APA Journal Article Citation Generator

Use the APA Journal Article Citation Generator to create an APA 7 reference and matching in-text citation for a scholarly journal article. Enter the article details manually or, when lookup is enabled, search by DOI or title, then review the authors, year, article title, journal, volume, issue, pages or article number, and DOI before using the citation.

A DOI can make article lookup faster, but it does not remove the need to check the result. Make sure the retrieved record describes the exact article you used.

How to Cite a Journal Article in APA 7

A standard APA 7 journal article reference follows this pattern:

**Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. *Journal Title, Volume*(Issue), page range. https://doi.org/xxxxx**

The article title appears in sentence case. The journal title and volume number are italicized, while the issue number appears in parentheses and is not italicized.

The matching in-text citation normally uses the author and year.

Parenthetical: (Author, Year) Narrative: Author (Year)

For articles with multiple authors, the in-text form can differ from the full author list in the reference entry.

Create a Journal Article Citation Step by Step

1. Confirm that the source is a journal article

Use this workflow for an article published in a scholarly or academic journal.

A journal article commonly includes information such as:

• article author or authors
• publication year
• article title
• journal title
• volume
• issue
• page range or article number
• DOI

Do not choose the journal form simply because a source discusses research or appears in a database.

A newspaper article, magazine article, report, conference paper, dissertation, preprint, or ordinary webpage may require a different reference format.

If the source is simply a webpage, use the APA website citation generator.

2. Enter a DOI, title, or the article details

You can enter journal information manually.

When metadata lookup is enabled, APA Citation Builder can also use a DOI or scholarly title to search for a matching bibliographic record.

A DOI is a persistent identifier commonly assigned to scholarly publications. It often begins with 10. and may appear on the article landing page, in the PDF, or in a database record.

For example:

10.xxxx/example

A DOI can also appear as a URL:

https://doi.org/10.xxxx/example

APA references present a DOI in URL form:

https://doi.org/...

Do not add doi: before it.

3. Review the retrieved article

If you use DOI or title lookup, compare the result with the article you actually read.

Check:

• every author and the author order
• publication year
• article title
• journal title
• volume
• issue
• page range or article number
• DOI

A successful lookup means a bibliographic record was found. It does not prove that you selected the intended article, version, or publication record.

4. Generate the reference and in-text citation

Once the article details are correct, generate the citation and review the formatted result.

You can then add the source to your reference project alongside webpages, books, reports, and other supported source types.

What Information Do You Need for an APA Journal Citation?

Authors

Enter the authors in the same order in which they are credited on the article.

Author order can carry meaning in scholarly publishing, so do not alphabetize the authors within one article.

The reference list preserves a fuller author list than an in-text citation may display.

APA 7 allows up to 20 authors to be listed in a reference entry. For works with 21 or more authors, the reference uses the first 19 authors, an ellipsis, and the final author.

In-text citations are shorter. A work with three or more authors normally uses the first author’s surname followed by et al. from the first in-text citation.

Publication year

Journal article references normally use the publication year.

Check the article record rather than assuming that the year you accessed the article is the publication year.

Articles published online ahead of a final issue assignment can require different treatment from an article that already has its final volume, issue, and pagination. If the article is still in press or its bibliographic status is unclear, verify the publication record before forcing it into a completed-issue format.

Article title

Use the title of the journal article.

In APA references, journal article titles use sentence case. In general, this means capitalizing the first word of the title, the first word after a colon or similar title division, and proper nouns.

Do not italicize the article title.

Automated metadata may preserve capitalization supplied by the publisher or database, so review the title instead of assuming imported capitalization is already correct.

Journal title

Enter the complete journal title associated with the article.

The journal title appears in title case and is italicized in the reference.

Check whether an imported record uses the full journal name or an abbreviation before accepting it.

Volume

The volume number appears after the journal title and is italicized.

Do not add the word Vol. before the volume number in a normal journal article reference.

Issue

When an issue number is available, it follows the volume number in parentheses.

The issue number itself is not italicized.

Do not confuse an article number with an issue number. They serve different purposes in a reference.

Page range

If the article has conventional page numbers, enter the complete page range.

A normal journal article reference does not use p. or pp. before the page range.

Article number

Some journals identify articles with an article number rather than conventional page ranges.

When the publication uses an article number, include that article number in place of a page range according to APA guidance.

Do not put an article number into the issue field simply because it is numeric.

DOI

Include the DOI when the article has one.

APA 7 presents the DOI as a clickable URL in the form:

https://doi.org/xxxxx

The DOI is generally preferred over a database URL because it provides a persistent route to the work.

APA Journal Citation Examples

The following examples are fictional examples created only to demonstrate the format.

Journal article with a DOI

Reference

Rahman, L. A., & Carter, M. J. (2025). Environmental monitoring strategies for connected urban spaces. *Journal of Applied Environmental Measurement, 18*(3), 214–229. https://doi.org/10.xxxx/jaem.2025.12345

Parenthetical citation

(Rahman & Carter, 2025)

Narrative citation

Rahman and Carter (2025)

The DOI above is a placeholder used for format illustration, not a real source identifier.

Journal article without a DOI

Reference

Ellis, D. K. (2024). Evaluating uncertainty in field-based measurement studies. *Research Methods Quarterly, 12*(2), 55–73.

Parenthetical citation

(Ellis, 2024)

This is also a fictional source created to demonstrate the reference structure.

Journal article with an article number

Reference

Navarro, P. T., Chen, R., & Malik, S. (2026). Reproducible workflows for distributed sensor studies. *Open Measurement Science, 9*(1), Article e10427. https://doi.org/10.xxxx/oms.10427

Parenthetical citation

(Navarro et al., 2026)

This fictional example shows where an article number can appear when the journal does not use a conventional page range.

