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APA Citation Guide (APA 7th Edition): Magazine Articles

How Can I Tell if it's a Magazine?

Multiple magazines with covers facing out on display. Image from Flickr by Mannobhai

Photo courtesy of Flickr by Manoj Jacob. Available under a Creative Commons license.

Not sure whether your article is from a magazine? Look for these characteristics:

Popular magazines:

  • Main purpose is to entertain, sell products or promote a viewpoint.
  • Appeal to the general public.
  • Often have many photos and illustrations, as well as many advertisements.
  • Author may or may not have subject expertise.
  • Name and credentials of authors often NOT provided.
  • Articles tend to be short –less than 5 pages
  • Unlikely to have a bibliography or references list

Trade magazines:

  • Main purpose is to update and inform readers on current trends in a specific industry or trade.
  • Audience is members of a specific industry or trade or professors and students in that trade or industry
  • May have photos and numerous advertisements, but still assume that readers understand specific jargon of the profession.
  • Usually published by an association.
  • Authors are professionals working in the specific industry or trade.

Articles may also come from journals or newspapers.

Basic Format for Periodical References

AUTHOR DATE TITLE PERIODI-
CAL 
INFO		 DOI or
URL

Author, A. A.

Author, A.A. & Author, B.B.

Name of Group.

Author, C.C. [username]

Username. 

(2020).

(2020, January).

(2020, February 5).

 Title of article.

Title of Periodical, vol(iss), pages.

Title of Periodical, vol(iss), Article #.

Title of Periodical.

 

https://doi.org/
xxxx

https://xxx

 

Formatting

Note: For your Reference list, all citations should be double spaced and have a hanging indent.

A "hanging indent" means that each subsequent line after the first line of your citation should be indented by 0.5 inches.

Tips

Authors/Editors

An author can be a person but can also be an organization, or company. These are called group or corporate authors.

Dates

The standard format for dates are: Year, OR Year, Month, OR Year, Month Day.  Depending on the amount of given by the magazine. 

Page Numbers

Include the page range (the page the article starts and ends on) of the journal article. Do not include "p." or "pp." in front of the page range.  e.g. 27-45.  

Titles

Only capitalize the first letter of the title and subtitle.

If there is a colon (:) in the title, include what comes after the colon (also known as the subtitle).

Magazine Article with One Article from Library Database - WITH DOI

Author's Last Name, First Initial. (Year of Publication, Month, Day). Title of article: Subtitle. Title of Magazine, Volume(Issue), page number range. DOI 

Reference List Example

Bergeson, S. (2019, January 4). Really cool neutral plasmas. Science, 363(6422), 33-34. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aau7988
In-Text Citation Example

Parenthetical Citation: 

(Author's Last Name, Year)

(Bergeson, 2019)

Narrative Citation: 

Author's Last Name (Year)

Bergeson (2019)

 

Magazine Article with One Author -WITHOUT a DOI - In Print OR From a Library Database

Author's Last Name, First Initial. (Year of Publication, Month, Day). Title of article: Subtitle. Title of Magazine, Volume(Issue), page number range. DOI 

Reference List Example

Weinstein, B. (2012, May-June). Trying before buying. Psychology Today, 45(3), 46-47. 
In-Text Citation Example

Parenthetical Citation: 

(Author's Last Name, Year)

(Weinstein, 2012)

Narrative Citation: 

Author's Last Name (Year)

Weinstein (2012)

Magazine Article From a Website

Author's Last Name, First Initial. (Year of publication, Month Day). Title of article: Subtitle. Title of Magazine. URL.

Reference List Example

Cosh, K. (2012, July 25). Tiny human brains threaten giant dinosaur bones in Alberta."  Macleans. www.macleans.ca/news/canada/a-blight-at-the-museum. 
In-Text Citation Example

Parenthetical Citation: 

(Author's Last Name, Year)

(Cosh, 2012)

Narrative Citation: 

Author's Last Name (Year)

Cosh (2012)

In-Text Citation For Two or More Authors/Editors

Number of Authors/Editors In-Text Citation Example
Two

 (Author's Last Name & Author's Last Name, Year)

 Example: (Case & Daristotle, 2018)
Three or more

 (Author's Last Name et al., Year)

 Example: (Case et al., 2018)