How to Cite a Magazine Article
Updated July 2026
A magazine article cites like a periodical: author, article title, magazine name, date, and (when present) volume, issue, and pages. Magazines are dated more specifically than journals — you include the month (and day for weeklies), not just the year.
Here's the format in each style, for print and online.
One article, three styles
The article title isn't italicized (sentence-case plain in APA, quoted in MLA/Chicago); the magazine name is italicized. APA puts the full date in parentheses after the author.
Yong, E. (2021, March). How science beat the virus. The Atlantic, 327(2), 20-28. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/03/how-science-beat-the-virus
In-text(Yong, 2021)
Yong, Ed. "How science beat the virus." The Atlantic, vol. 327, no. 2, Mar. 2021, pp. 20-28, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/03/how-science-beat-the-virus.
In-text(Yong 20)
Yong, Ed. "How science beat the virus." The Atlantic 327, no. 2 (2021): 20-28. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/03/how-science-beat-the-virus.
In-text(Yong 2021)
The pieces
- Author — the journalist's byline; the magazine as author if unsigned.
- Article title — the headline of the piece.
- Magazine name — italicized (e.g., The Atlantic, Wired, Time).
- Date — year and month at minimum; add the day for weeklies (2024, March 18).
- Volume/issue & pages — include if the magazine prints them; many consumer magazines don't emphasize volume.
- URL/DOI — for online articles, the direct link (no retrieval date needed for a dated article).
Magazine vs. journal vs. newspaper
These three periodicals share a shape but differ: a journal is scholarly with prominent volume/issue and usually a DOI (guide); a newspaper is dated daily and organized by section/page (guide); a magazine sits between — dated by month, sometimes with volume/issue. If it has a DOI and scholarly volume/issue, cite it as a journal instead.
In-text citation
Author–date in APA — (Yong, 2021) — author–page in MLA — (Yong 24). For online magazine pieces without page numbers, MLA cites the author alone. Full patterns: APA In-Text Citations. Official format guidance: the APA Style Blog and the MLA Style Center.
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Go Premium — $5/monthFrequently asked questions
- Do I include the month for a magazine?
- Yes — magazines are dated more specifically than journals. Include year and month (and the day for weeklies). APA: (2021, March).
- What if the magazine article has no volume or issue?
- Many consumer magazines don't emphasize them — just omit. The date does the work of locating the issue.
- How is a magazine different from a journal?
- A journal is scholarly with prominent volume/issue and usually a DOI; a magazine is a general-audience periodical dated by month. If it has a DOI and scholarly numbering, cite it as a journal.
- Do I need a retrieval date for an online magazine article?
- No — a dated article is stable. Just include the URL. Retrieval dates are only for content designed to change without a version date.