How to Cite a PDF in APA

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Welcome to your guide to citing articles in the American Psychological Association (APA) style. On this page, you will learn about the correct way to make references and citations for various types of articles, including those published as PDFs in newspapers, magazines, online journals, and more.

Looking for how to cite a PDF article in Chicago style? Visit How to Cite a Journal in Chicago/Turabian.

Looking for how to cite a PDF article in MLA? Visit MLA Citation Examples

We’ll review the different methods for writing in-text citations, narrative and parenthetical. We’ll also review the standard method for constructing a reference list. The information below follows style guidelines published in the 7th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (this guide is not connected to the association).

You probably come across articles every day. Articles on websites, articles your teacher assigns to read, news pieces, etc. They’re pretty much a part of our daily lives.

When it comes to citing articles, things can get a bit tricky. Not all APA format articles are cited the same way.

You must

  1. Determine the type of article
  2. Then find the structure that matches it

Knowing the type is important because there is a different APA citation article structure for newspaper stories, journal pieces, PDF documents, and more.

If creating an article APA citation seems confusing, fear not! We’ve included tons of examples and source types at the bottom of this guide. Scroll down to the second half of this page to locate the source type you’re attempting to cite.

Itching for a quick fix to your citations? Try the EasyBib reference generator. In just a few clicks, your APA citation articles can be added to your paper with ease. If your teacher requests a different style, we have many more styles to choose from.

If you need more information than what’s included in the examples at the bottom of the page, we have thorough explanations in the next section of this guide. Citing can be confusing and there are many rules to follow. So, sit back, keep reading, and let’s ride the APA article citation wave.

Here’s a run-through of everything this page includes:

What Is an Article?

An article is a nonfiction piece of writing. They’re generally created to inform the reader about something. They differ from nonfiction books in that they’re much shorter.

Article types include:

  • Journal pieces
  • Magazine stories
  • Newspaper columns
  • PDFs
  • Written pieces on websites

The next section of this guide focuses on references. We’ll show you how to structure references for the Reference Page and for the text of your paper: narrative and parenthetical in-text citations.

Before we continue, let’s be clear that this style is much different from the MLA format. If your teacher requests your references in that style, check out our page on how to cite websites in MLA and our MLA works cited page. You may even find our MLA in-text & parenthetical citations page helpful.

General In-text Citation Structure

To get started, let’s take a look at the basic elements that come together to make an accurate and informative reference.

The Author-Date Citation System

While some of the referencing specifics may change depending on your article type, all citations in the APA style are based on the simplistic yet effective Author-Date System (as defined by Section 8.10 of the Publication Manual).

This system summarizes your reference into two parts: the reference list entry and the in-text citation:

  • A reference list entry comes at the end of your work. It includes the author, date, title, and source of the work.
  • In-text citations require only the author and the year of publication. This allows readers to easily determine the corresponding entry in your reference list.

Since this section focuses on in-text citations, let’s have a look at the two different types:

A parenthetical citation can appear within a sentence or at the end of a sentence. It consists of the author’s name and the year of publication, separated by a comma and enclosed within parentheses.

Structure:

(Author’s Last Name, Year).

Example:

The dark web is “as messy and chaotic as you would expect” (Guccione, 2019).

When the parenthetical citation is at the end of the sentence, as in this example, the period (or closing punctuation) is placed on the outside of the closing parenthesis.

A narrative citation is preferred when the author’s name already appears in the sentence. In this case, only include the date inside the parentheses after the author’s last name.

Structure:

Author’s Last Name (Year)

Example:

Guccione (2019) shares that the dark web “is as messy and chaotic as you would expect.”

*Note: In sentences where both the author and the publication date already appear within the running text, no parenthetical citation is required (See Section 8.11 of the Publication Manual).

Things to Keep in Mind

Before we head right into a bunch of examples, here are some things to keep in mind about each section of a reference.

Author Information:

Style author names differently depending on how many there are and whether you’re listing the authors in the in-text citation or reference page.

Here’s author formatting for in-text citations (Section 8.17 of the Publication Manual):

  • One author = Last Name
  • Two authors = 1st Last Name & 2nd Last Name
  • Three or more authors = 1st Last Name et al.
  • Group or Organization = Full Group Name

Here’s author formatting for the reference page (Section 9.8 of the Publication Manual):

  • One author = 1st Last Name, First Initial. Middle Initial.
  • Two authors = 1st Last Name, First Initial. Middle Initial., & 2nd Last Name, First Initial. Middle Initial.
  • Three to twenty authors = 1st Last Name, Initials., 2nd Last Name, Initials., 3rd Last Name, Initials., & Final Last Name, Initials.
    • In a list of up to 20 author names, the final name has an ampersand (&) before it.
  • Twenty-one+ authors = 1st Last Name, Initials., 2nd Last Name, Initials., 3rd Last Name, Initials., … Final Last Name, Initials.
    • In a list of 21 or more author names, include the first 19 authors’ names, an ellipsis (but no ampersand), and the author’s last name.
  • Full group or organization = Full Group Name
  • Two groups or organizations = 1st Group Name & 2nd Group Name

If a source does not list an author, place the title in the author’s position.

