APA 7 Journal Article Citation
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0 sourcesAPA 7 Journal Article Citation follows the pattern: Author(s). (Year). Title of the article. Journal Name, Volume(Issue), page range. https://doi.org/xxxx. The article title uses sentence case, the journal name and volume are italic, and the DOI appears as a full link with no period after it.
What is the APA 7 format for a journal article?
The APA 7 reference lists the author, publication year, article title, journal details, and a DOI in a fixed order. The article title is in sentence case, the journal name and volume number are italicized, the issue number sits in parentheses, and the DOI is written as a live https://doi.org/ link.
TemplateAuthor, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of the article: Subtitle. Title of the Journal, Volume(Issue), first–last page. https://doi.org/xxxxx
Two changes matter most if you learned APA 6. APA 7 formats every DOI as a URL beginning with https://doi.org/ and drops the “doi:” prefix and the “Retrieved from” wording. APA 7 also includes the issue number for every journal that has one, not only journals paginated by issue.
What does each part of the citation mean?
A real reference makes the five elements clear. Below, each colored segment maps to one required component: authors, article title, journal source information, publication date, and the DOI.
- Authors — Last name, then initials; ampersand before the final author.
- Year — Publication year in parentheses, followed by a period.
- Article title — Sentence case, not italic; only the first word and proper nouns are capitalized.
- Source — Journal name and volume italic; issue in parentheses; page range with an en dash.
- DOI — Full https link, no period after it.
How do you handle authors, issues, and capitalization?
APA 7 lists up to 20 authors in the reference. Invert every name to “Surname, Initials,” separate names with commas, and place an ampersand before the last author. For 21 or more authors, list the first 19, insert an ellipsis, then add the final author’s name.
| Situation | APA 7 rule |
|---|---|
| 1 author | Surname, A. A. |
| 2 authors | Both names, ampersand between: Surname, A. A., & Surname, B. B. |
| 3–20 authors | List all; ampersand before the last name |
| 21+ authors | First 19 authors, ellipsis (…), final author |
| Issue number | Always include if the journal has one, no space after volume |
| Article title | Sentence case (capitalize first word, subtitle first word, proper nouns) |
| Journal title | Title Case, italicized |
The volume number is italicized together with the journal name, but the issue number and its parentheses are not. Page numbers are joined with an en dash. Do not add “p.” or “pp.” before journal page numbers.
Copy-ready APA 7 journal examples
These are real, published articles formatted exactly as APA 7 requires. Copy them as models and replace the details with your own source.
One authorSapolsky, R. M. (2018). Doubled-edged swords in the biology of conflict. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 2625. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02625
Two authorsMcCauley, S. M., & Christiansen, M. H. (2019). Language learning as language use: A cross-linguistic model of child language development. Psychological Review, 126(1), 1–51. https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000126
Three-plus authorsGrady, J. S., Her, M., Moreno, G., Perez, C., & Yelinek, J. (2019). Emotions in storybooks: A comparison of storybooks that represent ethnic and racial groups in the United States. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 8(3), 207–217. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000185
No issue numberWeinstein, E. (2018). The social media see-saw: Positive and negative influences on adolescents’ affective well-being. New Media & Society, 20(10), 3597–3623. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444818755634
How do you write the in-text citation?
APA 7 uses author–date in-text citations. Give the surname and year in parentheses at the end of a sentence, or name the author in the running text with the year in parentheses. Add a page number only for direct quotations.
| Type | Example |
|---|---|
| Parenthetical | (Twenge et al., 2018) |
| Narrative | Twenge et al. (2018) found that… |
| Direct quote | (Twenge et al., 2018, p. 772) |
| Two authors | (McCauley & Christiansen, 2019) |
Works with three or more authors use “et al.” from the very first citation in APA 7. Two-author works always cite both names, joined by an ampersand inside parentheses and by “and” in running text.
What if the article has no DOI?
If a journal article has no DOI and you found it through a database or in print, end the reference after the page range with no URL. If you retrieved it from a website that is not a database, include the article’s direct URL instead of a DOI.
No DOI, from databaseAnderson, M. (2019). The effect of open-plan classrooms on student focus. Journal of Educational Environments, 12(2), 44–58.
For an article published ahead of print, replace the year with the online publication year and add “Advance online publication” before the DOI. Never invent a DOI; only include one printed on the article or listed on CrossRef.
How accurate is this guidance, and what are its limits?
This page reflects the 7th edition Publication Manual, the current APA standard as of 2026. The core reference pattern is stable, but edge cases carry nuance a short guide cannot fully cover, so verify unusual sources against the manual or the official APA Style website.
Special cases include articles with group or organizational authors, non-English titles that need a bracketed translation, retracted articles, and preprints. Any citation generator, including ours, depends on the metadata it receives, so always proofread author order, capitalization, italics, and the DOI against the original article’s first page.
APA 7 journal article FAQ
Do I italicize the article title in APA 7?
No. In APA 7 the article title is set in plain text and sentence case. Only the journal name and the volume number are italicized.
Is the issue number required?
Yes. APA 7 includes the issue number for every journal that publishes one, placed in parentheses right after the italic volume number with no space between them.
How should the DOI be formatted?
Write the DOI as a full link beginning with https://doi.org/ followed by the DOI string. Do not add “doi:” and do not put a period after it.