APA Referencing Examples: Books & eBooks

Format

Author, A. (Year). Title of the work in italic sentence case (edition information if 2nd edition or higher). Publisher. URL or DOI (formatted as https://doi.org/10####) if relevant

Notes

• Look at the Author Element section of the APA Formatting Guide to see how to reference multiple authors and some other variations.
• If a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is available, include it at the end of the reference.
• If you find the book via a search engine rather than our library's databases and it has a stable URL, then put this URL at the end of the reference.
• If the book is the second edition or higher, include this after the title in brackets (unitalicised), e.g. Title of the book (2nd ed.). 
• If you quote, you'll need to include page numbers, how you do this differs depending on the citation style.  See the information about direct quotes on the quotations page in our formatting guide for more information.

Format

Editor, A. (Ed.). (Year). Title of the work in italic sentence case (edition information if 2nd edition or higher). Publisher. URL or DOI (formatted as https://doi.org/10####) if relevant 

Notes

• In most cases you'd use this style of reference when referring to the whole work, usually you'll be referring to an individual chapter in an edited book, in which case you need to follow the information in the "Chapter in an edited book" section of this guide.
• Include (Ed.) or (Eds.) after their name/s.
• Look at the Author Element section of the APA Formatting Guide to see how to reference multiple authors and some other variations.
• If a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is available, include it at the end of the reference.
• If you find the book via a search engine rather than our library's databases and it has a stable URL, then put this URL at the end of the reference.
• If the book is the second edition or higher, include this after the title in brackets (unitalicised), e.g. Title of the book (2nd ed.). 
• If you quote, you'll need to include page numbers, how you do this differs depending on the citation style.  See the information about direct quotes on the quotations page in our formatting guide for more information.

Format

Author/s of chapter, A. (Year). Title of chapter in sentence case. In E. Editor/s of book (Ed/s.), Title of book in italic sentence case (edition information if 2nd edition or higher, pp. page range of chapter). Publisher. URL or DOI (formatted as https://doi.org/10####) if relevant 

Notes

• If a book has chapters written by different authors and the whole book has been put together by an editor or editors, it is referenced as a chapter in an edited book.  You have to acknowledge the author(s) of the chapter, because that is who you have quoted or paraphrased. And you have to acknowledge the editor(s), because they have been responsible for putting the book together.
• As each chapter is written by different authors, you need to provide a separate reference for each chapter you have used.
• For one editor use (Ed.) for two or more use (Eds.)
• The author of the chapter and chapter title come first, followed by the editor(s) and book title.
• Note the editor's initials come before the family name.
• It is the book title that is italicised, not the chapter title.
• The page numbers of the chapter are also required (this shows the page range of the whole chapter as it falls within the book, not just the pages you used).
• Look at the Author Element section of the APA Formatting Guide to see how to reference multiple authors and some other variations.
• If a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is available, include it at the end of the reference.
• If you find the book via a search engine rather than our library's databases and it has a stable URL, then put this URL at the end of the reference.
• If the book is the second edition or higher, include this after the title in brackets (unitalicised), e.g. Title of the book (2nd ed.). 
• If you quote, you'll need to include page numbers, how you do this differs depending on the citation style.  See the information about direct quotes on the quotations page in our formatting guide for more information.

Format

Author, A., & Author, B., Author, C., & Author, D. (Year). Title of the work in italic sentence case (edition information if 2nd edition or higher.). Publisher. URL or DOI (formatted as https://doi.org/10####) if relevant 

Notes

• These are books that are NOT edited but are written by multiple authors and have chapters written by some of the authors. 
• Reference them as you would a regular book, but in the in-text citation include the chapter number in brackets.
• Look at the Author Element section of the APA Formatting Guide to see how to reference multiple authors and some other variations.
• If a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is available, include it at the end of the reference.
• If you find the book via a search engine rather than our library's databases and it has a stable URL, then put this URL at the end of the reference.
• If the book is the second edition or higher, include this after the title in brackets (unitalicised), e.g. Title of the book (2nd ed.). 
• If you quote, you'll need to include page numbers, how you do this differs depending on the citation style.  See the information about direct quotes on the quotations page in our formatting guide for more information.

Format

Author, A. (Year). Title of the work in italic sentence case. Publisher. (Original work published Year)

Notes

• Republished works are generally ones that went out of publication, but then have been republished at a later date, you need to show the source used and the original publication date.
• There is no full stop after the last parenthesis.
• Look at the Author Element section of the APA Formatting Guide to see how to reference multiple authors and some other variations.
• If a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is available, include it at the end of the reference.
• If you find the book via a search engine rather than our library's databases and it has a stable URL, then put this URL at the end of the reference.
• If the book is the second edition or higher, include this after the title in brackets (unitalicised), e.g. Title of the book (2nd ed.). 
• If you quote, you'll need to include page numbers, how you do this differs depending on the citation style.  See the information about direct quotes on the quotations page in our formatting guide for more information.

