citing a news article in an essay

Newspaper Article References

This page contains reference examples for newspaper articles, including the following:

• Newspaper article
• Comment on an online newspaper article

1. Newspaper article

Carey, B. (2019, March 22). Can we get better at forgetting? The New York Times . https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/22/health/memory-forgetting-psychology.html

Harlan, C. (2013, April 2). North Korea vows to restart shuttered nuclear reactor that can make bomb-grade plutonium. The Washington Post , A1, A4.

Stobbe, M. (2020, January 8). Cancer death rate in U.S. sees largest one-year drop ever. Chicago Tribune .

• Parenthetical citations : (Carey, 2019; Harlan, 2013; Stobbe, 2020)
• Narrative citations : Carey (2019), Harlan (2013), and Stobbe (2020)
• In the source element of the reference, provide at minimum the title of the newspaper in italic title case.
• If the newspaper article is from an online newspaper that has a URL that will resolve for readers (as in the Carey example), include the URL of the article at the end of the reference. If volume, issue, and/or page numbers for the article are missing, omit these elements from the reference.
• If you used a print version of the newspaper article (as in the Harlan example), provide the page or pages of the article after the newspaper title. Do not include the abbreviations “p.” or “pp.” before the page(s).
• If the newspaper article is from an academic research database, provide the title of the newspaper and any volume, issue, and/or page numbers that are available for the article. Do not include database information in the reference. If the article does not have volume, issue, or page numbers available, the reference in this case ends with the title of the newspaper (as in the Stobbe example).
• If the article is from a news website (e.g., CNN, HuffPost)—one that does not have an associated daily or weekly newspaper—use the format for a webpage on a news website instead.

2. Comment on an online newspaper article

sidneyf. (2020, October 7). Oh, I don’t know; perhaps the common-sense conclusion that packing people together — for hours — like sardines — may be an [Comment on the article “When will it be safe to travel again?”]. The Washington Post . https://wapo.st/3757UlS

• Parenthetical citation : sidneyf (2020)
• Narrative citation : sidneyf (2020)
• Credit the person who left the comment as the author using the format that appears with the comment (i.e., a real name or a username). The example shows a username.
• Provide the comment title or up to the first 20 words of the comment; then write “Comment on the article” and the title of the article on which the comment appeared (in quotation marks and sentence case, enclosed within square brackets).
• Link to the comment itself if possible. Either the full URL or a short URL is acceptable. The example shows a URL that the writer has shortened with the bitly URL shortening service.
• If the comment belongs to an article from a news website (e.g., CNN, HuffPost)—one that does not have an associated daily or weekly newspaper—use the format for a comment on a webpage on a news website.

Newspaper article references are covered in the seventh edition APA Style manuals in the Publication Manual Section 10.1 and the Concise Guide Section 10.1

University Libraries      University of Nevada, Reno

• Skill Guides
• Subject Guides

MLA Citation Guide (MLA 9th Edition): Newspaper Articles

• Understanding Core Elements
• Formatting Appendices and Works Cited List
• Writing an Annotated Bibliography
• Academic Honesty and Citation
• In-Text Citation
• Charts, Graphs, Images, and Tables
• Class Notes and Presentations
• Encyclopedias and Dictionaries
• Generative AI
• In Digital Assignments
• Interviews and Emails
• Journal and Magazine Articles
• Newspaper Articles
• Social Media
• Special Collections
• Videos and DVDs
• When Information Is Missing
• Citation Software

What if an author is not listed?

Begin the newspaper article citation with the title of the article if the author's name is not listed. For the in-text citation, list the first word or first few words of the title (excluding a, an, the).

Newspaper Article in Print

Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article: Subtitle if Any." Name of Newspaper, Date of Publication, p. Page number. 

Cook, Lorne. "EU Warns 3 Nations of Legal Action."  San Francisco Chronicle,  14 June 2017, p. A4+. 

Note:   If the article appears on non-consecutive pages (e.g., the article starts on page 4 then continues on page 12), write the first page number and a plus (+) sign. E.g., 4

Newspaper Article from a Website

Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article: Subtitle if Any." Name of New Publication , Date of Publication, URL.

Litz, Sarah. "All the Fires: What You Need to Know on Size, Containment."  Reno Gazette-Journal , 12 July 2017, www.rgj.com/story/news/2017/07/12/farad-fire-updates-size-containment-hills-burn-west-verdi/471293001/.

  Note: This entry has no page numbers, so this information is left out of the citation.

Newspaper Article from a Library Database

Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article: Subtitle if Any." Name of Newspaper [city of newspaper if city name not in name], Date of Publication, p. Page number if given. Name of Database, Permalink URL. 

Russolillo, Steven. "Why the Housing Market is Getting Stronger: New-home Sales and Quarterly Results from Toll Brothers this Week Should Bolster the Housing Market's Solid Fundamentals."  Wall Street Journal , 22 May 2016.  ProQuest,  unr.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1790256212?accountid=452. 

 Note : If an article title ends with a question mark or exclamation mark, you do not need to add a period to the end of the title. 

• << Previous: Journal and Magazine Articles
• Next: Social Media >>

APA Citation Style, 7th edition: Newspaper Article

• General Style Guidelines
• One Author or Editor
• Two Authors or Editors
• Three to Five Authors or Editors
• Article or Chapter in an Edited Book
• Article in a Reference Book
• Edition other than the First
• Translation
• Government Publication
• Journal Article with 1 Author
• Journal Article with 2 Authors
• Journal Article with 3–20 Authors
• Journal Article 21 or more Authors
• Magazine Article
• Newspaper Article
• Basic Web Page
• Web page from a University site
• Web Page with No Author
• Entry in a Reference Work
• Government Document
• Film and Television
• Youtube Video
• Audio Podcast
• Electronic Image
• Twitter/Instagram
• Lecture/PPT
• Conferences
• Secondary Sources
• Citation Support
• Avoiding Plagiarism
• Formatting Your Paper

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

What is a DOI? A DOI ( digital object identifier ) is a unique alphanumeric string assigned by a registration agency (the International DOI Foundation) to identify content and provide a persistent link to its location on the internet. 

NOTE: It is regarded as the most important part of the citation because it will accurately direct users to the specific article.

Think of it as a "digital fingerprint" or an article's DNA!

The rules for DOIs have been updated in the 7th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. They should be included as URLs, rather than just the alphanumeric string.

Correct:  

• http://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-12-114
• http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-12-114

Incorrect:     

• doi: 10.1186/1471-2288-12-114
• Retrieved from http://doi:10.1186/1471-2288-12-114
• FREE DOI Look-up (Cross-Ref)
• DOI System: FAQ
• Looking up a DOI
• DOI Flowchart

Newspaper Article (pp. 200-201)

General Format

In-Text Citation (Paraphrase): 

(Author Surname, Year)

In-Text Citation (Quotation):

(Author Surname, Year, page number)

References:

Author Surname, First Initial. Second Initial. (Year, Month Day). Article title: Subtitle. Newspaper Title, page range. URL [if viewed online]

In-Text Citation (Paraphrase):

(Wallace, 2007)

(Wallace, 2007, p. A8)

Wallace, K. (2007, December 4). Passport applicant finds massive privacy breach. The Globe and Mail , pp. A1, A8.

