APA 6 Style: Citing Books

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.

1. Whole Books
   1. Book with single author
   2. Book with two authors
   3. Book with three to five authors
   4. Book with six or more authors
   5. E-Book
   6. Book with editor
   7. Book with translator
   8. Book with organizational author
   9. Reference book
2. Sections of Books
   1. Chapter or Essay in a Book
   2. Article or chapter reprinted in a Coursepack
   3. Entry in a reference book

Book With Single Author

In-Text Citation

(Panagia, 2009)

References

Author's Name: Last Name, First Initial. (Year of Publication). Title of Book. City Where Published: Publisher.

Example:

Panagia, D. (2009). The political life of sensation. Durham: Duke University Press.

Book With Two Authors

In-Text Citation

(Aronowitz & Giroux, 1991)

References

Author's Last Name, First Initial., & