How to cite a magazine article (APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago, Harvard)
Magazine articles sit in an awkward middle ground. They are more edited and substantial than blog posts, but they do not carry journal volume, issue, and DOI data in the same way academic articles do. Writers often force them into journal templates and end up inventing missing fields. A good magazine citation follows the byline, issue date, magazine title, and either pages or URL.
When to use this source type
Use this source type for articles from publications such as The Atlantic, Wired, The New Yorker, National Geographic, Time, or Scientific American when the piece appears as magazine journalism rather than peer-reviewed scholarship. Magazine articles often have a named byline, a full publication date, a polished title, and either print pages or a stable article URL.
Do not treat a magazine article as a journal article just because the magazine publishes serious reporting. If there is no scholarly volume, issue, and page range, keep the citation lean. If the article appeared in print, use the page range. If you read the online version, use the article URL and, in styles that ask for it, an access date.
Quick reference table
The same source facts appear in each style, but they move around. Check the author role, date detail, title formatting, container, locator, and the one style-specific rule before you paste a citation into your reference list.
| Style | Author | Date | Title | Container | URL or locator | Style note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| APA 7 | Author surname and initials. | Full date when available, year, month, day. | Article title in sentence case, not quoted. | Magazine title italicized. | URL for online articles, pages for print. | Do not invent volume or issue data. |
| MLA 9 | Author full name, first author inverted. | Date as day abbreviated month year. | Article title in quotation marks and title case. | Magazine title italicized. | URL without https when preferred, access date if needed. | Use pp. only when print pages are known. |
| Chicago | Author full name, first author inverted. | Year after author in author-date. | Article title in quotation marks. | Magazine title italicized with issue date. | URL at the end for online versions. | Notes may cite magazines without a reference-list entry. |
| Harvard | Author surname and initials. | Year in parentheses. | Article title in single quotation marks. | Magazine title italicized, date after title. | Available at plus URL and access date online. | Follow Cite Them Right 12th edition for access-date wording. |
APA 7 walkthrough
APA 7 starts with the same basic question: who is responsible for this magazine article? For a magazine article, uses the article byline, not the magazine's editorial board. The date element uses the full publication date when the article gives one. The title element formats the article title in sentence case without quotation marks. The source element italicizes the magazine title and does not require a publisher. Finally, the locator element adds a URL for online articles or a page range for print articles, but not both unless both are useful. Work through those fields in order and the punctuation becomes much easier to control.
APA 7 treats magazines differently from journals, so volume and issue fields are not required unless the magazine itself provides them. In text, use (Yong, 2020). If you quote directly, add the page, paragraph, timestamp, or legal pin cite required by the style. If your source is online, prefer a stable URL or DOI over a search-result link, and remove tracking parameters before you submit the reference.
Yong, E. (2020, September 1). How the pandemic defeated America. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/09/coronavirus-american-failure/614191/
MLA 9 walkthrough
MLA 9 starts with the same basic question: who is responsible for this magazine article? For a magazine article, starts with the bylined writer, with the first name inverted. The date element puts the magazine date after the container in day month year form. The title element uses title case inside quotation marks for the article title. The source element uses the magazine title as the container and italicizes it. Finally, the locator element ends with the URL for web articles or pp. plus the print page range for print articles. Work through those fields in order and the punctuation becomes much easier to control.
MLA access dates are useful for magazine pages that update, move, or sit behind changing web layouts. In text, use (Yong). If you quote directly, add the page, paragraph, timestamp, or legal pin cite required by the style. If your source is online, prefer a stable URL or DOI over a search-result link, and remove tracking parameters before you submit the reference.
Yong, Ed. "How the Pandemic Defeated America." The Atlantic, 1 Sept. 2020, www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/09/coronavirus-american-failure/614191/.
Chicago walkthrough
Chicago starts with the same basic question: who is responsible for this magazine article? For a magazine article, uses the writer's name in reference-list order. The date element places the year after the author in author-date references and repeats the issue date with the magazine. The title element puts the article title in quotation marks and title case. The source element italicizes the magazine title and follows it with the month or full issue date. Finally, the locator element uses a URL for online reading, or a page number in a note for print. Work through those fields in order and the punctuation becomes much easier to control.
Chicago often permits magazine articles to appear only in notes, but a reference entry is useful when the article is central to your argument. In text, use (Yong 2020). If you quote directly, add the page, paragraph, timestamp, or legal pin cite required by the style. If your source is online, prefer a stable URL or DOI over a search-result link, and remove tracking parameters before you submit the reference.
Yong, Ed. 2020. "How the Pandemic Defeated America." The Atlantic, September 1, 2020. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/09/coronavirus-american-failure/614191/.
Harvard walkthrough
Harvard starts with the same basic question: who is responsible for this magazine article? For a magazine article, uses the byline surname and initials. The date element places the year after the author, then gives the day and month later in the entry. The title element puts the article title in single quotation marks. The source element italicizes the magazine title and treats it as the publication container. Finally, the locator element uses Available at, the URL, and Accessed date for online magazine articles. Work through those fields in order and the punctuation becomes much easier to control.
Cite Them Right 12th edition expects the access date for online material, even when the magazine date is clear. In text, use (Yong, 2020). If you quote directly, add the page, paragraph, timestamp, or legal pin cite required by the style. If your source is online, prefer a stable URL or DOI over a search-result link, and remove tracking parameters before you submit the reference.
Yong, E. (2020) 'How the pandemic defeated America', The Atlantic, 1 September. Available at: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/09/coronavirus-american-failure/614191/ (Accessed: 15 January 2025).
Common mistakes for this source type
Most errors come from forcing a magazine article into the wrong template. Before submitting, check these details against the source itself, not against a database preview or a copied citation.
- Treating a magazine article like a peer-reviewed journal article and adding fake volume or issue data.
- Using the website name as the author when a byline is present.
- Dropping the day and month even though magazines usually provide a specific issue date.
- Using a homepage URL instead of the article URL.
- Forgetting that MLA and Chicago put article titles in quotation marks, while APA does not.