(Severson & Martin, 2009)

In-Text Citation (Quotation:

Severson, K. &, Martin, A. (2009, March 3). It's organic, but does that mean it's safer? The New York Times . http://www.nytimes.com

Subject Guide

• << Previous: Magazine Article
• Next: Database >>

• Last Updated: Jul 26, 2024 1:06 PM
• URL: https://guides.himmelfarb.gwu.edu/APA

• Himmelfarb Intranet
• Privacy Notice
• Terms of Use
• GW is committed to digital accessibility. If you experience a barrier that affects your ability to access content on this page, let us know via the Accessibility Feedback Form .
• Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library
• 2300 Eye St., NW, Washington, DC 20037
• Phone: (202) 994-2962
• [email protected]
• https://himmelfarb.gwu.edu

Thursday, February 23: The Clark Library is closed today.

MLA Style (9th Edition) Citation Guide: Magazine/Newspaper Articles

• Introduction to MLA Style
• Journal Articles
• Magazine/Newspaper Articles
• Books & Ebooks
• Government & Legal Documents
• Biblical Sources
• Secondary Sources
• Videos/DVDs/TV Shows
• How to Cite: Other
• 9th Edition Updates
• Additional Help

Table of Contents

A note on magazine/newspaper citations, magazine/newspaper article from a website, magazine/newspaper article from nexis uni, magazine/newspaper article in print, how do i know if it's a newspaper.

Not sure whether your article is from a newspaper? Look for these characteristics:

• Main purpose is to provide readers with a brief account of current events locally, nationally or internationally.
• Can be published daily, semiweekly or weekly.
• Written for the general public, readers don't need any previous subject knowledge.
• Little, if any, information about other sources is provided.

Articles may also come from  journals  or magazines.

Note: For your Works Cited list, all citations should be double spaced and have a hanging indent.

A "hanging indent" means that each subsequent line after the first line of your citation should be indented by 0.5 inches.

If there is no known author, start the citation with the title of the article instead.

Access Date

Date of access is optional in MLA 8th/9th edition; it is recommended for pages that may change frequently or that do not have a copyright/publication date.

In your works cited list, abbreviate months as follows: 

January = Jan. February = Feb. March = Mar. April = Apr. May = May June = June July = July August = Aug. September = Sept. October = Oct. November = Nov. December = Dec.

Spell out months fully in the body of your paper. 

Online newspapers and magazines sometimes include a “permalink,” which is a shortened, stable version of a URL. Look for a “share” or “cite this” button to see if a source includes a permalink. If you can find a permalink, use that instead of a URL.

Here are some common features you should try to find before citing electronic sources in MLA style. Not every Web page will provide all of the following information. However, collect as much of the following information as possible both for your citations and for your research notes:

• Author and/or editor names (if available); last names first.
• "Article name in quotation marks."
• Title of the website, project, or book in italics.
• Any version numbers available, including editions (ed.), revisions, posting dates, volumes (vol.), or issue numbers (no.).
• Publisher information, including the publisher name and publishing date.
• Take note of any page numbers (p. or pp.) or paragraph numbers (par. or pars.).
• “permalink,” which is a shortened, stable version of a URL. Look for a “share” or “cite this” button to see if a source includes a permalink. If you can find a permalink, use that instead of a URL.
• Date you accessed the material (Date Accessed)—While not required, it is highly recommended, especially when dealing with pages that change frequently or do not have a visible copyright date.
• Remember to cite containers after your regular citation. Examples of containers are collections of short stories or poems, a television series, or even a website. A container is anything that is a part of a larger body of works.

Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article: Subtitle if Any."  Title of Website , Date of Publication, URL. Access date.

Note:  If the author's name is not listed, begin the citation with the title of the article.

Date of access is now optional in MLA 8th edition. If no publication date is included, we recommend including the date you last accessed the site.

Works Cited List Example:

Zimmerman, Eilene. "The Many Delicate Issues of Spirituality in the Office." New York Times , 15 Aug. 2004, www.nytimes.com/2004/08/15/jobs/the-many-delicate-issues-of-spirituality-in-the-office.html.  Accessed 7 June 2016.

Note : This entry has no page numbers, so this information is left out of the citation.

In-Text Citation Example:

(Author's Last Name)

(Zimmerman)

Note: This entry has no page numbers, so this information is left out of the citation.

Note : If there is no author listed, the in-text citation would include the first word or words of the title of the article in quotation marks.

Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article: Subtitle if Any."  Title of Newspaper , Date of Publication, p. Page Number. Database Name , URL. 

Note:  If the author's name is not listed, begin the citation with the title of the article. Date of access is now optional in MLA 8th edition.

Ruhe, Pierre. “Pair of Recitals Show Musicians’ Contrasting Styles.” The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, 5 Feb. 2001, p. 5D. Nexis Uni, advance.lexis.com/api/document?collection=news&id=urn:contentItem:4292-6G90-0026-G40Y-00000-00&context=1516831.

(Author's Last Name Page Number)

(Ruhe 5D)

Cite a newspaper article as you would a magazine article, but note the different pagination in most newspapers. If there is more than one edition available for that date (as in an early and late edition of a newspaper), identify the edition after the newspaper title.

Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article: Subtitle if Any."  Name of Newspaper , Date of Publication, p. Page number. 

Note:  If the author's name is not listed, begin the citation with the title of the article.

Kershner, Isabel. "Ancient Grocery Lists May Shed Light on When the Bible Was First Written." New York Times , 2016 April 12, p. A8.

(Author's Last Name Page Number)

(Kershner A8)

Note : If an article is only one page long, you do not need to provide the page number in the in-text citation. 

Note : If there is no author listed, the in-text citation would include the first word or words of the title of the article in quotation marks, e.g. ("Talks").

If the newspaper is a less well-known or local publication, include the city name in brackets after the title of the newspaper.

Behre, Robert. "Presidential Hopefuls Get Final Crack at Core of S.C. Democrats."  Post and Courier  [Charleston, SC], 29 Apr. 2007, p. A11.

• << Previous: Journal Articles
• Next: Books & Ebooks >>
• Last Updated: Sep 5, 2024 3:20 PM
• URL: https://libguides.up.edu/mla

Home / Guides / Citation Guides / MLA Format / How to Cite a Newspaper Article in MLA

How to Cite a Newspaper Article in MLA

Newspaper – A daily or weekly publication that contains news, often featuring articles on political events, crime, business, art, entertainment, society, and sports.

Some examples of popular newspapers include The New York Times , Wall Street Journal , USA Today , and The Chicago Tribune .

How to cite a newspaper in print

View Screenshot | Cite your source

When citing a newspaper in print

• The city name is in the name of the newspaper.
• It is a national or international newspaper.
• Page numbers : One page number is “p. #” More than one page is “pp. ##-##.”

How to cite a newspaper article found online

Cite your source

When citing a newspaper found online

• URL : Omit the https://.
• Accessed date : Technically, the access date is supplemental and does not always need to be included. However, due to the easily changeable nature of online information, many teachers prefer to include it in the citation.