Format

Author, A. (Year). Title of the work in italic sentence case [Translation of the title]. Publisher. URL or DOI (formatted as https://doi.org/10####) if relevant 

Notes

• Include a translation of the book title in square brackets if a book’s language is different from your paper’s language. The translation does not have to be literal, but use appropriate grammar and punctuation in the translated title.
• Transliterate a book title into the Roman alphabet if the book uses a different alphabet such as Arabic, Chinese and Hindi (e.g. Zhōngguó fùnǚ for 中国妇女). Include any macrons or accent marks. Note that Pinyin is the official romanisation system for Standard Mandarin Chinese.
• Look at the Author Element section of the APA Formatting Guide to see how to reference multiple authors and some other variations.
• If a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is available, include it at the end of the reference.
• If you find the book via a search engine rather than our library's databases and it has a stable URL, then put this URL at the end of the reference.
• If the book is the second edition or higher, include this after the title in brackets (unitalicised), e.g. Title of the book (2nd ed.). 
• If you quote, you'll need to include page numbers, how you do this differs depending on the citation style.  See the information about direct quotes on the quotations page in our formatting guide for more information.

Format

Author, A. (Year). Title of the work in italic sentence case (Initials, Surname of translator, Trans.). Publisher.  (Original work published Year)

Notes

• Both the original publication year and the year of the translated book are included.
• Information about the original publication is included in parentheses after the publisher's name, DOI or URL (for ebooks freely available on the internet).
• Note there is no full stop after the parenthesis.
• Look at the Author Element section of the APA Formatting Guide to see how to reference multiple authors and some other variations.
• If a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is available, include it at the end of the reference.
• If you find the book via a search engine rather than our library's databases and it has a stable URL, then put this URL at the end of the reference.
• If the book is the second edition or higher, include this after the title in brackets (unitalicised), e.g. Title of the book (2nd ed.). 
• If you quote, you'll need to include page numbers, how you do this differs depending on the citation style.  See the information about direct quotes on the quotations page in our formatting guide for more information.

Format

Author, A. (Year). Title in italic sentence case (N. Narrator's name, Narr.) [Audiobook]. Publisher. URL or DOI (formatted as https://doi.org/10####) if relevant 

Notes

• If using an audio book from a provider such as Audible, provide the URL.
• Look at the Author Element section of the APA Formatting Guide to see how to reference multiple authors and some other variations.
• If a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is available, include it at the end of the reference.
• If you find the book via a search engine rather than our library's databases and it has a stable URL, then put this URL at the end of the reference.
• If the book is the second edition or higher, include this after the title in brackets (unitalicised), e.g. Title of the book (2nd ed.). 
• If you quote, you'll need to include a time stamp, how you do this differs depending on the citation style.  See the information about direct quotes on the quotations page in our formatting guide for more information.

Format

Adapter's name, A. (Year). Title of the work in italic sentence case (edition information if 2nd edition or higher). Publisher. (Adapted from original work by original author's A. Surname, date). URL or DOI (formatted as https://doi.org/10####) if relevant 

Notes

• Look at the Author Element section of the APA Formatting Guide to see how to reference multiple authors and some other variations.
• If a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is available, include it at the end of the reference.
• If you find the book via a search engine rather than our library's databases and it has a stable URL, then put this URL at the end of the reference.
• If the book is the second edition or higher, include this after the title in brackets (unitalicised), e.g. Title of the book (2nd ed.). 
• If you quote, you'll need to include a time stamp, how you do this differs depending on the citation style.  See the information about direct quotes on the quotations page in our formatting guide for more information.

Format

One volume/book of a multi-volume work with the same title

Author, A. (Year). Title in italic sentence case. (edition information if 2nd edition or higher, e.g. 3rd ed.), Volume number, e.g. Vol. 1). Publisher. DOI if relevant

One volume/book of a multi-volume work with different titles

Author, A. (Year). Overarching title of the collection: Volume number (e.g. Vol. 1). Title of the individual volume used.  Publisher.  DOI if relevant

Series

Author, A. (Year). Title in italic sentence case (edition information if 2nd edition or higher, e.g. 3rd ed.). Publisher.  DOI if relevant

Notes

• When a book is part of a series of conceptually related but separate works (e.g. Harry Potter series), include only the book title, not the series title in the reference, i.e. just reference it as you would a regular book.
• For a series of books that have the same title, but different volume number, such as a handbook comprising of three volumes, include the volume number after the title in parentheses. 
• When each numbered volume has its own separate title, the individual title and volume number are added to the main title without brackets, and the whole title section is italicised. 
• Look at the Author Element section of the APA Formatting Guide to see how to reference multiple authors and some other variations.
• If a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is available, include it at the end of the reference.
• If you find the book via a search engine rather than our library's databases and it has a stable URL, then put this URL at the end of the reference.
• If the book is the second edition or higher, include this after the title in brackets (unitalicised), e.g. Title of the book (2nd ed.). 
• If you quote, you'll need to include a time stamp, how you do this differs depending on the citation style.  See the information about direct quotes on the quotations page in our formatting guide for more information.

Format

Author, A. (Date). Title of review in sentence case [Review of the book/film/etc. Title of the book in italic sentence case, by A. B. Author]. Periodical information (e.g. journal information, blog title). URL or DOI (formatted as https://doi.org/10####) if relevant 

Notes

• The format of the date you provide is dependent on the type of resource the review is published in, so it it is in a journal, you just need the year, but if it is in a blog, you'll need the full date (YYYY, Month DD).
• If the review is untitled, use the material in square brackets as the title; retain the brackets to indicate that the material is a description of form and content, not a title.
• This format can be applied to media other than books, just include the medium being reviewed withing the square brackets, e.g. [Review of the motion picture, ...].  
  • If the reviewed item is a film, DVD, or other media, include the year of release after the title of the work, separated by a comma
• If you quote, you'll need to include page numbers, how you do this differs depending on the citation style.  See the information about direct quotes on the quotations page in our formatting guide for more information.