To cite a journal article in APA (7th ed.), you need two things: an in-text citation and a reference list entry. Here’s the quick scoop plus examples you can copy and adapt.

Basic APA journal article format

Reference list format (APA 7)

General structure for a journal article with a DOI:

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of the article in sentence case. Title of the Journal in Title Case, Volume(Issue), page–page. https://doi.org/xxxxx

Key rules:

  • Authors: Last name first, then initials (e.g., Smith, J. R.).
  • Year: In parentheses, followed by a period.
  • Article title: Sentence case (only first word, first word after colon, and proper nouns capitalized), not italicized.
  • Journal title: Title case and italicized.
  • Volume number: Italicized.
  • Issue number: In parentheses right after the volume, not italicized.
  • Page range: Use hyphen (e.g., 123–145).
  • DOI: Present as a URL if available.

Example:

Gleditsch, N. P., Pinker, S., Thayer, B. A., Levy, J. S., & Thompson, W. R. (2013). The forum: The decline of war. International Studies Review, 15(3), 396–419. [https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxxx1]

If there is no DOI and you accessed it in print, end it after the page range:

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, Volume(Issue), page–page.

If there is no DOI but it’s from a website (open web), add the URL:

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, Volume(Issue), page–page. URL

In-text citations (APA 7)

Basic patterns

  • One author:
    • Narrative: Smith (2020) argued that…
    • Parenthetical: (Smith, 2020).
  • Two authors:
    • Narrative: Smith and Lee (2020) found…
    • Parenthetical: (Smith & Lee, 2020).
  • Three or more authors: Use et al. from the first citation.
    • Narrative: Martins et al. (2023) reported…
    • Parenthetical: (Martins et al., 2023).

Quoting vs. paraphrasing

  • Paraphrase: (Author, Year).
  • Direct quote: (Author, Year, p. X) or (Author, Year, pp. X–Y).

Example (paraphrase):

Researchers suggest violence has declined over time (Gleditsch et al., 2013).

Example (quote):

“War has become increasingly rare” (Gleditsch et al., 2013, p. 400).

Mini how‑to: step-by-step

  1. Find the core details on the article’s first page or database record:
    • Author(s)
    • Year
    • Article title
    • Journal title
    • Volume
    • Issue
    • Page range
    • DOI or URL
  1. Format the reference using the template:
    • Author(s). (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, Volume(Issue), pages. DOI/URL.
  1. Create your in-text citation :
    • Choose narrative (Author, Year in sentence) or parenthetical ((Author, Year) at end).
  1. Check capitalization & italics:
    • Article = sentence case, not italicized.
    • Journal title & volume = title case and italicized.

Special cases you’ll see a lot

  • Many authors (up to 20): List them all in the reference, separated by commas, ampersand before final author.
  • 21+ authors: List first 19 authors, then “…”, then final author.
  • Online-only article with DOI but no pages: Omit page range, keep DOI.

Example (no pages):

Pollak, A. N., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (2019). Title of article. Title of Journal, 24(2). [https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxxx9]

One clean example to copy

Imagine you read this article:

  • Authors: Martins, L., Gomez, R. A., & Chu, T.
  • Year: 2023
  • Title: Social media habits of university students
  • Journal: Journal of Digital Behavior
  • Volume: 12
  • Issue: 4
  • Pages: 210–230
  • DOI: 10.1234/jdb.2023.4567

Your reference :

Martins, L., Gomez, R. A., & Chu, T. (2023). Social media habits of university students. Journal of Digital Behavior, 12(4), 210–230. [https://doi.org/10.1234/jdb.2023.45673]

Your in-text citations :

  • Narrative: Martins et al. (2023) found that students check social media more than ten times a day.
  • Parenthetical: Students check social media more than ten times a day (Martins et al., 2023).

HTML table: quick visual guide

Here’s a compact HTML table you can drop into a blog or note:

html

<table>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Element</th>
      <th>What it looks like</th>
      <th>Key APA 7 tip</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Author(s)</td>
      <td>Smith, J. R., &amp; Lee, K. T.</td>
      <td>Last name, initials; use &amp; before final author.</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Year</td>
      <td>(2020).</td>
      <td>In parentheses, followed by a period.</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Article title</td>
      <td>Effects of sleep on memory.</td>
      <td>Sentence case, not italicized.</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Journal title</td>
      <td><i>Journal of Cognitive Science</i></td>
      <td>Title case and italicized.</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Volume &amp; issue</td>
      <td><i>15</i>(3)</td>
      <td>Volume italicized; issue in parentheses, not italicized.</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Pages</td>
      <td>396–419.</td>
      <td>Use an en dash and end with a period if no DOI/URL.</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>DOI/URL</td>
      <td>https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxxx</td>
      <td>Use DOI as URL when available.</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

TL;DR: For a journal article in APA, think “Author. Year. Article title. Journal , volume(issue), pages, DOI/URL” plus a simple (Author, Year) in- text. Once you learn that rhythm, you can cite almost any article smoothly.

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