How to cite a newspaper article found on a database

When citing a newspaper article found on a database

• Accessed date : Technically, the access date is supplemental. However, some teachers will request to have it included.

Published October 31, 2011. Updated May 18, 2021.

MLA Formatting Guide

MLA Formatting

• Annotated Bibliography
• Bibliography
• Block Quotes
• et al Usage
• In-text Citations
• Paraphrasing
• Page Numbers
• Sample Paper
• Works Cited
• MLA 8 Updates
• MLA 9 Updates
• View MLA Guide

Citation Examples

• Book Chapter
• Journal Article
• Magazine Article
• Newspaper Article
• Website (no author)
• View all MLA Examples

How useful was this post?

Click on a star to rate it!

We are sorry that this post was not useful for you!

Let us improve this post!

Tell us how we can improve this post?

To cite an online newspaper article in MLA style, you need to have basic information including the author, publication date, title of the article, newspaper name, and the URL. The templates for in-text citations and works-cited-list entries of an online newspaper article, along with examples, are given below for one author:

In-text citation template and example:

For citations in prose, use the first name and surname of the author in the first occurrence. In subsequent citations, use only the surname. In parenthetical citations, always use only the surname of the author.

Citation in prose:

First mention: Jane Brody . . .

Subsequent occurrences: Brody . . .

Parenthetical:

. . . (Brody)

Works-cited-list entry template and example:

The title of the article is in plain text and title case; it is placed inside quotation marks. The newspaper name is given in italics. Follow the format given in the template and example for writing the date, month, and year.

Surname, First Name. “Title of the Article.” Title of the Newspaper , Publication date, URL.

Reuters. “Wildfire in Southern Spain Forces 500 to Flee.” The Times of India , 9 Sept. 2021, www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/wildfire-in-southern-spain-forces-500-to-flee/articleshow/86063279.cms .

To cite an article from the New York Times in MLA style, you need to have basic information including the author, publication date, title of the article, and the URL. The templates for in-text citation and works-cited-list entry of an article from the New York Times, along with examples, are given below for one author:

The title of the article is in plain text and title case; it is placed inside quotation marks. The newspaper name, “ The New York Times ,” is given in italics. Follow the format given in the template and example for writing the date, month, and year.

Surname, First Name. “Title of the Article.” The New York Times , Publication date, URL.

Brody, Jane. “How Vision Loss Can Affect the Brain.” The New York Times , 10 Sept. 2021, www.nytimes.com/2021/09/06/well/live/vision-loss-brain-health.html .

MLA Citation Examples

Writing Tools

Citation Generators

Other Citation Styles

Plagiarism Checker

Upload a paper to check for plagiarism against billions of sources and get advanced writing suggestions for clarity and style.

Get Started

• PRO Courses Guides New Tech Help Pro Expert Videos About wikiHow Pro Upgrade Sign In
• EDIT Edit this Article
• EXPLORE Tech Help Pro About Us Random Article Quizzes Request a New Article Community Dashboard This Or That Game Happiness Hub Popular Categories Arts and Entertainment Artwork Books Movies Computers and Electronics Computers Phone Skills Technology Hacks Health Men's Health Mental Health Women's Health Relationships Dating Love Relationship Issues Hobbies and Crafts Crafts Drawing Games Education & Communication Communication Skills Personal Development Studying Personal Care and Style Fashion Hair Care Personal Hygiene Youth Personal Care School Stuff Dating All Categories Arts and Entertainment Finance and Business Home and Garden Relationship Quizzes Cars & Other Vehicles Food and Entertaining Personal Care and Style Sports and Fitness Computers and Electronics Health Pets and Animals Travel Education & Communication Hobbies and Crafts Philosophy and Religion Work World Family Life Holidays and Traditions Relationships Youth
• Browse Articles
• Learn Something New
• Quizzes Hot
• Happiness Hub
• This Or That Game
• Train Your Brain
• Explore More
• Support wikiHow
• About wikiHow
• Log in / Sign up
• Education and Communications
• College University and Postgraduate
• Academic Writing

How to Cite Online News Articles in APA

Last Updated: December 5, 2022 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Gerald Posner and by wikiHow staff writer, Jennifer Mueller, JD . Gerald Posner is an Author & Journalist based in Miami, Florida. With over 35 years of experience, he specializes in investigative journalism, nonfiction books, and editorials. He holds a law degree from UC College of the Law, San Francisco, and a BA in Political Science from the University of California-Berkeley. He’s the author of thirteen books, including several New York Times bestsellers, the winner of the Florida Book Award for General Nonfiction, and has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History. He was also shortlisted for the Best Business Book of 2020 by the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 71,345 times.

If you're writing a research paper, you may want to use news articles you find online as sources. When using the American Psychological Association (APA) citation method, you'll need to include both an in-text citation and an entry in the Reference List at the end of your paper. Generally, these entries should include enough information for your readers to be able to find the article you used when writing your paper. For an online news article, this means including the URL for the story in your reference list entry. [1] X Trustworthy Source APA Style Definitive source for current APA style writing and citation guidelines Go to source

Formatting Your Reference List Entry

• Example: Alpert, A.
• If there are multiple authors, separate their names with commas, using an ampersand (&) before the last author's name. [3] X Research source
• If no individual author is listed, skip this element and start your entry with the title of the article.

• Example: Alpert, A. (2019, February 20).

• Example: Alpert, A. (2019, February 20). The good-enough life: The desire for greatness can be an obstacle to our own potential.

• Example: Alpert, A. (2019, February 20). The good-enough life: The desire for greatness can be an obstacle to our own potential. The New York Times .

• Example: Alpert, A. (2019, February 20). The good-enough life: The desire for greatness can be an obstacle to our own potential. The New York Times . Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com

Reference List Format:

Author, A.A. (Year, Month Day). Title of article in sentence case: Subtitle of article in sentence case. Title of Newspaper or Website in Title Case . Retrieved from URL

Creating In-Text Citations

• For example, you might write: The idea that striving for greatness might not be the best goal for humanity runs through hundreds of years of philosophy (Alpert, 2019).

Tip: APA style requires a parenthetical citation at the end of every sentence in which a source is paraphrased. The only exception would be a block quote of several sentences from the same source. In that case, your parenthetical citation would go at the end of the quote.

• For example, suppose one of your sources was an article from The Globe and Mail titled "How Globe and Mail reporters traced the rise of fentanyl." This article doesn't have an individual author – it is simply attributed to "staff." If you paraphrased or quoted the article in your text, your in-text citation might be: ("How Globe and Mail," 2018).

• For example, you might write: A "good-enough" relationship with nature entails that "we recognize both the abundance and the limitations of the planet we share with infinite other life forms" (Alpert, 2019, para. 7).

• If you name the author in the body of your paper and quote the article directly, include a parenthetical citation after the quote with the page number or paragraph where the quoted material appears.
• For articles without an individual author, a full parenthetical citation isn't necessary if you include the title of the article in the body of your paper. As with the author's name, you would simply put the year the article was published in parentheses immediately following the title of the article.

Expert Q&A

You might also like.

