How to Cite a Journal Article: Elements, Where to Find Them, Style Differences

Journal articles are the most common entries in any reference list. The elements are predictable, but volume, issue and page numbers are easy to mistype. The comparison examples below this text are generated automatically for every style, so this page focuses on what you need and where to find it.

Elements and where to find them

Element	Where to look	Notes
Authors	Under the title on the first page	Keep the published order and spelling
Year	Header or footer of the first page, journal cover	If online-first and issue dates differ, use the issue year once assigned
Article title	First page	Include the subtitle after a colon
Journal name	Running head, journal website	IEEE and Vancouver use official abbreviations
Volume and issue	Header or footer	Some journals have no issues
Page range or article number	First and last pages, table of contents	Online journals often use article numbers (e.g., e0209899)
DOI	First page, publisher page, Crossref Search	Starts with "10."

Most of this sits on the first page of the PDF. Database records are convenient but sometimes wrong (author order, page range) or incomplete (issue number), so check against the article itself.

Where the styles differ

Item	APA 7	MLA 9	Chicago 18	IEEE	Vancouver
Author names	Surname, initials	Surname, given name (first author inverted)	Surname, given name	Initials surname	Surname initials, no periods
Year position	After authors	After volume/issue	After volume/issue (after author in author-date)	After pages	After journal
Article title	Sentence case, no quotes	Title case, quotes	Title case, quotes	Sentence case, quotes	Sentence case, no quotes
Journal	Full name, italic	Italic	Italic	Abbreviated, italic	NLM abbreviation, roman
Volume/issue	8(3), volume italic	vol. 8, no. 3	8, no. 3	vol. 8, no. 3	8(3)
DOI	https://doi.org/…	https://doi.org/…	https://doi.org/…	doi: …	doi: …

Use the title case converter for capitalization, the et al. guide for long author lists and the DOI guide for identifiers.

Common mistakes

Missing issue numbers. APA asks for the issue whenever the journal has one, and databases often drop it.
Abbreviations in the wrong style. APA, MLA and Chicago use the full journal name; IEEE and Vancouver use official abbreviations, not ones you invent.
Database URLs. Viewer links and library proxy links do not open for readers. Use the DOI, or end without a URL.
Online-first articles. Cite them as advance online publications and update once volume and issue are assigned.
Dashes. Many styles use an en dash in page ranges; NLM samples use a hyphen and elided numbers (40-6).

Korean-language articles

KCI, DBpia and RISS article pages show the journal name, volume, issue, pages and DOI together, and KCI is the authoritative record for journal names. Korean journals often have their own rules for formatting Korean titles; English-language papers citing Korean articles commonly use the journal's English title followed by "(in Korean)". Check the target journal's instructions.

Special cases

Article numbers: journals such as PLOS ONE use article numbers instead of pages. APA writes "Article e0209899".
Supplements and special issues: copy the notation from the running head, such as "Suppl."
Preprints: an arXiv, bioRxiv or SSRN manuscript is not a journal article. If it was later published, cite the journal version; otherwise name the repository and identifier.
Abstract only: try to read the full text. Some styles ask you to mark an abstract-only citation, so check the rules.
Translated articles: cite the version you read and add the original title in brackets if the style asks for it.

Checklist

Authors match the first page in number and order.
The year matches the issue.
Volume, issue and pages (or article number) are all present.
The journal name is full or abbreviated as the style requires.
The DOI starts with "10." and opens at https://doi.org/.

Choose "Journal article" in the reference generator to produce all eight styles, build text citations with the in-text citation generator, and import exported libraries with the BibTeX and RIS converter.

Side-by-side by style

These examples are generated by this site's formatting engine from fictional sample data (not real publications).

Style	Reference	In-text
APA 7th	Carter, E. R., Nguyen, M., & Okafor, D. (2023). Sleep quality and working memory in first-year university students. Journal of Applied Cognitive Research, 18(2), 145–162. https://doi.org/10.5555/jacr.2023.0142	(Carter et al., 2023, p. 150) Carter et al. (2023, p. 150)
MLA 9th	Carter, Emily R., et al. “Sleep quality and working memory in first-year university students.” Journal of Applied Cognitive Research, vol. 18, no. 2, Apr. 2023, pp. 145–62, https://doi.org/10.5555/jacr.2023.0142.	(Carter et al. 150) Carter et al. … (150)
Chicago 18th (author-date)	Carter, Emily R., Minh Nguyen, and Daniel Okafor. 2023. “Sleep quality and working memory in first-year university students.” Journal of Applied Cognitive Research 18 (2): 145–62. https://doi.org/10.5555/jacr.2023.0142.	(Carter et al. 2023, 150) Carter et al. (2023, 150)
Chicago 18th (notes-bibliography)	Carter, Emily R., Minh Nguyen, and Daniel Okafor. “Sleep quality and working memory in first-year university students.” Journal of Applied Cognitive Research 18, no. 2 (April 2023): 145–62. https://doi.org/10.5555/jacr.2023.0142.	1. Emily R. Carter et al., “Sleep quality and working memory in first-year university students,” Journal of Applied Cognitive Research 18, no. 2 (April 2023): 150, https://doi.org/10.5555/jacr.2023.0142. 2. Carter et al., “Sleep quality and working,” 150.
IEEE	[1] E. R. Carter, M. Nguyen, and D. Okafor, “Sleep quality and working memory in first-year university students,” Journal of Applied Cognitive Research, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 145–162, Apr. 2023, doi: 10.5555/jacr.2023.0142.	[1, p. 150] Carter et al. [1]
Vancouver (NLM/ICMJE)	1. Carter ER, Nguyen M, Okafor D. Sleep quality and working memory in first-year university students. Journal of Applied Cognitive Research. 2023 Apr;18(2):145-62. doi: 10.5555/jacr.2023.0142.	(1, p. 150) ¹
Korean journals — social science	Carter, E. R., Nguyen, M., & Okafor, D. (2023). Sleep quality and working memory in first-year university students. Journal of Applied Cognitive Research, 18(2), 145–162. https://doi.org/10.5555/jacr.2023.0142	(Carter et al., 2023, p. 150) Carter et al. (2023, p. 150)
Korean journals — humanities	Emily R. Carter, Minh Nguyen, and Daniel Okafor, “Sleep quality and working memory in first-year university students,” Journal of Applied Cognitive Research 18(2), 2023, pp. 145-162.	1) Emily R. Carter, Minh Nguyen, and Daniel Okafor, “Sleep quality and working memory in first-year university students,” Journal of Applied Cognitive Research 18(2), 2023, p. 150. 2) Carter, Nguyen, and Okafor, op. cit., p. 150.

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