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APA 6 Style Guide

Ebook Citations - Guidelines

Ebooks have some of the same elements of print books, but differ in a few ways. The general format for ebooks is:

Author, A.A. (Year). Title of book with only first letter capitalized [E-reader version, if applicable]. Retrieved from http://xxxxx or https://doi.org/10.xxxx

Important Notes:

  • In lieu of publisher information, you include the location on the internet by using the doi or homepage for the publisher if the doi is unavailable.
  • If the book was read or acquired through an online library (e.g., Google Books, ebrary, NetLibrary) and not on an e-reader device, omit the bracketed information from the reference.
  • Only italicize the title and subtite. Do not italicize the bracketed material.

How to Cite and Ebook with a DOI

Some e-books will provide you with a doi for the book. If that is the case, you should cite the e-book similar to how you would any other book, except include the digital edition publish after the title in [brackets] and then include the doi at the end.

Format:

Author, A. A. (Year). The title of the book: Subtitle, if necessary [Digital Edition]. DOI

APA reference list citation for ebook with a doi

How to Cite and Ebook without a DOI

Some books, particularly older ones or some electronic only books, will not provide a doi. If no doi is provided with the e-book, instead include homepage of the URL of the book publisher or the online library from which you retrieved the book. 

Format:

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of book: Subtitle, if necessary [Digital Edition]. URL

APA reference list citation for an ebook without a doi

How to Cite a Chapter in an Edited Ebook

Citing a chapter in an edited ebook combines the citations for chapter citation and ebook citation. Once again, the publisher information is switched out for the online source and e-reader information, if applicable, should be added. 

Format:

Chapter-Author, A. A. (Year). Title of the essay or chapter, but do not italicize. In Book-Author/Editor, B. B. (Ed.), The title of the book, and this is italicized [Digital Edition] (pp. xx-xx). DOI or URL

APA reference list citation for a chapter in an ebook
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