• ↑ https://www.apastyle.org/learn/faqs/cite-newspaper
• ↑ https://bowvalleycollege.libguides.com/c.php?g=714519&p=5093747
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/reference_list_electronic_sources.html
• ↑ https://columbiacollege-ca.libguides.com/apa/newspapers
• ↑ http://aus.libguides.com/apa/apa-newspaper-web

About This Article

• Send fan mail to authors

Reader Success Stories

Andrea Enge

Feb 26, 2020

Did this article help you?

Featured Articles

Trending Articles

Watch Articles

• Terms of Use
• Privacy Policy
• Do Not Sell or Share My Info
• Not Selling Info

wikiHow Tech Help Pro:

Develop the tech skills you need for work and life

• Link to facebook
• Link to linkedin
• Link to twitter
• Link to youtube
• Writing Tips

Harvard Referencing – How to Cite a Newspaper Article

• 2-minute read
• 27th July 2016

Newspapers and magazines aren’t the most common sources in academic writing . Nevertheless, you may need to cite a magazine or newspaper article when writing about something that has been in the media (or when analysing the media itself). As such, we’re looking at how to cite a newspaper article or magazine in Harvard referencing.

In-Text Citations

As with most source types, Harvard referencing uses a standard author–date format for in-text citations of magazines and newspapers.

The important thing here is to check whether the article has a named author. If it does, use the author’s name in your citation alongside the year of publication. If it’s a print version of the article and you’re quoting it directly, you should also provide relevant page numbers:

Leicester’s season was ‘hailed as a sporting miracle’ (Wagg, 2016, p. 20).

If the article has no named author, simply use the newspaper/magazine’s name instead:

A Yorkshire terrier called Eddie was reunited with his owners after being missing for five years, despite living only half a mile away (The Guardian, 2016).

As you can see, we’ve picked the most hard-hitting news story we could find to use as an example in this post.

Reference List

If you’ve cited a print version of a magazine or newspaper article, the information required in the reference list is as follows (if no author is named, as above, use the magazine/newspaper title):

Find this useful?

Subscribe to our newsletter and get writing tips from our editors straight to your inbox.

Surname, Initial(s). (Year) ‘Title of Article’, Title of Newspaper/Magazine , issue number (if applicable), day and/or month of publication, page number(s).

The Wagg article in the example above would therefore appear as:

Wagg, S. (2016) ‘Under No Illusions’, When Saturday Comes , 352, June, pp. 20-21.

For online articles, the format is similar but with a URL and date of access given in place of page numbers:

Surname, Initial(s). (Year) ‘Title of Article’, Title of Newspaper/Magazine , issue number (if applicable), day and/or month of publication [Online]. Available at URL [Accessed date].

The Guardian article above would therefore appear in the reference list as:

The Guardian (2016) ‘Missing dog found half a mile from owners’ home after five years’, The Guardian , 20 May [Online]. Available at http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/may/20/missing-dog-found-five-years-yorkshire-terrier-eddie-microchip [Accessed 24 June 2016].

Share this article:

Post A New Comment

Get help from a language expert. Try our proofreading services for free.

5-minute read

Free Email Newsletter Template

Promoting a brand means sharing valuable insights to connect more deeply with your audience, and...

6-minute read

How to Write a Nonprofit Grant Proposal

If you’re seeking funding to support your charitable endeavors as a nonprofit organization, you’ll need...

9-minute read

How to Use Infographics to Boost Your Presentation

Is your content getting noticed? Capturing and maintaining an audience’s attention is a challenge when...

8-minute read

Why Interactive PDFs Are Better for Engagement

Are you looking to enhance engagement and captivate your audience through your professional documents? Interactive...

7-minute read

Seven Key Strategies for Voice Search Optimization

Voice search optimization is rapidly shaping the digital landscape, requiring content professionals to adapt their...

How to Ace Slack Messaging for Contractors and Freelancers

Effective professional communication is an important skill for contractors and freelancers navigating remote work environments....

Make sure your writing is the best it can be with our expert English proofreading and editing.

Home ➔ Citation Questions ➔ How to Cite an Article in an Essay? (APA and MLA)

How to Cite an Article in an Essay? (APA and MLA)

Before we get to all the different cases that change the way to cite an article in your essay, we must clarify a couple of things first.

• There are more than two citation styles out there. But, we will cover only APA and MLA because these are the most common ones.
• This article covers in-text citations, so it won’t go over the references page and how you should organize your sources there.

Note: For references, you can try our free online tools that support many styles — Citation Generators.

Usually, your assignment sheet instructions say what style you must stick to. If it doesn’t, ask your tutor for help.

MLA In-Text Citations (Modern Language Association)

Indicating your citations in the essay’s body is meant to be as short and as readable as possible. It’s quite different from the references pages where you indicate tons of details about the source. Your in-text citation is a link to the works cited page at the end of your paper.

There are two ways of using a quote in an essay MLA. The in-text method requires only the page number of the source used in parentheses at the end of the quote. The parenthetical one requires you to include both the author’s last name and the page number.

Using a Direct Quote

The author’s words are left unchanged and enclosed within quotation marks. Examples:

Use the author’s last name before the quote.

Smith states, “Citing an article in your essay correctly is fundamental if you want to avoid plagiarism” (26).

Don’t use the author’s last name before the quote.

The report states, “There are two ways of in-text citation” (Smith 26).

Use a lengthy excerpt (block quote) without quotation marks but with left indentation (half an inch). Moreover, note that you will have to place a period before the parentheses. A quote is regarded as long if it takes four or more lines in your essay.

Smith elaborates further: All the citation rules might seem too complicated, especially if you haven’t dealt with them before. One of the reasons for that could be the fact that students neglect to buy a corresponding style manual or to consult with their tutor. (26)

Note: If you refer to a web source or an article with no pagination, don’t mention the page number at all.

Paraphrasing or summarizing

When paraphrasing the source , you don’t have to use quotation marks:

According to Smith, you must learn how to cite a source in your essay not to plagiarize (26).

Sometimes, you might choose to paraphrase individual quotes from multiple pages. In such a case, you can indicate the pages or a page range separated by a comma like this: (Smith 26, 28, 31-33).

My source has more than one author

Case 1: two authors.

Just use “and” to separate them. For instance:

Moisson and Zakher have found that “Having a 20-minute nap during the day improves information retention by 500%” (127).

“Napping three times a week lowers the risk of dying of heart disease by 37%” (Moisson and Zakher 127).

Case 2: More than two authors

Mention the last name of the first author followed by “et al.” (which means “and others”). For example:

“Daytime napping brings many advantages” (Moisson et al. 127).

The author is unknown

The author’s name might be unknown. If it’s the case, use the first several words from the article’s title but omit “A,” “An,” or “The” at the beginning. It can be written in quotes or italics, depending on how it’s written in your list of references. The number of words you pick to use depends on the title. You want as many as to make it clear for the reader what source the quote is from. For example:

( Astrophysics 221) or (“Global Warming” 310)

What if I have two authors with the same surname?

To avoid confusion, use the author’s initials or their full names (if the initials are also identical) like this:

Some researchers claim that North America’s global warming early signs were enough to start taking measures (H. Black 22), others refuse to even acknowledge global warming as a planet-scale issue (T. Black 35).

