APA 7th Edition Journal Article Reference Generator
Use this calculator to quickly generate a correctly formatted APA 7th edition reference for a journal article. Simply fill in the details below, and the tool will construct the reference for you.
Generated APA Reference:
Understanding APA 7th Edition Referencing
The American Psychological Association (APA) style is one of the most widely used citation styles in academic writing, particularly in the social sciences, education, and psychology. The 7th edition, released in 2019, provides comprehensive guidelines for clear, concise, and ethical scholarly communication. Adhering to APA style ensures consistency, helps readers locate sources, and upholds academic integrity by properly attributing ideas and information.
Why is APA Referencing Important?
Credibility: Proper citation demonstrates that your work is well-researched and built upon existing scholarship.
Plagiarism Prevention: It helps you avoid unintentional plagiarism by clearly distinguishing your ideas from those of others.
Reader Accessibility: A standardized format allows readers to easily find the original sources you've cited, facilitating further research.
Professionalism: Using a consistent style reflects attention to detail and professionalism in academic and professional contexts.
Components of a Journal Article Reference (APA 7th)
This calculator focuses on generating references for journal articles, a common type of academic source. Here's a breakdown of the key components and their formatting:
Author(s): List the last name first, followed by initials for up to 20 authors. For more than 20, list the first 19 authors, then an ellipsis (…), and then the last author. Use an ampersand (&) before the last author in a series.
Example: Smith, J. D., Johnson, A. B., & Williams, C. E.
Year of Publication: Enclosed in parentheses, followed by a period.
Example: (2023).
Article Title: The title of the article is presented in sentence case (only the first word of the title, subtitle, and proper nouns are capitalized), followed by a period. It is not italicized.
Example: The impact of digital learning on student engagement.
Journal Title: The full title of the journal is italicized and in title case (major words capitalized), followed by a comma.
Example: Journal of Educational Psychology,
Volume Number: The volume number is italicized and immediately follows the journal title.
Example: 75
Issue Number (Optional): If an issue number is available, it is placed in parentheses immediately after the italicized volume number, not italicized itself, followed by a comma.
Example: (3),
Page Range: The page numbers of the article, separated by a hyphen, followed by a period.
Example: 201-215.
DOI (Digital Object Identifier) (Optional): If available, the DOI is included at the end of the reference as a hyperlink (e.g., https://doi.org/xxxx). It provides a persistent link to the article.
Example: https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028210
How to Use This Calculator
Simply input the required information into the fields provided. The calculator will then assemble the reference according to APA 7th edition guidelines for a journal article. Remember to double-check the generated reference against your source, as variations can occur, and this tool is designed for a specific source type.
Note: This calculator is specifically designed for journal articles. For other source types (e.g., books, websites, book chapters), the formatting rules will differ.
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function formatAuthors(authorString) {
var authors = authorString.split(';').map(function(s) { return s.trim(); }).filter(function(s) { return s !== "; });
var formattedAuthors = [];
for (var i = 0; i = 2) {
var lastName = parts[0];
var initials = parts.slice(1).join('. ').replace(/\s+/g, '.').replace(/\.$/, "); // J. D. -> J.D.
if (initials.length > 0 && initials[initials.length – 1] !== '.') {
initials += '.';
}
formattedAuthors.push(lastName + ', ' + initials);
} else {
formattedAuthors.push(authors[i]); // Fallback if parsing fails, though input format should prevent this
}
}
if (formattedAuthors.length === 0) {
return ";
} else if (formattedAuthors.length === 1) {
return formattedAuthors[0];
} else if (formattedAuthors.length <= 20) {
var lastAuthor = formattedAuthors.pop();
return formattedAuthors.join(', ') + ', & ' + lastAuthor;
} else { // More than 20 authors, APA 7th uses ellipsis
var firstAuthors = formattedAuthors.slice(0, 19);
var lastAuthor = formattedAuthors[formattedAuthors.length – 1];
return firstAuthors.join(', ') + ', … ' + lastAuthor;
}
}
function calculateReference() {
var authorInput = document.getElementById('authorInput').value.trim();
var yearInput = document.getElementById('yearInput').value.trim();
var articleTitleInput = document.getElementById('articleTitleInput').value.trim();
var journalTitleInput = document.getElementById('journalTitleInput').value.trim();
var volumeInput = document.getElementById('volumeInput').value.trim();
var issueInput = document.getElementById('issueInput').value.trim();
var pageRangeInput = document.getElementById('pageRangeInput').value.trim();
var doiInput = document.getElementById('doiInput').value.trim();
var errorMessageDiv = document.getElementById('errorMessage');
var resultDiv = document.getElementById('result');
errorMessageDiv.innerHTML = ''; // Clear previous errors
resultDiv.innerHTML = ''; // Clear previous result
// Validate required fields
if (!authorInput || !yearInput || !articleTitleInput || !journalTitleInput || !volumeInput || !pageRangeInput) {
errorMessageDiv.innerHTML = 'Please fill in all required fields (Author(s), Year, Article Title, Journal Title, Volume, Page Range).';
return;
}
// Format authors
var authorsFormatted = formatAuthors(authorInput);
// Construct the reference string
var reference = authorsFormatted + '. (' + yearInput + '). ' + articleTitleInput + '. ' + journalTitleInput + ', ' + volumeInput + '';
if (issueInput) {
reference += '(' + issueInput + ')';
}
reference += ', ' + pageRangeInput + '.';
if (doiInput) {
// Ensure DOI starts with https://doi.org/
if (!doiInput.startsWith('https://doi.org/')) {
doiInput = 'https://doi.org/' + doiInput.replace('doi:', ").replace('http://dx.doi.org/', ").replace('https://dx.doi.org/', ").trim();
}
reference += ' ' + doiInput + '';
}
resultDiv.innerHTML = reference;
}
function clearInputs() {
document.getElementById('authorInput').value = ";
document.getElementById('yearInput').value = ";
document.getElementById('articleTitleInput').value = ";
document.getElementById('journalTitleInput').value = ";
document.getElementById('volumeInput').value = ";
document.getElementById('issueInput').value = ";
document.getElementById('pageRangeInput').value = ";
document.getElementById('doiInput').value = ";
document.getElementById('result').innerHTML = ";
document.getElementById('errorMessage').innerHTML = ";
}
function copyToClipboard(elementId) {
var element = document.getElementById(elementId);
// Create a temporary element to get the plain text without HTML tags
var tempDiv = document.createElement('div');
tempDiv.innerHTML = element.innerHTML;
var textToCopy = tempDiv.innerText || tempDiv.textContent;
// Create a temporary textarea element
var tempTextArea = document.createElement('textarea');
tempTextArea.value = textToCopy;
document.body.appendChild(tempTextArea);
// Select the text and copy it
tempTextArea.select();
document.execCommand('copy');
// Remove the temporary textarea
document.body.removeChild(tempTextArea);
alert('Reference copied to clipboard!');
}