Article citation in APA style consists of four basic elements. The first element is the author's name (Last, First Initial and Middle Initial [if known]). The second element is the date of the publication (year). The third element is the title of the article in sentence case. The fourth element is the publication information --- the title of the journal (in title case), the volume number, the issue number and page numbers.
Westfield State University Ely Library has simplified this explanation as, "Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Date). Title of article. Title of Periodical, Volume number(Issue number), page range."
Seeing an article citation in action often helps writers understand the elements needed to cite references properly. Resources like the Purdue Online Writing Lab, Indiana University Bloomington Writing Tutorial Services and Westfield State University Ely Library also offer sample papers that allow students to see APA style formatting at work, making it easier to comprehend.
Many publishers of college textbooks also publish pocket style guides that offer concise information for student writers in the most popular style formats, including APA. These pocket style guides often have companion websites, such as Bedford/St. Martins Research and Documentation Online or the Norton/Write site, which offer a variety of tips, samples and exercises to aid writers.
If you are still having problems with the APA style, citation generators allow you to feed prompted information that it will then use to generate a citation in the chosen style. A new app for the iPhone and Android allows you to scan the barcode of a book using your cell phone. It will then create the citation and email it to you.
Not all outside resources use the most up-to-date formatting information. Verify the version of the publication manual that you are using before you trust the resource to give you accurate formatting guidelines.
Not all citation generators are free; some require a pay-per-use fee or an online subscription to their service.