MLA citation examples with references

Take a look at some more examples of MLA in-text citations with their respective reference entries.

Newspaper article

On October 1, 2019, Hanoi (Vietnam) became the leader in the list of cities with the highest levels of air pollution. (Smith 3)

Works Cited page

3. Smith, Thomas. “Hanoi Wrapped in Clouds.”  The Morning Sun  [Houston, TX] 1 Oct. 2019, p. 7.

Scholarly article

Features of the child’s interaction with their relatives, the degree of relatives’ responsiveness to the signals received from the child, and the completeness of satisfying their needs in many aspects determine the nature of relations with people formed from the first years of life. (Spencer 5)

5. Spencer, Laura. “Aggressive behavior in adolescents and the identity of the parents.”  Psychological Science and Education , vol. 50, no. 5, 2018, p. 14.

Magazine article

To restore the movement of qi energy, the doctor acts on certain acupuncture points — areas where the meridians come closest to the surface of the body. (Turnbull 5)

5. Turnbull, Katarina. “The Best Procedures for Your Vitality.”  The Health,  19 May. 2018, p. 70.

Journal article

The construction of the Okayama castle complex was completed in 1615, and the castle served as a residence for local daimyo (feudal lords) throughout the entire Edo period (XVII-XIX century).  (Gilliam 2)

1. Gilliam, Szymon. “Cities with Historic Gardens.”  Big in Japan,  3 Apr. 2019, p. 24.

Research article

Research on social networks in higher education institutions usually focuses on one of the two main groups of participants — teachers or students. (Kent 8)

8. Kent, Oscar. ” Social Networks of Students: Factors of Formation and Influence On Education.”  Education Today, vol.11, no. 2, 2018, p.31 .

APA In-Text Citations (American Psychological Association)

This style is the most commonly adopted one in the fields of health and social sciences. Remember to include all the articles you used in the references at the end of your essay .

To cite in an essay, using APA style, you will need to include the author’s name, the date of publication, and the page number where you found the information.

If compared to MLA, APA style is a bit more complicated and requires the writer to specify more details. Apart from the author’s last name and the page number, you’d also need to include the year of publication.

Smith states (2005), “Citing an article in your essay properly is essential to avoid plagiarism” (p. 26).

The manual states, “There are two ways of in-text citation” (Smith, 2005, p. 26).

In APA, a quote is recognized as long if it’s over 40 words. You don’t need to use quotation marks, and the indentation here is five spaces from the left margin. Example:

Smith (2005) elaborates on this issue: All the citation rules might be very confusing, especially if you haven’t dealt with them before. One of the reasons for that could be the fact that students neglect to buy a corresponding style manual or to consult with their tutor. (p. 26)

There are two ways you can format paraphrasing:

According to Smith (2005), you must be aware of citation rules to avoid plagiarism in your essay.

You must learn how to cite properly in your paper to avoid plagiarism-related issues (Smith, 2005, p. 26).

Use “and” to separate them in text and use an ampersand (&) to separate them in parentheses. For instance:

The result of research by Crompton and Gibson (2009) suggests that… (Crompton & Gibson, 2009, p. 55).

Case 2: 3–5 authors

Mention all authors the first time you cite them. For all other instances, write only the last name of the first author and add “et al.”

(Foster, Peattie, Rajagopalan, Frankfeldt, 2001) (Foster et al., 2001)

Case 3: 6+ authors

Use the first author’s name with “et al.” after it.

Hanks et al. (2008) suggest that… (Hanks et al., 2008, p. 43)

If the author’s name is unknown, use the first word or words of the source’s title. Titles of reports and books must be written in italics or underlined, whereas article titles and chapters should be put inside quotation marks.

Similar results were received after all students learned more about citing sources in essays (“Citation Guide,” 2016).

APA citation examples with references

Check more examples of in-text citations in APA style with their corresponding references.

Earlier, journalists reported on the British Prime Minister’s plan to establish centers for customs clearance of goods across the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, and to leave the duty-free regime for food and agricultural products. (Morton, 2019)

Morton, M. (2019, October 11). New Brexit Agreement Proposals. The Day.

This position is quite common in the context of human study; it constitutes the ideology of most modern psychological assistance services and underlies the technology and many methods of psychotherapeutic and psychocorrectional work. (Watt, 2019)

Watt, A. (2019). Three Paradigms in Psychology – Three Strategies for Psychological Impact. The Art of Psychology, 9 (7), 24.

16-year-old Greta insists that, according to the 2015 Paris Agreement, the governments of the 195 countries that have signed this document are obliged to reduce carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere immediately. (Iles, 2019)

Iles, V. (2019, September 30). Greta Tunberg’s Stolen Childhood. Generation Today, 127 (234), 17. https://doi.org/10.1416/generation.aay3410

The most accepted ways in which graduates respond to the conflicts are “Competition” (27%) and “Cooperation” (24%). (Reide, 2019)

Reide, B. (2019). Psychological Features of Communication and Response in Conflict Situations In The Professional Education System. Interscience, 12(5), 36.

It is surprising that 78% of respondents neglect sleep and stay up late on the Internet, forget about eating, personal hygiene, household duties, study, etc. (Benjamin, 2018)

Benjamin, P. (2018). Internet Addiction in Teenagers. Cyber Community, 7 (6), 41. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm00002415

You will find a lot more rules related to the citation style you’re using because there are many types of sources and exceptions to those sources. So, by acquiring a fresh style manual, you’ll be on the safe side when it comes to citing and paraphrasing in your essay.

The list of references

• Research and Citation — The Purdue University Online Writing Lab
• Citation Guide (MLA and APA) — Lane Community College
• MLA Citation Guide (8th Edition): In-Text Citation — Columbia College

Was this article helpful?

• Boston University Libraries

APA Citations (7th edition)

Citing journal articles.

• Citing Books and eBooks
• Citing Videos
• Citing Web Resources

APA: Citing Journal Articles  from  Lawrence W. Tyree Library  on  Vimeo . View a transcript  here.

In this tutorial, you will learn the basics for citing journal articles with and without a DOI and how to cite open access journal articles.

Every APA reference needs four parts:  author, date, title,  and  source . As you go through these examples, you will learn how to identify these four parts and how to place and format them into a proper APA reference.

Example 1: A Journal Article with a DOI

For the first example, you will learn how to cite a journal article with a DOI. Often, you will find journal articles online using the library's databases or other online resources. 

The first step is to identify the  author  of the article. The author of this article is Brittanie Atteberry-Ash,

To list an author, write the  last name , a  comma , and the  first and middle initials .

Example: Atteberry-Ash.

Next, identify when this article was published. For journal articles, you typically only need the  year . In this case, this article was published in 2022. You can usually find the date at the top of the article, the cover of the journal, or, for online articles, the article's record.

List the  date  after the author(s), in  parentheses , followed by a  period .

Example: Atteberry-Ash, B. (2022).

Now, identify the  title of the article . The title will usually be at the very top of the article, in a larger size font.

