How to Cite Newspapers and Other Articles in APA Format

When you’re writing a research paper, essay, or other type of assignment for a science course, you’ll most likely be required to write it in APA format. APA, otherwise known as the American Psychological Association, publishes a style guide that includes formatting guidelines for citing a wide variety of source types. 

In academic writing, it’s important to follow the style guide correctly throughout your work. Proper formatting makes reading your work a more streamlined process for your instructor and any other reader, and it also ensures that you don’t lose points or potentially face academic consequences for plagiarism. 

Citing a newspaper or other type of article in APA format

When you cite a print newspaper in APA format, cite it using the following formula:

Author’s last name, Author’s first initial. (Year, Month Day published). Title of the article. Newspaper name, page or page range.

Example: 

Kopec, G. (2010, October 29). New insights into the adolescent brain. The New York Times, A6.

In APA style, article titles are listed in sentence case, rather than in headline case. This means that only the first word and any proper nouns in the title are capitalized—like in a sentence. 

In-text citations

In APA style, in-text citations are formatted in two ways. If you mention the author’s name within a paragraph, you only need to cite the year the source was published after the sentence containing the reference. If you don’t mention the author’s name, you must include their last name and the year their work was published in parenthesis after the sentence. 

Example: 

At the UCLA conference, Bawa demonstrated how increasing the CO2 levels in a greenhouse environment changes pea plants’ growth patterns (2022). 

Example:

It’s been demonstrated that increasing CO2 levels in a greenhouse environment changes pea plants’ growth patterns (Bawa, 2022). 

How to cite an online version of a print article in APA format

To cite an online version of a print article in APA style, use the same format that you’d use for the print version, with one difference: Instead of including the article’s page range, include its URL. 

Author’s last name, Author’s first initial. (Year, Month Day published). Title of the article. Newspaper name. URL.

Example: 

Davenport, C. (2022, June 1). NASA awards contracts to build new spacesuits. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/06/01/nasa-spacesuit-contracts/ 

Cite online-only articles using almost the same format, but substitute the website’s name in place of the newspaper’s name and don’t italicize it:

Example:

Krouse, L. (2021, October 20). 5 dairy allergy signs you shouldn’t ignore, according to doctors. SELF. https://www.self.com/story/dairy-allergy-symptoms

How to cite a magazine article in APA format

Magazine citations follow a similar format to newspaper citations in APA style:

Author’s last name, Author’s first initial. (Year, Month published). Article title. Magazine name, volume(issue), page range. 

Example: 

Galdamez, L. (1996, June). Applying a feminist approach to talk therapy. Modern Psychology, 19(45), 34–39. 

How to cite an article in an academic or scientific journal in APA format

When you’re doing academic writing, many of your references will likely come from scientific and academic journals. The citation format for these is similar to the format for nonacademic magazines and journals, but they’re not exactly the same: 

Author’s last name, Author’s first initial. (Year, Month Day published). Article title. Magazine name, volume(issue), page range. DOI

Example: 

Tsilios, K. (2018, March 26). Assessing the need for taller, denser dunes in coastal communities. Oceanography, 22(5), 10–20. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.376.6527.3312

When citing scientific and academic journal articles, include the DOI. In fact, anytime a DOI is available, include it no matter where you accessed the article you’re referencing. With citations, always err on the side of more information, not less. 

What if there is no author listed?

If no author is listed for the article you’re citing, begin your citation with the article’s title. 

Example:

Climate change and its impact on microorganisms. (2020, July 6). Science Debriefing, 29–25.

If an article has two authors, list them both, separated by an ampersand:

Example: 

Lepley, K. & Kraus, M.

For three or more authors, list the first author’s name followed by “et al.” 

Example: 

Barry, L. et al. 

If the author is a group or organization, rather than an individual, list the organization’s name as the author’s. 

What if there is no date listed?

If no date is listed for the article you’re referencing, simply write “n.d.”—which stands for “no date”—in place of the date in your citation.