Citing books, chapters, reference books, and coursepacks
Notice: This guide provides information about APA 6th edition (2010) citation and referencing requirements. For information on citing and referencing in APA 7th edition (2020), please see our updated APA 7 guide.
- Whole Books
- Sections of Books
Book With Single Author
In-Text Citation
References
Example:
Panagia, D. (2009). The political life of sensation. Durham: Duke University Press.
Book With Two Authors
In-Text Citation
References
Example:
Article or Chapter in Edited Book
In-Text Citation
References
Example
Notice:
Book With Three to Five Authors
In-Text, First Citation
In the first reference for a work with three to five authors, cite all authors the first time.
(Illston, Dinwood, & Smith, 1979)
In-Text, Subsequent Citations
In subsequent references, use the surname of the first author followed by et al.
References
Provide last name and initials for all authors.
Example
Notice:
Book With Six or More Authors
In-Text Citation
For a work with six authors or more, use the surname of the first author followed by et al.
The study by Brown et al. (2008) notes that. . . .
References
Example
Notice:
Electronic Book
Online Only: In-Text Citation
References
Author's Last Name, First Initial. (Year of Publication). Title. Retrieved from web address
Example:
Stevens, K. (n.d.). The dreamer and the beast. Retrieved from http://www.onlineoriginals. com/showitem.asp?itemID=321
Also in Print: In-Text Citation
(Chong, 2012)
(Downey & Baumann, 2004)
References
Author's Last Name, First Initial. (Year of Publication). Title. [E-Reader file type]. Retrieved from web address
Examples:
Chong, K. (2012). My year of the racehorse: Falling in love with the sport of kings. [Kindle Edition]. Retrieved from Amazon .com
Downey M., Baumann A. O., & Nursing Study Sector Corporation. (2004). The international nursinglabour market. [Gibson Library Connections]. Retrieved from http://books2 .scholarsportal.info/viewdoc.html?id=27776
Notice:
- When a URL is too long to fit on one line, create a break where there is punctuation (period, slash, dash). As you can see in the example, the punctuation starts the next line. Do not end the URL with a period if it is not in the original.
- If the electronic book provides a doi (digital object identifier), it will go in place of the URL: doi: 10.1036/0071393722
Book with Editor
In-Text Citation
References
Example
Notice:
Article or Chapter in a Coursepack
In-Text Citation
References
Example
Notice:
Book With Translator
In-Text Citation
References
Example
Eisenstein, S. (1968). Film sense (J. Leyda, Trans.). London: Faberand Faber. (1943).
Notice:
Book With Organizational Author
In-Text Citation
(American Psychological Association [APA], 2010)
Subsequent references use the abbreviation:
References
Example
Notice:
Reference Book
In-Text Citation
References
Example
Coleman, A. M. (Ed.). (1994). Companion encyclopedia of psychology. London: Routledge.
Entry in a Reference Book
Entry in Online Reference Work
In-Text Citation
("Cognitive Dissonance," 1999)
References
Article Title. (Year of Publication). In Title of Online Book. Retrieved from web address.
Example
Cognitive dissonance. (1999). In The Cambridge dictionary of philosophy. Retrieved from http://www.credoreference.co/entry/cupdphil/antecedent
Article/Entry in a Print Reference Book
In-Text Citation
("Cognitive Dissonance," 1998)
References
Article Title. (Year of Publication). In Editor's First Initial and Last Name (Ed.), Title of Book (pp. #-#). City Where Published: Publisher.
Example
Cognitive dissonance. (1998). In D. A. Statt (Ed.), The concise dictionary of psychology (p.26). New York: Routledge.