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APA Citation Guide (7th edition): Books & eBooks

This guide shows you how to cite using APA 7th edition - many thanks to our colleagues at Columbia College BC for providing content!

Formatting

Spacing:

All APA Style papers (including references) should be double spaced

Hanging Indents:

All citations should be double spaced and have a hanging indent in a Reference List.

A "hanging indent" means that each subsequent line after the first line of your citation should be indented by 0.5 inches.

Hyperlinks:

It is acceptable for hyperlinks to be blue and underlined (live) or black without underlining.

All hyperlinks must include https://

Do not put a period after DOIs or hyperlinks.

 

How Can I Tell if it's a Book in Print or an eBook?

A print book means it's printed on paper. If you checked the book out of a library or bought it from a bookstore, it's print.

An eBook is a book you can read entirely online.

Note that most of the time, references are exactly the same for a print copy of a book and an eBook copy of the same book from a library database.

Tips

Authors/Editors

An author won't necessarily be a person's name. It may be an organization or company, for example Health Canada. These are called group or corporate authors.

If a book has no author or editor, begin the citation with the book title, followed by the year of publication in round brackets.

If an author is also the publisher, put the word "Author" where you'd normally put the publisher name. This happens most often with corporate or group authors.

When a book has one to twenty authors or editors, all authors' names are cited in the Reference List entry. When a book has twenty-one or more authors or editors, list the first nineteen authors followed by three spaced ellipse points (. . .) , and then the last author's name. Rules are different for in-text citations; please see the examples provided.

Titles

Capitalize the first letter of the first word of the title. If there is a colon (:) in the title, also capitalize the first letter of the first word after the colon.

Capitalize the first letter of proper names in titles, such as names of places or people. Example: Canada

APA Style: Books & eBooks

The same citation format applies for both print books AND eBooks!

*IMPORTANT: An eBook retrieved from an academic database that does not have a DOI or a stable URL is referenced as though it were the print version, and ends after the publisher.

For books with multiple authors, edited books, print books, online books, and chapters in books see examples below:

Material Type In-Text Example Reference List Example

eBook from a database: Single Author, No DOI, stable URL

“Experience is the only perceived indicator of capability” (Hasler, 2018, p. 107).
OR
Hasler (2018) notes that “experience is the only perceived indicator of capability” (p. 107).

Add page numbers for direct quotes.

Power, J. (2011). Movement, knowledge, emotion: Gay activism and HIV/AIDS in Australia. ANU Press. https://www.doabooks.org/doab?func=search&query=rid:15033

If a URL 'jumps' down a line, leave it. Do not 'break' URLs across lines, as this will stop the link from working. 

Do not include the database information in the reference.

Print Book (No DOI): Single Author

In the late 1980's "medical authorities and many individual doctors strongly advocated the HIV test" (Power, 2011, p. 84).

OR

Power (2011) notes that "medical authorities and many individual doctors strongly advocated the HIV test" (p. 84).

Hasler, E. (2018). The built environment. Liverpool University Press.

Print or eBook: 2 Authors, and Edition

According to Moran and Toner (2017)…
OR
… this is evident (Moran & Toner, 2017).

Cite both authors each time the reference occurs.

Moran, A., & Toner, J. (2017). A critical introduction to sport psychology (3rd ed.). Routledge.

The edition number is included after the title of the work (not necessary for first editions).

Print or eBook: 3 to 20 Authors, with DOI

Interval training involves "performing for a comparatively shorter time period during each exercise session" (Haile et al., 2015, p. 135).
OR
Haile et al. (2015) note that interval training involves "performing for a comparatively shorter time period during each exercise session" (p.135).

Where there are 3 or more authors cite only the first author's surname followed by et al.

Haile, L., Gallagher, M., & Robertson, R. J. (2015). Perceived exertion laboratory manual: From standard practice to contemporary application. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1917-8

Provide the names of all authors in the reference list, up to and including 20 authors.

For a book with 21 or more authors follow the same author format as for a journal article with 21 or more authors (Author, et al.)

Print or eBook: Reference Work

Hackfort et al. (2019) collate a useful resource for...

Hackfort, D., Schinke, R. J., & Strauss, B. (Eds.). (2019). Dictionary of sport psychology: Exercise, performance, and performing arts. Elsevier.

Print or eBook: Diagnostic Manual (DSM-5)

The American Psychiatric Association's (2013) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM-5) describes the diagnostic features as being...

OR

...as described by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013).

It is common to identify the full title and edition of a diagnostic manual, along with the abbreviation, the first time you cite it in your text. Subsequent citations can refer to the abbreviation.

Note the use of Title Case and italics for the title and abbreviation.

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596

Print or eBook: Editor(s)

… open access data is of great value to researchers (Perry, 2018).
OR
Perry (2018) promotes the use of...

