cite apa a book

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Reference List: Books

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Note:  This page reflects the latest version of the APA Publication Manual (i.e., APA 7), which released in October 2019. The equivalent resource for the older APA 6 style  can be found here .

The following contains a list of the most commonly cited print book sources. E-books are described on our "Electronic Sources" page . For a complete list of how to cite print sources, please refer to the 7 th edition of the APA Publication Manual. 

Note: If available, APA 7 requires a DOI for all works that have one — whether print or digital. If a print work does not have a DOI do not include it in the reference citation.

Basic Format for Books

Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle . Publisher Name. DOI (if available)

Stoneman, R. (2008). Alexander the Great: A life in legend . Yale University Press.

Edited Book, No Author

Editor, E. E. (Ed.). (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle . Publisher. DOI (if available)

Leitch, M. G., & Rushton, C. J. (Eds.). (2019).  A new companion to Malory . D. S. Brewer.

Edited Book with an Author or Authors

Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle (E. Editor, Ed.). Publisher. DOI (if available)

Malory, T. (2017). Le morte darthur (P. J. C. Field, Ed.). D. S. Brewer. (Original work published 1469-70)

A Translation

Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle (T. Translator, Trans.). Publisher. (Original work published YEAR) DOI (if available)

Plato (1989). Symposium (A. Nehamas & P. Woodruff, Trans.). Hackett Publishing Company. (Original work published ca. 385-378 BCE)

Note : When you cite a republished work, like the one above, in your text, it should appear with both dates: Plato (385-378/1989)

Edition Other Than the First

Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle (# edition). Publisher. DOI (if available)

Belcher, W. (2019). Writing your journal article in twelve weeks: A guide to academic publishing success (2nd ed.). University of Chicago Press.

Article or Chapter in an Edited Book

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year of publication). Title of chapter. In E. E. Editor & F. F. Editor (Eds.), Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle (pp. pages of chapter). Publisher. DOI (if available)

Note : When you list the pages of the chapter or essay in parentheses after the book title, use "pp." before the numbers: (pp. 1-21). This abbreviation, however, does not appear before the page numbers in periodical references. List any edition number in the same set of parentheses as the page numbers, separated by a comma: (2nd ed., pp. 66-72).

Armstrong, D. (2019). Malory and character. In M. G. Leitch & C. J. Rushton (Eds.), A new companion to Malory  (pp. 144-163). D. S. Brewer.

Multivolume Work

Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle (Vol. #) . Publisher. DOI (if available)

David, A., & Simpson, J. (Eds.). (2006). The Norton anthology of English literature: The Middle Ages (8 th ed.,Vol. A). W. W. Norton and Company.

Home / Guides / Citation Guides / APA Format / APA Book Citation

How to Cite a Book in APA

Book – A written work or composition that has been published – typically printed on pages bound together.

Understanding how to cite books will provide you with the basis for citation conventions in APA style. Books are key components of many papers and are often an invaluable resource, so this guide will show you how to format reference page citations and in-text citations for APA 7th edition.

Citing a book in which the chapters are written by different authors is a little more involved than citing other types of books. You will find information on this type of book in this guide, but you can find also find more in-depth information here, in the article How to Cite a Chapter in a Book APA . That article is also helpful for in-text citations that include page numbers.

Guide Overview

What you need.

• Citing a book (print)
• Citing an E-book (online or digital book)
• Citing a book (found in a database)
• Citing an audiobook
• Citing a book with an editor credited on the cover
• Citing an edited book

Troubleshooting

In APA, a basic book citation includes the following information:

• Author’s name
• Title of the book
• Publisher of the book
• Year published

Additional information is needed when citing:

• DOI or stable URL if available
• Name of the translator or editor
• Title of the translator or editor (trans. or ed. respectively)
• Name of the chapter author
• Name of the chapter
• Name of the book editor or author
• Page numbers or ranges used
• Volume numbers and/or edition numbers
• New edition number
• Name of forward or introduction author if applicable
• Original publication date

Citing a book in APA (print)

View Screenshot

Note: Capitalize the first letter of the first word of the title and any subtitles (the first word that follows a colon), as well as the first letter of any proper nouns. See our APA Citation Basics guide or the APA Publication Manual for more information.

Citing an E-book in APA (online or digital book)

An e-book is considered a written work or composition that has been digitized and is readable through computers or e-readers (Kindles, iPads,nooks etc.). As of the APA 7th edition, a special notation does not need to be made for e-reader versions. Simply include the book’s URL or DOI number at the end of the citation. However, if you’re citing an audiobook, scroll down this page to see the different citation structure for audiobooks.

Citing a book in APA (found in a database)

Some e-books may be available online through your library’s databases or catalogs. According to the 7th edition of APA style, most books found via academic databases do not need to include the database name or link in the citation. This is because these books are usually widely available in many place and resources.

Citing an audio book in APA

An audiobook is a book that has been converted into audio files or an audio format. They are also sometimes called “books on tape.”

Citing a book with an author and an editor

Citing an edited book (no single author credited).

Here is a video that reviews book citations in APA style:

Solution #1: How to cite a book in another language

Books written in another language should contain the translation in brackets next to the title. If the language contains characters that are different from the Roman alphabet, transliterate the alphabet into the Roman alphabet for your citation.

Author’s last name, F. M. (Year). Title of the book in original language [Translated title]. Publisher.

Sanchez, E. (2018).  Yo no soy tu perfecta hija Mexicana  [I am not your perfect Mexican daughter]. Vintage Espanol.

