"A digital object identifier (DOI) is a unique alphanumeric string assigned by a registration agency (the International DOI Foundation) to identify content and provide a persistent link to its location on the Internet." -American Psychological Association (APA)
Where can you find a DOI?
The DOI is located in the article record in the database or on the 1st page of the PDF.
What is a persistent URL?
A persistent URL is one that never changes and will ALWAYS bring you back to this journal article.
Where can you find a Persistent URL?
In EbscoHost databases, go into the full record for the article and click on the Permalink option of the right hand side. This will place a box above the title with the persistent URL in it. You can then copy and paste the link into your reference list.
Other databases provide a persistent URL at the bottom of the full record for the article that you can copy and paste into your reference list.
Use the flowchart below to determine when to include DOIs, URLs, or database information for your reference citations.
LastName, FirstName. Year. Title. City of Publication: Publisher.
Bender, Wolfgang. 1991. Sweet Mother. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Edin, Kathryn, and Maria Kefalas. 2005. Promises I Can Keep: Why Poor Women Put Motherhood Before Marriage. Berkley: University of California Press.
Edelman, Peter, Harry J. Holzer, and Paul Offner. 2006. Reconnecting Disadvantaged Young Men. Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press.
*Note: For more than 10 authors, list the first 7 author names followed by et al.
LastName, FirstName, and FirstName LastName. Year. Title. City of Publication: Publisher. URL.
MacDonald, Ian Thomas. 2017. Unions and the City: Negotiating Urban Change. Ithica: ILR Press. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e000xna&AN=1529584&site=ehost-live.
LastName, FirstName, FirstName LastName, and FirstName LastName. Year. "Title of Article." Name of Publication Volume Number (Issue Number):page numbers.
Colen, Cynthia G. 2011. "Addressing Racial Disparities in Health Using Life Course Perspectives: Toward a Constructive Criticism." Du Bois Review 8(1):79-94.
LastName, FirstName, FirstName LastName, and FirstName LastName. Year. "Title of Article." Name of Publication Volume Number (Issue Number):page numbers. URL.
Demirkol, Ismail Cenk, and Mahesh K. Nalla. 2019. “How Does Police Culture Shape Officers’ Support for Community Policing?” Policing & Society 29(6):692-705. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=137507954&site=ehost-live.
LastName, FirstName, FirstName LastName, and FirstName LastName. Year. "Title of Article." Name of Publication Volume Number (Issue Number):page numbers. doi: xxxx.
Demirkol, Ismail Cenk, and Mahesh K. Nalla. 2019. “How Does Police Culture Shape Officers’ Support for Community Policing?” Policing & Society 29(6):692-705. doi: 10.1080/10439463.2017.1410149.
LastName, FirstName. Year. "Title of Article." Newspaper/Magazine Title, Month Day, page Numbers.
Anderson, Elijah. 1994. "The Code of the Streets." Atlantic Monthly, May, 81-94.
LastName, FirstName. Year. "Title of Article." Newspaper/Magazine Title, Month Day, page Numbers. URL.
Friedman, Thomas L. 2017. "Climate Shifts Aren't Limited to the Weather." Opinion, New York Times, April 2. https://www.newyorktimes.com/2017/08/02/opinion/climate-change.html.
Company/Institute/Association Name. Year. "Page Title." URL.
American Anthropological Association. 1998. "AAA Statement on Race." https://www.americananthro.org/ConnectWithAAA/Content.aspx?ItemNumber=2583.
LastName, FirstName. Year. "Title of Article." Blog Title. Month Day. URL.
Carrigan, Mark. 2014. “Qualitative Self-tracking and the Qualified Self.” The Sociological Imagination Blog. July 31. http://sociologicalimagination.org/archives/15674.
Judge, Mike. 1999. Office Space. Beverly Hills, CA: Twentieth Century Fox. DVD.
American Sociological Association. 2019. "Children of the Storm." Produced by the American Sociological Association, December 5. Video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8_e4-idfg0.
If a social media post is cited only once in the text, use a footnote.
Text: The American Sociological Association mentioned the meeting directly on its Facebook page.1
Footnote: 1. American Sociological Association's Facebook page, accessed June 6, 2014, https://www.facebook.com/AmericanSociologicalAssociation/posts/10154176262000165.
If a social media post is frequently cited, it may be included in the reference list. Include both the real and screen name, if possible. In the text, cite the name under which the entry is listed in the reference list (usually the real name).
American Sociological Association (@ASAnews). 2018. "Historic increases in income inequality have coincided with widening class divides in parental investments of money and time in children. See http://www.asanet.org/press-center/press-release/income-inequality-changing-how-parents-invest-their-kids-widening-class-divide-us." Twitter, July 9, 12:50 p.m. https://twitter.com/ASAnews/status/1016409400259563521.
Author. Year. "Title of Podcast." City of publication: Publisher. Name of company Podcast. Retrieved date (URL).
Hout, Michael. 2009. "Higher Education Today." Washington DC: American Sociological Association. Contexts Podcast. Retrieved June 22, 2015 (http://contexts.or/podcast /2009/06/07/higher-education-today/).
The ASA Style Guide does not include any guidance on how to cite AI. Before using any AI tool, speak with your instructor to learn about their policies.
**For other formats such as, Maps, Reports/Bulletins, and more, consult the ASA Style Guide or Purdue Owl.