List the  title  of the article after the date. Make sure you only capitalize the  first word of the title ,  the first word of the subtitle , which comes after a colon, and any  proper nouns . End with a period. In this title, only the words Social  and  A  are capitalized.

Example: Atteberry-Ash, B. (2022). Social work and social justice: A conceptual review.

For the last component, you need the  source . For an article, this is the  title of the journal, volume, issue , which is sometimes called  number , and  page numbers  of the article. Usually this information can be found on the cover of the journal, on the table of contents, or at the top of the article. For the page numbers, you should look at the first and last pages of the article. For online articles, this information is usually found in the article's record.

Type the  journal title , in  italics , capitalizing all major words, a comma, the  volume , also in  italics , the  number or issue  in parentheses, a comma, and then the  page numbers  of the article.

Example:  Atteberry-Ash, B. (2022). Social work and social justice: A conceptual review.  Social Work,   68  (1), 38-46.

The last element of the  source  is the  DOI , which stands for Digital Object Identifier. A DOI can be found in the article’s record or on the first page of the article.

Type the  DOI , using the prefix  https://doi.org/ . There is no period after the DOI.

Example:  Atteberry-Ash, B. (2022). Social work and social justice: A conceptual review.  Social Work,   68  (1), 38-46. https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/swac042

If you refer to a work in your paper, either by directly quoting, paraphrasing, or by referring to main ideas, you will need to include an in-text parenthetical citation. There are a number of ways to do this. In this example, a  signal phrase  is used to introduce a direct quote. The  author's name  is given in the text, and the  publication date  and  page number(s)  are enclosed in parentheses at the beginning and end of the sentence.

Example: Atteberry-Ash (2022) notes "social workers are called on to practice socially just values and to address the consequences of oppression, specifically lost opportunity, social disenfranchisement, and isolation" (p. 38).

Example 2: Multiple Authors and No DOI

In this example, most of the components needed for the reference can be found in the article’s record. This article, however, has multiple authors and does not have a DOI listed in its record or in the article itself.

Format all the citation components of this journal article like the first example. For multiple authors, list the authors in the order they are listed in the article. Use a  comma  to separate each author and an  ampersand (&)  should be placed before the last author’s name. This applies for articles with up to twenty authors. Since there is no DOI listed for this article, simply omit that element. The reference will conclude after the page numbers.  

Example: Penprase, B., Mileto, L., Bittinger, A., Hranchook, A. M., Atchley, J. A., Bergakker, S., Eimers, T., & Franson, H. (2012). The use of high-fidelity simulation in the admissions process: One nurse anesthesia program’s experience.  AANA Journal, 80 (1), 43–48.

If you refer to a work in your paper that has three or more authors, the in-text citation will include the first author's name only, followed by  et al.  which means "and all the rest."

Example: Penprase et al. (2012) states that "Admission into nurse anesthesia programs is known to be a competitive process among a diverse pool of candidates" (p. 43).

Example 3: An Open Access Journal Article

This article was found in  PLOS One  which is an open access journal. Open access journal articles are articles with the full text freely available online and do not require logging in.

You will need all of the same information from the previous examples to cite an open access article. In this example, most of this information can be found at the top of the article.

In this example, the article's volume, issue, and the  article number  are found in the citation provided by the journal. Article numbers are used in place of page numbers in some online journals.

The format for open access journals is the same as the other examples. In this example, an article number is used in place of the page numbers. After the issue number, type  Article  and then the article number. If an open access journal does not provide a DOI, you may provide the URL of the article instead. Only include the URL if it directly brings you to the full text of the article without logging in.

Example: Francis, H. M., Stevenson, R. J., Chambers, J. R., Gupta, D., Newey, B., & Lim, C. K. (2019). A brief diet intervention can reduce symptoms of depression in young adults – A randomised controlled trial.  PLOS ONE, 14 (1), Article e0222768. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0222768

• << Previous: Citing Books and eBooks
• Next: Citing Videos >>
• Last Updated: Sep 12, 2024 11:41 AM
• URL: https://library.bu.edu/apacitations

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

Should We Refrain From Gossip?

More from our inbox:.

• Politics, Protest and Harassment on Campus
• China’s New Adoption Policy
• Trump the Fixer
• Get a Hearing Test

To the Editor:

Re “ Gossip: It’s Fun, It’s Natural, and These People Won’t Do It ,” by Michal Leibowitz (Opinion guest essay, Aug. 31):

Ms. Leibowitz assumes that the majority of “gossip” — talking about people who are not there — is negative. Certainly, curb or eliminate your need to endlessly complain about small grievances.

However, taking away the opportunity for a friend to say that an issue with your partner is normal and will pass, or not normal and cause for concern, or that a colleague is taking advantage of younger employees and may need to be stopped, or passing along something amazing that happened to a friend and inspires you, would trap all of us in the locked room of our own brains, without windows, endlessly circulating our own stale thoughts.

Talking about other people — problems, joys, sadnesses, successes — is how we understand ourselves, and when done thoughtfully, is empowering. Stories about other people have been the bedrock of society since people could communicate. They help us evolve, grow and thrive. No, we should not stop gossiping.

Phoebe Millerwhite Claremont, Calif.

I absolutely love this essay because it speaks to me at a time when I’m grappling with the true meaning of friendship.

I’ve found that gossip is a quick way to bond with new friends, whether they are male or female, but these connections don’t stand the test of time. Gossip is fleeting anyway, much like a sugar high; it comes and goes just like that. To be honest, it has sometimes given me a temporary boost by making me feel better about myself, as if seeing others’ flaws, struggles or even suffering somehow validates my own feelings.

For years, I’ve avoided refined sugar because of its harmful effects on health, and I’ve come to see gossip in a similar way. Completely eliminating it will be challenging, but I’m committed to significantly reducing my involvement.

Quiz: Do You Have Healthy Brain Habits?

These 12 questions can help assess your risk for dementia, stroke and depression, and identify ways to reduce it.

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and  log into  your Times account, or  subscribe  for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber?  Log in .

Want all of The Times?  Subscribe .

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

MLA Formatting Quotations

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

When you directly quote the works of others in your paper, you will format quotations differently depending on their length. Below are some basic guidelines for incorporating quotations into your paper. Please note that all pages in MLA should be double-spaced .

Short quotations

To indicate short quotations (four typed lines or fewer of prose or three lines of verse) in your text, enclose the quotation within double quotation marks. Provide the author and specific page number (in the case of verse, provide line numbers) in the in-text citation, and include a complete reference on the Works Cited page. Punctuation marks such as periods, commas, and semicolons should appear after the parenthetical citation.

Question marks and exclamation points should appear within the quotation marks if they are a part of the quoted passage, but after the parenthetical citation if they are a part of your text.

For example, when quoting short passages of prose, use the following examples:

When using short (fewer than three lines of verse) quotations from poetry, mark breaks in verse with a slash, ( / ), at the end of each line of verse (a space should precede and follow the slash). If a stanza break occurs during the quotation, use a double slash ( // ).

Long quotations

For quotations that are more than four lines of prose or three lines of verse, place quotations in a free-standing block of text and omit quotation marks. Start the quotation on a new line, with the entire quote indented 1/2   inch  from the left margin while maintaining double-spacing. Your parenthetical citation should come  after the closing punctuation mark . When quoting verse, maintain original line breaks. (You should maintain double-spacing throughout your essay.)

