Journal articles and reports in the social sciences typically use the American Psychological Association or APA citation style. All sources that you use in an article or report need to be listed alphabetically by the author's last name in the reference segment or bibliography at the end of the article. Meanwhile, the author's name and the year of publication of the source are used in in-text citations to direct the readers to the correct entry in the reference list.
Step
Method 1 of 3: Citing Articles from Magazines, Journals and Newspapers
Step 1. Start with the author's name
List the author's last name first, insert a comma, then enter the initials of the first and middle names (if a middle initial is available). If the source text is written by more than 1 author, list the names of both in the order in which they appeared in the original article (usually under the title). Separate the two names with the symbol and (“&”). For articles written by 3 or more authors, use a comma between each name, and add the symbol and (“&”) before the last author's name.
- For articles with 1 author: "Storia, E."
- For articles with 2 authors: "Storia, E. & Purwadinata, H. P."
- For articles with more than 2 authors: "Storia, E., Purwadinata, H. P., & Rompies, V."
Step 2. Add the publication date of the journal, magazine, or newspaper
After the initials of the last author's name, insert a space, and enter an opening parenthesis. Include the date of publication in year-month-date format, without abbreviating the month name (for Indonesian, the month-date-month-year format can be used). In most magazines and journals, you can usually only find out the month and year of publication. For newspapers, you can find out more specifically the date of publication. End with a closing parenthesis and insert a period after it.
-
For magazines or journals: "Storia, E. (2010, June)."
Example in Indonesian: “Storia, E. (June 2010).”
-
For the paper: "Mahendra, D. & Rompies, V. (2009, April 27)."
Example in Indonesian: "Mahendra, D. & Rompies, V. (27 April 2009)."
-
If the journal or magazine publishing date range is 2 months, list both months. For example: "Storia, E. & Purwadinata, H. P. (2008, January/February)."
Example in Indonesian: "Storia, E. & Purwadinata, H. P. (January/February 2008)
Step 3. Enter the title of the article
After the date of publication, include the full title of the article and capitalize the first letter of the first word and name. If the article has a subtitle, place a colon at the end of the title and enter a subtitle. As with the main title, capitalize the first letter of the first word and only the name itself. Place a period at the end of the title.
-
For example: "Storia, E. (2010, June). Thoughts on Victorian literature."
Example in Indonesian: "Storia, E. (June 2010). Thoughts on Victorian literature."
Step 4. Enter the name of the journal, magazine, or newspaper in italics
After the article title, include the title of the publication that contains the source article. As with article titles, use capital letters only for the first letter of the first word and personal name. Insert a comma after it.
-
For example: “Storia, E. (2010, June). Thoughts on Victorian literature. Journal of Literary Criticism,
Example in Indonesian: "Storia, E. (June 2010). Thoughts on Victorian literature. Journal of Literary Criticism,
Step 5. Enter the volume and output number if available
Typically, academic journals have volume and output numbers. Insert a space, then enter the volume number in italics after the publication title. Continue with the output number (in parentheses). Output numbers must not be in italics. Place a comma after the volume and output numbers.
-
For example: “Storia, E. (2010, June). Thoughts on Victorian literature. Journal of Literary Criticism, 9 (5),”
Example in Indonesian: "Storia, E. (June 2010). Thoughts on Victorian literature. Journal of Literary Criticism, 9 (5),"
-
If the output number is not available, you do not need to make room for the information. For example: "Mahendra, D. & Rompies, V. (2008, January/February). Newest Tech Gadgets. Popular Computer Magazine, 3,"
Example in Indonesian: "Mahendra, D. & Rompies, V. (January/February 2008). Newest Tech Gadgets. Popular Computer Magazine, 3,"
Step 6. Include the page number that contains the source article
Insert a space after the comma, then enter the page number that marks the beginning and end of the article (separate the two numbers with a hyphen). If the article pages are not sequential, insert a comma between the numbers. For newspaper articles, use the abbreviation "p." for a single page or "pp." for multiple pages. In Indonesian, you can use the abbreviation "hal.", either for one or several pages.
-
Example of an article with consecutive page numbers: "Storia, E. (2010, June). Thoughts on Victorian literature. Journal of Literary Criticism, 9 (5), 18-23."
Example in Indonesian: "Storia, E. (June 2010). Thoughts on Victorian literature. Journal of Literary Criticism, 9 (5), 18-23."
-
Example of an article with non-consecutive page numbers: "Mahendra, D. & Rompies, V. (2009, April 27). State of the economy. Fort Wayne News, pp. A1, A10."
Example in Indonesian: "Mahendra, D. & Rompies, V. (27 April 2009). State of the economy. Fort Wayne News, p. A1, A10."
Step 7. Include the DOI or URL of the online article
Most academic journals have a digital object identifier (DOI) number that serves as a static online reference number for the article. Use the number if available. Otherwise, type in the phrase " Retrieved from " (or "Taken from" in Indonesian), followed by the full permanent URL of the article.
