APA 7 Citation Builder for Journal Articles

Build a journal article citation in APA 7th edition, one step at a time. Fill in each section and get instant feedback before moving on.

1. Authors
2. Date
3. Article Title
4. Journal & Pages
5. DOI
6. Review
Your citation so far
Your citation will appear here as you complete each step.

Step 1: Authors

Add each author of the article. Click + Add Author for multiple authors.

APA 7 rules for authors:
  • Format each author as: Last, F. M. — last name, comma, then initials with periods.
  • Separate multiple authors with a comma and a space.
  • Add an ampersand (&) before the final author.
  • End the entire author section with a period.

Step 2: Publication Year

Enter the year the article was published.

APA 7 rule for date:
  • The year goes in parentheses followed by a period: (2023).

Step 3: Article Title

Enter the full title of the article exactly as it appears, then use the guidance below to apply sentence case.

APA 7 rules for article titles:
  • Use sentence case: capitalize only the first word of the title, the first word after a colon, and any proper nouns.
  • Do not italicize the article title.
  • End the title with a period: Title of article: Subtitle here.
End the title with a period.

Step 4: Journal Name & Pages

Enter the journal information. The tool handles italics in the final citation.

APA 7 rules for journal / source:
  • Journal name in italics, followed by a comma.
  • Volume number in italics, immediately after the comma.
  • Issue number in parentheses immediately after the volume — no space, not italicized: 42(3)
  • Comma after the issue number, then the page range: 100–115
  • If the journal uses an article number instead of pages, write Article e12345 in place of the page range.
  • End with a period after the page range or article number.
Option A — Page Numbers
or
Option B — Article Number

Step 5: DOI

Enter the article's Digital Object Identifier (DOI).

APA 7 rules for DOI:
  • Format as a full URL: https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx
  • Do not add a period after the DOI — it ends the citation.
  • If the article has no DOI and you found it through a library database, no URL is needed — the citation ends after the page range or article number.
  • If the article has no DOI and is not from a database, use the journal's home page URL instead.
Paste the DOI link exactly as it appears. It should start with https://doi.org/
When checked and no DOI exists, no URL is needed — the citation ends after the page range.

Step 6: Review Your Citation

Here is your completed APA 7th edition journal article citation. Check each item in the checklist below.