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Citation Guide

This guide gives overviews and sample citations for MLA and APA citation styles.

Scholarly Journals

Scholarly article citations should include the following information:

  • Authors' names
  • Year of publication
  • Title of article
  • Title of journal
  • Volume of journal, and issue number
  • Page number(s) of article

For electronic sources, you may also need:

  • The DOI (if available)
  • The URL address of the journal publisher

Tips to remember:

  • Only the first word of the article's title and subtitle should be capitalized, except for proper nouns.
  • Do not use quotation marks around article titles.
  • Italicize journal titles. All of the main words should be capitalized.
  • If your citation includes a DOI or URL, do not end the citation with a period.

What Is a Digital Object Identifier?

Primarily used in scholarly journal articles, a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is a unique set of numbers and letters that can be assigned to a particular article to help identify it. Unlike a URL or Web address, an article's DOI always remains the same. Each article has a unique DOI - think of it as a "digital thumbprint."

How are DOIs used in APA citations?

DOIs are used in APA citations to help scholars find cited articles more efficiently. Unlike URL links and Web addresses, which can break or change, a DOI provides a consistent way to look up a referenced article. If you have a DOI for your article, include it at the end of the citation.

Where can I find an article's DOI?

Not all articles are assigned DOIs yet, but if available, the DOI will usually be included with the rest of the electrontic citation information for your article. This may be on the first or last page of the article, or there may be a separate link to citation information. You can also check the CrossRef database to see if a DOI is available for your article.

DOI Flowchart

DOIs and URLS - When to  include them in APA Style references

Scholarly Article in a Print Journal

Example:

 

Scholarly Article by Multiple Authors

Two to Seven Authors

List each author in the same order they appear in the article's byline. Use the ampersand (&) rather than the word "and."

Example:

Wenneker, C.P., Wigbolus, D.H., & Spears, R. (2005). Biased language use in

         stereotype maintenance: The role of encoding and goals. Journal of Personality

         and Social Psychology, 89(4), 504-516. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.89.4.504

 

Eight or More Authors

List the first six authors. Insert an ellipses (...) after the name of the sixth author followed by the name of the last author listed.

Example:

 

Scholarly Article Accessed Online 

APA style does not distinguish between articles accessed through a database and articles accessed via the Web. The exact citation formation will depend on whether the article has a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) available.

  • If the article information DOES include a DOI, place it at the end of the citation.
  • If the article information DOES NOT include a DOI, give the URL of the journal home page (not the database in which it was retrieved).You may need to search the Internet to locate the journal's home page.

Example - Journal Article with DOI:

  

Example - Journal Article without DOI:

Magazines

Magazine citations should include the following information:

  • Author(s) Names
  • Publication Date
  • Title of Article
  • Title of Magazine
  • Volume Number of Magazine
  • Issue Number of Magazine
  • Page Numbers of Article

You may also need:

  • The URL address for the magazine
  • The DOI (if available)

Tips to remember:

  • Include as much information about the publication date as available. For print magazines, this may be the month and year of publication. Magazine articles published online may include a full date.
  • Capitalize only the first word of the article's title and subtitle. All other words should be in lowercase except for proper nouns.
  • Do not use quotation marks around article titles.
  • Italicize magazine titles. All main words in the magazine title should be capitalized.
  • If your citation includes a DOI or URL, do not end the citation with a period.

What Is a Digital Object Identifier?

A Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is a unique set of numbers and letters that can be assigned to a particular article to help identify it. Unlike a URL or Web address, an article's DOI always remains the same. Each article has a unique DOI - think of it as a "digital thumbprint."

How are DOIs used in APA citations?

DOIs are used in APA citations to help scholars find cited articles more efficiently. Unlike URL links and Web addresses, which can break or change, a DOI provides a consistent way to look up a referenced article. If you have a DOI for your article, include it at the end of the citation.

Where can I find an article's DOI?

Not all articles are assigned DOIs yet, but if available, the DOI will usually be included with the rest of the electrontic citation information for your article. This may be on the first or last page of the article, or there may be a separate link to citation information. You can also check the CrossRef database to see if a DOI is available for your article.

DOI Flowchart

Scholarly Article in a Print Journal

Example:

Scholarly Article by Multiple Authors

Two to Seven Authors

List each author in the same order they appear in the article's byline. Use the ampersand (&) rather than the word "and."

Example:

Wenneker, C.P., Wigbolus, D.H., & Spears, R. (2005). Biased language use in

         stereotype maintenance: The role of encoding and goals. Journal of Personality

         and Social Psychology, 89(4), 504-516. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.89.4.504

 

Eight or More Authors

List the first six authors. Insert an ellipses (...) after the name of the sixth author followed by the name of the last author listed.

Example:

Scholarly Article Accessed Online

APA style does not distinguish between articles accessed through a database and articles accessed via the Web. The exact citation formation will depend on whether the article has a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) available.

  • If the article information DOES include a DOI, place it at the end of the citation.
  • If the article information DOES NOT include a DOI, give the URL of the journal home page (not the database in which it was retrieved).You may need to search the Internet to locate the journal's home page.

Example - Journal Article with DOI:

  

Example - Journal Article without DOI:

Newspapers

A citation for a news article should include the following:

  • Author's name
  • Full date of article's publication (year, month, day)
  • Title of article
  • Title of newspaper
  • Page number(s) of article (if available)

For articles accessed online, you may also need:

  • The article's DOI (if available)
  • The URL of the newspaper's home page

Tips to remember:

  • Capitalize only the first word of the article's title and subtitle as well as any proper nouns.
  • Do not use quotation marks around the article title.
  • Italicize the title of the newspaper and capitalize all main words.
  • If your citation includes a DOI or URL, do not end the citation with a period.

Article in a Print Newspaper

If an article appears on discontinuous pages, list each of the page numbers on which it appears.

Example:

Newspaper Article, No Author

Begin the citation with the title of the article.

Example:

Roane announcement set. (2009, September 13). Knoxville News Sentinel, p. B2.

Newspaper Article Accessed Online

APA style does not distinguish between articles accessed through a database and articles accessed via the Web. Cite the article as you would a print newspaper, followed by:

  • The URL of the newspaper home page (not the database in which it was retrieved)

Example: