Citing Online Articles in APA Format

Sources for APA Citation

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th Edition BF76.7 C66

APA Style online (use Style & Grammar Guidelines menu)

Information needed for citations:

Author name(s)
Date of publication
Title of article
Title of source (e.g. journal, etc.) plus volume number and issue number
Inclusive page numbers of article
DOI (if included)

DOI

The DOI (digital object identifier) is a unique number that provides a persistent link to the location of content on the internet. It should be formatted as a URL.

Example: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0222224

If there is no DOI listed for an article, the citation ends after the page range of the article. Do not include database information for works obtained from most academic research databases or platforms because works in these resources are widely available.

Other Tips

Authors are typed as Last Name, First Initial. Middle Initial. (Marie L. Jones would be Jones, M. L.)
If there is no author listed, list the title of the article first, capitalizing the first word.
Note that only the first word, proper nouns, and the word immediately after a colon are capitalized within the title of the article.
Include every author up to 20 authors. For two to 20 authors, use an ampersand before the final author’s name.
- Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C.
For 21 or more authors, include the first 19 authors’ names, insert an ellipsis (but no ampersand), and then add the final author’s name.
- Author, A. A., Author, B. B., Author, C. C., Author, D. D., Author, E. E., Author, F. F., Author, G. G., Author, H. H., Author, I. I., Author, J. J., Author, K. K., Author, L. L., Author, M. M., Author, N. N., Author, O. O., Author, P. P., Author, Q. Q., Author, R. R., Author, S. S., . . . Author, Z. Z.

In-Text Citations: Narrative Citations

If the author’s name is included within the text, follow the name with (year)
- Example: Jones (2009) found that diabetes symptoms improve with exercise.

If there are two authors, name both authors within the text.
- Example: Jones and Smith (2010) found that aerobic exercise improved circulation problems of diabetics.

If there are three or more authors, include the name of only the first author plus “et al.” within the text.
- Example: Jones, et al. (2008) observed that blood glucose levels decreased following aerobic activity.

In-Text Citations: Parenthetical Citations

If the author’s name is not included within the text, follow the quote or paraphrase from the source with (Last Name, year).
- Example: Increased exercise resulted in diminished diabetes symptoms (Jones, 2009).
If there are two authors, name both authors.
- Example: Increased exercise resulted in diminished diabetes symptoms (Jones & Smith, 2009).
If there are three or more authors, include the name of only the first author plus “et al.”
- Example: Blood glucose levels were observed to decrease following aerobic activity (Jones, et al., 2008).
If there is no author listed, use ("Article title," year).
- Example: Increased exercise promoted cardio-vascular health within diabetics ("Exercise and Type 2 Diabetes," 2010).

Important:

every in-text citation must have a corresponding citation on the References page
no source should be included on the References page if there is no corresponding in-text citation in the paper

Sample reference citations for online journal articles with and without DOI

(no author, with DOI)

Title of article. (year). Title of Journal, volume(issue), page number – page number. https://doi.org/xxxxxxx

Do not capitalize “a,” “an,” or “the” unless it is the first word of the title or subtitle.

(no author, without DOI)

Title of article. (year). Title of Journal, volume(issue), page number–page number.

(one author, with DOI)

Author’s last name, Author’s first initial. Author’s middle initial (if known). (year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume(issue), page number–page number. https://doi.org/xxxxxxx

(one author, without DOI)

Author’s last name, Author’s first initial. Author’s middle initial if known. (year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume(issue), page number – page number.

(two authors, with DOI)

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume(issue), page number–page number. https://doi.org/xxxxxxx

(two authors, without DOI)

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume(issue), page number – page number.

(three to twenty authors, with DOI)

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., Author, C. C., Author, D. D., Author, E. E., Author, F. F., Author, G. G., Author, H. H., Author, I. I., Author, J. J., Author, K. K., Author, L. L., Author, M. M., Author, N. N., Author, O. O., Author, P. P., Author, Q. Q., Author, R. R., Author, S. S., & Author, T. T. (year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume(issue), page number–page number. https://doi.org/xxxxxxx

(three to twenty authors, without DOI)

(more than twenty authors, with DOI)

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., Author, C. C., Author, D. D., Author, E. E., Author, F. F., Author, G. G., Author, H. H., Author, I. I., Author, J. J., Author, K. K., Author, L. L., Author, M. M., Author, N. N., Author, O. O., Author, P. P., Author, Q. Q., Author, R. R., Author, S. S., . . . Author, Z. Z. (year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume(issue), page number– page number. https://doi.org/xxxxxxx

(more than twenty authors, without DOI)

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., Author, C. C., Author, D. D., Author, E. E., Author, F. F., Author, G. G., Author, H. H., Author, I. I., Author, J. J., Author, K. K., Author, L. L., Author, M. M., Author, N. N., Author, O. O., Author, P. P., Author, Q. Q., Author, R. R., Author, S. S., . . . Author, Z. Z. (year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume(issue), page number– page number.

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