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How to Cite a Book APA

Five Methods:Basic FormatOnline BookEdited Book with No AuthorTranslationArticle or Chapter from an Edited BookCommunity Q&A

There is a basic format for book citations in the APA style guide, but some books also have special requirements. Pay close attention to citation guidelines for online books, books without an author, and translated works.

Method 1
Basic Format[1]

  1. 1
    List the author or authors. Write the author’s last name first, followed by the author’s first initial or first and middle initials. If there are two authors, separate the names with an ampersand. If there are three or more authors, separate all but the last two with commas and the last two with an ampersand.
    • Doe, J. H.
    • Doe, J. H. & Rowell, L. C.
    • Doe, J. H., Rowell, L. C. & Hoffman, M. A.
  2. 2
    Specify the year of publication. Write the year the book was published in parentheses, and place a period after the closing parentheses.
    • Doe, J. H. & Rowell, L. C. (2009).
  3. 3
    Write the title of the book. The title should be italicized, and only the first letter of the first word should be capitalized. If the book has a subtitle, the first letter of the first word after the colon should also be capitalized. Proper nouns should also be capitalized regardless of where they fall out in the title.
    • Doe, J. H. & Rowell, L. C. (2009). Coming home for Christmas: Stories about college life.
  4. 4
    Specify the edition, if necessary. If the book has had more than one edition, specify the edition used by listing the edition number and “ed.” in parentheses. If there has only been one edition, this step is not necessary.
    • Doe, J. H. & Rowell, L. C. (2009). Coming home for Christmas: Stories about college life (2nd ed.).
  5. 5
    Note the name of the editor, if available. If the book lists an editor along with the author or authors, write the editor’s first initial, middle initial, and last name. Separate multiple editors with commas, separating the last two names with an ampersand. Indicate that the names are editor names by using typing “Ed.” for one editor or “Eds.” for multiple editors after the list of names.
    • Doe, J. H. & Rowell, L. C. (2009). Coming home for Christmas: Stories about college life (2nd ed.). R. Smith, H. G. Hernandez & C. H. Jacobs (Eds.).
    • Doe, J. H. & Rowell, L. C. (2010). Coming home for Christmas: Stories about college life (3rd ed.). H. G. Hernandez (Ed.).
  6. 6
    Conclude with the location and the publisher. If the publisher is set up in a major city, on the city name is needed for the location. For lesser known cities, include the city and state. Separate the location and the publisher with a colon, and conclude with a period.
    • Doe, J. H. & Rowell, L. C. (2009). Coming home for Christmas: Stories about college life (2nd ed.). R. Smith, H. G. Hernandez & C. H. Jacobs (Eds.). New York: Independent Press.
    • Doe, J. H. (2008). Coming home for Christmas: Stories about college life. R. Smith (Ed.). Beavercreek, OH: Small Town Press.

Method 2
Online Book[2]

  1. 1
    Follow the basic format to list the author, year, title, location, and publisher. The name of the author or authors should include the last name, first initial, and middle initial (when available). The year should follow in parentheses, followed by an italicized title. The location of the publisher and the name of the publisher should be separated by a colon. If an edition or editor name is available, it can be included after the title and before the publisher’s information.
    • Gillian, V. A. (2006). Home away from home. New York: Independent Press.
    • Gillian, V. A., Williams, D. P. & Robertson, C. (2008) Home away from home (2nd ed.). Alicea, M. B. (Ed.). New York: Independent Press.
  2. 2
    Indicate the date that the book was retrieved. Introduce the date with the word "Retrieved." The date itself should include the month, day, and year. End it with a comma.
    • Gillian, V. A. (2006). Home away from home. New York: Independent Press. Retrieved December 5, 2012,
  3. 3
    Note the URL of the website from which the book was retrieved. Introduce the URL with the word “from.” Do not add a period at the end.
    • Gillian, V. A. (2006). Home away from home. New York: Independent Press. Retrieved December 5, 2012, from http://yourURLhere.com/

Method 3
Edited Book with No Author

  1. 1
    List the editor or editors. Type the editor's last name first, followed by his or her first and middle initials. If there are two editors, separate the names with an ampersand. If there are three or more editors, separate the names with a comma and place an ampersand in between the last two names. Indicate that these are editors by using the appropriate abbreviation afterward, "Ed." for one editor and "Eds." for multiple editors.
    • C. H. Jacobs (Ed.).
    • R. Smith, H. G. Hernandez & C. H. Jacobs (Eds.).
  2. 2
    Note the publication year. The year the book was published should follow the editor information. Place it in parentheses and follow the parentheses with a period.
    • C. H. Jacobs (Ed.). (2001).
  3. 3
    Follow the basic format to fill in the title, location, and publisher information. The title should be italicized and ended with a period. The location and publisher information should be separated with a colon. Do not restate the editor after the title, as you would do in the basic format. You can, however, specify an edition number if one exists.
    • C. H. Jacobs (Ed.). (2001) Tales from back east. New York: Independent Press.
    • C. H. Jacobs (Ed.). (2004) Tales from back east (2nd ed.). New York, Independent Press.