- Example of an article with DOI: "Brownlie, D. (2007). Toward effective poster presentations: An annotated bibliography. European Journal of Marketing, 41, 1245-1283. doi:10.1108/03090560710821161"
- Example article with URL: "Kenneth, I. A. (2000). A Buddhist response to the nature of human rights. Journal of Buddhist Ethics, 8. Retrieved from
Example in Indonesian: "Kenneth, I. A. (2000). A Buddhist response to the nature of human rights. Journal of Buddhist Ethics, 8. Taken from
Method 2 of 3: Citing Articles from Edited Books
Step 1. Start with the author's name
Write the author's last name first, insert a comma, then enter the initials of the first and middle names. If the source text is written by 2 authors, separate the names with the symbol and (“&”). For articles written by several people (more than 2), separate each name with a comma, and insert the symbol and (“&”) before the last author's name.
- Example of an article with one author: "Storia, E."
- Example of an article with several authors: "Purwadinata, H. P., Rompies, V., & Mahendra, D."
- If the source text is written by multiple authors, list the names in the order they appeared in the original article.
Step 2. Include the year the book was published in parentheses
Look at the cover or title page of a book to find out the year it was published. Always use the year of publication of the book, even if the article used has been previously published in another book or media. Add a period after the closing parenthesis.
For example: "Storia, E. (2008)."
Step 3. Write the title of the article
After the year of publication, enter the title of the article and capitalize the first letter of the first word and name only. If the article has a subtitle, add a subtitle after the colon at the end of the main title. The subtitle also needs to be written in capital letters as the first letter of the first word after the colon and only the name itself. End the title with a period.
For example: "Storia, E. (2008). New thoughts on science."
Step 4. Enter the name of the editor of the book
Enter the initials of his first name, followed by his last name. Separate multiple editor names with a comma (and the symbol and “&” before the last editor name). List the names of the editors in order on the title page of the book. Continue with the appropriate abbreviation (e.g. “Ed.”, “Eds.”, or “Editor”) in parentheses, and end with a comma.
- Example of a book with 1 editor: "Storia, E. (2008). New thoughts on science. D. Mahendra (Ed.)"
-
Example of a book with several editors: "Purwadinata, H. P., Rompies, V., & Mahendra, D. (2010). Computer technology trends. E. Storia & O. Leonardo (Eds.)"
For the example in Indonesian, you can use the abbreviation “Ed.” or “Editor” only
Step 5. List the title of the book with the page number
After the comma, enter the title of the book and capitalize the first letter of the first word and name. The title of the book should be written in italics. After the title, insert an opening parenthesis and the page number that contains the source article. Do not write page numbers in italics. After the closing parenthesis, end with a period.
For example: "Storia, E. (2008). New thoughts on science. B. Smith (Ed.), The big book of science (104-118)."
Step 6. End with the location and name of the publisher of the book
If the book is published in the United States, include the city name and state abbreviation, and separate the two pieces of information with a comma. For books published in other countries, use the name of the city and the name of the country. Insert a colon, then include the name of the publishing company.
For example: "Storia, E. (2008). New thoughts on science. B. Smith (Ed.), The big book of science (104-118). New York: Big Time Press."
Method 3 of 3: Creating In-Text Citation for Articles
Step 1. Include the author's name and date of publication in the text and enclose it in parentheses
When you write a sentence that contains a fact or statement from the source text, place a parenthesis quote at the end of the sentence, with the author's last name and the year the article was published.
- For example: "(Storia, 2008).
- If there are multiple authors, separate each name with a colon and add the symbol and (“&”) before the last author's name. For example: "(Storia & Purwadinata, 1994)."
- For texts written by more than 2 authors, include all authors' names in the first in-text citation. In subsequent citations, list only the first author's last name, followed by the abbreviation “et al.” or "etc." For example, if your first in-text citation is "(Storia, Purwadinata, Rompies, & Mahendra, 2014)", you could write the next in-text citation like "(Storia et. al., 2014)" or "(Storia et al., 2014).., 2014)".
- If you mention the author's name directly in the sentence, simply include the year of publication (in parentheses) after the name. For example: "As Storia (2008) observes, scientific methods change over time."
Step 2. Separate multiple quotes with semicolons
While writing articles, you may come across facts or statements that are supported by several sources. Include all sources that contain the fact in quotation marks, and separate each source with a semicolon.
For example: "(Storia, 2008; Leonardo, 2011)."
Step 3. Use proper capitalization for the title of the source mentioned in the sentence/writing
In sentences or writings that are made, capitalize the first letter of each word in the title of the source text. Follow these rules for words that have more than 4 letters. Enclose the title of the source text in quotation marks.
For example: "As Storia (2008) explains in "New Thoughts on Science," the methods of scientific discovery are getting more and more reactions."
Step 4. Include the page number after the direct quote
When you quote information directly from the source text, include the number of the page containing the quote (in parentheses). In-text citations should also include the author's name and year of publication. Add an in-text quote after the quoted statement or fact, right after the final quotation mark.
-
For example: "(Storia, 2008, p. 47)."
Example in Indonesian: "(Storia, 2008, p. 47)."
