How to Cite a Journal Article in APA 7th Edition Format

This guide explains how to cite a journal article in APA 7th Edition so your references are accurate and consistent. It’s written for students, researchers, and professionals who need clear, step-by-step instructions for creating both in-text citations and reference list entries.

What APA 7th Edition is and who uses it

APA (American Psychological Association) 7th Edition is a widely used style for writing and citing sources in the social sciences, education, nursing, and many other fields. Universities, journals, and institutions use it to standardize references and ensure readers can locate sources easily.

General Rules

Before we cover specific examples, review these core formatting rules that apply across source types in APA 7th Edition.

Author names: List last name and initials (e.g., Smith, J. A.). Use an ampersand (&) between names in parenthetical citations and the reference list.
Publication date: Put the year in parentheses immediately after the author(s): (2020).
Title capitalization: In reference entries, capitalize only the first word of the title and subtitle and any proper nouns.
DOI and URLs: Format DOIs as links beginning with https://doi.org/ (e.g., https://doi.org/10.xxxx). Do not add “Retrieved from” unless a retrieval date is required.
Hanging indent: Reference list entries use a hanging indent (0.5 in) and are double-spaced in print formatting.
Use italics: Journal titles and volume numbers are italicized; issue numbers are not.

How to Cite by Source Type

Below are step-by-step examples for common source types. All citation examples use code-style formatting so you can copy-paste and adapt them.

1. Journal Article (with DOI)

Format: Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article: Subtitle. Title of Journal, Volume(Issue), page–page. https://doi.org/xx.xxx

Smith, J. A., & Lee, R. K. (2020). Effects of sleep on memory consolidation. Journal of Cognitive Studies, 12(3), 245–260. https://doi.org/10.1234/jcs.2020.0123

2. Journal Article (no DOI, from website)

If there's no DOI and you accessed the article online, include the URL of the article or the journal homepage.

Gonzalez, L. M. (2018). Social media use and mental health. International Journal of Psychology, 45(2), 101–118. http://www.ijpsychology.org/articles/2018/05/12345

3. Book

Format: Author, A. A. (Year). Title of book (Edition if not first). Publisher.

Brown, P. T. (2016). Research methods in psychology (3rd ed.). Academic Press.

4. Book Chapter in an Edited Book

Format: Author, A. A. (Year). Title of chapter. In E. Editor & F. Editor (Eds.), Title of book (pp. xx–xx). Publisher. DOI (if available)

Nguyen, H. L. (2019). Motivation and learning. In S. K. Patel & L. M. Smith (Eds.), Advances in educational psychology (pp. 55–78). University Press.

5. Conference Proceedings

Format for published proceedings or papers:

Park, S. Y., & O’Connor, D. (2021). Machine learning for health diagnostics. In Proceedings of the 2021 International Conference on Health Informatics (pp. 33–40). https://doi.org/10.1000/ich.2021.0033

6. Report (Institutional)

Format: Organization Name. (Year). Title of report (Report No. if any). Publisher. URL

World Health Organization. (2020). Global mental health report. https://www.who.int/publications/gmh-report-2020

In-Text Citations

In-text citations use the author–date format. Use parenthetical or narrative styles depending on how you introduce the source.

Parenthetical: Place author(s) and year in parentheses: (Smith & Lee, 2020).
Narrative: Use the author(s) in the sentence and place the year in parentheses: Smith and Lee (2020) found that…

Examples

One author:

(Johnson, 2019)

Two authors:

(Smith & Lee, 2020)

Three or more authors: use the first author’s surname followed by et al.

(Garcia et al., 2017)

Direct quotes require a page or paragraph number:

(Smith & Lee, 2020, p. 250)

Reference List

The reference list appears at the end of your document and includes full bibliographic information for every source cited in-text. Follow these rules when formatting it:

Start the list on a new page titled "References" (centered).
Alphabetize entries by the surname of the first author.
Use a hanging indent for each entry (0.5 in).
Double-space all entries in print documents; in web displays, ensure clear line separation for readability.
Italicize journal titles and volume numbers; do not italicize issue numbers or page ranges.
Use the DOI as a URL when available: https://doi.org/xxx

Example Reference List Entry for a Journal Article

References

Smith, J. A., & Lee, R. K. (2020). Effects of sleep on memory consolidation. Journal of Cognitive Studies, 12(3), 245–260. https://doi.org/10.1234/jcs.2020.0123

Gonzalez, L. M. (2018). Social media use and mental health. International Journal of Psychology, 45(2), 101–118. http://www.ijpsychology.org/articles/2018/05/12345

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Even experienced writers make avoidable errors. Watch for these common APA 7 mistakes and fix them before submission.

Incorrect DOI format: DOIs must be formatted as full URLs (https://doi.org/...). Avoid "doi:" or plain numbers.
Title capitalization errors: In reference list titles, capitalize only the first word of the title and subtitle and proper nouns.
Wrong author use in-text: For three or more authors use "et al." on first and subsequent citations (e.g., Garcia et al., 2017).
Mixing up italics: Journal titles and volume numbers are italicized; article titles and issue numbers are not.

Actionable Tips

Use Rephrasely’s free citation generator at https://rephrasely.com/citation to build reference entries quickly and accurately.
After inserting citations, run your document through a plagiarism check with our plagiarism checker to ensure proper attribution.
Draft and refine your writing using the Rephrasely AI Writer to create clear narrative citations, then verify originality with the AI detector.
Create a checklist: author format, year, title capitalization, journal title italics, volume(issue), page range, DOI/URL. Check each item for every reference.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I cite a journal article with multiple authors in APA 7th Edition?

List up to 20 authors in the reference list by surname and initials separated by commas, using an ampersand before the final author. For in-text citations, use "et al." for three or more authors: (Taylor et al., 2021).

What if the journal article has no DOI?

If no DOI is available and you accessed the article online, include the URL of the journal article or the journal's homepage. If the source is from a database and has no DOI, provide the homepage URL of the journal if it helps the reader locate the work.

Can I use a citation generator to create APA 7th citations?

Yes. A reliable citation generator, such as Rephrasely’s free citation generator, will produce correct formatting for most sources. Always double-check capitalization, author order, and DOI formatting against the APA manual.

How to Cite a Journal Article in APA 7th Edition Format