How to cite using APA in the Health Sciences

Elements for Online Journal Articles (DOI or URL)

Author(s). (Year). Article title. Journal Name, volume(issue), pages or Article number. DOI/URL

Examples

Article with DOI

Lindsay, S., Ahmed, H., Tomas, V., & Vijayakumar, A. (2023). Exploring the lived experiences of ethnic minority youth with disabilities:

A systematic review and meta synthesis of qualitative data. Disability and Rehabilitation, 45(4), 588–601. https://doi-

org.uml.idm.oclc.org/10.1080/09638288.2022.2040614

Article with Article Number

Jerrentrup, A., Mueller, T., Glowalla, U., Herder, M., Henrichs, N., Neubauer, A., & Schaefer, J. R. (2018). Teaching medicine with the

help of “Dr. House.” PLoS ONE, 13(3), Article e0193972. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0193972

Elements for Preprint Online Journal Articles 

Author(s). (Year). Article title. Name of Database/Repository. DOI/URL

Examples

Hampton, S., Rabagliati, H., Sorace, A., & Fletcher-Watson, S. (2017). Autism and bilingualism: A qualitative interview study of

parents’ perspectives and experiences. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/76xfs

Hetland, B., McAndrew, N., Perazzo, J., & Hickman, R. (2018). A qualitative study of factors that influence active family involvement

with patient care in the ICU: Survey of critical care nurses. PubMed Central. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/

PMC5736422/?report=classic

Elements for Print Journal Articles

Author(s). (Year). Article title. Journal Name, volume(issue), pages.

Example

McDermott, E., Gabb, J., Eastham, R., & Hanbury, A. (2019). Family trouble: Heteronormativity, emotion work and queer youth

mental health. Health: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health, Illness and Medicine, 25(2), 177-195. 

Online Journal Article (DOI or URL)

• Author: Use the author(s) of the article. If there is more than one, list them in the order they appear in the publication information.
• Date: Use the year that the specific journal volume and issue in which the article appears was published.
• Title: Article titles are italicized and in sentence case. Make sure to include the subtitle if there is one.
• Source: Provide the journal title in title case, follow by a comma and the journal volume, also italicized. The issue number appears in parentheses immediately after the volume, but is not italicized.
• Include the page range, or the article number if that is provided instead of page numbers.
• If a journal article has a DOI, include the DOI in the reference. Do not follow with a period.
• If the journal article does not have a DOI and is from an academic research database, end the reference after the page range. The reference in this case is the same as for a print journal article.
• If the journal article does not have a DOI but does have a URL that will work for all readers (e.g., it is from an online journal that is not part of a database), include the URL of the article at the end of the reference.
• Do not include database information in the reference unless the journal article comes from a database that publishes works of limited circulation or original, proprietary content, such as UpToDate.

Online Journal Article (Preprint)

• Preprint articles may or may not be peer reviewed or may be the author’s final, peer-reviewed manuscript as accepted for publication.
• It is ideal to use and cite the final, published version of a work wherever possible.
• Author: Use the name of the author(s). If there is more than one, list them in the order that they appear in the publication information.
• Date: Use the date provided.
• Title: The title is italicized and in sentence case. Make sure to include the subtitle if there is one.
• Source: Provide the name of the database/repository/archive where you found the preprint.
• Provide the DOI or resolvable URL.

Print Journal Article

• A print journal article entry is listed exactly like an online journal article, except there is no DOI/URL.

What is the difference between sentence and title case? Find out in Formatting Tips.

Don't leave it blank! Find out how to properly indicate that information is missing from one of your reference elements by reading more about missing information.

Information on this page was adapted from "Chapter 10: Reference List", in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.), as well as the APA webpage, "Reference Lists".