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Citation Help: Books

WARNING

The information and examples provided on this set of pages describing APA citation style are based on the 6th (2010) edition of the Manual. A newer 7th edition is now published and available at many of our libraries across campus. The new APA 7th edition guide is now available.

APA Citation Examples: Books

Books

Note: Citations with more than one line of text should have a hanging indent of 1/2 inch or 5 spaces.

Important Elements:

  • Author (last name, initials only for first & middle names)
  • Publication date
  • Title (in italics; capitalize only the first word of title and subtitle, and proper nouns)
  • Place of publication
  • Publisher
  • For books retrieved online, include URL

Print book

Author Last, A. A., Author Last, B. B. & Author Last, C. (Publication Year). Title of book (edition if applicable). Location City, State: Publisher. 

Goodpaster, K. E., Nash, L. L., & de Bettignies, H. (2006). Business ethics: Policies and persons (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Book by a group author

Group. (Publication Year). Title of book (edition if applicable). Location City, State: Publisher.

American Medical Association. (2004). American Medical Association family medical guide (4th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Article or chapter within an edited book

Author, A. A. (Publication Year). Title of article or chapter. In Editor Last, A. A. & Editor Last, B. B. (Eds.), Title of book (ed., pp. xx-xx). Location City, State: Publisher.

Winne, P. H. (2001). Self-regulated learning viewed from models of information processing. In B.J. Zimmerman & D.H. Schunk (Eds.), Self-regulated learning and academic achievement (2nd ed., pp. 160-192). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Translation

Author Last, A. (Publication Year). Title of book. (First initial. Translator Last, Trans.). Location City, State: Publisher (Original publication year).

Tolstoy, L. (2006). War and peace. (A. Briggs, Trans.). New York, NY: Viking. (Original work published 1865).

E-Book (Online or E-Reader)

Author Last, A. A. (Year). Title of book. Location City, State: Publisher. Retrieved from Stable URL

Author Last, A. A. (Year). Title of book [Reader type and version]. Retrieved from E-book seller website

Post, E. (1923). Etiquette in society, in business, in politics, and at home. New York, NY: Funk & Wagnalls. Retrieved from http://www.bartleby.com/95/

Tetlock, P.E., & Gardner, D. (2015). Superforecasting: The art and science of prediction [Kindle Paperwhite version]. Retrieved from Amazon.com

Entry in an online reference work

Author last, A. A. (Year). Title of entry. In A. A. Editor Last (Ed.), Title of reference work. (edition if applicable). Retrieved from Stable URL

Rey, G. (2006). Behaviorism. In D. M. Borchert (Ed.), Encyclopedia of philosophy. (2nd ed.). Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/

 

Examples courtesy of Penn State University Libraries

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Useful Resources for APA Citation