Journal article
Original research draft · October 2026
Working pattern
[Author], [Article title], [volume] [journal] [first page], [pinpoint] ([year]).
Capture from the source
Author; article; journal; volume; final pages; date; DOI
Check before you use it
Use the final publication record and inspect the particular passage.
Common error: An abstract's summary may omit limitations in the article.
Completed example
Author, journal, article, study, versions, and pages are fictional. No actual study result, DOI, peer-review status, or legal holding is asserted.
Omar Vale, Narrow Searches, Wider Records, 7 TRAIN Records Rev. 210, 228 (2025).
Read the supplied source facts
Fictional packet TRAIN-S66 supplies the final published article Narrow Searches, Wider Records by Omar Vale in volume 7 of the fictional TRAIN Records Review, beginning at page 210 in 2025. Page 228 discusses a study limited to six participating offices. The abstract summarizes the finding broadly, and a prepublication manuscript uses different page numbers and includes an office later excluded from the final analysis. The assignment asks for the final article's qualified finding. The journal record supplies no DOI, so none is assumed or constructed from the article title.
Why this works
The author, title, journal, volume, first page, pinpoint, and year identify the final publication and the passage actually read. Preserve the six-office limitation in the sentence; a polished citation does not justify generalizing the abstract's shorthand to all offices. Compare the final text with any prepublication version used earlier in drafting. A DOI may be useful when one is verified, but inventing one would introduce a false identifier. The source card should record publication status, version, and any correction notice encountered, along with the article's method and relevant limits where the proposition depends on a study result.
When the facts change
If an erratum changes the sample or reported figure, cite and account for the correction. If the discussion is about the manuscript's earlier approach, identify that version as a manuscript and cite its own locator. If quoting an authority discussed in the article, inspect that authority for a claim about its holding rather than treating the article's summary as a substitute for the primary text.
Apply the receiving court or publication’s requirements. These working forms do not establish citation permission, precedential weight, or support for a legal proposition.