Citing a Journal in APA

Step 1: Formatting the author's name

• The author's name should be written in reversed order. The last name should be first place followed by a comma and then add the initials of the first name only, follow it with a period.

—Example: Howard, F.


• In adding the middle initials of the author, place it after the period of the first name, separate it with a comma and end it with a point. If the author's name have suffixes such as Jr./Sr. or roman numerals, place it after the period of the initials of the first name and separate it with a comma.

—Example: Howard, F., Jr.


• If the source is written by multiple authors, cite the author's name one after the other using the format in author names and separate it with commas. If the source has more than six authors, state all of the authors until the sixth and replace all succeeding authors with "et al."

—Example: Howard, F., Lee, R., Lincoln, A., Adams, J., Johnson, E., Ronald, T., et al.

Step 2: Placing the year your source was published

• When citing the year the source was published, place the year only and enclosed it with a parenthesis. Place the year after the name of the author and end it with a period outside the closing parenthesis.

—Example: Howard, F. (2009).

Step 3: Place the title of the source

• In citing the title of your source, write the complete title of the source you are citing and it should not be italicized. Capitalize the first letter of the title and the first letter of the subtitle if there are any. Observe capitalization rules on proper names and such. End it with a period. If the source is a journal, place the name of the journal after the title of your article and italicize it .

—Example: Howard, F. (2009). The way to write perfectly in three methods. Editorial Journal

Step 4: If the source is from the internet or a database

• If the source was taken from an online source or a database, add the word "retrieved" in the citation and place it after the page, separating it with a comma. Place a colon after it and at the month, day and year when the source was accessed, add a colon then place the website where the source was taken.

—Example: Howard, F. (2009, June 1). The way to write perfectly in three methods. Editorial Journal, retrieved: June 4, 2012: www.policalcorner.org.


• If the source was taken from a database, place the words, "from the" after colon of the date when the database was accessed then place then name of the database after the words "from the", after placing the name of the database, follow it with a colon then add the word "Database" and end it with a period.
• If the source was taken from a database, place the words, "from the" after colon of the date when the database was accessed then place then name of the database after the words "from the", after placing the name of the database, follow it with a colon then add the word "Database" and end it with a period.

— Example: Howard, F. (2009, June 1). The way to write perfectly in three methods. Editorial Journal, retrieved: June 4, 2012: From the Archivos de Manila: Database.