Journal Article Citation Generator
Create article citations from DOI or PMID metadata or manual details. Starts in APA 7. First 3 sources free. Check journal, pages and author order.
Add a journal article
Start with a link or identifier. We’ll find the details for you to review.
Saved in this browser. Edits, style changes, copies and exports don’t use another free citation.
Cite from real papers in AnswerThis
Find papers and develop your writing with linked sources. Review the evidence behind each claim. Opens in a new tab; references saved here stay in this browser. Copy or export before continuing.
How to cite a journal article
Look up the article’s DOI or PubMed ID, then check author order, journal name, volume, issue and page range. An article number may replace pages. For example, DOI 10.1038/s41586-020-2649-2 identifies “Array programming with NumPy.”
Citation software formats the information supplied to it; it cannot confirm that every field is complete or that a source is suitable for your work. Compare the output with the original source and the current instructions you must follow.
Use the selected source and style together
Paste the article DOI or PMID, or try a public article URL. Check that the retrieved title and creator order match the publication you read. This page starts in APA 7 and supports inspecting one source with its short citation; use DOI to APA when the task is to convert a batch of identifiers into references.
For the shared lookup and formatting walkthrough, see the citation generator guide. Keep this page’s edition and source-specific checks beside your output as you review it.
What to check
- Changing the author order returned by the publication
- Confusing an article number with an issue or conventional page range
Journal article example · APA 7
In-text citation
(Grady et al., 2019)
Full reference
Grady, J. S., Her, M., Moreno, G., Perez, C., & Yelinek, J. (2019). Emotions in storybooks: A comparison of storybooks that represent ethnic and racial groups in the United States. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 8(3), 207–217. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000185
Checked against the official APA journal example and pinned CSL file. Keep all five authors in the reference, but use “et al.” in the in-text citation. Italicize the journal name and volume, not the article title or issue. Include the DOI URL.
Check the official style guideWhich fields identify this journal article?
An article title and a journal title belong in different fields. Record the journal, publication year, volume, issue and page range or article number when available. Preserve author order from the publication. Online-first and issue-assigned versions may expose different dates or pagination, so check which published version the record describes. A DOI often provides the clearest identity, but it does not remove the need to inspect incomplete or inconsistent provider fields.
Worked journal article walkthrough
The Grady example contains five creators, an article title, Psychology of Popular Media Culture as the journal, volume 8, issue 3 and pages 207–217. Its full APA 7 reference keeps all five authors while the in-text example uses Grady et al. The journal and volume are italicized in the formatted example; the article title and issue are not. This demonstrates why shortening the stored author list or combining title and journal fields would lose useful information.
Before using your journal article reference
Check article numbers rather than inventing page ranges when a publication has no conventional pagination. Keep a quotation page or other passage locator separate from the article’s full extent. Provider metadata establishes a candidate bibliographic record, not the validity of its findings. Open the work, check any relevant corrections or retractions and read the evidence supporting your claim before using the formatted reference in your paper.
Metadata and formatting
DOIs use Crossref, with DataCite when Crossref has no record; PMIDs use NCBI PubMed and ISBNs use Open Library. Public URLs use page metadata; YouTube oEmbed supplies title and channel, but no upload date. Pinned CSL styles format the records. No AI generates citation details, and PDFs are not uploaded or read here.
Frequently asked questions
Can I look up an article automatically?
Yes, by DOI, PMID or a public article URL with bibliographic metadata. Provider records can be incomplete, so compare every field with the published article.
Should I enter both DOI and URL?
Preserve the DOI. How it is displayed depends on the selected style; avoid adding an unrelated database URL.
Which citation style does this journal article page use?
It starts in APA 7. Select the exact edition and system your assignment or publisher requires before generating. The source type and the style are separate choices: identifying the work correctly supplies the fields, while the selected CSL file controls the reference and short citation. Use older APA or MLA editions only when explicitly required.
Can I enter journal article details manually?
Yes. Paste the article DOI or PMID, or try a public article URL. Check that the retrieved title and creator order match the publication you read. This page starts in APA 7 and supports inspecting one source with its short citation; use DOI to APA when the task is to convert a batch of identifiers into references. If lookup cannot supply a field, inspect the original record and enter what you can verify. Leave unavailable information blank instead of creating a complete-looking reference from guesses.
How do I cite an organization as the journal article creator?
Enter the organization as a group author in braces, such as {World Health Organization}. This keeps it as one creator rather than splitting the words into a personal name. First confirm that the organization actually created the work: a repository, platform or publisher is not automatically the author. Preserve any credited personal authors in their published order.
What if the journal article has missing or conflicting dates?
Check the original publication or repository record and identify what event each date describes. A modification, download or access date is not automatically the publication date. Leave an unknown date blank and review the selected style’s missing-date output rather than guessing a year.
Can I export the journal article citation for free?
The first 3 sources are free per browser, shared across citation pages. Copy the formatted entry or export saved references as BibTeX or RIS for a compatible reference manager. Check imported fields and document formatting after transfer. Download a copy before leaving; browser storage can be removed, and signing up for AnswerThis does not automatically move the saved references into a project.