxxxxxx

Jensen, D. R. (2003). Understanding sleep disorders in a college student population. Journal of College Counseling6(1), 25-34. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-1882.2003.tb00224.x

Patrick, M. E., Griffin, J., Huntley, E. D., & Maggs, J.L. (2018). Energy drinks and binge drinking predict college students' sleep quantity, quality, and tiredness. Behavioral Sleep Medicine16(1), 92-105. https://doi.org/10.1080/15402002.2016.1173554 

Journal Article without a DOI

Author, Initials. (Date). Article title. Journal TitleVolume(Issue), page numbers. https://xxxxxxxx

Taheri, M., & Arabameri, E. (2012). The effect of sleep deprivation on choice reaction time and anaerobic power of college student athletes. Asian Journal of Sports Medicine3(1), 15-20. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3307962/

Journal Article without DOI or URL 

Author, Initials. (Date). Article title. Journal TitleVolume(Issue), page numbers.

Watts, L. (2016). Synchronous and asynchronous communication in distance learning: A review of the literature. Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 17(1), 23-32. 

Newspaper & Magazine Articles

Note: News and magazine articles often have no author. If no author is listed, begin newspaper and magazine article citations with the article title.

Magazine Article

Author, Initials. (Year, Month Day). Article title. Magazine TitleVolume(Issue), page numbers. https://xxxxxxxxx

Levy, A. (2020, January 6). A world without pain: Does hurting make us human? The New Yorker95(55), 18-24. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/01/13/a-world-without-pain

Print Newspaper Article

Author, Initials. (Year, Month Day). Article title. Newspaper Title, page numbers.

Schwartz, J., & Palmer, S. (1993, September 30). Obesity affects economic status. The Washington Post, A1, A4.

Online Newspaper Article

Author, Initials. (Year, Month Day). Article title. Newspaper Title. https://xxxxxxx

Reed, S., & Krauss, C. (2020, January 8). Why oil prices are slow to reflect gulf turmoil. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/07/business/energy-environment/iran-oil-soleimani.html

Webpage on a News Site*

Author, Initials. (Year, Month Day). Article title. Site name. https://xxxxxxx

Glynn, P. (2020, January 7). Should all screen stars stop flying for work? BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-51018170

*Online news sources such as BBC news, Bloomberg, CNN, HuffPost, MSNBC, Reuters, Salon, Vox, etc.

Conference Papers

Conference Papers Published in a Journal

Author, Initials. (Year, Month Day). Conference session title. Proceedings of what Specific Conference, LocationVolume(Issue), page numbers. https://xxxxxxxxx

Ballard, B., Barney, E.M., Sinnott, B., White, E.B. (2019). Library and writing center collaborations that work. Proceedings of the National Academy of Student SuccessUSA116(47), 23499–23504. https://doi.org/10.1073/pns.191010116

Conference Papers Published as a Book Chapter

Author, Initials. (Year, Month Day). Conference session title. In Book editors name(s) (Eds.), Book title: Volume. (page numbers.) Publisher.  https://xxxxxxxxx

Bedenel, A.-L., Jourdan, L., & Biernacki, C. (2019). Probability estimation by an adapted genetic algorithm in web insurance. In R. Battiti, M. Brunato, I. Kotsireas, & P. Pardalos (Eds.), Lecture notes in computer science: Vol. 11353. Learning and intelligent optimization (pp. 225–240). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05348-2_21