Method 4
Translation

  1. 1
    List the original author or authors. The format for the name follows the standard format for basic citations. The last name comes first, followed by a first initial and middle initial (when available).
    • Fujimoto, H.
  2. 2
    Indicate the year that the translated version was published. Do not write the year that the original version was published. Instead, indicate the year of the version you are using or, in other words, the translated version. Write this date in parentheses.
    • Fujimoto, H. (1998).
  3. 3
    Write the title of the book. If the title was originally in another language, you can use the accepted English translation of the title instead of the original title in its original language. The title should be italicized, and only the first letter of the first word should be capitalized.
    • Fujimoto, H. (1998). Learning to play the taiko drum.
  4. 4
    List the translator or translators in parentheses. Give the first and middle initial first, followed by the last name. For multiple translators, separate each name with a comma and the last two names with an ampersand. After the list of names, type a comma and the abbreviation "Trans."
    • Fujimoto, H. (1998). Learning to play the taiko drum. (C. J. Michaels, Trans.).
    • Fujimoto, H. (1998). Learning to play the taiko drum. (M. Smith, J. W. Lee, & R. L. Johnson, Trans.).
  5. 5
    Specify the publishing location and the publisher. The two pieces of information should be separated with a colon. Use the publisher information for the translated version of the text.
    • Fujimoto, H. (1998). Learning to play the taiko drum. (C. J. Michaels, Trans.). New York: Independent Press.
  6. 6
    Conclude by stating the when the original work was published. In parentheses, type, “Original work published” followed by the original publication year.
    • Fujimoto, H. (1998). Learning to play the taiko drum. (C. J. Michaels, Trans.). New York: Independent Press. (Original work published 1982).

Method 5
Article or Chapter from an Edited Book

  1. 1
    Name the author or authors. Write the last name first, followed by the first and middle initials. Separate multiple authors with commas, and place an ampersand in between the last two author names.
    • Smith, R.
    • Smith, R., Henderson, P. H., & Truman, I. G.
  2. 2
    Indicate the publication year. The year of publication should be the date the book was published in, and it should be written in parentheses.
    • Smith, R. (1995).
  3. 3
    Write the title of the chapter. Do not italicize the chapter or enclose it in quotations. Write it as a sentence, capitalizing the first letter of the first word and ending it with a period.
    • Smith, R. (1995). A new story dawns.
  4. 4
    Note the editor of the book. You will almost always need to specify an editor, since there is no need to cite a specific chapter if the entire book was written by the same author or authors. Write the editor’s first and middle initials, followed by a full last name. Include the abbreviation “Ed.” for one editor and “Eds.” for multiple editors.
    • Smith, R. (1995). A new story dawns. Janeway, J. L. (Ed.)
  5. 5
    Type the title of the book. The title of the book should be italicized.
    • Smith, R. (1995). A new story dawns. Janeway, J. L. (Ed.) Dreaming of other worlds
  6. 6
    Specify the page range of the chapter in parentheses. Include the information in parentheses, and introduce the page range with the abbreviation “pp.”
    • Smith, R. (1995). A new story dawns. Janeway, J. L. (Ed.) Dreaming of other worlds (pp. 44-52).
  7. 7
    Conclude with the location and name of the publisher. Separate the publisher’s location and name with a colon. Finish it off with a period.
    • Smith, R. (1995). A new story dawns. Janeway, J. L. (Ed.) Dreaming of other worlds (pp. 44-52). New York: Independent Press.

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Categories: Citing Writing Sources

In other languages:

Português: Citar um Livro no Estilo APA, Italiano: Citare un Libro nello Stile APA, Español: citar un libro usando APA, Français: référencer un livre en norme APA, 中文: 用APA格式引用书籍, Deutsch: In APA aus einem Buch zitieren, Русский: цитировать книги через стиль АРА, Bahasa Indonesia: Menulis Daftar Pustaka dari Buku dengan Gaya APA

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