If the source is authored by a group or organization, write it out in full in the author’s position.

The above information shows how to format authors’ names for ALL source types, even an APA book citation.

Dates:

Some sources only show (Year), others show (Year, Month or Season), and some show the full date (Year, Month Day). Look at the APA citation article examples on the bottom section of this guide to determine how to style dates.

Titles:

In APA, write article titles with a capital letter in three places only, following sentence-style capitalization:

  • The first letter in the title
  • The first letter in the subtitle
  • The first letter of any proper nouns

Example:

New members block vote for Congress: No change in legislation

Write titles of article’s sources or containers (names of newspapers, journals, and magazines) with a capital letter at the beginning of all important words on a reference page and an annotated bibliography. Tiles are also italicized, depending on the source type.

Example:

The Philadelphia Inquirer

Extra Information:

Some APA citations for articles include extra information about the medium. Scroll down to the APA PDF citation section at the very bottom to see how to style the extra information.

Page Numbers:

APA 7 handles page numbers in a couple of ways that differ based on the source material:

  • Websites usually do not have page numbers, so omit page numbers for online sources.
  • Periodicals like journals, newspapers, magazines, and newsletters ask for the page range in the reference entry. They appear after the periodical title alongside the volume number, issue number, and article number.
  • Direct Quotations or paraphrasing in the text of your work requires a page number with the in-text citation.
    • Use the “p.” abbreviation for a single page and “pp.” for multiple pages.
    • Separate the page numbers with an en dash and place them next to the author name within the citation (Jacobs, 2010, pp. 231–234).
  • Newspaper Stories include a page number and the section. Example: B2–B3.
    • If the newspaper story continues on a different page, add a comma between the pages. Example: B2, B14.

Volume & Issue Numbers:

  • Only include the volume number and issue number in the reference entry if this information is presented clearly in the source material. If no volume or issue numbers can be found, then only include the page range.

Website Addresses and DOIs:

  • If the source is on a website, include the URL at the end of the reference with no period.
  • If the source has a DOI number, use it instead of the website address (URL). Publishers create DOI numbers that permanently link to a source. An APA citation for a journal article often includes a DOI number. Look at the examples below to see how to style a DOI.

A quick reminder to try out the automatic generator on EasyBib.com and scan through the grammar pages while you’re at it. Brush up on your pronoun, adjective, and interjection skills and easily generate your APA article citation! If it sounds like a win-win, it is! Try it out!

How to Cite Various Types of Articles in APA 7

Citing a PDF Document

PDF stands for “portal document format.” It’s a document that opens up a separate window or tab, and usually has “pdf” shown somewhere in the website address or file name.

PDFs can be referenced and cited similarly to printed articles and books. This means that the reference entry includes the author, publication date, title, and publisher name.

With PDF files or any online source, include the source URL or DOI. It is not necessary to specify the format by including “PDF” in the reference entry.

Structure:

Author’s Last Name, First Initial. Middle Initial. (Year, Month Day Published). Title of PDF article in sentence case. Name of Publisher. URL

It is quite common for PDF files not to list a publisher. If the name of the publisher cannot be reasonably discerned from the material, or if the publisher and the author are the same entity, then omit it from the reference altogether.

Example:

American Public Health Association. (2016). Zubik v. Burwell and public health at a glance. https://www.apha.org/-/media/files/pdf/factsheets/zubik_fact_sheet.ashx?la=en&hash=957086293FE0F6E7A05E1CCA2222E9018D867B99

In-text citation:

Parenthetical citation: (American Public Health Association, 2016)

Narrative citation: American Public Health Association (2016)

Citing a Webpage on a Website

Structure:

Author Last Name, First Initial. Middle Initial. (Year, Month Day Published). Title of webpage in sentence case. Title of Website. URL

Example:

Medcalf, C. (2019, July 10). Remember that time Deadmau5 livestreamed himself painstakingly recreating the Stranger Things theme? MusicFeeds. https://musicfeeds.com.au/news/remember-that-time-deadmau5-livestreamed-himself-painstakingly-recreating-the-stranger-things-theme/

 In-text citation:

Parenthetical citation: (Medcalf, 2019)

Narrative citation: Medcalf (2019)

Need more information on web APA citation articles? Take a peek at our full APA website citation guide.

