Periodicals

Periodicals include items published on a regular basis such as journals, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, and blogs.  Periodicals may be referenced in a general mention or in a citation as a source. The information below is from the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.), pp. 316-321.

General mention

No reference list entry or in-text citation is required for only a general mention of a periodical.  However, the name of the periodical should be in italics.  The capitalization and punctuation rules of the proper name should be followed.  For instance, in the example below, note that the word “The” is part of the official name of The New York Times, and, therefore, the “T” in “The” should be capitalized.

Example:

He was a long-time reader of The New York Times.

Here is a template from the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association to assist in building citations for periodicals.

Author	Date	Title	Periodical Information	DOI or URL
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. Name of Group Author, C. C. [username]. Username.	(2020). (2020, January). (2020, February 16).	Title of article.	Title of periodical, 34(2), 5-14. Title of Periodical, 2(1-2), Article 12. Title of Periodical.	https://doi.org/xxx https://xxxxx

Periodical citation:

• Author: Cite the name(s) of author(s):
  • Last name
  • Comma
  • Initials, each followed by a period and a space.
  • If more than one author, follow the next-to-last author’s last initial with a period, a comma, a space, an ampersand, and a space.  The last author’s name has a period and space after the last initial. (See the Authors tab of this libguide for additional guidance when the number of authors is 20 or greater.)
• Date: The date should usually include at least the year.  List in this format:
  • Opening parenthesis
  • Year in numerals.  If this is the only date, end here with a closing parenthesis, period, and a space.
  • If only a month is included with the year, add a comma and space after the year, and write the month in letters. Close with a parenthesis, period, and a space.
  • If the full date is given, add a comma and space after the year, and write the month in letters. Add a space, then write the date in numbers, and close with a parenthesis, period, and a space.
  • Sometimes no date is given.
    • If no date is given because the item has not been published yet, replace the date with “in press” enclosed by parentheses, followed by a period and a space.  Note that the phrase is not capitalized.
    • If no date is given for an unknown reasons, replace the date with “n.d.” enclosed in parentheses, followed by a period and a space.  The abbreviation is not capitalized.
• Title of article: Only the first letter of the first word is capitalized. For a two-part title, capitalize the first word of the second part of the title. Also, capitalize proper nouns. Do not italicize the title. End with a period and a space.
• Source of article: Include these elements as the source:
  • Title of the periodical: Use title case for a periodical, i.e., capitalize the first letter of all the major words including the first.  Italicize the title, and follow with a comma and a space.
    • Be sure to write the name of the periodical exactly as on the cited work, including abbreviations.
    • Example: JAMA Pediatrics is the exact title of the American Medical Association’s journal on pediatrics.  Therefore, the using the abbreviation in the citation is correct.  However, some sources for periodicals use additional abbreviations, such as PubMed Central abbreviates the title JAMA Pediatr in its listing of the periodical.  Do not abbreviate “Pediatrics” because that is not the official name of the periodical.
  • Volume number: Use a numeral only.  Italicize the numeral.  Do not include the word “volume” or abbreviation “vol.”
  • Issue number (if any): Use a numeral.  Enclose in parentheses, and follow with a period and a space. Do not italicize.
  • Page number(s) or article number:
    • Page number: Use numerals, and separate the numerals with a hyphen.  Put a period after the last page number.  Separate discontinuous page numbers with a comma and space.  Example: 22-23, 27.
    • Article number: For those with article numbers (which may be called “eLocators” or another term, write “Article” with a capital “A” and followed by a space and the article number, instead of the page range. Add a period after the article number.

Example:   PLOS ONE, 15(7), Article e0234611. 

If the article also has page numbers, these page numbers can be used in the in-text citations but not in the reference list entry.

• DOI or URL

Online periodicals with missing information

Some online periodicals, such as newspapers or blogs, publish articles with volume, issue, page, and/or article numbers.  Omit these elements from a citation if they are not in the cited work.

Example:

Pye, L. (2020, January 24). 92^nd Annual Academy Awards. SWOSU Libraries Blog. http://swosulibraries.blogspot.com/2020/01/92nd-annual-academy-awards.html

Citing a comment on an online periodical or post

• Author: Credit the person who left the comment as the author.  Follow the format as the name or username appears with the comment.  Example:  T3xasCowgrrrl
• Title:
  • Use the comment title or up to the first 20 words of the comment.  Capitalize the first word in the comment. Follow with a space.
  • Opening bracket
  • Then write “Comment on the article” with a capital “C” in “Comment” and followed by a space.
  • Opening quotation marks
  • Title of the article following the usual capitalization rules for a title.
  • Closing quotation marks
  • Closing bracket
  • Period
  • Space
• Source: Follow the format guidelines for source when citing a periodical.
• URL: If possible use the URL for the actual comment.

Citing an editorial

Follow the usual format for a periodical citation, with these additions:

• Add the word “Editorial” in brackets after the title.  Put a space between the title and the opening bracket, and put a period and space after the closing bracket.  Capitalize the “E” in “Editorial.”
• If the editorial is unsigned:
  • Move the editorial title to the author position
  • Use “Anonymous” as the author only if the editorial is signed “Anonymous."