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Citation Help for APA, 6th Edition: Journal Article

Help with common issues and questions with APA 6th ed. Citation Style.

Multiple Authors?

Example:
McGill, I., Glenn, J. K., & Brockbank, A. (2014). The action learning handbook: Powerful techniques for education, professional 
development and training. New York, NY: Routledge Falmer.

Explanation:
List each author last name first followed by the initials for the first and middle names followed by a comma. Insert an amperstand (&) before the last author.

Eight or More Authors?
List the first six authors' names, then insert three ellipses, and add the last author's name.

Example:
Gilbert, J. R., Smith, J. D., Johnson, R. S., Anderson, A., Plath, S., Martin, G., . . . White, N. (2014). Choosing a title (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Unnamed  Publishing.

More Information: See p. 184 in the APA Manual, 6th edition for further explanation.

No Author?

Example:
The bluebook: A uniform system of citation (18th ed.). (2015). Cambridge, MA: Harvard Law Review Association.

Explanation:
When there is no author move the title to the author spot. If the title is a book or webpage, italicize title and end with a period. Do not italicize title if a journal article or book chapter. Follow title with publication date and publication information.

More information: See p. 184 in the APA Manual 6th Edition for further explanation.

Background Information

Journal or Magazine?

Before citing an article from a periodical, one needs to determine if the article is from a magazine or a scholarly journal. There are two general clues to look to in order to make this determination:

  1. Frequency of publication. Journals are more likely to be monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly publications. If the periodical is published weekly, then it is a magazine and not a journal.
  2. Pagination. Magazines are generally paginated by issue, i.e. with each new issue the page numbers start over with number one. Scholarly journals are paginated consecutively throughout the volume year. Page numbering does not begin with number one again until the first issue of the next volume year.

Examine your article and determine if it is a magazine article or not. If it is magazine article, follow this link. Remember, book reviews and newspapers articles are cited differently than both magazine and journal articles.

Other Important Information:

  1. If the page numbers of each issue begins with page 1, include the issue number in parentheses.
  2. If each issue begins with the next consecutive page number from the last issue, do not include the issue number.

More Information: See pages 198-202 of the APA 6th edition for explanation about articles and periodicals.

Journal Article with DOI Number Example

Example - Pages Continue from Issue to Issue:
Yuksel, I. (2015). The role of renewables in meeting Turkey's energy demand. Energy Sources Part A: Recovery,

     Utilization & Environmental Effects, 31, 1915-1925. doi:10.1080/15567030802462911

Example - Pages Begin with Page 1 each Issue:
Gibson, T. M., & Kirkwood, P. E. (2014). A purchase-on-demand pilot project at the Univeristy of Arkansas, for the

     Proceedings of the Materials Research Society Symposiums. Journal of Interlibrary Loan, Document Delivery, &

     Electronic Reserve, 19(1), 47-56. doi:10.1080/10723030802533853

Journal Article with DOI Number Explanation

Author: Yuksel, I. 
Last name first, then initials for first and middle name.  

Year of publication: (2015).
In parentheses. Close parentheses with a period.

Title & subtitle of the article: The role of renewables in meeting Turkey's energy demand.
Title and subtitle are separated by a colon. Capitalize only the first word of the title and sub-title, and any proper nouns -

Title & subtitle of journal, and volume number: Energy Sources Part A: Recovery, Utilization, & Environmental Effects, 31
Title & subtitle are separated by a colon. Capitalize first word of title and subtitle, proper nouns, and all important words. Italicize title, subtitle, and volume number. Separate title from volume number, and volume number from page numbers with a comma.

Issue number (or supplement information): (20),
If a volume is paginated continuously throughout, do not include the issue number. If each issue (e.g. Winter Quarter, or February) begins paging at 1, include issue number within parentheses. Do not italicize issue number and there is no space between the volume number and parentheses. If the issue is a supplement, note that: e.g. 24(Suppl. 2).

