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PSY 289 - Northwest - Psychology Research Methods (Rubenstein): Citing magazines, newspapers, or journal articles (print or online)

Introduction to scientific methodologies used in psychological research. Includes experience in using a range of psychological research methods for students.

General Tips

General rules

  • No author listed on your source?  Just skip it and start with the title of the article
  •  Pay attention to italicized and Capitalized text.

o Books Titles (as well as journal, magazine, newspaper, encyclopedia, and database titles) should be italicized and capitalized.
o Article titles should be in “quotation marks”.

  •  For correct information, such as the book title, cities, and publisher, consult the title page of the book (not the book’s cover). The copyright date is found on the next page, next to the © symbol, for example, © 2009

Medium of Publication
For MLA citations, you will notice a place for the “Format” of your source. The “Format” is the medium of publication. For more on formats, see MLA 5.7. Here are the most common formats you might use:

  • Print (any printed book, magazine, journal, encyclopedia, etc.)
  • Web (websites, scholarly articles from online databases, online newspaper and magazine articles.)
  • Television
  • Film
  • Performance
  • Photograph

Missing Elements

If any of your sources are missing elements, like the date or publisher, use the following abbreviations, if applicable:

No date = n. d.
No place of publication = n. p.
No publisher = n. p.
No pagination = n. pag.

Common Abbreviations

Abbreviation Term
ed. edition
Rev. ed. Revised edition
2nd ed. second edition
Ed. (Eds.) Editor (Editors)
Trans. Translator
n.d. no date
p. (pp.) page (pages)
Vol. Volume (as in Vol. 4)
Vols. Volumes (as in Vols. 1-4)
No. Number
Pt. Part
Tech.Rep. Technical Report
Suppl. Supplement

Examples

General Format for Articles

Electronic or print article with DOI

Author(s). (Year, Month Day if available). Title of article. Title of Publication, volume number

(issue number), pp. <insert page range>. doi:0000000/000000000000

  • The digital object identifier (DOI) - specific code assigned to published articles that make them easier to identify and retrieve online. 

Electronic article without a DOI

Author(s). (Year, Month Day if available). Title of article. Title of Publication, volume number

(issue number), pp. <insert page range>. Retrieved from <insert URL of journal

homepage>

  • Print articles without a DOI do not need a URL either.


Examples

Items in green indicate variations in the citation based on the format.


Electronic or Print Journal Article with a DOI

Walters, G. (2006, June). Appraising, researching and conceptualizing criminal thinking: a personal view.

Criminal Behaviour & Mental Health, 16(2), 87-99. doi:10.1002/cbm.50

  • Use the PDF version of the article (if available) to get the correct page range.


Print Journal Article without a DOI

Walters, G. (2006, June). Appraising, researching and conceptualizing criminal thinking: a personal view.

Criminal Behaviour & Mental Health, 16(2), 87-99.


Electronic Journal Article without a DOI

Viemero, V. (1996, March). Factors in childhood that predict later criminal behavior. Aggressive Behavior,

22(2), 87-97. Retrieved from http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/32356/home


Electronic Magazine Article (from a library database)

Laidman, J. (2012). FAT CITY. Louisville Magazine, 63(1), 58. Retrieved from

http://0-ehis.ebscohost.com.library2.pima.edu/

  • Magazines generally have no volume or issue, so just include the Day, Month, and Year of publication, without parentheses. For magazines published monthly or quarterly, you only need to include the Month and Year.


Electronic Newspaper Article (from a library database)

Bell, J. (2009, August 17). Old friend helping Vick make new start. USA Today. Retrieved from

http://www.usatoday.com

  • For local newspapers, include the city and state in [brackets] after the title of the newspaper.


Online Newspaper Article from Website

Jayson, S. (2006, June 29). The 'millennials' come of age. USA Today. Retrieved from

http://www.usatoday.com