APA: Books

The examples found in the APA section are based on the style guide Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th ed., 2020.

Click on the section of your choice to learn how to format different types of book citations.

  • Use the information found on the title page and the copyright page. The cover page can be inaccurate.
  • Capitalize the first word of the title and the subtitle, as well as any proper nouns. The rest of the title should be in lowercase.
  • For the name of the publisher, leave out the words Publishers, Co., and Inc.

Format

Author Last Name, Initials. (Year of publication). Book title. Publisher.

Example:

Stroud, N. J. (2011). Niche news: The politics of news choice. Oxford University Press.

  • Move the editor’s name into the author position.
  • Use (Eds.) when there is more than one editor.

Format

Editor Last Name, Initials. (Ed.). (Year of publication). Book title. Publisher.

Example:

Van Raalte, J. L., & Brewer, B. W. (Eds.). (2002). Exploring sport and exercise psychology. American Psychological Association.

  • Add the date of publication of the original work at the end of the citation.
  • Note that for a republished work like the example below, your in-text citation would have to include both dates: Brisson (1996/2004).

Format

Author Last Name, Initials. (Year of publication). Book title (Translator’s Initials. Last Name, Trans.). Publisher. (Original work published xxxx)

Example:

Brisson, L. (2004). How philosophers saved myths: Allegorical interpretation and classical mythology (C. Tihanyi, Trans.). University of Chicago Press. (Original work published 1996)

  • If there is more than one editor use (Eds.).
  • When you list the pages of the essay, place the abbreviation “pp.” before the page numbers.

Format

Author Last Name, Initials. (Year of publication). Title of chapter or essay. In Editor’s Initial. Last Name (Ed.), Book title (pp. xx-xxx). Publisher.

Example:

Zaatari, Z. (2011). In the belly of the beast: Struggling for nonviolent belonging. In R. Abdulhadi, E. Alsultany, & N. Naber (Eds.), Arab and Arab American feminisms: Gender, violence and belonging (pp. 60-77). Syracuse University Press.

  • If the book was read on an e-reader, include this information in square brackets.
  • If your book was accessed through an online portal such as Ebook Central or Google Books, leave out the bracketed information.

 

  • If there is a DOI, use the link format (see APA List of References).
  • If there is no DOI, include the URL (web address) from which you downloaded the e-book, using the format.

Format

Author Last Name, Initials. (Year of publication). Book title [E-reader version, if applicable]. Publisher. http://xxxxxxx

Examples:

Decker, P. R. (2012). Old fences, new neighbors. Fulcrum. https://ebookcentral-crc.proxy.collecto.ca/lib/champlaincollege-ebooks/detail.action?docID=478518

Tough, P. (2012). How children succeed: Grit, curiosity, and the hidden power of character [Kobo e-reader version]. Mariner Books. https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/how-children-succeed-grit-curiosity-and-the-hidden-power-of-character

  • When there is no author, place the title in the author position.

Format

Author Last Name, Initials. (Year of publication). Title of entry. In Editor’s Initial. Last Name (Ed.), Book title (Edition, Volume, pp. xx-xxx). Publisher.

Example:

Battin, M. P. (2004). Suicide. In S. G. Post (Ed.), Encyclopedia of bioethics (3rd ed., Vol. 4, pp. 2475-2483). Macmillan-Thomson.

Suicide. (2010). In The new encyclopaedia Britannica: Micropedia (15th ed., Vol. 11, p. 359). Encyclopaedia Britannica.

  • If the publication date is not available, use (n.d.).

Format

Author Last Name, Initials. (Year of publication). Title of article. In Editor’s Initials. Last Name (Ed.), Title of the reference work. Publisher. http://xxxxxxxx

Example:

Bhagwati, J. (2008). Protectionism. In D. R. Henderson (Ed.), The concise encyclopedia of economics. http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/Protectionism.html

Detecting deception. (2008). In G. Towl, D. P. Farrington, D. Crighton, & G. Hughes (Eds.), Dictionary of forensic psychology. Willian. http://credoreference.com/entry/willanfp/detecting_deception

Reincarnation. (n.d.). In Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary (11th ed.). Merriam-Webster. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reincarnation