Corroba

How to cite a journal article

For a journal article you need the authors, year, article title, journal name (italicized), volume, issue, page range, and — critically — the DOI. Always include the DOI when one exists; it’s the permanent, checkable link to the source.

What you'll need

  • Author(s)
  • Year
  • Article title
  • Journal name (italicized)
  • Volume, issue, pages
  • DOI

Examples: how to cite a journal article

Real, correctly formatted citations — generated by Corroba's engine, not hand-typed.

APA (7th ed.)

Smith, J. A., & Doe, R. (2020). The effects of sleep on memory consolidation. Journal of Cognitive Science, 12(3), 45–67. https://doi.org/10.1000/jcs.2020.12345

In-text: (Smith & Doe, 2020)

MLA (9th ed.)

Smith, Jane A., and Robert Doe. “The Effects of Sleep on Memory Consolidation.” Journal of Cognitive Science, vol. 12, no. 3, 2020, pp. 45–67, https://doi.org/10.1000/jcs.2020.12345.

In-text: (Smith and Doe)

Harvard

Smith, J.A. and Doe, R. (2020) “The effects of sleep on memory consolidation,” Journal of Cognitive Science, 12(3), pp. 45–67. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1000/jcs.2020.12345.

In-text: (Smith and Doe, 2020)

Example source shown for illustration. Always cite the actual journal article you used.

Common gotchas

  • Prefer the DOI over a URL — it never breaks.
  • APA sentence-cases the article title; MLA title-cases it. Corroba handles that for you.
  • Found it on a database? You don’t cite the database — cite the article.

Cite a journal article automatically

Skip the manual formatting. Paste a link, DOI, or title and Corroba builds a perfect citation from real data — free, no sign-up, no ads.

Open the citation generator →

Cite other sources

How to cite a bookHow to cite a PDFHow to cite a newspaper article

Questions

What do I need to cite a journal article?
To cite a journal article you need: Author(s), Year, Article title, Journal name (italicized), Volume, issue, pages, DOI.
How do you cite a journal article in APA?
Smith, J. A., & Doe, R. (2020). The effects of sleep on memory consolidation. Journal of Cognitive Science, 12(3), 45–67. https://doi.org/10.1000/jcs.2020.12345
How do you cite a journal article in MLA?
Smith, Jane A., and Robert Doe. “The Effects of Sleep on Memory Consolidation.” Journal of Cognitive Science, vol. 12, no. 3, 2020, pp. 45–67, https://doi.org/10.1000/jcs.2020.12345.
Does Corroba cite a journal article automatically?
Yes — paste a link, DOI, or title and Corroba builds the citation from real data, for free, in APA, MLA, Chicago and thousands more styles.