Citing a Print Journal Article

Structure:

Author Last Name, First Initial. Middle Initial. (Year, Month Day Published). Title of article in sentence case. Title of Periodical, volume number(issue number), page range.

Example:

Jeffers, O., & Roberts, A. D. (2019). Most common injuries in adult men’s softball. Sports and Rehabilitation Journal, 4(12).

In-text citation:

Parenthetical citation: (Jeffers & Roberts, 2019)

Narrative citation: Jeffers and Roberts (2019)

Citing an Online Journal Article with a Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

Structure:

Author Last Name, First Initial. Middle Initial. (Year, Month Day Published). Title of article in sentence case. Title of Periodical, volume number(issue number), page range. DOI

Example:

Galea, S., & Vaughn, R. D. (2019). When population health science intersects with pressing cultural issues: A public health of consequence. American Journal of Public Health, 109(3), 358–359. https://dx.doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2018.304932

In-text citation:

Parenthetical citation: (Galea & Vaughn, 2019)

Narrative citation: Gales and Vaughn (2019)

Citing an Online Journal Article Without a DOI

If you used a journal piece found online but could not locate a DOI, then you can provide the article’s URL in its place. Here is an example:

Structure:

Author Last Name, First Initial. Middle Initial. (Year, Month Day Published). Title of article in sentence case. Title of Periodical, volume number(issue number), page range. URL

Example:

Desai, M. J., Jonely, H., Blackburn, M., Wanasinghage, S., Sheikh, S., & Taylor, R. S. (2019). The back pain and movement (B-PAM) registry: A study protocol. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 20, 24–36. https://bmcmusculoskeletdisord.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12891-019-2625-x

In-text citation:

Parenthetical citation: (Desai et al., 2019)

Narrative citation: Desai et al. (2019)

Citing a Print Newspaper Column

If you used a newspaper story found in a print issue, structure it as follows:

Structure:

Author Last Name, First Initial. Middle Initial. (Year, Month Day Published). Title of article in sentence case. Title of Newspaper, Section Number.

Example:

Fry, H. (2019, June 27). Wildfires, rains add to beach pollution. Los Angeles Times, A1, A12.

In-text citation:

Parenthetical citation: (Fry, 2019)

Narrative citation: Fry (2019)

  • When the story continues in multiple sections, separate the sections with a comma, as shown in the above example.

For more information on the difference kinds of periodicals that are defined by the APA, you can check out Section 10.1 of the Publication Journal.

Citing an Online Newspaper Article

If you cite a newspaper story found online, in the source element, include the URL. Simply add it to the reference entry after the newspaper name. (See Section 10.1, example 16 of the official Publication Manual for more examples.)

Structure:

Author’s Last Name, First Initial. Middle Initial. (Year, Month Day). Title of newspaper story in sentence case. Title of Newspaper. URL

Example:

Ormseth, M. (2019, June 27). Bookkeeper, former USC coach plead guilty in admissions scandal, promise to help investigators. The Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-college-admissions-scandal-masera-khosroshahin-plea-20190627-story.html

In-text citation:

Parenthetical citation: (Ornseth, 2019)

Narrative citation: Ornseth (2019)

Note that a newspaper article sourced online is different from an online news website. Sources like CNN, Bloomberg, Vox, and BBC News are all examples of online-only news websites, so their citation structure is slightly different. Section 10.16 of the Publication Manual goes into more detail about how to cite from news websites.

If you’re feeling confident that your APA citation articles are structured properly, then you may want to draw your attention to your writing and grammar. Check out our various grammar pages on EasyBib.com. We have full guides on how to structure every conjunction, verb, and noun in your paper!

Citing a Print Magazine Story or Article

Here are the reference examples for stories and articles sourced from a printed magazine:

Structure:

Author’s Last Name, First Initial. Middle Initial. (Year, Month or Season). Title of magazine story in sentence case. Title of Magazine, volume number(issue number), page range.

Example:

Nelson, X. (2019, August). Teaching moments: How developers build the tutorials you skip. PC Gamer, 320(1), 16–17.

In-text citation:

Parenthetical citation: (Nelson, 2019)

Narrative citation: Nelson (2019)

Citing an Online Magazine Story or Article

If you are citing a magazine article that you sourced online, include the DOI or URL at the end of the reference.

Only include a volume number, issue number, and page number if you are reading an online version of a printed magazine that shares the same index.

Structure:

Author’s Last Name, First Initial. Middle Initial. (Year, Month Day). Title of the magazine story in sentence case. Title of Magazine, volume number(issue number), page range. DOI or URL

Example:

Christensen, B. K. (2019, July 1). Highly trained cells spot brain cancer. Science Illustrated, 68, 46–51. https://www-pressreader-com.i.ezproxy.nypl.org/australia/science-illustrated/20190701

If the magazine article in question has a DOI, use that at the end of the reference, not a URL.

