How To APA Cite Peer-Reviewed Articles | Quick Clean Guide

Guide / By

To cite a peer-reviewed article in APA, list authors, year, article title, journal, volume(issue), pages or article ID, and the DOI link.

What Counts As A Peer-Reviewed Article

Peer-reviewed journal articles appear in scholarly journals that send drafts to expert referees before acceptance. The final record shows a journal title, a volume, an issue label or publication date, and either page spans or an article number. Many entries also carry a DOI, which resolves to the publisher’s landing page and serves as a stable link.

APA Citation For Peer-Reviewed Articles: Quick Patterns

APA Style uses an author–date system and a consistent order for reference entries. Start with the author list and year, then write the article title in sentence case. Next, give the journal title in title case and italics, the volume in italics, the issue in parentheses, the page range or article number, and the DOI as a live URL. Include the DOI when available. When a DOI is absent on a publisher page, include the URL. When an article comes from a library database and lacks a DOI, end the reference after the page range or article number.

Element Where You Find It How It Appears In A Reference
Authors Byline on the PDF or article page Last name, Initials. Separate with commas; add an ampersand before the final name.
Year Journal header or citation box (2025).
Article title At top of article Sentence case; capitalize proper nouns only.
Journal Masthead or header Journal of Sample Research
Volume & issue Header/citation box 28(3)
Pages or article ID PDF footer or abstract page 145–162 or e02755
DOI/URL Publisher landing page https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx

For official patterns and edge cases, see APA’s page on journal article references and the rules for DOIs and URLs.

Reference List Templates You Can Trust

Standard Journal Article With DOI

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article in sentence case. Title of Journal, volume(issue), page–page. https://doi.org/xxxxx

Article Without DOI On The Publisher Site

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume(issue), page–page. URL

No DOI And Retrieved From A Database

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume(issue), page–page.

Article With An Article Number

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume, Article e12345. https://doi.org/xxxxx

Advance Online Publication

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/xxxxx

Translated Title After A Non-English Title

Author, A. A. (Year). Original title [English translation]. Title of Journal, volume(issue), page–page. https://doi.org/xxxxx

In-Text Citations That Match The Reference

APA in-text citations use the author’s last name and year. Place both in parentheses, or weave the name into your sentence and follow it with the year in parentheses. Add a page number for direct quotations; when pages are absent, use a paragraph number or a section label.

One Author

Parenthetical: (Nguyen, 2024). Narrative: Nguyen (2024).

Two Authors

Parenthetical: (Nguyen & Silva, 2024). Narrative: Nguyen and Silva (2024).

Three Or More Authors

Parenthetical: (Nguyen et al., 2024). Narrative: Nguyen et al. (2024).

Group Author

Parenthetical: (World Health Organization, 2022). Narrative: World Health Organization (2022).

Direct Quotes Without Page Numbers

Use a paragraph number or section label: (Nguyen, 2024, para. 4) or (Silva, 2022, “Methods” section).

Repeated Citations In A Paragraph

When you name the author in the sentence and keep the focus on that source, you can omit the year in later mentions within the same paragraph unless confusion might arise. The full pattern returns when you switch to a new paragraph.

APA’s rule page on the author–date system shows more pairings, including same-author disambiguation and multiple sources in one set of parentheses.

Author Names And “Et Al.” Rules

List up to twenty authors in a reference. Separate names with commas and place an ampersand before the final author. When a work has twenty-one or more authors, list the first nineteen, insert an ellipsis (with no ampersand), then add the final name. In in-text citations, use “et al.” from the first cite when a work has three or more authors.

Name Order And Initials

Write surnames first, followed by initials. Keep hyphenated or multipart surnames as published. Include suffixes such as Jr. or III after initials. Preserve diacritics in names and titles.

Same Author And Same Year

Assign letters to the year in both the in-text citation and the reference list: 2024a, 2024b. Order those entries by title on the reference page, then match the letters in your citations.

Corporate Authors With Divisions

Use the full group name in the author slot. If a division appears in the byline, include the division after the parent organization with a period.

Dates, Volumes, Issues, And Page Ranges

Use the year in parentheses for most journal articles. Some journals label issues by month or day; include those only when part of the issue label. Italicize the volume number and place the issue number in parentheses right after the volume with no extra space. Use an en dash in page ranges. When a journal uses an eLocator or article number, place that identifier in the source position and omit pages.

