PERRLA/Guides/APA 7/Journal article with no DOI

How to Cite a Journal Article With No DOI in APA 7

An APA 7 reference for a journal article with no DOI has the same parts as any journal article: the authors, the year, the article title, the journal name and volume in italics, the issue, and the page range. If you found it in an academic database like CINAHL or ProQuest, or in print, end the reference after the page range, with no database name and no database link. If it comes from a journal's own website, end with the article's URL instead. The in-text citation is the author and year: (Cornell et al., 2014).

The format

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of the article. Journal Name, Volume(Issue), page–page.

PERRLA APA Experts · Updated October 21, 2026
Checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition. Every example is formatted by PERRLA's reference engine.

First, the easy way: PERRLA

If the article is in PubMed, paste its PubMed ID (the PMID on its PubMed page) into PERRLA's reference search. PERRLA fills in every author, the year, the title, the journal, the volume, the issue, and the pages, and leaves the DOI empty when the article really doesn't have one.

Then check three things before you save. First, the URL: a PubMed ID lookup currently puts the PubMed link in the URL field, so clear it, because APA leaves database links out. Second, the journal name: make it the name the journal prints on its cover (PubMed's long catalog names, like "Medsurg Nursing : Official Journal of the Academy of Medical-surgical Nurses," aren't it). Third, the pages: write them out in full, 334–342, not 334–42.

Found the article on the journal's own website? Pasting that link can bring it in as a webpage, with the byline's credentials mixed into the author's name. Add it by hand as a journal article instead, the way the next paragraph shows, and use the article's URL.

Adding one by hand? Choose Journal, then Journal article and A single published article. Fill in the article title in sentence case, the journal name, the year, the volume, the issue, and the pages, and leave the DOI and URL empty. If the article came from a journal's own website, put its URL in instead. PERRLA handles the italics and the punctuation, and it ends the reference in the right place.

Not using PERRLA yet? Here is how to build the same reference by hand.

The parts of the reference

1. Authors

Start with each author's last name, a comma, and their initials, the same as any journal article. Separate the authors with commas and put an ampersand (&) before the last one. Leave out degrees and credentials like RN or PhD.

Cornell, P., Gervis, M. T., Yates, L., & Vardaman, J. M.

List up to 20 authors. A missing DOI doesn't change anything here.

2. Year

Put the year the article was published in parentheses, followed by a period. Journal articles take the year only, even when the issue is dated by month, like September–October.

(2014).

3. Article title

Write the article title in sentence case: capitalize the first word, the first word after a colon, and proper nouns. Acronyms like SBAR keep their capitals. Don't italicize the title. If it ends in a question mark, the question mark replaces the period.

Impact of SBAR on nurse shift reports and staff rounding.

4. Journal name and volume

Write the journal name in title case and in italics, the way the journal itself prints it. Then a comma and the volume number, also in italics.

MEDSURG Nursing, 23

Use the journal's real name, not the long catalog version PubMed or a database shows, and not an abbreviation like Medsurg Nurs.

5. Issue

Put the issue number in parentheses right after the volume, with no space and no italics. If the journal doesn't number its issues, leave this part out.

23(5),

6. Pages

Give the full page range with an en dash (–) and end with a period. Write every digit: 334–342, not 334–42, even when PubMed shortens it. If the article skips pages, list each piece, separated by commas.

308–312, 318.

Online journals that don't use page numbers or article numbers simply skip this part.

7. The ending: nothing, or a URL

This is the only part that changes when there's no DOI. Ask where the article lives.

  • An academic database or a print copy (CINAHL, ProQuest, EBSCOhost, PubMed, Ovid, JSTOR, Google Scholar): stop after the pages. No database name, no database link, no PubMed ID.
  • A journal's own open website that anyone can reach: end with the article's URL, with no period after it.

https://cjni.net/journal/?p=17354

Never write "No DOI," "n.p.," or "Retrieved from" to fill the gap. An empty ending is the right ending.

Examples

An article from a database, with no DOI

A 2014 MEDSURG Nursing study of SBAR at shift report. The journal didn't start assigning DOIs until 2021, so this article has none. You'd find it in CINAHL or through PubMed, and the reference ends after the page range.

  • Parenthetical citation(Cornell et al., 2014)
  • Narrative citationCornell et al. (2014)

An article with no DOI that skips pages

A literature synthesis on bedside report that runs from page 308 to 312 and finishes on page 318. PubMed lists the pages as 308-12, 318. In the reference, write every digit and keep the comma before the last page.

  • Parenthetical citation(Sherman et al., 2013)
  • Narrative citationSherman et al. (2013)

An article on a journal's website, with no DOI

The Canadian Journal of Nursing Informatics publishes its articles free on its own website, with a volume and issue but no DOIs and no page numbers. The article's URL works for anyone, so it goes at the end. The title ends in a question mark, so there's no extra period after it.