In-text citation:

Parenthetical citation: (Christensen, 2019)

Narrative citation: Christensen (2019)

Citing a Blog Post

Blog posts are defined as periodicals under the 7th edition. Because of this, a blog post reference entry is almost identical to the structure of an online article citation. The most significant difference is that blogs are usually published on a specific day, month, and year.

Remember that whatever level of specificity is offered regarding the publication date should be reflected in the reference entry.

Structure:

Author’s Last Name, First Initial. Middle Initial. (Year, Month Day). Title of blog post. Title of Blog. URL

Example:

Hin, K. (2016, March 13). Transport on the French Riviera: A practical guide to getting around by train, bus and car. French Riviera Blog. https://french-riviera-blog.com/2016/03/13/transport-on-the-french-riviera-a-practical-guide-to-getting-around-by-train-bus-and-car/

In-text citation:

Parenthetical citation: (Hin, 2016)

Narrative citation: Hin (2016)

Troubleshooting

Solution #1: How to cite a PDF if you cannot find the publisher

In APA

It may be hard to locate the publisher for a PDF, or there may be confusion when the author and publisher are the same. If either are the case, simply leave out any publisher information in your APA format works-cited citation.

Format the in-text citation like any other APA in-text citation (Author Last Name, Year).

In-text citation example:

(Naylor, 1896)

Reference list entry example:

Naylor, E. W. (1896). Shakespeare and music. https://www.scribd.com/document/223683596/Shakespeare-and-Music

Solution #2: How to cite a PDF if you cannot find the author

In APA

If you can’t find an author for a particular PDF, put the title of the source first in the works-cited citation, followed by the year of publication. Use the first letter of the title to alphabetize your bibliography just as you would with an author’s name.

For an in-text citation of a PDF without an author, use the title of the PDF followed by the year of publication. If the title is more than a few words long, abbreviate the title and limit it to 3-5 words, followed by an ellipsis.

In-text citation example:

(Shakespeare’s Language, 2009)

Reference list entry example:

Shakespeare’s Language. (2009). Zanichelli. https://www.scribd.com/presentation/321149883/Shakespeare-Language

Prior to submitting your paper, try out our plagiarism checker. It scans for any instances of accidental plagiarism and checks for grammar too! Stop questioning if every adverb, determiner, or preposition is placed where it belongs and give our super helpful checker a whirl!

Discover more writing and citing tips by visiting our EasyBib Twitter feed.

References

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000

American Psychological Association. (2022). Parenthetical versus narrative in-text citations. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/citations/basic-principles/parenthetical-versus-narrative

Published October 21, 2013. Updated on July 27, 2022.

Written and edited by Michele Kirschenbaum and Elise Barbeau. Michele Kirschenbaum is an awesome school library media specialist and the in-house librarian at EasyBib.com. Elise Barbeau is the Citation Specialist at Chegg. She has worked in digital marketing, libraries, and publishing.

 

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How do I cite a PDF in APA?

The structure of the entry depends on what source type (e.g., report, book, etc.) the PDF is. The source’s URL will indicate that the source was published as a PDF. For an example, let’s look at an annual report that was published as a PDF. Since the report publisher and author are the same (Ingredion), omit the publisher information.

In-text citation example:

(Ingredion, 2020)

Reference example:

Ingredion. (2020). Purpose-driven growth: 2020 annual report. https://www.annualreports.com/HostedData/AnnualReports/PDF/NYSE_INGR_2020.pdf

For more information on citing in APA, see this APA format guide.

How do I cite a PDF with no author in APA?

To cite a PDF with no author in APA style, it is important that you know some basic information such as the title of the work, publisher, and/or URL (uniform resource locator). The templates for in-text citations and reference list entries of a PDF along with examples are given below.

In-text citation template and example:

If the PDF does not have an author, cite the PDF by its title. If the title is too long, shorten it for the in-text citation. Follow title case in the in-text citation. A parenthetical citation might look like this:

(Title of the Work, publication year)

(Inspiring Growth, 2015)

Reference list entry template and example:

Title of the PDF [PDF]. (Publication Year). Name of Publisher. URL

Inspiring growth: CBI/Pearson education and skills survey 2015 [PDF]. (2015). Pearson. https://www.pearson.com/content/dam/corporate/global/pearson-dot-com/files/press-releases/2015/CBI-Pearson-Skills-survey-FINAL.pdf

You need to set the title of the PDF in sentence case in the reference list. While arranging the entry alphabetically in the reference list, treat the title as the author name. Remember, articles (“a,” “an,” and “the”) present at the beginning of the title should not be considered when alphabetizing. When there is a numeral used in the title, consider it to be in the spelled-out form and arrange it accordingly in the reference list.