APA Guide

Basic Format - Article Written for a Database (APA)

Format: Author Last Name, Author First Initial. (Year). Article title. In Title of Database, publisher. DOI/URL

General Rules for Citing an Article Written for a Database in APA

Author:

If there is no author listed for the article (which can be common especially in a database like Opposing Viewpoints), you can just skip adding the author's name.

Title:

In citations for the article title, capitalize only proper nouns and the first word of the article title and subtitle. Also italicize the article title (APA considers it standalone).

For the database name, capitalize all the significant words in the title and italicize.

Note: If you mention an article title in your paper, it should be in quotation marks and all major words should be capitalized.

Date

List the most specific information you have for the date (this could be just a year, or can be as specific as Day Month Year). If you do not have a date, list n.d. for no date.

URL

Always list the DOI if given. DOI is preferred rather than a URL.

If a DOI is not given, but the source can be found in a library database, then there is no need to include a URL (simply cite the entry the same way you would a print entry). However, if a DOI is not given, and the source is not in a library database - rather found on the internet - then include a URL (to help people find it).

URLs should be as specific as possible (i.e. take the reader directly to the page you used). So use the full URL (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/28/us/politics/william-barr-house-judiciary-hearing.html) rather than the home page (https://www.nytimes.com).

Present DOI’s and URL’s as hyperlinks beginning with http:// or https:// (Links can be ‘live’ if your writing is going to be viewed electronically or online). For DOI, the URL should begin with https://doi.org/. DOI example: https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000126 

Formatting

Double space entries. If an entry runs more than one line, use a hanging indent which indents any additional lines beyond the first (there is a button in Microsoft Word and other programs to do this; do not use the tab button or the space bar).

Acceptable abbreviations can be found on pp. 306-7 of the APA manual.