[[This post has been retitled once and edited twice. This is the second edit. The original post had a sample reference that was faulty for purposes of having the question answered. For this edit, I added a "good" example of a reference and explained the difference between the examples. I felt this would be helpful to sustain context for the entire thread.]]
Per APA 7, if an article has an article number, you should use that instead of a page range. The university insists on compliance with APA 7. If an article number is not self-evident in the PDF, on the article's web landing page, or in the citation download, you are expected to dig a bit further.
I have discovered several indicators that an article number is likely (not always, but likely) to exist:
- a page range that starts with "1", or
- a single page number of any value instead of a page range, or
- a paper by a popular seminal author.
I have also found some publishers who make it easier than others to find the article number, if one exists. The easiest ones are published on the web page below or near the article title. Some are more elusive and can only be found such as by
- comparing a page "range" with only one value to the DOI;
- inspecting the URL before and after clicking on a DOI;
- downloading the recommended citation (not to be confused with an APA 7 compliant citation, even if tagged that way);
- clicking on various links on the DOI landing page, and sometimes following a link; and
- inspecting manuscript headers, footers, and margin notes.
There are, no doubt, other ways to find elusive article numbers. The fact that an article number cannot be immediately or easily found does not mean the article number does not exist.
Again, the question is: Do Taylor & Francis publications have article numbers that are hidden but can be found if one only knows where to look?
At Taylor & Francis, I am hampered because I do not have access to the full articles. Might article numbers be lurking in the PDFs? If the answer is typically "Yes, and here's where to look for it," then that is helpful. Or maybe article numbers lurk behind a little-noticed button or link on the DOI landing page?
For those who have read this far and want a crack at it, here are two examples of citations in the student paper (the paper has mostly T&F sources). The citations seem to be candidates for a hidden article number for different reasons as noted.
Example 1: This is a reference provided by the student. The page range starts with the number 1 and the article is fairly recent. In my experience, either or both of those factors are often (not always, but often) a clue that the paper has an article number.
=== Bédard-Thom, C., Guay, F., & Trottier, C. (2020). Mental toughness in sport: The Goal Expectancy-Self-Control (GES) model. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 7(3), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1080/10413200.2020.1808736 ===
Example 2: This is a reference provided by the student. Although the article is very old, the author is seminal and popular. Given that publishers have a backlog of articles that are being encoded for online access, then this seems a good candidate for having an associated article number.
=== Bandura, A. (1990). Perceived self-efficacy in the exercise of personal agency. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 2(3),128-163. https://doi.org/10.1080/10413209008406426 ===
Comment: Note that I am editing a paper and not its author. I strive for accuracy and to decrease the possibility a paper will be returned for noncompliance.
