cite journal is for formatting references to articles in magazines and academic journals in a consistent and legible manner. It can be used at the end of the article, directly in the References section. It can also be placed within <ref> tags for in-line citations (see Wikipedia:Footnotes).

Common parameters, horizontal format (with today's date)

{{cite journal |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |year= |month= |title= |journal= |volume= |issue= |pages= |id= |url= |accessdate= 2024-12-19 |quote= }}

Common parameters, horizontal format

{{cite journal |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |year= |month= |title= |journal= |volume= |issue= |pages= |id= |url= |accessdate= |quote= }}

Using lastname, firstname Using author (firstname lastname)
{{cite journal
 | quotes = 
 | last = 
 | first = 
 | authorlink = 
 | coauthors = 
 | date = 
 | year = 
 | month = 
 | title = 
 | journal = 
 | volume = 
 | issue = 
 | pages = 
 | publisher = 
 | location = 
 | issn = 
 | pmid = 
 | doi = 
 | bibcode = 
 | oclc =
 | id = 
 | url = 
 | language = 
 | format = 
 | accessdate = 
 | laysummary = 
 | laysource = 
 | laydate = 
 | quote = 
 }}
{{cite journal
 | quotes = 
 | author = 
 | date = 
 | year = 
 | month = 
 | title = 
 | journal = 
 | volume = 
 | issue = 
 | pages = 
 | publisher = 
 | location = 
 | issn = 
 | pmid = 
 | doi = 
 | bibcode = 
 | oclc =
 | id = 
 | url = 
 | language = 
 | format = 
 | accessdate = 
 | laysummary = 
 | laysource = 
 | laydate = 
 | quote = 
 }}
  • quotes: Specify "quotes=no" to disable the quotation marks around the title. If "quotes" is not defined or set to the empty string, the template places quotation marks around the title (default).
  • author: Author
    • last works with first to produce last, first;
    • authorlink works either with author or with last & first to link to the appropriate article (interwiki link)
    • coauthors: allows additional authors
  • date: [[January 1]], [[2006]]. Full date of publication.
    • year: 2006. Year of publication (ignored if the date field is used).
      • month: January. Month of publication (ignored if the date field is used, or if the year field is not used).
  • title: Title of article. This is the only required parameter. All other parameters are optional.
  • journal: Name of the journal or periodical.
  • volume: Volume number of the journal in which the article is found
  • issue: Issue number of the journal in which the article is found
  • pages: 45–47: first page, and optional last page (separated by an en dash –). Manually prepend with p. or pp. if desired.
  • publisher: Publisher of journal or periodical; should not include corporate designation such as "Ltd" or "Inc".
    • location: Place of publication for journal or periodical.
  • issn: The publication's International Standard Serial Number such as 1111-2220
  • pmid: The document's PubMed Unique Identifier, such as 15128012
  • oclc: The periodical's Online Computer Library Center ID number, such as 3185581
  • doi: A digital object identifier for the document, such as 10.1016/j.coi.2004.08.001
    • doilabel: If the doi contains some characters that must be escaped, use "doilabel" for the unescaped version. See {{doi}}: "id" is equivalent to "doi" and "label" is "doilabel"
  • bibcode: The document's bibcode in the Astrophysics Data System, e.g., 1924MNRAS..84..308E
  • id: A unique identifier, used if none of the above are applicable. In this case, you need to specify the kind of identifier you are using, preferably with a template like {{US patent}}. (Use one of the more specialized parameters if possible; they are linked automatically. In other words, don't use id = PMID 15128012 anymore. Use pmid = 15128012.)
  • url: URL of a copy of the article, if available online.
    • format: Format, e.g. PDF. Don't specify for HTML (implied as default).
      Specify as 'fee required' if free access no longer available.
      Specify as 'Reprint' if a full original version but not hosted by the original publisher.
  • accessdate: Full date when URL was last checked. Use ISO 8601 YYYY-MM-DD format, for example "accessdate = 2024-12-19". Must not be wikilinked