Page numbers: 1915-1925.
If page numbers of an article run consecutively, separate beginning and ending page numbers with a hyphen. End citation with a period. If the pages of the article do not run consecutively, indicate the beginning page of the article followed by a + sign.

DOI Number: doi:10.1080/15567030802462911
Begin with "doi:". Then, add the doi number, which can be found in the record in many databases as well as on the first page of the article. There is no space after the colon and before the doi number. Do not add a period.

NOTE: For more information on journal article citations, see page 198-199 in the 6th edition of the APA Manual.

Print Journal Example without DOI

Brunero, S., Cowan, D., & Fairbrother, G. (2015). Reducing emotional distress in nurses using 

      cognitive behavioral therapy: A preliminary program evaluation. Journal of Nursing Science, 5(2),

      109-115.

Print Journal Explanation Without DOI

Author: Brunero, S., Cowan, D., & Fairbrother, G.
Last name first, then initials for first and middle name. Use an amperstand (&) before the last name. 

Year of publication: (2015).
In parentheses. Close parentheses with a period.

Title & subtitle of the article: Reducing emotional distress in nurses using cognitive behavioral therapy: A preliminary program evaluation.
Title and subtitle are separated by a colon. Capitalize only the first word of the title and sub-title, and any proper nouns -

Title & subtitle of journal, and volume number: Journal of Nursing Science, 5
Title & subtitle are separated by a colon. Capitalize first word of title and subtitle, proper nouns, and all important words. Italicize title, subtitle, and volume number. Separate title from volume number, and volume number from page numbers with a comma.

Issue number (or supplement information): (2),
If a volume is paginated continuously throughout, do not include the issue number. If each issue (e.g. Winter Quarter, or February) begins paging at 1, include issue number within parentheses. Do not italicize issue number and there is no space between the volume number and parentheses. If the issue is a supplement, note that: e.g. 24(Suppl. 2).

Page numbers: 109-115.
If page numbers of an article run consecutively, separate beginning and ending page numbers with a hyphen. End citation with a period. If the pages of the article do not run consecutively, indicate the beginning page of the article followed by a + sign.

NOTE: For more information on journal article citations, see page 198-199 in the 6th edition of the APA Manual.

Online Journal Article Without DOI Number Example

Ballard, S. D., March, G., & Sand, J. K. (2015). Creation of a research community in a K-12 school research and evidence

     based practice. Evidence Based Library and Information Practice, 4(2), 8-36. Retrieved from

     http://ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/EBLIP/index

Online Journal Article Without DOI Number Explanation

Author: Ballard, S. D., March, G., & Sand, J. K. 
Last name first, then initials for first and middle name. Use ampersand (&) symbol before last author.

Year of publication: (2015).
In parentheses. Close parentheses with a period.

Title & subtitle of the article: Creation of a research community in a K-12 school research and evidence based practice.
Title and subtitle are separated by a colon. Capitalize only the first word of the title and sub-title, and any proper nouns -

Title & subtitle of journal, and volume number: Evidence Based Library and Information Practice, 4
Title & subtitle are separated by a colon. Capitalize first word of title and subtitle, proper nouns, and all important words. Italicize title, subtitle, and volume number. Separate title from volume number, and volume number from page numbers with a comma.

Issue number (or supplement information): (2),
If a volume is paginated continuously throughout, do not include the issue number. If each issue (e.g. Winter Quarter, or February) begins paging at 1, include issue number within parentheses. Do not italicize issue number and there is no space between the volume number and parentheses. If the issue is a supplement, note that: e.g. 24(Suppl. 2).

Page numbers: 8-36.
If page numbers of an article run consecutively, separate beginning and ending page numbers with a hyphen. End citation with a period. If the pages of the article do not run consecutively, indicate the beginning page of the article followed by a + sign.

Retrieval Statement: Retrieved from http://ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/EBLIP/index
Begin with "Retrieved from". Then, add the web address from the homepage of the journal. Do not add a period.

NOTE: For more information on journal article citations, see page 198-199 in the 6th edition of the APA Manual.