Worked citation example

How to Cite a Journal Article in IEEE, APA, BibTeX, and LaTeX

Format a journal article in IEEE, APA, BibTeX, and LaTeX using one complete example, with field checks and common mistakes.

Journal article5 minute read

A journal article reference needs the article authors and title plus the journal, year, volume, issue, page range or article number, and DOI when available. Check those fields against the article or publisher record before formatting them.

The example below uses a published article so you can compare how the same source record changes across four common research workflows. Copy the structure, then replace every field with the details from your own source.

One verified record

See how the source changes by format.

Each output below uses the same metadata.

Source recordIEEEAPA 7BibTeXLaTeX citation

Source metadata

Author
Claude E. Shannon
Title
A Mathematical Theory of Communication
Journal
Bell System Technical Journal
Volume and issue
27(3)
Pages
379-423
Year
1948
DOI
10.1002/j.1538-7305.1948.tb01338.x

IEEE

C. E. Shannon, "A mathematical theory of communication," Bell System Technical Journal, vol. 27, no. 3, pp. 379-423, Jul. 1948, doi: 10.1002/j.1538-7305.1948.tb01338.x.

IEEE places the journal, volume, issue, pages, date, and DOI after the article title.

APA 7

Shannon, C. E. (1948). A mathematical theory of communication. Bell System Technical Journal, 27(3), 379-423. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1538-7305.1948.tb01338.x

APA places the year after the author and renders the DOI as a URL.

BibTeX

@article{shannon1948mathematical,
  author  = {Claude E. Shannon},
  title   = {A Mathematical Theory of Communication},
  journal = {Bell System Technical Journal},
  volume  = {27},
  number  = {3},
  pages   = {379--423},
  year    = {1948},
  doi     = {10.1002/j.1538-7305.1948.tb01338.x}
}

Use @article and keep the journal, volume, number, pages, year, and DOI in separate fields.

LaTeX citation

Shannon introduced a mathematical model of communication \cite{shannon1948mathematical}.

The citation key must exactly match the key at the start of the BibTeX entry.

Practical workflow

Check the record before formatting it.

  1. Confirm that the source is the final journal article rather than a preprint or conference version.

  2. Copy the complete author list, article title, journal title, year, volume, issue, and pages or article number.

  3. Resolve the DOI and confirm that it opens the same article.

  4. Choose the required style and generate the reference from the verified record.

  5. Insert the citation, then check the final reference list after export.

Questions students ask

Frequently asked questions

Should I cite the journal article or its preprint?

Cite the version you read and relied on. Use the final journal record when your claim comes from that version, and use the preprint record when the preprint is the source you actually examined.

Do I need the issue number?

Include it when the selected style calls for it and the journal supplies one. Do not invent an issue number for journals that publish by volume and article number.

Where does the DOI go?

IEEE commonly labels it with doi:, while APA presents it as an https://doi.org/ URL. BibTeX stores the identifier in the doi field.

Reference standards

Check the required style before you submit.

Continue the workflow