 

 

Big data is giving insight into collective human behaviour (Lauro et al., 2017). 
OR
According to Lauro et al. (2017)…

Perry, S. M. (Ed.). (2018). Maximizing social science research through publicly accessible data sets. IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-3616-1

With more than one editor follow the multiple author format as above and use (Eds.).

Lauro, N. C., Amaturo, E., Grassia, M. G., Aragona, B., & Marino, M. (Eds.). (2017). Data science and social research: Epistemology, methods, technology and applications. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55477-8

Print or eBook: With Author and Editor

"A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of" (Austen, 1814/2005, p. 195)

Include the original publication date in the citation.

Austen, J. (2005). Mansfield Park (J. Wiltshire, Ed.). Cambridge University Press. (Original work published 1814)

 

Print or eBook chapter: Case Study  Scerri & Presbury (2022) use a service language model...

Scerri, M., & Presbury, M. (2022). The power of words: A case study of service language in an Australian five-star hotel. In S. M. Perry (Ed.), Case based research in tourism, travel, hospitality and events (pp. 117-133). Springer. https://doi. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4671-3_7

Multiple Authors in an Edited Print or eBook

Paraphrase: 

(Author Surname [of Chapter or Article], Year)

Ex): (Lawrence & Dodds, 2003)

Quotation:

(Author Surname [of Chapter or Article], Year, page number)

Ex): (Lawrence & Dodds, 2003, p. 526)

      

Author Surname [of Chapter or Article], First Initial. Second Initial. (Year). Article or chapter title. In Editor First Initial. Second Initial. Surname (Ed.), Book title: Subtitle (Edition [if applicable], pp. page range of article or chapter)Publisher.

Ex):

Lawrence, J. A., &  Dodds, A. E. (2003). Goal-directed activities and life-span development. In J. Valsiner & K. Connolly (Eds.), Handbook of developmental psychology (pp. 517-533). Sage Publications.

Print or eBook: Translator & Author (Marklund, 1999/2011)

Marklund, L. (2011). Exposed (N. Smith, Trans.). Random House. (Original work published 1999)

Note that the translators' name appears with initials first and surname following.

Print or eBook: Anonymous Author

(Anonymous, 2000)

Use only when a work's author is designated as Anonymous. Include the word 'Anonymous' followed by a comma and year.

 

Anonymous. (2000). Maximum Security (3rd ed.). Prentice Hall.

In your reference list, include such titles in your alphabetical listing as if 'Anonymous' were a true name.

Print or eBook: Multiple works same author

Perceptions of an event have more impact than the event itself, so accurate perceptions are key (Fujishin, 2018, 2020).
OR

Fujishin (2018, 2020) tells us gesture is critical to creating genuine interpersonal connections.

Fujishin, R. (2018). The natural speaker (9th ed.). Routledge.

Fujishin, R. (2020). Natural bridges: A guide to interpersonal communication (2nd ed.). Routledge.

Order multiple works by the same author(s) by year of publication, earliest first.

Print or eBook: Classical or Religious text

1 Cor. 13:1 (King James Bible, 1769/2017)

 

(The Qur'an, 2004, 5:3-4)

(Aristotle, ca. 350 B.C.E./1994, p. 134)

Where the parts of classic or religious texts are numbered consistently across all editions, use these numbers rather than page numbers.

King James Bible. (2017) King James Bible Online. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/ (Original work published 1769)

The Qur’an (M. A. S. Abdel Haleem, Trans.). (2004). Oxford University Press.

Aristotle. (1994). Poetics (S. H. Butcher, Trans.). The Internet Classics Archive. http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/poetics.html (Original work published ca. 350 B.C.E.)

Where the original date of publication is known (and undisputed) include it. If the date of publication is only approximately known use the abbreviation ca. for 'circa'.

Secondary sources: When you are referring to the ideas or words of an author who has been cited in another author's work. Also called 'secondary citation'. 

Only recommended where the original work cannot be obtained.

Intuition is defined as ”knowledge or knowledge structures that predispose individuals to think and act in particular ways without much conscious reflection” (Torff & Sternberg, 2001, as cited in Hernandez-Romero, 2017, p. 134).

OR

Torff and Sternberg (2001, as cited in Hernandez-Romero, 2017) define intuition as “knowledge or knowledge structures that predispose individuals to think and act in particular ways without much conscious reflection” (p.134).

Hernández-Romero, L. (2017). Re-evaluating creativity: The individual, society, and education. Palgrave Macmillan.

Provide the full reference for the book that you actually read.

 

Source: Victoria University. (2023, October 12). APA 7th Referencing: Books. Victoria University Library Guides. https://libraryguides.vu.edu.au/apa-referencing/7Books  

https://guides.himmelfarb.gwu.edu/APA/book-chapter