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A news article reference in APA 7th edition follows one pattern: author, full date, article title, newspaper name, then a URL for an online article or a page number for a print one. This guide shows the newspaper article reference in APA style element by element, with APA’s own examples, the in-text version, and the mistakes that most often make a reference list inconsistent in a manuscript or thesis.
The format: newspaper article reference in APA
APA’s common reference examples handout gives two patterns for a newspaper article, one for the online article and one for the print article. Each element is separated by a period.
- Online newspaper article: Author, A. (Year, Month Day). Title of article. Newspaper Name. URL
- Print newspaper article: Author, A. (Year, Month Day). Title of article. Newspaper Name, page number.
The elements, in order:
- Author. Surname, then initials.
- Date. Year, month and day in parentheses, with the full date for a newspaper.
- Article title. The headline of the piece.
- Newspaper name. The publication, not the website domain.
- Location. A URL for an online article, or the page for a print article, as in “D4” in APA’s print example.
The same elements answer the query “apa style reference newspaper article”: the only difference between the two patterns is the last element.
Examples
The four examples below are taken from APA’s published handout (American Psychological Association, 2025), which is why they name real articles. They show how a newspaper reference differs from a magazine reference.
Online newspaper article
Bernstein, J. (2024, June 3). The man who couldn’t stop going to college. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/03/magazine/benjamin-bolger-college-harvard-yale.html
Print newspaper article
Reynolds, G. (2019, April 9). Different strokes for athletic hearts. The New York Times, D4.
Online magazine article
Thomson, J. (2022, September 8). Massive, strange white structures appear on Utah’s Great Salt Lake. Newsweek. https://www.newsweek.com/mysterious-mounds-great-salt-lake-utah-explained-mirabilite-1741151
Print magazine article
Nicholl, K. (2020, May). A royal spark. Vanity Fair, 62(5), 56-65, 100.
Side by side, the four show the split. The newspaper entries carry a full date and, in print, a single page reference. The magazine entry in print gives only the month, followed by volume(issue) and a page range. The online versions of both end in a URL.
A worked example (fictitious, for illustration only)
The following reference is invented to show the pattern and does not point to a real article: Rivera, M. (2025, February 11). Campus library extends weekend hours. The Example Gazette. https://www.example.com/news/library-hours
In-text citation version
Each news reference needs a matching in-text citation. APA’s In-Text Citation Checklist gives the forms: a parenthetical citation puts a comma between author and year, as in (Bernstein, 2024), and a narrative citation puts the year in parentheses after the name, as in Bernstein (2024).
A direct quotation adds a page number or an alternative locator. The checklist shows the parenthetical form as (Author, year, p. 20) and the narrative form as Author (year) followed by the quotation and (p. 20). Quotations under 40 words go inside double quotation marks. A quotation of 40 words or more becomes a block, indented 0.5 in. and double-spaced, without quotation marks.
If an article has three or more authors, the in-text citation uses the first author followed by “et al.” from the first citation on.
Common errors
- Author or year that does not match the reference list. The checklist requires that names and years in the text match the reference list exactly, and that each in-text citation points to only one entry.
- Entries that are never cited. Every work in the reference list should be cited in the text, which matters in a thesis where a reference list grows over many chapters.
- Using the magazine date pattern for a newspaper. APA’s examples give a newspaper the full date (year, month, day) and give the print magazine the month only with volume and issue.
- Adding “Retrieved from” by habit. The APA 7th edition guide to what is new says “Retrieved from” is used before a URL only when a retrieval date is also needed.
- Dropping the page from a print quotation. A direct quote needs author, year and page or an alternative locator.
For pages that are not news articles, and for pages with no author, see how to cite a website in APA and how to cite in APA when there is no author. Published interviews that appeared in a newspaper follow the same pattern, covered in how to cite an interview in APA. If a link in an older reference list no longer opens, link rot in citations explains how to deal with it. For the general idea behind author-date citation, see the dictionary entry on parenthetical citation, and for what happens when a source is used without credit, plagiarism.
Style-guide edition
This guide follows the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition (2020), which is the current edition. The examples and patterns come from APA’s common reference examples handout, marked “Last updated March 3, 2026”, and the rules for in-text citation come from the 7th edition In-Text Citation Checklist. Where your department or journal sets different rules, follow its instructions for your manuscript or thesis.
FAQ
How do I write a newspaper article reference in APA?
Write Author, A. (Year, Month Day). Title of article. Newspaper Name. followed by the URL for an online article, or by the page number for a print article, as in the examples above.
What is the difference between citing an online and a print newspaper article?
The last element. An online article ends with its URL, while a print article ends with the newspaper name followed by a comma and the page, for example The New York Times, D4.
Is a magazine article cited the same way as a newspaper article?
Almost. Online, the two patterns match. In print, the magazine entry gives the month only and adds volume(issue) and a page range, as in Vanity Fair, 62(5), 56-65, 100.
How do I cite a newspaper article in the text of my paper?
Use (Author, year) in parentheses or Author (year) in the sentence, and add a page or alternative locator for direct quotes.
Sources
- American Psychological Association. APA Style common reference examples guide (last updated March 3, 2026). https://apastyle.apa.org/instructional-aids/reference-examples.pdf. Checked 2026-10-29.
- American Psychological Association. In-text citation checklist, 7th edition. https://apastyle.apa.org/instructional-aids/in-text-citation-checklist.pdf. Checked 2026-10-29.
- American Psychological Association. Guide to what is new in the Publication Manual, 7th edition. https://apastyle.apa.org/instructional-aids/whats-new-7e-guide.pdf. Checked 2026-10-29.
