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APA Citation Style: Periodicals

The aim of this guide is to present concisely the basic rules for citing various types of resources in APA Referencing Style (7th edition).

 

On this page:

  • Print Journal Articles
  • Online Journal Articles
  • Magazines and Newspapers

General guidelines

Basic guidelines:

  • Author/s last name first, followed by initials.

Note: For two or more authors use “&” between the second name. For up to 20 authors, list the names of all authors. If more than 20 authors, list the first 19 authors’ names, then “…” and last author’s name.

  • Year of publication in brackets.
  • Title of article (sentence style)
  • Title of periodical (italics; capitalize each word)
  • Volume (italics; don’t use “vol.”)
  • Issue (in brackets; immediately after volume number, but not italicized)
  • Page range
  • DOI (don’t use full stop after the DOI). DOI format is the same as URL.
  • If DOI is not available, include journal home page URL.
  • If there is no journal home page, include database home page URL.
  • Do not include retrieval dates.

Print Journal Articles

Reference format

Author, Initial. (Year). Title of the article. Title of the Journal, volume(issue), pages. https://doi.org/xxxxx (if available)

Examples:

Journal article (with DOI)

Duncan, S. (2016). Voices from the grandstands: The attitudes of Australian football fans towards the concept of creating, developing and binding communities. Sporting Traditions, 33(2), 19-40.

Journal article (without DOI)

Wilson, S., Spies-Butcher, B., & Stebbing, A. (2009). Targets and taxes: Explaining the welfare orientations of the Australian public. Social Policy & Administration, 43, 508-525. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9515.2009.00676

Magazines and Newaspapers

Reference format

Author, Initial. (Year, month day). Title of the article: Subtitle if there is one. Title of the magazine or newspaper, volume(issue if used), pages. Retrieved from http://the home page of the magazine or newspaper (for online magazine or newspaper)

  • Don't include a retrieval date.
  • Don't use "Retrieved from".
  • Give the month for monthlies, e.g. (2015, November). Give the month and day for weeklies, e.g. (2016, October 2).
  • If the journal or magazine gives a season, not a month, include the season in your reference, e.g. (2008, Spring)
  • Page numbers (if shown online): Magazines - include the numbers only; Newspapers - use ‘p.’ or ‘pp.’
  • Give the URL of the magazine/newspaper home page, not the article URL.

Examples:

Magazine article (print)

Chamberlin, J., Novotney, A., Packard, E. & Price, M. (2008, May). Enhancing worker well-being: Occupational health psychologists convene to share their research on work, stress, and health. Monitor on psychology, 39(5), 26-29.

Magazine article (online)

Clay, R. (2008, June). Science vs. ideology: Psychologists fight back about the misuse of research. Monitor on Psychology, 39(6). APA. http://apa.org/monitor/

Newspaper article (print)

Schwartz, J. (1993, September 30). Obesity affects economic, social status. The Washington Post, pp. A1, A4.

Newspaper article (online)

Brody, J. E. (2007, December 11). Mental reserves keep brain agile. The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com

Newsletter article (no author)

Six sixties meet for comprehensive anti-gang initiative conference. (2006, November/December). OJJDP News @ a Glance. http://xxxxx

Note: Use the exact URL because newsletter articles are difficult to locate.

Online Journal Articles

Reference formats

Journal article (with DOI)

Author, Initial. (Year). Title of the article: Subtitle. Title of the Journal, volume(issue if used), pages. https://doi.org/xxxxx

Journal article (without DOI)

Author, Initial. (Year). Title of the article: Subtitle. Title of the Journal, volume(issues if used), pages. Website name.  https://journal home page

Examples:

Journal article (with DOI)

Li, S., & Seale, C. (2007). Learning to do qualitative data analysis: An observational study of doctoral work. Qualitative Health & Research, 17, 1442–1452. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732307306924

Journal article (without DOI)

Bartlett, R. P. (2009). Going private but staying public: Re-examining the effect of Sarbanes-Oxley on firms going-private decisions. The University of Chicago Law Review, 76(1), 7–39. http://lawreview.uchicago.edu/

Journal article (without DOI and journal home page)

Fennimore, D. L. (1981). American neoclassical furniture and its European antecedents. American Art Journal, 13(4), 49-65.

Note: do not include the database name or URL.
Journal article with article number or eLocator Burin, D., Kilteni, K., Rabuffeti, M., Salter, M., & Pia, L. (2019). Body ownership increases the interference between observed and executed movements. PLOS ONE, 14(1), Article e0209899. https://doi.org/xxxxx

Journal article with DOI, advance online publication

Von Ledebur, S. C. (2007). Optimizing knowledge transfer by new employees in companies. Knowledge Management Research & Practice. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/xxxxx

Note: Advanced online publication: article appears online before it is assigned a volume, issue or page numbers.

Journal article (in press)

Briscoe, R. (in press), Egocentric spatial representation in action and perception. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research.

Note: Journal publishers that do not offer advance online publication may allow authors to post a version of their article online ahead of print in an outside repository, also called a preprint archive. In this case, the exact URL is used.

Multiple works, same author:

Williams, P., 2001a. The evolving images of wine tourism destinations. Tourism Recreation Research, 26(2), 3-10.

Williams, P., 2001b. Positioning wine tourism destinations: An image analysis. International Journal of Wine Marketing, 13(3), 42-58.

Note: Order the publication by year, earliest first. If the year is the same, add ‘a’, ‘b’, etc. after it.

Special issues:

Haney, C., & Wiener, R. L. (Eds.). (2004). Capital punishment in the United States [Special issue]. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 10(4).

Note: If there is any non-routine information that is important for identification and retrieval, include a description of the content in brackets following the title (e.g. [Special issue]). Give the editors of the issues and the title.

Journal article published in another language

Guimard, P. & Florin, A. (2007). Les évaluations des ensiegnants en grande section de maternelle sont-elles prédictives des difficultés de lecture au cours préparatoire? [Are teacher ratings predictive of reading difficulties in first grade?]. Approche Neuropsychologique des Apprentissages chez l’Enfant, 19, 5-7.

Monograph as a part of journal issue

Ganster, D. C., Schaubroeck, J., Sime, W. E., & Mayers, B. T. (1991). The nomological validity of the Type A personality among employed adults. [Monograph]. Journal of Applied Psychology, 76, 143-168. https://doi.xxxx

Abstract

In print:

Lassen, S. R., Steele, M. M., & Sailor, W. (2006). The relationship of school-wide positive behavior support to academic achievement in an urban middle school [Abstract]. Psychology in the Schools, 43, 701–712.

Online:

Lassen, S. R., Steele, M. M., & Sailor, W. (2006). The relationship of school-wide positive behavior support to academic achievement in an urban middle school. Psychology in the Schools, 43, 701–712. https://xxxxx
Editorial

Cuellar, N. G. (2016). Study abroad programs [Editorial]. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 27(3), 209. https://doi.org/xxxxx

Note: use the reference format for the publication in which the editorial was published. Include the notation "Editorial" if it's not mentioned in the title.

Print journal article / Reference format

Online journal article / Reference format