For example, when citing more than four lines of prose, use the following examples :

Nelly Dean treats Heathcliff poorly and dehumanizes him throughout her narration: They entirely refused to have it in bed with them, or even in their room, and I had no more sense, so, I put it on the landing of the stairs, hoping it would be gone on the morrow. By chance, or else attracted by hearing his voice, it crept to Mr. Earnshaw's door, and there he found it on quitting his chamber. Inquiries were made as to how it got there; I was obliged to confess, and in recompense for my cowardice and inhumanity was sent out of the house. (Bronte 78)

When citing long sections of poetry (four lines of verse or more), keep formatting as close to the original as possible.

In his poem "My Papa's Waltz," Theodore Roethke explores his childhood with his father:

The whiskey on your breath Could make a small boy dizzy; But I hung on like death: Such waltzing was not easy. We Romped until the pans Slid from the kitchen shelf; My mother's countenance Could not unfrown itself. (qtd. in Shrodes, Finestone, Shugrue 202)

When citing two or more paragraphs, use block quotation format, even if the passage from the paragraphs is less than four lines. If you cite more than one paragraph, the first line of the second paragraph should be indented an extra 1/4 inch to denote a new paragraph:

In "American Origins of the Writing-across-the-Curriculum Movement," David Russell argues,

Writing has been an issue in American secondary and higher education since papers and examinations came into wide use in the 1870s, eventually driving out formal recitation and oral examination. . . .

From its birth in the late nineteenth century, progressive education has wrestled with the conflict within industrial society between pressure to increase specialization of knowledge and of professional work (upholding disciplinary standards) and pressure to integrate more fully an ever-widening number of citizens into intellectually meaningful activity within mass society (promoting social equity). . . . (3)

Adding or omitting words in quotations

If you add a word or words in a quotation, you should put brackets around the words to indicate that they are not part of the original text:

If you omit a word or words from a quotation, you should indicate the deleted word or words by using ellipses, which are three periods ( . . . ) preceded and followed by a space. For example:

Please note that brackets are not needed around ellipses unless they would add clarity.

When omitting words from poetry quotations, use a standard three-period ellipses; however, when omitting one or more full lines of poetry, space several periods to about the length of a complete line in the poem:

In the News

• Israel-Hamas War Live Updates
• Syria Raid - Israel
• Hostage Deal
• Harris - Trump - Israel
• JDL - Toronto
• Clinton - Netanyahu
• Israeli Hostages
• Israelis Dead

German State Bans Islamic Center Citing Hamas Ties; Austria Arrests 72 Islamic Extremists

'We cannot tolerate associations that oppose the constitutional order or the notion of harmony among nations,' said Brandenburg's Interior Minister, Michael Stubgen, adding that the "embers of the Stone Age culture of Islamism" must be extinguished at the outset to prevent them from growing

Brandenburg's Interior Minister, Michael Stübgen, has banned an Islamic association near Berlin for its connections to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, and for its promotion of antisemitic ideas.

Trending Now

Commando raid in syria shows how the war's epicenter is moving from gaza to israel's north, questions of ethics and morality in israel's war in gaza, foreign war reporters say israel's gaza entry ban compromises 'independent' coverage, 'the political correctness i picked up in the u.s influenced where i served in the idf', why gop jews still believe in a mass conversion of jewish voters backing trump, israel-hamas hostage talks remain at standstill over philadelphi dispute, from gaza to the west bank, the state of ben-gvir is israel's status quo, fires break out in northern israel after barrage of 20 rockets from lebanon, don't let netanyahu gamble israel's future with an irresponsible budget, learn how to optimize your home solar system, what made an israeli student work for iranian intelligence, fear of israel's occupation of gaza pushes egypt closer to turkey, israeli gov't's apocalyptic vision: turning gaza into west bank, and west bank into gaza, israeli society has truly fallen to cruelty, violence and apathy. just look at us, why a jewish writer canceled by the progressive left is leaving america, top psychiatrist working with october 7 victims has a warning for israel.

September 13, 2024 70 °F PBS Passport .st0{fill:#0A145A;} .st1{fill:#5680FF;} .st2{fill:#FFFFFF;} UH Search for: Search MENU CLOSE News & Information Features Hello Houston inDepth Topics Local News Texas Education News Politics Criminal Justice Transportation Energy & Environment Weather Hurricane Tracker All Stories >>> Arts & Culture Arts & Culture Main Classical Music Music Opera & Musical Theater Dance Visual Art Literature Theatre & Film Voices and Verses: A Poem-A-Day Series Awareness Hispanic Heritage Pride Month: Better Together! Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Black History Women’s History Education Programs & Podcasts Local Programs Party Politics Houston Matters with Craig Cohen I SEE U Texas Standard UH 100 Years of Houston Bauer Business Focus Briefcase Engines of Our Ingenuity Health Matters UH Moment Features Dead and Buried Career Frontier Podcasts Below the Waterlines: Houston After Hurricane Harvey Party Politics Skyline Sessions Encore Houston All Podcasts >> Support Membership Update Payment Method Upgrade Your Monthly Gift Give a Gift Membership Giving Programs Affinity Council Studio Society In Tempore Legacy Society Innovation Fund Volunteers Foundation Board Young Leaders Council Mission Ambassadors Donations Vehicle Donation Giving Opportunities Employee Match Program More Ways to Give Partnerships Corporate Sponsorship About About Us Meet the Team Join the Team Contact Us Ethics and Standards Reports & Financials Press Room Listen Watch Donate Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Linkedin Mastodon googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1488818411584-0'); }); Crime

Harris county justice of the peace recalls all warrants for low-level crimes citing constitutional concerns.

Class C misdemeanors are nonviolent, only have a maximum fine of $500 and cannot result in any jail time.

On Monday, Judge Steven "Steve" Duble, the justice of the peace for Harris County Precinct 1, Place 2, officially recalled all outstanding low-level warrants within his jurisdiction.

In a statement released Wednesday, Duble said the decision was reached after careful consideration and research by his office. The recall only applies to Class C misdemeanors, the only misdemeanors handled by the justice of the peace. Class C misdemeanors are not violent, only have a maximum fine of up to $500 and are mostly made up of traffic violations such as speeding or running a red light. These low-level misdemeanors also do not have the capacity to result in any jail time.

"The cost to taxpayers of having officers arrest, transport and process someone at the Harris County Jail on a warrant arising from a Class C misdemeanor, only to have them released hours later with the fine and courts costs written off as ‘satisfied by jail credit’ is far more than the unpaid fine itself," Duble said in his statement.

On Thursday, Duble told Houston Public Media that this type of warrant recall is not unheard of.

"In early 2023, the district attorney actually dismissed all cases, that were greater than five years old, in my court and a number of other JP [justice of the peace] courts," he said. "All I've done is recall the warrants. ... We still pursue collection efforts on these."

