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APA Citation Guide (7th Edition): Books and eBooks

Note: This guide reflects the latest version of the APA Publication Manual (i.e., APA 7).

Books and eBooks

It is not necessary to indicate that you have used an eBook when the content is the same as a physical book. However, you should distinguish between the eBook and the print version if the content is different or abridged.

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 enclosed in parentheses.

Titles

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

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

Authored Book with a DOI

Format

Author, A. A. (Copyright Year). Title of book. Publisher. DOI or URL

Example

Sheingate, A. D. (2016). Building a business of politics: The rise of political consulting and the transformation of American democracy. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1537592718003882 

Authored Book Without a DOI, from Most Academic Research Databases

Format

Author, A. A. (Copyright Year). Title of book. Publisher.

Example

Schildt, H. (2011). Java: The complete reference (8th ed.). O'Reilly Safari Books.

Edited Book

Format

Editor, A. A. & Editor, B. B. (Eds.). (Copyright Year). Title of book. Publisher. DOI or URL [if available]

Example

Goodin, R. E. & Hans-Dieter, K. (Eds.). (1996). A new handbook of political science. Oxford University Press.

Chapter in an Edited Book

Format

Author, A. A. (Copyright Year). Title of book chapter. In A. A. Editor & B. B. Editor (Eds.), Title of book (pp. #-#). Publisher. 

Example

Christians, C. G. (2011). Ethics and politics in qualitative research. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The Sage handbook of qualitative research (pp. 61-80). Sage Publications.

Book with a Group or Corporate Author

Format

Corporate Author. (Copyright Year). Title of book. DOI [if available]

Example

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000

Work in an Anthology

Format

Author, A. A. & Author, B. B. (Copyright Year). Title of chapter, article, essay or short story. In Editor's A. A. Editor, B. B. Editor, C. C. Editor, & D. D. Editor (Eds.), Title of book (pp. #-#). Publisher.

Example

Stockert, P. A. & Taylor, C. (2014). Sleep. In P. A. Potter, A. G. Perry, J. C. Ross-Kerr, & M.J. Wood (Eds.), Canadian fundamentals of nursing (pp. 993-1016). Elsevier.

Note: When you have one editor, the short form (Ed.) is used after the editor's name. If you have more than one editor, use (Eds.) instead. If there is no editor given, you may leave out that part of the citation.

eBook

Format

Author, A. A. (Copyright Year). Title of book. Publisher. URL

Author, A. A. (Copyright Year). Title of book. [eBook edition]. Publisher. URL

Example

Gordon Betts, J., DeSaix, P., & Johnson, E. (2013). Anatomy and physiology. OpenStax. https://openstax.org/details/books/anatomy-and-physiology

Rowling, J. K. (1997). Harry Potter and the sorcerer's stone. [Kindle]. Pottermore Publishing.