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How to Cite a Magazine Article in MLA
Magazine: A publication that is issued periodically and contains items such as articles, essays, poems, or pictures.
Note that magazines are different from journals in that journals only contain scholarly articles that are peer-reviewed and relate to a specific academic field. If you are looking for the format for citing a journal article, this guide on citing a journal in MLA can help.
How to cite magazine articles published and found in print
Cite your source
How to cite magazine articles found on a website
Note: When citing sources reproduced online from their in-print version, it is not necessary to include online information such as the website publisher or the date of electronic publication.
Published October 31, 2011. Updated May 18, 2021.
MLA Formatting Guide
MLA Formatting
- Annotated Bibliography
- Bibliography
- Block Quotes
- et al Usage
- In-text Citations
- Paraphrasing
- Page Numbers
- Sample Paper
- Works Cited
- MLA 8 Updates
- MLA 9 Updates
- View MLA Guide
Citation Examples
- Book Chapter
- Journal Article
- Magazine Article
- Newspaper Article
- Website (no author)
- View all MLA Examples
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To create an in-text citation for a magazine found in print:
Place the author’s last name and the page number of the quote in parenthesis after the borrowed quote or information. Example: “Time spent with family or friends is more important now than ever” (Garcia 120).
To create an in-text citation for a magazine found on a website:
Place the author’s last name in parenthesis after the borrowed quote or information. No page number is needed. Example: “Every day I was excited to see my dad, the way you’re excited to be around a new friend” (Rothbart).
MLA is the style most often used in literature, language, history, art, and theater subjects.
No matter what citation style you’re using (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.) the EasyBib Citation Generator can help you create the right bibliography quickly.
To cite a magazine with multiple authors and no page numbers in MLA style, you need to have basic information including the authors, publication date, title of the article, magazine name, and the URL. The templates for in-text citations and works cited list entries of a magazine article written by multiple authors along with examples are given below:
In-text citation template and example:
For citations in prose, use the first name and surname of the first author followed by “and others” or “and colleagues.” In subsequent citations, use only the surname of the first author followed by “and others” or “and colleagues.” In parenthetical citations, always use only the surname of the first author followed by “et al.”
Citation in prose:
First mention: Katherine Zoepf and colleagues . . . or Katherine Zoepf and others . . .
Subsequent occurrences: Zoepf and colleagues . . . or Zoepf and others . . .
Parenthetical:
. . . ( Zoepf et al.)
Works cited list entry template and example:
The title of the article is in plain text and title case; it is placed inside quotation marks. The title of the magazine is set in italics. Follow the format given in the template and example for setting the date, month, and year.
Surname, F., et al. “Title of the Article.” Magazine Name , Publication Date, URL.
Zoepf, Katherine, et al. “Shopgirls: The Art of Selling Lingerie.” The New Yorker , 15 Aug. 2019, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/12/23/shopgirls .
Use only the first author’s name in surname–first name order in the entry, followed by “et al.”
To cite an online journal or magazine article in MLA style, you need to have basic information including the author, publication date, title of the article, journal or magazine title, volume and issue numbers, and the URL. The templates and examples for in-text citations and works cited list entries for an online journal article (with one author) are given below:
For citations in prose, use the first name and surname of the author in the first occurrence. In subsequent citations, use only the surname. In parenthetical citations, always use only the surname of the author.
First mention: Roger Dawkins . . .
Subsequent occurrences: Dawkins . . .
. . . (Dawkins)
The title of the journal or magazine article is in plain text and title case; it is placed inside quotation marks. The title of the journal or magazine is set in italics.
Surname, F. “Title of the Article.” Journal or Magazine Title , vol. #, no. #, Publication Date, URL.
Dawkins, Roger. “How We Speak When We Say Things About Ourselves in Social Media: A Semiotic Analysis of Content Curation.” M/C Journal , vol. 18, no. 4, 2015, www.journal.media-culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/view/999 .
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APA Style (7th Edition) Citation Guide: Magazine/Newspaper Articles
- Introduction
- Journal Articles
- Magazine/Newspaper Articles
- Books & Ebooks
- Government & Legal Documents
- Biblical Sources
- Secondary Sources
- Films/Videos/TV Shows
- How to Cite: Other
- Additional Help
Table of Contents
Magazine/newspaper article from a website, magazine/newspaper article from a library database, magazine/newspaper article in print, magazine/newspaper article with an unknown author.
Note: All citations should be double spaced and have a hanging indent in a Reference List.
A "hanging indent" means that each subsequent line after the first line of your citation should be indented by 0.5 inches.
This Microsoft support page contains instructions about how to format a hanging indent in a paper.
How Do I Know If It's a Newspaper?
Not sure whether your article is from a newspaper? Look for these characteristics:
- Main purpose is to provide readers with a brief account of current events locally, nationally or internationally.
- Can be published daily, semiweekly or weekly.
- Articles are usually written by journalists who may or may not have subject expertise.
- Written for the general public, readers don't need any previous subject knowledge.
- Little, if any, information about other sources is provided.
Articles may also come from journals or magazines.
If an item has no author, start the citation with the article title.
If, and only if, the article is signed "Anonymous", put the word Anonymous where you would normally place the author's name.
Cite author names in the order in which they appear on the source, not in alphabetical order.
Italicize titles of journals, magazines and newspapers. Do not italicize or use quotation marks for the titles of articles.
Capitalize only the first letter of the first word of the article title. If there is a colon in the article title, also capitalize the first letter of the first word after the colon.
If an item has no date, use the short form n.d. where you would normally put the date.
If an original publication date and a last updated date are provided, use the last updated date. If the more current date is "last reviewed" instead of "last updated," use the original publication date (since the review may not have changed the content).
Retrieval Dates
Most articles will not need these in the citation. Only use them for online articles from places where content may change often, like a free website or a wiki.
Page Numbers
If an article has no page numbers provided, leave that part of the citation out in the References List.
If an article doesn't appear on continuous pages, list all the page numbers the article is on, separated by commas. For example (4, 6, 12-14)
In the Body of a Paper
Books, Journals, Reports, Webpages, etc.: When you refer to titles of a “stand-alone work,” as the APA calls them on their APA Style website, such as books, journals, reports, and webpages, you should italicize them. Capitalize words as you would for an article title in a reference, e.g., In the book Crying in H Mart: A memoir , author Michelle Zauner (2021) describes her biracial origin and its impact on her identity.
Article or Chapter: When you refer to the title of a part of a work, such as an article or a chapter, put quotation marks around the title and capitalize it as you would for a journal title in a reference, e.g., In the chapter “Where’s the Wine,” Zauner (2021) describes how she decided to become a musician.
The APA Sample Paper below has more information about formatting your paper.
- APA 7th ed. Sample Paper
Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given. (Year of Publication, Month Day if Given). Title of article: Subtitle if any. Name of Newspaper . URL
Note: If the article is on continuous pages put a dash (-) between the first and last page numbers. If the article appears on discontinuous page numbers, give all page numbers separated with commas between them.
Brody, J. E. (2007, December 11). Mental reserves keep brain agile. The New York Times . https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/11/health/11iht-11brod.8685746.html
Note: This entry has no page numbers, so this information is left out of the citation.
In-Text Paraphrase:
(Author's Last Name, Year)
Example: (Brody, 2007)
In-Text Quote:
(Author's Last Name, Year, p. Page Number if available)
Note: This entry has no page numbers, paragraph numbers, or section headings so this information is left out of the in-text citation.
Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given. (Year of Publication, Month Day if Given). Title of article: Subtitle if any. Name of Newspaper, SectionPage if Given.
Note: For newspaper articles from library databases, include the newspaper title and any volume/issue/page numbers that are provided. Do not include the database information.
Kidd, K. (2011, August 7). Cart blanche: City of Portland celebrates sidewalk dining with minimal rules for food carts. The Toronto Star, A5.
Example: (Kidd, 2011)
Example: (Kidd, 2011, p. A5)
Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given. (Year of Publication, Month Day if Given). Title of article: Subtitle if any. Name of Newspaper , SectionPage.
Schwartz, J. (1993, September 30). Obesity affects economic, social status. The Washington Post , A1, A4.
Example: (Schwartz, 1993)
(Author's Last Name, Year, p. Page Number)
Example: (Schwartz, 1993, A1)
Title of article: Subtitle if any. (Year of Publication, Month Day if Given). Name of Newspaper , SectionPage.
Note: If an author's name is not given, do not include an author in the citation; however, if the article is signed "Anonymous," then use "Anonymous" in place of the author's name.
Get on board for train safety. (2012, June 17). The New York Times , A14.
("One, two, or three words from the title", Year)
Example: ("Get on board", 2012)
Note: Choose one or more words from the title, enough to clearly identify the article. Use double quotation marks around the words from a title of an article in the in-text citation.
("One, two, or three words from the title", Year, Page Number)
Example: ("Get on board," A14)
Note: Choose one or more words from the title, enough to clearly identify the article. Use double quotation marks around the words from title of an article in the in-text citation.
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