Missing Elements

When an issue number is absent, leave it out. When page numbers are absent, supply the article number or omit pages as the journal instructs. When the author is missing, move the title to the author position. When the date is missing, use (n.d.). For titles that end with a question mark, keep the mark and place the period after the journal details.

Punctuation And Spacing Checks

Place a period after the author list and after the year. Do not place a period after a DOI or URL. Add a comma between the volume(issue) and the page range. Keep one space after each period.

DOIs, URLs, And Database Articles

Present the DOI as a live URL that begins with https://doi.org/. If both a DOI and a URL appear, use the DOI only. For items without a DOI on a publisher page, include the direct URL. For works found in academic databases without a DOI, end the reference after the page range or article number. No database name is needed for standard journal articles.

Link Formatting

Keep links active and unpunctuated. If a link wraps to the next line, let it break naturally. Avoid writing “Retrieved from” for journal articles unless a retrieval date is required, which is rare for this source type.

Finding A DOI Fast

Check the article landing page or PDF first. If you cannot spot the identifier, look for a “Cite” box on the publisher site. Many journals also place the DOI under the title or near the copyright line.

Putting It All Together: Sample Walkthroughs

Single-Author Article With DOI

Reference: Riley, J. M. (2024). Habit loops in team learning. Journal of Applied Cognition, 19(2), 115–129. https://doi.org/10.1234/jac.2024.009

In-text: (Riley, 2024) or Riley (2024).

Four-Author Article Without DOI From A Database

Reference: Alvarez, P., Kaur, R., Mbaye, L., & Zhou, H. (2022). Visual cues and recall. Memory Science, 14(1), 44–58.

In-text: (Alvarez et al., 2022).

Article With An Article Number

Reference: Chen, W., & Vega, T. (2023). Bilingual advantage revisited. Open Cognitive Research, 7, Article e02755. https://doi.org/10.5678/ocr.2023.e02755

In-text: (Chen & Vega, 2023).

Advance Online Publication

Reference: Patel, S. (2025). Learning curves in simulation training. Education & Practice. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.2468/edpr.2025.888

In-text: (Patel, 2025).

Translated Title After A Non-English Title

Reference: García, L. (2021). Aprendizaje autorregulado [Self-regulated learning]. Revista de Psicología Educativa, 37(1), 33–47. https://doi.org/10.4321/rpe.2021.37.1.33

In-text: (García, 2021).

Scenario Reference Fix In-Text Form
21+ authors List 19 names, … , Final Author (First Author et al., Year)
No author Start with the title in the author spot (“Shortened Title,” Year)
No page numbers Use article number or omit pages (Author, Year, para. 4)
Group author Use the group name as author (Group Name, Year)
Same author & year Year letters: 2024a, 2024b (Author, 2024a)

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • Capitalizing every major word in article titles. Use sentence case for article titles and title case for the journal name.
  • Dropping the issue number when each issue starts with page 1. Keep the issue in parentheses after the volume.
  • Adding a period after a DOI or URL. Leave the link as-is.
  • Using a database URL when a DOI exists. Prefer the DOI.
  • Forgetting the ampersand before the final author in the reference entry.
  • Changing author order. Keep the published order.

APA Citation Checklist For Peer-Reviewed Sources

Before You Write

  • Open the publisher page and the PDF to capture the byline, year, journal, volume, issue, pages or article ID, and the DOI.
  • Copy names exactly, including diacritics, hyphens, and suffixes.
  • Confirm the journal title casing and punctuation.

While You Draft

  • Build the reference in this sequence: Author(s). (Year). Title. Journal, volume(issue), pages or article ID. DOI or URL.
  • Italicize the volume; keep the issue in plain text inside parentheses.
  • Use an en dash in page spans and keep one space after periods.
  • Write in a clear, neutral voice that serves readers who search for “how to APA cite peer-reviewed articles” and close variations such as “APA citation for peer-reviewed journal articles.”

Final Pass

  • Match every in-text citation to a reference entry and every entry to at least one in-text mention.
  • Check “et al.” usage in in-text citations with three or more authors.
  • Test DOI links. Fix any link that redirects or produces a 404 message.