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APA Citation Style, 7th edition: Journal Article with 3-7 Authors

A guide to help users create citations using APA (American Psychological Association) style, 7th edition.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI logo

What is a DOI? A DOI (digital object identifier) is a unique alphanumeric string assigned by a registration agency (the International DOI Foundation) to identify content and provide a persistent link to its location on the internet. 

NOTE: It is regarded as the most important part of the citation because it will accurately direct users to the specific article.

Think of it as a "digital fingerprint" or an article's DNA!

The rules for DOIs have been updated in the 7th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. They should be included as URLs, rather than just the alphanumeric string.

Correct:  

  • http://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-12-114
  • http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-12-114

Incorrect:     

  • doi: 10.1186/1471-2288-12-114
  • Retrieved from http://doi:10.1186/1471-2288-12-114

Journal Article with Three to Seven Authors

Helpful Tips:

DOI: If a journal article has a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) listed, you will always include this identifier in your reference as a URL. You will not have to include the URL of the journal's home page or of the database from which you retrieved the article if a DOI is available.

Online Database: If you viewed a journal article in an online database and it does not have a DOI, you will need to do a quick search outside of the database to locate the URL for the journal's home page. This information must be included in the reference. If the journal is no longer being published and it does not have a home page, then include the URL for the home page of the database from which you retrieved the article.

Print: If you viewed a journal article in its print format, be sure to check if it has a DOI listed. If it does not, your reference to the article would end after you provide the page range of the article.

Date: When possible, include the year, month, and date in references. If the month and date are not available, use the year of publication.

General Format

      In-Text Citation (Paraphrase): 
      (Author Surname, et al., Year)

 

NOTE: The in-text citation for works with three or more authors is shortened to the first author's name, followed by et al. and the year.

 

      In-Text Citation (Quotation):

 

      (Author Surname, et al., Year, page number)
References:
Author Surname, First Initial. Second Initial., Author Surname, First Initial.Second Initial., & Author Surname, First Initial. Second Initial. (Year). Article title: Subtitle. Journal Title, Volume(issue), page range. http://doi.org/xx.xxxxxxxxxx OR URL of journal home page [if available].

 

Example 1
      In-Text Citation (Paraphrase):
      (Westhues, et al., 2001)

 

      In-Text Citation (Quotation):

 

      (Westhues, et al., 2001, p. 40)

 

References:
Westhues, A., Lafrance, J., & Schmidt, G. (2001). A SWOT analysis of social work education in Canada. Social Work Education, 20(1), 35-56. http://doi.org/10.1080/02615470020028364

 

Example 2

 

      In-Text Citation (Paraphrase)
      (Dietz et al., 2007)
 
      In-Text Citation (Quotation):
      (Dietz et al., 2007, p. 1518)

 

References:
Dietz, P. M., Williams, S. B., Callaghan, W. M., Bachman, D. J., Whitlock, E. P., & Hornbrook, M. C. (2007). Clinically identified maternal depression before, during, and after pregnancies ending in live births. American Journal of Psychiatry, 164(10), 1515-1520. http://dx.doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2007.061118936