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APA Style 7th ed Citation Guide - Langara Library

About DOIs

What is a DOI?

A DOI is a unique alpha-numeric code given to individual online works. It can usually be found in the database record or on the first page of the article. If there is no DOI in a database record, you can also look for it on CrossRef. Most journal articles have a DOI, but not all. 

Format DOIs as hyperlinks (i.e., beginning with “https://”) as in: https://doi.org/xxxxx

If an article has a DOI, include it in the reference. For articles without a DOI, end the reference after the page range.

Database Names

Generally, you do not include the name of the database in an article citation. However, small number of databases publish works only available there - Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Proquest Dissertations, Theses Global, and UpToDate. In these cases, include the database name in the citation.  

Journal Article

Basic Format

Lastname, F. M. (YEAR). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume(issue if available), page range or article number. DOI

Reference List

Ralph, B. (2024). The destabilising effect of feminist, queer-inclusion and therapeutic counter-discourse: A feminist poststructuralist account of change in men’s friendships. Journal of Sociology, 60(2), 346–363. https://doi.org/10.1177/14407833231162637

In-Text

(Ralph, 2024)
(Ralph, 2024, p. 353) - when quoting directly

Journal Article with multiple authors

Basic Format

Lastname, F. M., Lastname, F. M., Lastname, F. M., Lastname, F. M., & Lastname, F. M. (YEAR). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume(issue if available), page range or article number. DOI

Reference List

Smith, I. A., Templer, P. H., & Hutyra, L. R. (2024). Water sources for street trees in mesic urban environments. Science of the Total Environment, 908, Article 168411. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.168411 

If there are more than 20 authors, format by including the first 19 names, insert an ellipsis . . . and then the final author’s name. Omit the other names. (Publication manual, 2020, p. 286)
If an article has an article number rather than page numbers, format as the word Article followed by the number, in place of a page range. 

In-Text

(Smith et al., 2024)

For in-text citations with works by 3 or more authors, cite the surname of the first author followed by et al. (Publication manual, 2020, p. 266)

Journal article with no DOI, from most library databases or print version

Basic Format

Lastname, F. M., Lastname, F. M., Lastname, F. M., Lastname, F. M., Lastname, F. M., & Lastname, F. M. (YEAR). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume(issue if available), pages. 

Reference List

Armstrong, A. C., Squires, J. E., Backman, C., Charlebois, A., Cooper, C., & Lewis, K. B. (2022). Exploring nurses’ sleep promotion practices in the care of post-operative cardiac surgery patients. Canadian Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, 32(1), 10–18.

In-Text

(Armstrong et al., 2022)