How to Cite a Journal Article With a DOI

If a DOI is available, include it at the end of the reference as a URL.

Use:

https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx

Do not format the DOI as:

doi:10.xxxx/xxxxx

and do not place a period after the DOI URL solely to close the reference.

If the DOI you copied already begins with https://doi.org/, do not add a second DOI prefix.

DOI lookup still needs review

Crossref and other scholarly metadata sources can make DOI-based citation creation efficient because they may return:

• authors
• article title
• journal title
• publication date
• volume
• issue
• page information
• DOI

However, metadata services reproduce information supplied by publishers and depositors. Records can be incomplete or differ from the version you used.

APA Citation Builder therefore keeps the retrieved fields editable.

What If the Journal Article Has No DOI?

A journal article does not automatically need an ordinary database URL just because you accessed it online.

For an article from a common academic research database that has no DOI, APA 7 generally treats the work like the corresponding print version and ends the reference after the page range or article number. The database name and database URL are usually omitted for ordinary journal articles.

For example, a fictional no-DOI article could end as:

**Ellis, D. K. (2024). Evaluating uncertainty in field-based measurement studies. *Research Methods Quarterly, 12*(2), 55–73.**

If an article is published on a website outside a standard academic database and a URL is needed to retrieve it, the applicable source context can differ. Check the nature of the source rather than automatically pasting whichever database URL appears in your browser.

The Purdue OWL’s current APA overview likewise shows the core journal pattern as author, year, article title, periodical title, volume, issue, pages, and DOI when one is available.

Should I Cite the Database?

Usually not for an ordinary journal article retrieved from a typical academic research database.

The database is commonly just the route you used to access the article, not part of the journal publication itself.

There are exceptions for works that exist only in particular databases or for specialized source types where database information is necessary. Do not generalize the ordinary journal-article rule to every kind of database record.

DOI vs. URL: Which Should You Use?

For a journal article:

• Use the DOI when one exists.
• Present it as https://doi.org/....
• Do not add an ordinary database URL when the DOI already identifies the work.
• If no DOI exists, determine whether a URL is actually required for the source you used rather than adding one automatically.

The DOI Foundation describes a DOI as a persistent identifier for an object, while Crossref provides DOI registration and metadata infrastructure widely used in scholarly publishing.

A DOI identifies a registered object. It does not independently verify that every other field in your citation is accurate.

Page Range vs. Article Number

Modern journals increasingly publish articles using an identifier such as e10427 or another article number instead of assigning conventional page ranges.

If your article record contains:

• pages such as 214–229: enter them as the page range
• an article number such as e10427: treat it as an article number
• both: verify the journal’s official citation information rather than guessing which field is intended

Do not manufacture page numbers for an article that has none.

This distinction is worth checking after DOI lookup because metadata providers and journal platforms can represent electronic article identifiers in different fields.

Journal Article vs. Webpage

A journal article is not converted into a webpage citation simply because you read it in a browser.

Ask whether the source has scholarly publication information such as:

• a journal title
• a volume
• an issue
• page numbers or an article number
• a DOI
• a formal article record

If so, the journal workflow is usually more appropriate.

Use the APA website citation generator for a true webpage rather than a scholarly article hosted online.

Journal Article vs. Report

A research report can look academic and may even have a DOI, but it is not automatically a journal article.

A report may instead have:

• an issuing organization
• a report number
• an institutional publisher
• a series title
• no journal volume or issue

The presence of a DOI alone does not determine the source type.

Choose the type of work first, then use its DOI as an identifier when appropriate.

How to Cite Multiple Authors in a Journal Article

The author treatment in the reference and the in-text citation is not always the same.

One author

Reference author element: Carter, M. J.

In-text: (Carter, 2025)

Two authors

The reference includes both authors.

Parenthetical: (Carter & Rahman, 2025)

Narrative: Carter and Rahman (2025)

Three or more authors

The reference entry can list many more authors, while the in-text citation normally shortens the author element.

In-text: (Navarro et al., 2026)

Large author lists and ambiguous author-year combinations can require additional attention. Check the generated output when a paper has many contributors rather than manually deleting names from the underlying source record.

What If the Article Has No Page Numbers?

First determine whether the journal uses an article number.

If the publication assigns an article number, record it as such.

Do not invent a page range from the pages of a downloaded PDF if those PDF pages are not the official journal pagination.

For direct quotations from a source without conventional page numbers, the in-text citation may use another appropriate locator that helps the reader find the quoted passage.

Do Journal Articles Need Retrieval Dates?

Ordinary published journal articles generally do not need retrieval dates.

A journal article is normally a stable published work rather than continuously changing content.

Do not add a retrieval date simply because you accessed the article through the internet.

Review the Citation Before Using It

Before adding the article to your reference project, check:

• Are all authors present and in the correct order?
• Is the publication year correct?
• Is the article title complete?
• Is the journal title correct?
• Are the volume and issue in the right fields?
• Does the source use pages or an article number?
• Does the DOI belong to this exact article?
• Is this actually a journal article rather than another publication type?

A citation that looks polished can still be wrong if the underlying metadata is wrong.

Read Accuracy, Source Review, and Limitations for more about how APA Citation Builder separates source-data review from citation formatting.

Add the Article to Your Reference Project

After checking the record, generate the reference and matching in-text citation and add the article to your reference project.

From the main APA Citation Builder, you can keep journal articles together with other supported sources and edit a record later if you find an error.

When your source list is complete, check the references again in the document where you will submit them. The APA reference page guide explains how to organize the final list and review formatting after copying or exporting your citations.