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APA 7th Referencing Guide

Print article & article without a DOI

  • Use this format if the article has no DOI and was retrieved from an academic database.

Elements of the reference
Author(s) – last name, initial(s) - use & for multiple authors. (Year). Title of journal article. Journal Name – italicisedVolume – italicised(Issue or number), Page number(s).
In-text citation
(Paterson & Thorne, 2003) OR Paterson and Thorne (2003) have found that ....
Reference list 
Paterson, B. L., & Thorne, S. (2003). Enhancing the evaluation of nursing care effectiveness. Canadian Journal of Nursing Research, 35(3), 26-38.
Endnote reference type
Journal article
  • If the article is from an academic database, and has no DOI, reference the article using the print format.
  • See the APA Official When to include Database information to understand what is an academic database.
  • If the article is from a website and has no DOI - use the URL, as long as it is a working URL (if the URL is no longer working, you cannot include the reference, as readers cannot retrieve the work).
  • See also APA Official When to include DOIs and URLs
  • How to find a DOI - You can search for a DOI by going to https://search.crossref.org/ and pasting in the article title. 

One author

Elements of the reference
Author(s) – last name, initial(s). (Year). Title of journal article. Journal Name – italicised, Volume – italicised(Issue or number), Page number(s). DOI address OR URL (if no DOI available)
In-text citation
(Gray, 2009) OR Gray (2009) thought that….
Reference list 
Gray, B. (2009). The emotional labour of nursing - Defining and managing emotions in nursing work. Nurse Education Today, 29(2), 168-175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2008.08.003
Endnote reference type
Journal article (print) OR Electronic article

Two authors

Elements of the reference
Author(s) – last name, initial(s) - use & for multiple authors. (Year). Title of journal article. Journal Name – italicised, Volume – italicised(Issue or number), Page number(s). DOI address OR URL (if no DOI available)
In-text citation
(Richards & Borglin, 2019) OR Richards and Borglin (2019) mentioned that ....
Reference list 
Richards, D. A., & Borglin, G. (2019). “Shitty nursing” – The new normal? International Journal of Nursing Studies, 91(1), 148-152. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2018.12.018
Endnote reference type
Journal article OR Electronic article

Three to twenty authors

Elements of the reference
Author(s) – last name, initial(s) - use & for multiple authors. (Year). Title of journal article. Journal Name – italicised, Volume – italicised(Issue or number), Page number(s). DOI address OR URL (if no DOI available)
In-text citation
(Pal et al., 2013) OR Pal et al. (2013) stated that ....
Reference list 
Pal, R., Megharaj, M., Kirkbride, K. P., & Naidu, R. (2013). Illicit drugs and the environment - A review. The Science of the Total Environment, 463-464, 1079-1092. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2012.05.086
Endnote reference type
Journal article OR Electronic article

21 authors or more

Elements of the reference
Author(s) – last name, initial(s) for first 19 . . . Last author last name, initial(s). (Year). Title of journal article. Journal Name – italicised, Volume – italicised(Issue or number), Page number(s). DOI address OR URL (if available)
In-text citation
  • Use only the first author’s last name followed by “et al.”, for every use of the reference.
(Adlhoch et al., 2019) OR Adlhoch et al. (2019) have said that ....
Reference list 
  • List all authors up to 19 names.
  • For 21 or more authors, include the first 19, then an ellipsis - ... - followed by the last author's name.
Adlhoch, C., Mandakova, Z., Ethelberg, S., Epstein, J., Rimhanen-Finne, R., Figoni, J., Baylis, S. A., Faber, M., Mellou, K., Murphy, N., O'Gorman, J., Tosti, M. E., Ciccaglione, A. R., Hofhuis, A., Zaaijer, H., Lange, H., de Sousa, R., Avellon, A., Sundqvist, L., … Ijaz, S. (2019). Standardising surveillance of hepatitis E virus infection in the EU/EEA: A review of national practices and suggestions for the way forward. Journal of Clinical Virology, 120, 63-67. https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.jcv.2019.09.005
Endnote reference type
Journal article OR Electronic article

No author

Elements of the reference
Title of article. (Year). Title of journal - italicised, Volume - italicised(Issue or number), Page number(s). DOI OR URL (if no DOI available)
In-text citation
  • Use the first words of the article title.
  • Use double quotation marks around the article title.
("Vitamin K for Newborns", 2016)
Reference list 
Vitamin K for newborns. (2016). Journal of Midwifery & Women's Health, 61(5), 675-676. http://doi.org/10.1111/jmwh.12550
Endnote reference type
Journal article OR Electronic article

Advance online publication

Elements of the reference
Author(s) – last name, initial(s) - use & for multiple authors. (Year). Title of journal article. Journal Name – italicised. Advance online publication. DOI address OR URL (if no DOI available)
In-text citation
(Allan, 2010) OR Allan (2010) found that ....
Reference list 
Allan, H. (2010). The perils facing nurse education: A call for leadership for learning. Nurse Education Today. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2010.01.002
Endnote reference type
Journal article OR Electronic article - add Advance online publication to Article Number field

Article in press

Elements of the reference
Author(s) – last name, initial(s) - use & for multiple authors. (in press). Title of journal article. Journal Name – italicised. DOI address OR URL (if no DOI available)
In-text citation
(Baldwin & Keefer, in press) OR Baldwin and Keefer (in press) stated that ....
Reference list 
Baldwin, M., & Keefer, L. A. (in press). Being here and now: The benefits of belonging in space and time. Journal of Happiness Studies. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-019-00214-7
Endnote reference type
Journal article OR Electronic article - add Article in press to Article Number field

Article number (instead of page numbers)

Elements of the reference
Author(s) – last name, initial(s) - use & for multiple authors. (Year). Title of journal article. Journal Name – italicised, Volume - italicised(Issue number), Article article number. DOI address OR URL (if no DOI available)
In-text citation
(de Boer et al., 2014) OR de Boer et al. (2014) stated that ....
Reference list 
de Boer, M. J., Steinhagen, H. E., Versteegen, G. J., Struys, M. M. R. F., & Sanderman, R. (2014). Mindfulness, acceptance and catastrophizing in chronic pain. PloS One, 9(1), Article e87445. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0087445
Endnote reference type
Journal article OR Electronic article - add the word Article followed by the article number in the Pages field of the reference eg. Article e87445

Pre-print article

Elements of the reference
Author(s) – last name, initial(s) - use & for multiple authors. (Year). Title of journal article. Journal Name – italicised, Repository. DOI address OR URL (if no DOI available)
In-text citation
(Hampton et al., 2017) OR Hampton et al. (2017) stated that ....
Reference list 
Hampton, S., Rabagliati, H., Sorace, A., & Fletcher-Watson, S. (2017). Autism and bilingualism: A qualitative interview study of parents’ perspectives and experiences. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/76xfs
Endnote reference type
Journal article. Write "[Pre-print]." or "[Post-print]." at the beginning of the Title field.