Properly citing an article means identifying the author, title, publication, date, and location (like a DOI or URL), then formatting those details according to whatever style guide your assignment or publication requires. The three most common systems are APA, MLA, and Chicago, and each arranges the same basic information in a different order with different punctuation. Once you understand the pattern for your style, every citation follows the same logic.
The Core Elements Every Citation Needs
Regardless of the style guide, a complete article citation pulls from the same set of building blocks: the author’s name, the article title, the name of the journal or website where it appeared, the publication date, and a way to locate it (volume/issue numbers for a print journal, a DOI or URL for something online). Your job is to find each piece of information and slot it into the right position.
A DOI (digital object identifier) is a permanent link assigned to most academic journal articles. If a DOI exists, use it instead of a regular URL. Every major style guide prefers a DOI over a URL because DOIs don’t break when a website redesigns. You’ll usually find the DOI on the first page of the article or in the database record where you accessed it.
How to Cite in APA Style
APA style is the standard in psychology, education, nursing, and the social sciences. Its reference list is labeled “References,” and entries follow this order: author, date, title, source.
A journal article reference looks like this:
Surname, A. B., Surname, C. D., & Surname, E. F. (2023). Title of the article in sentence case. Journal Title in Italics, 12(3), 45–67. https://doi.org/xxxxx
A few formatting rules to note. First names are reduced to initials, and every author’s name is inverted (last name first). Use an ampersand (&) before the final author, not the word “and.” You can list up to 20 authors before omitting names. The article title uses sentence case, meaning only the first word, proper nouns, and the first word after a colon are capitalized. The article title is not placed in quotation marks. The journal name and volume number are italicized, and the DOI appears at the end with no period after it.
APA In-Text Citations
Every time you paraphrase or quote from an article, you need an in-text citation that points the reader to the full reference. APA always includes the author’s last name and the year of publication. You can do this two ways:
- Parenthetical: Place both at the end of the sentence. One author: (Luna, 2020). Two authors: (Salas & D’Agostino, 2020). Three or more: (Martin et al., 2020).
- Narrative: Work the author’s name into your sentence and put the year in parentheses right after. “Luna (2020) found that…” or “Martin et al. (2020) argued…”
For direct quotes, add the page number: (Luna, 2020, p. 12).
How to Cite in MLA Style
MLA style is the standard in English, literature, and the humanities. Its reference list is labeled “Works Cited,” and entries follow a different order from APA: author, title, source (the “container”), date.
A journal article entry looks like this:
Surname, First Name. “Title of the Article in Title Case.” Journal Title, vol. 12, no. 3, 2023, pp. 45–67, https://doi.org/xxxxx.
The differences from APA are significant. First names are spelled out, not abbreviated. The article title is placed in quotation marks and uses title case (most major words capitalized). The journal name is italicized. Volume and issue are written out as “vol.” and “no.” rather than using parentheses. A period follows the DOI in MLA, while APA omits that final period. If no DOI is available, use the source’s URL, and drop the “http://” or “https://” protocol from regular URLs (but keep it for DOIs).
For works with two authors, list both names connected by “and,” with only the first author’s name inverted: Surname, First Name, and First Name Surname. For three or more authors, list only the first author followed by “et al.”
MLA In-Text Citations
MLA in-text citations include the author’s last name and a page number, but not the year. This is one of the biggest differences from APA. A parenthetical citation looks like (Luna 12), with no comma between the name and page. A narrative version reads: Luna argues that “quoted text” (12). If the source has no page numbers, which is common with online articles, just use the author’s name.
How to Cite in Chicago Style
Chicago style is widely used in history, some humanities disciplines, and professional publishing. It offers two systems: notes-bibliography (footnotes or endnotes) and author-date (similar to APA’s parenthetical approach). History courses almost always use notes-bibliography.
In the notes-bibliography system, you place a superscript number in your text and provide the full citation in a footnote or endnote. The first time you cite an article, the note includes the complete information. Subsequent references to the same source use a shortened form with just the author’s last name, a shortened title, and the page number. The bibliography entry at the end of the paper inverts the first author’s name, similar to other styles.
In the author-date system, the in-text citation looks much like APA: (Surname 2023, 45). The corresponding reference list entry leads with the author and date.
For online articles, Chicago does not require access dates for formally published sources like journal articles. For informal sources such as blog posts or web pages that might change, including the date you accessed them is a good practice.
When Information Is Missing
Not every article has a clear author or publication date, especially online content. Each style guide has standard workarounds for these gaps.
In APA, if there is no author, move the article title to the author position in the reference. Do not write “Anonymous” unless the work is literally signed that way. If there is no date, write “n.d.” (for “no date”) in both the reference list and the in-text citation. So a work with no author and no date would begin with the title, followed by (n.d.), and the in-text citation would use a shortened version of the title and “n.d.” in parentheses.
In MLA, omit the date entirely if it is unknown rather than using a placeholder. If there is no author, begin the Works Cited entry with the article title.
Citing Online News and Magazine Articles
Online articles from newspapers, magazines, and websites follow the same general template as journal articles, with a few adjustments. You typically won’t have a volume or issue number. Instead, include the name of the website or publication, the full publication date, and the URL or DOI.
In APA, a news article looks like: Surname, A. B. (2024, March 15). Article title in sentence case. Website or Newspaper Name. https://www.example.com/article
In MLA, the same article would be: Surname, First Name. “Article Title in Title Case.” Website or Newspaper Name, 15 Mar. 2024, www.example.com/article.
Notice that MLA abbreviates months longer than four letters and drops the URL protocol. APA includes the full URL and uses the year-month-day format for the date in parentheses.
Citing AI-Generated Content
If you use a response from a generative AI tool like ChatGPT in your work, you need to cite it. MLA’s guidance is to not treat the AI as an author. Instead, describe what you prompted the tool to generate, then list the AI tool as the container (similar to how a journal is the container for an article), name the specific model version, the company that made it, the date you generated the content, and a shareable URL if one exists.
An MLA Works Cited entry for an AI response looks like this:
“Describe the theme of nature in Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park” prompt. ChatGPT, model GPT-4o, OpenAI, 23 Sept. 2024, chatgpt.com/share/66f1b0a0-d704-8000-be9a-85f53c850607.
If the AI tool links to secondary sources in its response, go directly to those original sources and cite them instead of citing the AI output.
Quick Formatting Checklist
Small details cost points on assignments. Before submitting, run through these common trouble spots:
- Hanging indent: Both APA and MLA use a hanging indent for reference entries, where the first line is flush left and every subsequent line is indented half an inch.
- Alphabetical order: Entries on the References or Works Cited page are sorted alphabetically by the first element, usually the author’s last name.
- Italics vs. quotation marks: In both APA and MLA, journal and publication names are italicized. Article titles get quotation marks in MLA but no special formatting in APA.
- DOI format: Present DOIs as full URLs (https://doi.org/xxxxx). APA puts no period after the DOI. MLA ends with a period.
- Consistency: Pick one style guide and follow it for every citation in your paper. Mixing APA and MLA formatting in the same document is one of the most common errors instructors flag.
If you are unsure which style to use, check your assignment guidelines or ask your instructor. The style itself matters less than applying it consistently throughout your paper.