APA 7 Journal Article Citation With DOI: Format and Examples

To cite a journal article with a DOI in APA 7th edition, list the authors, publication year, article title, journal name, volume, issue, page range or article number, and a DOI link beginning with https://doi.org/. The journal name and volume are italicized; the article title and issue number are not.

Here is a real reference included in the American Psychological Association's official journal article examples:

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

The corresponding in-text citation is (Grady et al., 2019). Each detail has a purpose, and understanding them makes citation generators much easier to check.

APA 7 Journal Article Reference Template

Use this template for a typical article with a DOI and page range:

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

The names and placeholders in this line describe a format, not an actual article. In a published document, italicize only the journal title and volume number, not the article title or the issue number inside parentheses.

This table uses invented values for syntax demonstrations. Keep the actual paper's spelling, author order and publication metadata, even if a journal title uses a regional spelling different from your own essay.

Breaking Down a Real APA Journal Citation

Consider the Grady and colleagues example above. Grady is the first surname, followed by the other authors in publication order. The date element is (2019).. The article title is written in sentence case: the first word of the main title and the first word following the colon are capitalized, along with any proper nouns.

The journal title, Psychology of Popular Media Culture, uses capital letters for the important words because it is a periodical title. The 8 identifies its volume and is italicized along with the title. The issue (3) is in ordinary type. The page span 207–217 identifies where the article appears within that journal issue. Finally, the DOI link points to its digital record.

For a paper by five authors, APA 7 uses the first surname and et al. in the in-text citation, even though the full reference entry lists all five authors. There is no contradiction: in-text citations are abbreviated navigation aids; references are detailed retrieval instructions.

Parenthetical and narrative citations

Two valid in-text forms for that real article are:

• Parenthetical: (Grady et al., 2019)
• Narrative: Grady et al. (2019)

For a directly quoted passage, add a page location that you actually verify in the article, for example (Grady et al., 2019, p. [verified page]) as a placeholder instruction, not a ready-to-publish citation. Never invent a page number for a quote you have not checked.

What Is a DOI, and Where Do You Find It?

A Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is a persistent identifier assigned to many scholarly outputs. In a citation it allows a reader to follow a stable link even if the article's ordinary webpage address changes. The DOI often looks like a prefix and suffix separated by a slash: 10.1037/ppm0000185.

APA 7 recommends converting a DOI into the full link form:

https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000185

You can find a DOI on an article's first page, beside the abstract on the journal publisher's site, or in a reliable library record. It is also searchable through Crossref's metadata search. Match the article title and authors before copying a DOI; a similar title may point to a related commentary or correction rather than the research paper itself.

Should you write doi: before the number?

Not in the standard APA 7 DOI format. Use the DOI as a URL, beginning https://doi.org/, instead of doi:10.... Many older papers and citation exports use legacy DOI notation; update the format when preparing an APA 7 reference.

Is the DOI a hyperlink or ordinary text?

APA allows live blue underlined DOI links or the same URL displayed as ordinary, nonunderlined text. The key requirement is that the DOI text is correct. Do not add a period after the DOI URL, because readers may accidentally treat the punctuation as part of the link.

APA Citation for a Journal Article With an Article Number

Many online scholarly journals use an article identifier instead of assigning a traditional page range. In that situation, APA tells writers to use Article plus the article number in the reference.

Here is another genuine example from APA Style:

Jerrentrup, A., Mueller, T., Glowalla, U., Herder, M., Henrichs, N., Neubauer, A., & Schaefer, J. R. (2018). Teaching medicine with the help of “Dr. House.” PLOS ONE, 13(3), Article e0193972. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0193972

The in-text form is (Jerrentrup et al., 2018).

The critical difference is Article e0193972, not a page span. The article number is a publication locator in the reference entry; it does not mean the quoted passage is necessarily on a page numbered e0193972.

How to tell an article number from a page range

Look at the journal's landing page and citation metadata. A traditional page range looks like 207–217. An electronic article identifier may look like e0193972, 104678, or a publisher-specific code. Treating an article number as an ordinary page number is a common citation error.

If the journal assigns both an article identifier and PDF page numbers, follow the publication's actual bibliographic numbering. APA's official article-number examples show the expected Article label.

What If a Journal Article Has No DOI?

The DOI is important when present, but it is not guaranteed for every article. The proper ending depends on where the source is published and whether it has a direct, publicly usable URL.

The APA official journal article guide specifically distinguishes DOI-bearing articles from ordinary database articles without a DOI. An exception is an item from a special database that publishes its own limited-circulation content, rather than merely indexing external journal literature.

Do not invent a DOI because a citation form has an empty DOI field. Leave the DOI out if reliable article information shows there is none.

