APA Book Citation

In this article, I will show you how to cite books using the American Psychological Association (APA) citation system. The APA style has two inseparable components: in-text citation and reference list. In-text citation, by its name, is included within the body of a document. On the other hand, the reference list is found at the end of the document with the complete information about the source. The in-text citation is meant to direct the readers to the right source in the reference list.

Requirements to Create a Citation

To start with, I have here a list of basic information that you need to look for in citing a book and the location of each element.

1. Author (book cover and title page)
2. Year of Publication (title page or on the page directly behind it)
3. Title (cover and title page)
4. Place of Publication (title page)
5. Publishing Entity (title page or on the page directly behind it)

Now that you are familiar with the elements you have to include in the reference, we will continue with the APA book citation format. Let’s begin with citing the authors in both in-text citation and reference list.

Citing the Author

One Author

In-text citation	Reference list
Last nameChitty*Write only the last name without the initials for all in-text citations.	Last name, A. A. Chitty, D.

Multiple Authors

Two to Seven Authors

In-text citation	Reference list
Last Name A & Last name B Calfee & Valencia*Use ampersand (&) instead of “and.” You can include up to five names, but in the next citations just use the first author’s name followed by et al.	Last name, A. A., & Last name, B. B. Calfee, R. C., & Valencia, R. R.*The names of the author should be listed in the same order as it is written in the source. Use ampersand (&) instead of “and.”

 

More than Seven Authors

In-text citation	Reference list
Last name A et al.Miller et al.*Only include the first author’s last name followed by et al.	Last name, A. A., Last name, B. B., Last name, C. C., Last name, D. D., Last name, E. E., Last name, F. F., . . . Last name, G. G.Miller, F. H., Choi, M. J., Angeli, L. L., Harland, A. A., Stamos, J. A., Thomas, S. T., . . . Rubin, L. H.*Only seven authors can be included in the reference list. After the name of the sixth author, write three ellipsis points followed by the last author’s name.

 

Corporate Author

In-text citation	Reference list
Name of the organization or groupNational Institute of Mental Health	(same as in-text)

 

In-Text Citation

• The in-text citation is written inside a parenthesis usually with the last name of the author and year of publication, separated by a comma.

Example: (Simon, 1945)

• If the name of the author is included in the text, write only the year inside the parenthesis.

Example: Simon (1945) posited that

• In quoting a part of a work, include the name of the author, year, and page number.

Examples:

According to Jones (1998), “Students often had difficulty using APA style, especially when it was their first time” (p. 199).

Jones (1998) found “students often had difficulty using APA style” (p. 199); what implications does this have for teachers?

She stated, “Students often had difficulty using APA style” (Jones, 1998, p. 199), but she did not offer an explanation as to why.

 

Reference List

Author For multiple works by the same author, the reference should be listed from the earliest to the most recent.   Upenieks, V. (2003). Upenieks, V. (2005).

 

Title Italicize the title of books.   The biology of aging: Observations and principles

 

Publication details U.S. states or territories are abbreviated in the reference list.   New York, NY   The city and country name is included for publications outside of the U.S.   Manila, Philippines   There is no need to write Publishers, Company or Inc. with the name of the publisher.   Springer

 

Format Author. (Year). Title of Book (edition if not first). Place of Publication: Publisher.   Calfee, R. C., & Valencia, R. R. (1991).APA guide to preparing manuscripts for journal publication. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

 

Citation Format by Book Type

Edited Book

Basic Format: Author. (Year). Title of Book. Editor. Place of Publication: Publisher.

Example: Plath, S. (2000).The unabridged journals.K. V. Kukil (Ed.). New York, NY: Anchor.

Note: The editor’s name is written with the initials first followed by the last name and (Ed.).

 

Edited Book without Author

Basic Format: Editor. (Year). Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher.

Example: Miller, J., & Smith, T. (Eds.). (1996). Cape Cod stories: Tales from Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Martha’s Vineyard. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books.

 

Translated Book

Basic Format: Author. (Year). Title of Book. (Translators). Place of Publication: Publisher. (Original Publication)

Example: Laplace, P. S. (1951).A philosophical essay on probabilities. (F. W. Truscott & F. L. Emory, Trans.). New York, NY: Dover. (Original work published 1814)

Note: Unlike the author’s name, the names of the translators are listed with the initials first followed by the last name and the abbreviated word Trans.

 

Multivolume Work

Basic Format: Editor. (Year). Title of Book (Volume). Place of Publication: Publisher.

Example: Mills, L. (1996).Architecture of the Old South(Vols. 1-2). Savannah, GA: Beehive Foundation.

 

Reference Book

Basic Format: Author. (Year). Entry heading or title. In Editor’s name. Title of Book (Edition, volume, p. or pp. pages). Place of publication: Publisher.

Example:

Eschatology. (1982). In Webster’s new world dictionary of the American language(2nd ed., p. 383). New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.

Tavris, C. (1989). Queen bee syndrome. In B. Yark and G. Himmel (Eds.), Women’s encyclopedia (Vol. 1, p. 307). New York, NY: Greenward.

Note: Include only the information available in the source. Some reference books may not have the name of the author and editor as well as the volume number.

 

Section of a Book

Basic Format: Author of the section. (Year). Title of the section. In Authors or Editors, Title of Book (pp. section pages). Place of Publication: Publisher.

Example: Jeffrey, I. (1988). Introduction. In B. Savelev,Secret city: photographs from the USSR(pp. 8-12). New York, NY: Thames and Hudson.

Note: The name of the author or editor of the book is written with the initials first before the last name. Section pages are enclosed in a parenthesis with the abbreviation pp.

 

Online Book

Basic Format: Author. (Year). Title of Book. Retrieved from http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/ or doi

Example:

Drum, D., & Zierenberg, T. (2006). The type 2 diabetes sourcebook (3rd ed.). http://dx.doi.org/10.1036/0071462317

Prairie oysters. (2002). In Rawson’s dictionary of euphemisms and otherdoubletalk. Retrieved from http://crownpublishing.com