For producing a non-wikilinked date of retrieval:

  • accessmonthday and accessyear: Month and day when item was accessed, for example "accessmonthday = May 10", and year when item was accessed, for example "accessyear = 2005". Produces: Retrieved on May 10, 2006.
  • accessdaymonth and accessyear: Month and day when item was accessed, for example "accessmonthday = 10 May", and year when item was accessed, for example "accessyear = 2005". Produces: Retrieved on 10 May 2006.
  • laysummary: URL of a lay summary, which could be in a popular science magazine or newspaper.
    • laysource: Name of the source, e.g. The Guardian (UK newspaper) or New Scientist.
    • laydate: Date of publication or, where this is not available, date of retrieval of the lay summary.
  • quote: Relevant excerpt from the journal.

An alternate method of adding one or more references to common media (preferably in Layman's terms) from the related journal citation can be specified within a single <ref>...</ref> tag using other citation templates; for example:

Text in the article.<ref>{{cite journal | ... }}<br/>
'''Related news articles:'''
*{{cite news | ... }}
*{{cite web | ... }}</ref>
Formal citation
{{cite journal |last=Smith |first=Joseph III |title=Last Testimony of Sister Emma |journal=The Saints' Herald |volume=26 |year=1879 |pages=289 }}
Smith, Joseph III (1879). „Last Testimony of Sister Emma“. The Saints' Herald. 26: 289.
Include URL link to free-article, pre-print or abstract
{{cite journal |last=Smith |first=Joseph III |title=Last Testimony of Sister Emma |journal=The Saints' Herald |volume=26 |issue=19 |date=[[October 1]], [[1879]] |pages=289 |url=http://www.lavazone2.com/dbroadhu/IL/sain1872.htm#100179 |accessdate=2006-03-23 }}
Smith, Joseph III (October 1, 1879). „Last Testimony of Sister Emma“. The Saints' Herald. 26 (19): 289. ციტირების თარიღი: 2006-03-23. შეამოწმეთ თარიღის პარამეტრი |date=-ში (დახმარება)
Specify the DOI to provide a permanent and direct link to the article from the publisher
{{cite journal |last=Giles |first=Jim |title=Preprint Server Seeks Way to Halt Plagiarists |url=http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v426/n6962/full/426007a.html |journal=Nature |date=6 November 2003 |pages=7 |doi=10.1038/426007a }}
Giles, Jim (6 November 2003). „Preprint Server Seeks Way to Halt Plagiarists“. Nature: 7. doi:10.1038/426007a.
Other examples
  • {{cite journal |last=Fowler |first=Martin |authorlink=Martin Fowler |author2=Kent Beck |title=Last Testimony of Sister Emma |journal=The Saints' Herald |volume=26 |year=1879 |pages=289 }}
Fowler, Martin; Kent Beck (1879). „Last Testimony of Sister Emma“. The Saints' Herald. 26: 289.
  • {{cite journal |first=W. Hugh |last=Woodin |title=The Continuum Hypothesis, Part I |journal=Notices of the AMS |volume=48 |issue=6 |year=2001 |pages=567–576 |location=Providence, RI |publisher=American Mathematical Society |url=http://www.ams.org/notices/200106/fea-woodin.pdf |language=Greek |format=PDF |issn=1088-9477 |oclc=34550461 }}
Woodin, W. Hugh (2001). „The Continuum Hypothesis, Part I“ (PDF). Notices of the AMS (Greek). Providence, RI: American Mathematical Society. 48 (6): 567–576. ISSN 1088-9477. OCLC 34550461.
  • {{cite journal |title=Disney Releases 10 Titles on Laser Videodisc |year=1982 |journal=VIDEODISC/VIDEOTEX |volume=2 |issue=3 |pages=175 }}
„Disney Releases 10 Titles on Laser Videodisc“. VIDEODISC/VIDEOTEX. 2 (3): 175. 1982.