Solution #2: How to cite a republished translated book

For translated books, include the name of the original author at the start of the citation, but for the year, include the date of publication for the version you are using. After the title, include the translator’s name, and after the publisher, provide the original publication date. For in-text citation, two dates are required. Write the date of the original publication first, then add a slash followed by the current version that you are using.

Reference page structure:

Author’s last name, F. M. (Year). Title of the work (Translator’s F. Last name, Trans.; Edition number ed.). Publisher. (Original work published Year)

Reference page example:

Freud, S. (1950). Beyond the pleasure principle (J. Strachey, Trans., 2nd ed.). Liveright. (Original work published 1920)

In-text citation structure:

Parenthetical structure: (Author last name, date of original publication/date of current version) Narrative structure: Author last name (date of original publication/date of current version)

In-text citation example:

                  Parenthetical example: (Freud, 1920/1950)

        Narrative example: Freud (1920/1950)

Solution #3: How to cite an ancient Greek or Roman work

Much like translated versions, include the original date of publication after the publisher (or DOI link). However, for ancient texts, be sure to include “ca.” (which stands for “circa”) with the date, followed by B.C.E. or C.E. For the in-text citation, you will also need to include ca. and B.C.E. or C.E. after the author’s name, followed by the date of the current version.

Author’s last name, F. M. (Year). Title of the work (Translator’s F. Last name, Trans.; Edition number ed.). Publisher. (Original work published ca. date)

Homer. (1990). The odyssey (R. Fitzgerald, Trans.). Vintage Books. (Original work published ca. 8 B.C.E.)

Parenthetical structure: Author last name, original date of the work/current version date

                     Narrative structure: Author last name (original date of the work/current version date)

                   Parenthetical example: (Homer, ca. 8 B.C.E./1990)

Narrative example: Homer (ca. 8 B.C.E./1990)

APA Formatting Guide

APA Formatting

• Annotated Bibliography
• Block Quotes
• et al Usage
• In-text Citations
• Multiple Authors
• Paraphrasing
• Page Numbers
• Parenthetical Citations
• Reference Page
• Sample Paper
• APA 7 Updates
• View APA Guide

Citation Examples

• Book Chapter
• Journal Article
• Magazine Article
• Newspaper Article
• Website (no author)
• View all APA Examples

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To cite a book in APA style, you need to have basic information including the authors, publication year, book title, and publisher. The templates for in-text citation and reference list entry of a book written by a single author along with examples are given below:

In-text citation template and example:

Author Surname (Publication Year)

Dean (2010)

Parenthetical

(Author Surname, Publication Year)

(Dean, 2010)

Reference list entry template and example:

Author Surname, F. M. (Publication Year). Book title: Subtitle of the book . Publisher Name.

Dean, J. (2010). Blog theory: Feedback and capture in the circuits of drive . Polity Press.

Set the book title in italics and sentence case. Capitalize the first word after a colon. If an edition number is given, place it after the title in parenthesis. The style should be, for example, (2nd ed.).

To cite a book chapter with multiple authors in APA style, you need to have basic information including the names of the authors, publication year, chapter title, editors, publisher, and place of publication. The templates for in-text citation and reference list entry of a book chapter along with examples are given below:

When the source has 3–20 authors

In the text, use the first author’s surname followed by “et al.”

First Author Surname et al. (Publication Year)

Rong et al. (2017)

(Author Surname et al., Publication Year)

(Rong et al., 2017)

List the names of all authors in the reference list. Use “&” before the last author’s name. The book title is set in italics. The word “In” is used before the editor’s name. Note that the style for setting the editors’ names is the initial of the first name (and if applicable, the middle name) followed by the surname. Use “(Eds.)” after the editors’ name. Do not include the publisher’s location in the reference. The example below is for three author names.

Author Surname, F. M., Author Surname, F.M., &  Author Surname, F.M. (Publication Year). Chapter title: Subtitle. In F. Editor1 & F. Editor2 (Eds.), Book title (pp. #–#). Publisher Name.

Rong, X. L., Hilburn, J., & Sun, W. (2017). Immigration, demographic changes, and schools in North Carolina from 1990 to 2015. In X. Rong & J. Hilburn (Eds.), Immigration and education in North Carolina (pp. 1–24). Sense.

When the source has more than 20 authors

In the text, use the first author’s surname followed by et al.

Alvarez et al. (2019)

(Alvarez et al., 2019)

List the first 19 author’s names in the reference list followed by an ellipsis. Then add the last author’s name.

Author Surname, F. M., Author Surname, F. M., Author Surname, F. M., Author Surname, F. M., Author Surname, F. M., Author Surname, F. M., Author Surname, F. M., Author Surname, F. M., Author Surname, F. M., Author Surname, F. M., Author Surname, F. M., Author Surname, F. M., Author Surname, F. M., Author Surname, F. M., Author Surname, F. M., Author Surname, F. M., Author Surname, F. M., Author Surname, F. M., . . . Author Surname, F. M. (Publication Year). Chapter title: Subtitle. In F. Editor1 & F. Editor2 (Eds.), Book title (pp. #–#). Publisher Name.

Alvarez, L. D., Peach, J. L., Rodriguez, J. F., Donald, L., Thomas, M., Aruck, A., Samy, K., Anthony, K., Ajey, M., Rodriguez, K. L., Katherine, K., Vincent, A., Pater, F., Somu, P., Pander, L., Berd, R., Fox, L., Anders, A., Kamala, W., . . . Nicole Jones, K. (2019). Unsung psychology pioneers: A content analysis of who makes history (and who doesn’t). In R. Lerner & W. Overton (Eds.), The handbook of life-span development (pp. 509–553). Wiley.

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