Cite a journal article.

Paste the DOI or search the title. The authors, journal, volume, issue, pages and year come from the publisher’s own record at Crossref.

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Several at once? Paste one per line.

Check each citation against your instructor’s rules before you hand it in.

On this page
  1. Start with the DOI
  2. What a journal citation needs
  3. One article in every style
  4. Databases, PDFs and articles without a DOI
  5. Step-by-step journal article guides
  6. No ads
  7. Questions

Updated

Start with the DOI

A DOI is a permanent ID that a publisher gives an article, such as 10.2147/NSS.S62907. It is printed on the first page of the PDF, usually at the top or bottom, and on the article’s page at the journal or database. Paste it in any form, with or without https://doi.org/ in front.

A DOI lookup is the most complete citation the generator can make, because it reads the record the publisher registered: every author, the exact title, volume, issue, pages and year. No DOI? Search the title instead, and choose the row with the right journal and year.

What a journal citation needs

Authors
All of them, in the order printed. Each style decides how many to show: MLA two before et al., APA up to 20, Chicago six, IEEE six.
Article title
From the article itself, including any subtitle.
Journal
The full name, as the journal prints it. IEEE uses its standard abbreviation.
Volume, issue, pages
From the first page or the table of contents. Some journals have no issue numbers; leave the field empty.
Year
The year of the volume. IEEE adds the month.
DOI
Written as a link, https://doi.org/ and the number, in every style but IEEE, which writes doi: and the number.

One article in every style

Hershner and Chervin’s 2014 article in Nature and Science of Sleep, from its DOI, with page 75 cited in the text:

MLA 9: Works Cited entry

Hershner, Shelley D., and Ronald D. Chervin. “Causes and Consequences of Sleepiness among College Students.” Nature and Science of Sleep, vol. 6, 2014, pp. 73-84, https://doi.org/10.2147/NSS.S62907.

MLA 9: in-text

(Hershner and Chervin 75)

APA 7: reference

Hershner, S. D., & Chervin, R. D. (2014). Causes and consequences of sleepiness among college students. Nature and Science of Sleep, 6, 73–84. https://doi.org/10.2147/NSS.S62907

APA 7: in-text

(Hershner & Chervin, 2014, p. 75)

Chicago 18: bibliography entry

Hershner, Shelley D., and Ronald D. Chervin. “Causes and Consequences of Sleepiness Among College Students.” Nature and Science of Sleep 6 (2014): 73–84. https://doi.org/10.2147/NSS.S62907.

Chicago 18: first footnote

Shelley D. Hershner and Ronald D. Chervin, “Causes and Consequences of Sleepiness Among College Students,” Nature and Science of Sleep 6 (2014): 75, https://doi.org/10.2147/NSS.S62907.

Harvard: reference list entry

Hershner, S.D. and Chervin, R.D. (2014) ‘Causes and consequences of sleepiness among college students’, Nature and Science of Sleep, 6, pp. 73–84. Available at: https://doi.org/10.2147/NSS.S62907.

Harvard: in-text

(Hershner and Chervin, 2014, p. 75)

IEEE: reference

[1] S. D. Hershner and R. D. Chervin, “Causes and consequences of sleepiness among college students,” Nat. Sci. Sleep, vol. 6, pp. 73–84, Jun. 2014, doi: 10.2147/NSS.S62907.

IEEE: in-text

[1, p. 75]

The IEEE entry uses the journal’s abbreviation and the issue’s month, which a lookup does not supply; type them in the form when your instructor wants IEEE.

Databases, PDFs and articles without a DOI

  • Found it on JSTOR, EBSCO or ProQuest: use the article’s DOI if it has one. MLA can name the database as a second container in More details; APA and Chicago leave the database out.
  • A PDF your instructor shared: look for the DOI on its first page. If there is none, cite the article from the journal details printed on it, and leave the link out.
  • No DOI at all: fill in the journal details and paste the article’s stable link from the journal’s site or database in the Link field.
  • A newspaper or magazine piece: it is not a journal article. Choose Newspaper article or Magazine article in the form.

Step-by-step journal article guides

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The generator is paid for by the Format app, which some students choose to pay for, not by ads.

Questions

Where do I find an article’s DOI?

On the first page of the PDF, often at the top or bottom, and on the article’s page at the journal or in the database record. It always starts with 10.

Do I need the issue number?

Yes, when the journal has one: MLA writes no. 2, APA puts it in parentheses after the volume, and IEEE writes no. 2. Some journals number by volume only; then there is none to give.

Is a DOI better than a URL?

Yes. A DOI keeps working when the publisher moves the article, so every style prefers it to a URL when the article has one.

Is the citation generator free?

Yes, every style, with no account and no limit on citations you type in. Looking up a link, DOI or ISBN is free too; a network that looks up a lot in a short time is asked for a quick human check.

Are the citations accurate?

The generator formats exactly what is in the form, by the rules of the style’s current manual, with the same code the Format app uses for every paper. A lookup is only as good as the record it reads, so check author names, the title’s capitals and the date against the source itself.

Are there ads?

No. The generator shows no ads and needs no sign-up. Your lists are kept in this browser, not on our server, and what you look up is used only to find the source.