How to Cite a Journal Article From a PDF

The file you downloaded might have a .pdf extension, but that does not make it a different kind of source. An article in a journal remains a journal article for APA purposes, even when downloaded as a PDF.

Read the PDF's opening page and verify its publisher information: journal name, author list, year, volume/issue, and DOI. Then build the journal-article reference. Don't substitute a temporary PDF download URL for the DOI when the article already has a DOI.

For a thesis, company report or conference paper found as a PDF, the reference format may be different. A PDF is a delivery format, not a universal citation category.

Do You Always Need the Journal Issue Number?

Include an issue number whenever the journal article has one. APA's own guide says to include the issue, correcting older advice that sometimes omitted it for continuously paginated journals.

A valid reference with both volume and issue has a pattern like *Journal Name, 18*(2), 44–58. If there is genuinely no issue assigned, omit it instead of guessing a number. The same principle applies to unavailable page numbers or volume numbers: don't invent metadata to make a template look complete.

For an article that is published online ahead of an assigned volume or issue, use the appropriate advance online publication form until the final bibliographic details exist, then update the reference if necessary. Publication statuses can change, so verify the most current journal record before submission.

Six Steps to Create a DOI Journal Reference Without a Generator

1. Find the publisher's record. Open the original journal landing page and confirm the article title, authors and year.
2. Copy the full author order. APA references generally use inverted surnames plus initials; do not alphabetize coauthors within an entry.
3. Apply the correct title capitalization. Sentence case for the article, the journal's own title capitalization for the journal name.
4. Enter journal metadata. Record volume, issue, and the correct page range or Article identifier.
5. Add the DOI URL. Prefer the persistent https://doi.org/ form; check it opens the intended item.
6. Create a matching in-text citation. Use both surnames for two authors; use the first surname plus et al. for three or more, normally from the first citation.

If you use Zotero, Mendeley, EndNote or a website citation generator, treat the exported entry as a draft rather than a verified reference. Imported metadata may include an all-caps article title, wrong issue, missing article number, or an unnecessary database URL.

Common Mistakes in APA 7 Journal Citations

Italicizing the article title. Journal articles are not italicized in ordinary APA references; the journal name and volume are. A paper title is generally in sentence case.

Capitalizing every word in an article title. APA style differs from many publisher webpages, which display article headlines in title case. Convert the article title's capitalization according to APA while preserving proper nouns and specialist names.

Writing an access date next to the DOI. Standard DOI journal references do not require a “Retrieved on” date. The DOI itself is a stable identifier.

Using the wrong year. A journal's electronic-first publication can predate its final volume/issue year. Match the bibliographic year of the specific version you're citing and follow the publisher's record, rather than choosing the newest date shown anywhere on the page.

Mixing DOI and article URL unnecessarily. When the DOI is available, that DOI link is usually the correct permanent locator. You don't need to append the university's proxy address as well.

Missing an actual correction or retraction. If a scholarly paper has been corrected or retracted, review the notice and decide whether you should cite the corrected article, the original retracted paper or the retraction notice. APA's article examples include separate treatment for these cases.

Conclusion

A reliable APA 7 journal citation starts with the article's true bibliographic record—not whatever citation text a search engine or PDF viewer offers. Keep the author sequence, title, journal, volume, issue and publication locator accurate, then add the DOI in URL form when the journal provides one. For online journals that use article numbers, write Article plus the identifier in place of page numbers. Finally, connect the detailed reference to a correctly abbreviated APA in-text citation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a DOI for every journal article in APA 7?

No. Include a DOI if the article has one. If no DOI exists, the proper reference ending depends on whether the article comes from an ordinary academic database, a print publication, or a public journal website. Do not manufacture a DOI or substitute an irrelevant link simply to fill the template.

Should I include volume and issue numbers with a DOI?

Yes, when they are assigned and available. The DOI does not replace the journal publication information. APA's standard pattern combines journal title, italic volume, nonitalic issue in parentheses, page range or article number, and DOI link. Omit only elements genuinely not assigned to the article.

What if the article has an e-number instead of page numbers?

Use Article followed by the journal's electronic article number, for instance Article e0193972. APA explicitly demonstrates this in its PLOS ONE example. Don't reinterpret that electronic ID as a conventional page number, and don't invent a page range.

Do I add a period after an APA DOI?

No. The DOI URL is the final element and is not followed by an extra period. This makes the DOI easier to copy or click correctly. The URL can be an active hyperlink or plain text, in line with APA's reference-list guidance.

Can I cite the same journal article PDF without mentioning PDF?

Yes. Cite the underlying journal article with its authors, bibliographic details and DOI. You don't normally include [PDF] merely because you downloaded the journal article as a PDF. The file format only affects citation format when it indicates a genuinely different source type, such as a standalone report.