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APA Magazine Citation

Magazine is a periodical publication with articles and illustrations. In this article, you will learn the American Psychological Association (APA) magazine citation format in great detail. The first thing you have to know is the proper way of citing the authors for both in-text citation and reference list.

Citing the Author

One Author

In-text citation Reference list
Last nameTumulty

 

*For all in-text citations, only the last name of the author is included.

 Last name, A. A.Tumulty, K.

 

*Reverse the name of the author with the last name first, followed by the initials.

 

Multiple Authors 

Two to Seven Authors
In-text citation Reference list
Last Name A & Last name BNasar, & Gruber

 

*Use ampersand (&) instead of “and.” You can include up to five names, but in the subsequent citations write only the first author’s last name followed by et al.

 Last name, A. A., & Last name, B. B.  Nasar, S., & Gruber, D

 

*The names of the author should be listed in the same order as it is written in the source. Use ampersand (&) instead of “and.”

 

More than Seven Authors
In-text citation Reference list
Last name A et al.Gibson et al.

 

*Only include the first author’s last name followed by et al.

 Last name, A. A., Last name, B. B., Last name, C. C., Last name, D. D., Last name, E. E., Last name, F. F., . . . Last name, G. G.Gibson, F. H., Warren, M. J., Lee, L. L., Nelms, A. A., Smith, J. A., Andrews, S. T., . . . Lewis, L. H.

 

*Up to seven authors can be included in the reference list. After the name of the sixth author, write three ellipsis points followed by the last author’s name.

 

No Author
In-text citation Reference list
Title of the article“Class distinctions”

 

*If the title is short, you can write the full title in the in-text citation. But for long titles; include only the first few words enclosed in double quotation marks.

 Title of the articleClass distinctions

 

 Now that you are familiar with citing the authors, we will now discuss the in-text citation and reference list in detail. This part will show you the guides and basic format with specific examples.

 

In-Text Citation

  • In-text citation is usually written in a parenthesis with the last name of the author and year separated by a comma.

(Adkins, 2006)

 

  • Write only the year inside the parenthesis if the last name of the author is included within the text

Adkins (2006)

 

  • For direct quotations, include the name of the author, year, and page numbers. If there is no page number, indicate the paragraph number instead.

(Johnson, 2010, p. 11)

According to Johnson (2010, p. 11)

 

  • If the date is not indicated, use n.d.

(Anderson, n.d.)

Anderson (n.d.)

 

Reference List

  • Italicize the title of the magazine.
  • Include the URL or DOI for magazines retrieved from the web.
  • Only the date of publication (Year, Month, Day) is written in the reference list. There is no need to include the place of publication and the publisher.
  • Some of the elements may not be found in certain magazines. Only include the information available from the reference.

 

Print Magazine

 Here is an example of an article from a magazine with the important citation elements for the reference list. The volume and issue number may be found at the cover of the magazine.

Important Elements

  • Name of the author
  • Date of publication
  • Title of article
  • Title of magazine
  • Volume and issue number
  • Page numbers

 

Monthly Magazine

Basic Format: Basic Format: Author. (Year, Month Day). Title of article. Title of Magazine, Volume number (issue number if available), pages.

Example: Swedin, E. G.  (2006, May/June). Designing babies: A eugenics race with China? The Futurist, 40, 18-21.

 

Note: For monthly magazines, only the month and year is included in the date of publication.

 

Weekly Magazine

Basic Format: Basic Format: Author. (Year, Month Day). Title of article. Title of Magazine, Volume number (issue number if available), pages.

Example: Will, G. F. (2004, July 5). Waging war on Wal-Mart. Newsweek, 144, 64.

Online Magazine

The picture below is an example of a magazine found on the web.

 

Important Elements

  • Name of the author
  • Date of publication
  • Title of article
  • Title of magazine
  • Volume and issue number
  • Page numbers
  • DOI or URL

 

Basic Format: Author. (Year, Month Day). Title of article. Title of Online Magazine, Volume number (issue number if available), pages. Retrieved from http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/ or doi:0000000/000000000000 or http://dx.doi.org/10.0000/0000

Example: Romm, J. (2008, February 27). The cold truth about climate change. Salon.com. Retrieved from http://www.salon.com

 

Note: Some online magazines have no volume, issue and page numbers.

 

Magazine from a Database

With DOI

Basic Format: Author. (Year, Month Day). Title of article. Title of Online Magazine, Volume number (issue number if available), pages. Retrieved from doi:0000000/000000000000 or http://dx.doi.org/10.0000/0000

Example: Jackson, P. (2011, March 1). Navy Yard Hill and the founding of Washington City. Capitol Hill Historian, 2, 5-9. http://dx.doi.org/10.1068/20113

 

Note: The Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is a unique alphanumeric string used by scholarly publishers to provide persistent link to content in the internet.

 

Without DOI

Basic Format: Author. (Year, Month Day). Title of article. Title of Online Journal, Volume number (issue number if available), pages. Retrieved from http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/

Example: Poe, M. (2006, September). The hive. Atlantic Monthly, 298, 86-95. Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com