  • Parenthetical citation(Neumeier, 2026)
  • Narrative citationNeumeier (2026)

In-text citations

A missing DOI changes nothing in the text. The in-text citation is still the author's last name and the year, with a page number when you quote.

  • One author: (Neumeier, 2026) or Neumeier (2026)
  • Two authors: both last names every time, joined by & inside parentheses and by and in your sentence
  • Three or more authors: the first author and et al., starting with the first citation: (Cornell et al., 2014)
  • A quote: add the page: (Sherman et al., 2013, p. 310)
  • A quote from an article with no page numbers: count the paragraphs and give the paragraph number instead, or a section heading and paragraph when the article has headings: (Neumeier, 2026, para. 4)

A narrative citation puts the names in your sentence and the year right after them: Cornell et al. (2014) found that SBAR changed how nurses gave report.

Common mistakes

  • MEDSURG Nursing, 23(5), 334–342. Retrieved from CINAHL Complete.MEDSURG Nursing, 23(5), 334–342.APA 7 leaves the database name out of journal article references. The same article sits in many databases, and your reader will use their own.
  • MEDSURG Nursing, 23(5), 334–342. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26292447/MEDSURG Nursing, 23(5), 334–342.A PubMed, EBSCOhost, or ProQuest link is a database link, so it stays out. APA also leaves out PubMed IDs (PMIDs).
  • Cornell, P., Gervis, M. T., Yates, L., & Vardaman, J. M. (2014). Impact of SBAR on nurse shift reports and staff rounding. MEDSURG Nursing, 23(5), 334–342. No DOI.Cornell, P., Gervis, M. T., Yates, L., & Vardaman, J. M. (2014). Impact of SBAR on nurse shift reports and staff rounding. MEDSURG Nursing, 23(5), 334–342.Don't fill the gap with "No DOI," "n.p.," or "DOI unavailable." When there's nothing to add, the reference just ends.
  • Medsurg Nursing : Official Journal of the Academy of Medical-surgical Nurses, 22(5), 308–12, 318.MEDSURG Nursing, 22(5), 308–312, 318.Copying straight from PubMed brings its catalog name and its shortened page numbers along. Use the journal's own name and write the pages in full.
  • Assuming there's no DOI because the PDF doesn't show oneChecking the database record, the journal's page, or search.crossref.org firstMany articles have a DOI that isn't printed on the PDF your library gave you. If one exists, APA wants it, so take ten seconds to look.

Quick checklist

  • Searched for a DOI first: database record, journal page, or Crossref
  • Authors, year, sentence-case title, italic journal name and volume, and issue, same as any journal article
  • Full page range with an en dash, every digit written out
  • From a database or print: the reference ends after the pages
  • From a journal's open website: the reference ends with the article's URL
  • No database name, no database link, no PubMed ID

Questions students ask

How do I know if a journal article has a DOI?

Look at the article's first page, the database record (CINAHL and PubMed list it when there is one), and the journal's page for the article. You can also paste the title into search.crossref.org. If none of them shows a DOI, the article doesn't have one, and you can end the reference after the pages.

Should I put the database name if the article has no DOI?

No. A missing DOI doesn't bring the database name back. APA treats a database article with no DOI exactly like a print article. The exceptions are databases that publish their own original content, like UpToDate and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.

Can I use the link from my library database instead?

No. Library database links usually need your school login, so they won't open for your reader. Leave them out. Only add a URL when the article sits on an open website that anyone can reach, like the journal's own site.

What if the article has no page numbers either?

If the journal uses article numbers, write Article and the number in place of the pages. If it has neither, which is common for online-only journals, end that part after the issue number. For quotes, give a paragraph number, or a section heading and paragraph number, in your citation.

Does a missing DOI mean the article isn't scholarly?

No. DOIs are something publishers pay to register, and many respected journals added them late or not at all. MEDSURG Nursing began assigning DOIs in 2021, so its older peer-reviewed articles have none. Judge the article by the journal and its peer review, not by the DOI.

Do I need a retrieval date for a journal article with no DOI?

No. A published journal article doesn't change, so it never needs a retrieval date, with or without a DOI. Retrieval dates are for sources that are updated in place, like UpToDate topics.

Rules checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.), Sections 8.17, 8.28, 9.25–9.27, 9.30, 9.34–9.36, and 10.1, and the APA Style website's pages on database information and nursing student references. Example sources verified against PubMed, Crossref (to confirm no DOI exists), and the journal's own article page.

PERRLA builds the journal article reference with or without a DOI, and ends it exactly where APA says to.

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