This page focuses on citations for articles in print format. For information on how to cite articles in different online formats, visit the Electronic Resources page of this tutorial.

Journals vs. Popular Magazines:

For many assignments, students may be expected to use information found in periodicals.  When using periodicals for assignments and papers, it is helpful to be familiar with the differences between popular periodicals (also known as magazines) and scholarly journals.  The following table lists some of the criteria that can be used to distinguish between these periodical sources.

CRITERIA	POPULAR MAGAZINE	SCHOLARLY JOURNAL
Advertising	Many advertisements (often in color) for a wide variety of general items; ads may not be specifically related to the subject matter of the periodical	Few advertisements (usually in black & white); existing ads are typically for products or services that are specific to the audience or subject matter of the periodical
Appearance/Look	Glossy, eye-catching appearance	Less emphasis on eye-catching design
Audience/Language	Written for the general public; non-technical language	Written for students, scholars, and researchers in that specific field (using the language or terminology of that field)
Authorship	Articles are typically written by journalists, freelance writers, or magazine editorial staff; some articles are unsigned	Articles are written by an expert or researcher in the field; credentials are given for the author(s)
Contents	General interest or current events; occasional summarization of  research of current interest	Research topics; original research or continuation of previous studies; literature reviews
Editors	Articles are reviewed or evaluated by magazine editorial staff; focus on readability or style of work	Articles are reviewed or evaluated by a group or board of experts in the subject area; focus on the validity and reliability of the research
Format/Structure	No specific structure or format for individual articles	Visible structure for articles, which can include the following sections: abstract, literature review, methodology, results, conclusion, and bibliography
Frequency	Typically produced more frequently (daily, weekly, biweekly, or sometimes monthly)	Typically produced less frequently (annually, bi-annually, quarterly, bimonthly, monthly)
Illustrations & Special Features	Many illustrations, usually in color (photos, editorial cartoons, etc.)	Fewer illustrations; usually reserved for tables, statistics, or charts that supplement the information presented in the articles
Indexes	Included in general periodical indexes, such as Reader's Guide	Included in specialized periodical indexes, such as Applied Science and Technology
Length of Articles	Shorter articles; broad coverage of topic	Longer articles; more thorough review or analysis of topic
Level	General, "popular" focus; current information	Scholarly, research-oriented focus; more specific
Notes/References	References may be occasionally given, but usually there is no "References" or "Works Cited" section at the end of an article	Sources for information are listed, usually at the end of each article; may also use footnotes, bibliographies, or in-text citations
Pagination	Each issue begins at page 1	Page numbers are often continuous throughout the complete volume (Issue 1 ends at page 150, Issue 2 starts at page 151, etc.)
Publishers	Typically published by general, commercial, or for-profit presses	Typically published by professional societies or college/university presses

(The information in this table was compiled from the following sources: "Scholarly Journal v. Popular Magazine Articles" (University of Texas at San Antonio); "Magazine vs. Journal" (Montana State University); "What's the Difference Between Journals and Magazines?" (Guilford Technical Community College).  Complete citation information for these sources can be found in the References section of this tutorial.)

Basic Format for Print Article Citations:

The basic format for printed articles will consist of the author name, the title of the article, and the publication information.  There will be some differences in the exact form of the citation, depending on the type of periodical that is cited.  Similar to book citations, article citations can include additional information.  When available, the additional article information should be entered in the following order (Gibaldi 184):

1. Author's name 
2. Title of the article (in quotation marks)
3. Name of the periodical (underlined)
4. Series number or name (if relevant)
5. Volume number and issue number (use for scholarly journals; separate the numbers with a period)
6. Date of publication
7. Page number(s)
8. Supplementary information

Newspaper Articles:

For newspaper articles, the basic citation format is as follows:

Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Source Date of Publication: pages.

Wagar, Kit.  "Divisive Budget Dispute Erupts in Jefferson City."  Kansas City Star 6 June 2003: A1+.

Magazine Articles:

The basic citation format for magazine articles is similar to newspaper article citations.  For magazines that are published weekly or biweekly, use the Day Month Year format for the date of publication.  For magazines that are published monthly, use the month(s) and year listed for the issue. Do not include volume or issue numbers in newspaper citation entries. Longer magazine articles may not be consecutively paged.  In this situation, list the first page of the magazine article, followed by a plus (+) sign (Gibaldi 187-88).

Brown, Chappell.  "Photonic Tech Comes to Light."  Electronic Engineering Times 2 June 2003: 18+.

Hamilton, Anita.  "Driving Into the Future." Time 2 June 2003: 48-50.

Journal Articles:

The basic citation format for scholarly journals is as follows:

Author(s).  "Title of Article." Title of Journal Volume.Issue (Year): pages.

Mott, Robert L. "Future Directions for Mechanical, Manufacturing, and Industrial Engineering

Technology Programs." Journal of Engineering Technology 19.1 (2002): 8-15.