Magazines can be a great source for research, especially when you’re looking for articles that are relevant to your project. But it can be difficult to know how to cite sources when writing an essay, research paper, or other piece that includes a magazine article. There are several different style guides, such as MLA, APA, and Turabian, that you can use when citing sources. Here are some tips on how to cite sources when you write a magazine article:
First, determine whether the magazine you’re using is a journal or a magazine. The main difference is that journals are more likely to be published monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly, and magazines are usually issued every week.
If the publication is a journal, it must be cited in MLA style. You will include the title of the journal, the volume number, and the issue number. For some scholarly journals, you will also need to include the number of pages in each issue, as well as the number of the year. Often, these systems are called “pagination by issue.”
Then you will need to list the name of the author and the title of the article. Depending on the style guide you are using, this may include the publication year. In APA style, this is inserted between the title and the author’s name; in MLA style, it appears after the article’s title.
Next, include the page numbers if they run consecutively; otherwise, you’ll need to use just the first number and a plus sign, as shown in the following example:
Note that some magazines are not indexed or available online; in these cases, you will need to provide a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) for the item. This will allow readers to easily find it in a database or on the Internet.
Finally, you will need to provide the date that the material was accessed. This date will give your reader an idea of when the article was last updated, and will also indicate whether it is still in print.
If the article is online, you will need to include a URL. This will help your reader find the article without having to search for it manually, as long as the URL resolves properly.
A DOI is an alphanumeric string that is assigned by a registration agency to a digital object. It is regarded as the most important part of the citation, because it will accurately direct your reader to the specific article.
The next section will tell you how to cite a journal that is published on the Web or in a database. This type of journal will typically be cited in MLA or APA style, so make sure to review the appropriate style guide to learn how to properly cite this kind of publication.
The citation for this journal will look like the following: This is an online version of a paper that was published in the December 2007 issue of Convenience Store News. The article’s DOI is csn-doi-2007-12-18-000-001.
