APA Citation Style

What is a DOI?

• DOI (digital object identifiers) is a unique alphanumeric string assigned to identify an article and link directly to its publisher’s web site.  Not all publishers use a DOI; examples of citations without DOIs can be found below and in the article section of this guide.
• APA requires the use of a DOI whenever it is available, regardless of whether you access an article in print or online.
• Publishers who provide this information usually place it prominently on the first page of the article
• Databases like PsycInfo, Business Source Premier, etc., will also place it within the full record of each article (on the abstract page).

Article with DOI

Reference List Generic

Print or Electronic (preferred for electronic sources)

AuthorLastname, F. I. (Date). Article title.Journal Title, Vol, pages. DOI

Reference List

Print or Electronic (preferred for electronic sources)

Mellers, B. A. (2000). Choice and the relative pleasure of consequences. Psychological Bulletin, 126(6), 910-924. doi:10.1037/0033‑2909.126.6.910

What if there is no DOI available?

• If no DOI has been assigned to an online work, provide the homepage URL of the journal, book or report publisher.
  • You will likely have to look up the name of the journal in Google to find the publisher’s home page.
• While APA suggests that you not provide database information and instead provide the publisher’s home page URL, APA also recommends that you “add as much electronic retrieval information as needed for others to locate the sources cited” (p. 187).

Article with no DOI (7.01, 3)

Reference List Generic

Print

AuthorLastname, F. I. (Date). Article title. Journal Title, Vol, pages.

Publication Homepage (Item Retrieved from Database, subscription or pay-per-view)

AuthorLastname, F. I. (Date). Article title. Journal Title, Vol, pages. Retrieved from Journal homepage

Online with database information (use only when indicated by your professor)

AuthorLastname, F. I. (Date). Article title. Journal Title, Vol, pages. Retrieved from Database name

Reference List

Print

Larson, L. (2009). E‑reading and e‑responding: New tools for the next generation of readers. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 53, 255‑258.

Journal Homepage (Item Retrieved from Database, subscription or pay-per-view)

Larson, L. (2009). E‑reading and e‑responding: New tools for the next generation of readers. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 53, 255‑258. Retrieved from http://www.reading.org/General/ Publications/ Journals/JAAL.aspx

Online with database information (use only when indicated by your professor)

Larson, L. (2009). E‑reading and e‑responding: New tools for the next generation of readers. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 53, 255‑258. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.

Comments

• While the second example (ONLINE with publisher’s URL) is APA’s preferred style, the article was not “retrieved” there, nor is it possible to retrieve it there without paying a fee or having a subscription.
• The full-text article was retrieved from the database cited in the third example (ONLINE with database information).

If you have any concerns, please confirm with your professor which format to use.

The DOI is often located in the full database record for the article, or in the full-text view of the article itself. 

• The first page of the full-text of an article (check top and bottom of page)
• The 'landing page' for the article at the journal's website. The landing page will normally be the citation plus abstract for the article - with or without a link to the full-text - from the journal website. Search Google to locate the landing page.
• DOIs often appear on the first page of the full-text of an article. Some periodical databases (e.g. Web of Science) include DOIs - when these are available - while others do not yet include DOIs even for articles for which these are available.
• Cross Ref's DOI Look-up: