How to Cite a Journal Article in American Sociological Association (ASA)
ASA uses an author-year system. Cite a journal article in the text with author last name and year, and in the reference list give author, year, the article title in quotation marks, the journal in italics, volume, issue, and the page range, adding the DOI at the end.
Fill the required fields to generate your citation.
No account needed. Your citations stay in your browser and are never uploaded.
How to cite a journal article in ASA step by step
- Author and year. Invert the first author name and place the year right after it, since ASA is an author-year style.
- Article title. Give the article title in quotation marks.
- Journal and volume. Italicize the journal name and add the volume and issue.
- Page range. Provide the full page range of the article in the reference list.
- DOI. Close with the DOI so readers reach the exact article.
ASA journal article citation format
ASA orders a journal article as author, year, article title, journal, volume, issue, and pages. The worked example shows the reference entry and the matching in-text citation.
Common journal article citation variations
How do I write the in-text citation for an article in ASA?
Give the author last name and year in parentheses, adding a page after a colon for a direct quote, for example (Smith 2024:48).
How do I cite an article with multiple authors in ASA?
List all authors in the reference list, inverting only the first name. In the text, use et al. once the author count passes the ASA threshold.
How do I cite a journal article with no DOI in ASA?
Give the URL or the database used in place of the DOI, or end at the page range for a print article that has neither.
How do I order several works by one author in ASA?
List them oldest first, and add a, b, c after the year when the same author has more than one work in the same year.
Cite any source in ASA
See the full American Sociological Association (ASA) citation generator and every source type →
Journal Article citation FAQ
Is ASA an author-year style?
Yes. ASA cites in the text with author last name and year, and lists full references alphabetically, similar to other social science styles.
How does ASA mark a page in an in-text citation?
ASA uses a colon between the year and the page, for example (Smith 2024:48), rather than a comma.