How to Cite a Journal Article in APA 7th Edition

General Format

The standard APA 7 format for a journal article is: Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. *Title of Periodical*, *volume*(issue), page range. https://doi.org/xxxxx The article title is not italicized. The journal name and volume number are italicized. Include the DOI as a URL whenever available.

Worked Example

Grady, 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 Article without DOI: Anderson, M. (2018). Getting consistent with consequences. *Educational Leadership*, *76*(1), 26--33.

Common Mistakes

1. **Italicizing the article title** -- Only the journal name and volume number should be italicized, not the article title. 2. **Using "Retrieved from" before the DOI** -- APA 7 uses the direct URL format (https://doi.org/xxxxx) without "Retrieved from" or "doi:" prefix. 3. **Omitting the issue number** -- Always include the issue number in parentheses after the volume number, even when the journal uses continuous pagination.

Frequently Asked Questions

What if the article has no DOI?

If there is no DOI and you accessed the article through a database, do not include a URL. If it is from a website (not a database), include the URL of the journal homepage.

How many authors do I list in APA 7 for journal articles?

List up to 20 authors. For 21 or more, list the first 19, then an ellipsis (...), then the final author. This changed from APA 6, which truncated after 6 authors.

Do I need to include the database name?

No. APA 7 does not require including database names (e.g., JSTOR, PubMed) in journal article references.