The recall only applies to warrants issued out of Duble's court and does not apply to all of the Class C misdemeanor warrants in Precinct 1, which includes part of Northwest Houston. In his statement, Duble also cites a 2023 letter from the U.S. Department of Justice and said the recall was made to comply with the U.S. Constitution. The DOJ letter itself goes into more detail, citing seven constitutional principles.

"The U.S. Justice Department cautioned against discriminatory enforcement of fine and fee, and detailed obligations to comply with federal statutory prohibitions against discrimination in the imposition and collection of fines and fees by conducting an ability to pay determination prior to imposing any period of incarceration," he said in the statement.

Duble specifically mentioned the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments in his statement outlining his reasoning.

"Shifting the focus to [the] collection of fines and fees instead of arrest respects the Sixth Amendment right to counsel and the Fourteenth Amendment right to due process of the U.S. Constitution and represents fiscal responsibility that honors the taxpayer," he said in the statement. "The recall of the old Class C misdemeanor warrants should allow law enforcement to allocate more time and resources to protecting the public from violent crime."

Duble told HPM he and his office had researched the constitutionality of the warrants for over a year before making the decision.

"I have serious constitutional concerns as to whether we've done our ability to [conduct] pay analysis, which is required under Texas law and federal law," he said. "The courts actually have an affirmative duty to find out what is the reason [a person] hasn't paid. ... If they have an inability to pay, then the court has a duty to do an ability to pay analysis and make a determination of what a fair fine would be."

Ultimately, Duble said these types of fines and fees affect at-risk individuals the most. He also said his office was currently working to collect the fees directly, instead of using a collection firm that can add on additional costs.

"Most of the JPs in the county contract with Linebarger ... I opted out of it when I first came in [to office]," he said. "I did it mainly because I didn't think it was a good idea to add the law firm fees, which are 25 or 30%, somewhere in there. The fines are owed by the poorest of the poor because the ones that don't pay are typically poorer people."

Before Duble released his official statement on the decision, state Senator Paul Bettencourt spoke to FOX 26 and criticized the decision. Duble declined to respond directly to Bettencourt's comments but said some news outlets were too hasty in their reporting.

"I think my statement is enough of a response and the report was a little premature; the statement hopefully clears a lot of that up," he said. "I think when people look at the facts and understand what's going on — because it seemed to be a clear attempt to suggest I was letting violent criminals on the loose or something like that — most reasonable people if they looked at the facts and looked at the law would agree with me."

Overall the main goal of the recall is to free up officers so that they can better spend their time on more serious and violent crimes, he said.

"I don't think that's a wise use of taxpayers money, and with the overcrowding of the jails, it's also a concern," he said. "If we've got a number of officers devoted to dealing with trying to execute all these old warrants, I think this hopefully will free them up to make our community safer."

As for future warrants, Duble said he has not issued any warrants since taking office in 2023 and said he does not plan to do so unless absolutely necessary.

Resources like these are made possible by the generosity of our community of donors, foundations, and corporate partners. Join others and make your gift to Houston Public Media today! DONATE

Sign up for our daily weekday newsletter - hello, houston sign up now.

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, generate accurate citations for free.

• Knowledge Base
• Citing sources
• How to Cite a Journal Article | APA, MLA, & Chicago Examples

How to Cite a Journal Article | APA, MLA, & Chicago Examples

Published on March 9, 2021 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on January 17, 2024.

To cite an article from an academic journal, you need an in-text citation and a corresponding reference listing the name(s) of the author(s), the publication date, the article title and journal name, the volume and issue numbers, the page range, and the URL or DOI .

Different citation styles present this information differently. The main citation styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago style .

You can use the interactive example generator to explore the format for APA and MLA journal article citations.

Instantly correct all language mistakes in your text

Upload your document to correct all your mistakes in minutes

Table of contents

Citing an article in apa style, citing an article in mla style, citing an article in chicago style, frequently asked questions about citations.

In an APA Style journal article reference , the article title is in plain text and sentence case, while the journal name appears in italics, in title case.

The in-text citation lists up to two authors; for three or more, use “ et al. ”

When citing a journal article in print or from a database, don’t include a URL. You can still include the DOI if available.

You can also cite a journal article using our free APA Citation Generator . Search by title or DOI to automatically generate a correct citation.

Generate accurate APA citations with Scribbr

Prevent plagiarism. run a free check..

In an MLA Works Cited entry for a journal article , the article title appears in quotation marks, the name of the journal in italics—both in title case.

List up to two authors in both the in-text citation and the Works Cited entry. For three or more, use “et al.”

A DOI is always included when available; a URL appears if no DOI is available but the article was accessed online . If you accessed the article in print and no DOI is available, you can omit this part.

You can also use our free MLA Citation Generator to create your journal article citations.

Generate accurate MLA citations with Scribbr

In Chicago notes and bibliography style, you include a bibliography entry for each source, and cite them in the text using footnotes .

A bibliography entry for a journal article lists the title of the article in quotation marks and the journal name in italics—both in title case. List up to 10 authors in full; use “et al.” for 11 or more.

In the footnote, use “et al.” for four or more authors.

A DOI or URL (preferably a DOI) is included for articles consulted online; for articles consulted in print, omit this part.

Chicago also offers an alternative author-date style of citation. Examples of how to cite journal articles in this style can be found here .

The elements included in journal article citations across APA , MLA , and Chicago style are the name(s) of the author(s), the title of the article, the year of publication, the name of the journal, the volume and issue numbers, the page range of the article, and, when accessed online, the DOI or URL.

In MLA and Chicago style, you also include the specific month or season of publication alongside the year, when this information is available.

The DOI is usually clearly visible when you open a journal article on an academic database. It is often listed near the publication date, and includes “doi.org” or “DOI:”. If the database has a “cite this article” button, this should also produce a citation with the DOI included.

If you can’t find the DOI, you can search on Crossref using information like the author, the article title, and the journal name.

The abbreviation “ et al. ” (Latin for “and others”) is used to shorten citations of sources with multiple authors.

“Et al.” is used in APA in-text citations of sources with 3+ authors, e.g. (Smith et al., 2019). It is not used in APA reference entries .

Use “et al.” for 3+ authors in MLA in-text citations and Works Cited entries.

Use “et al.” for 4+ authors in a Chicago in-text citation , and for 10+ authors in a Chicago bibliography entry.

Check if your university or course guidelines specify which citation style to use. If the choice is left up to you, consider which style is most commonly used in your field.

• APA Style is the most popular citation style, widely used in the social and behavioral sciences.
• MLA style is the second most popular, used mainly in the humanities.
• Chicago notes and bibliography style is also popular in the humanities, especially history.
• Chicago author-date style tends to be used in the sciences.

Other more specialized styles exist for certain fields, such as Bluebook and OSCOLA for law.

The most important thing is to choose one style and use it consistently throughout your text.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Caulfield, J. (2024, January 17). How to Cite a Journal Article | APA, MLA, & Chicago Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved September 9, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/citing-sources/cite-a-journal-article/

Is this article helpful?

Jack Caulfield

Other students also liked, how to cite a book | apa, mla, & chicago examples, how to cite a website | mla, apa & chicago examples, how to cite a wikipedia article | apa, mla & chicago, what is your plagiarism score.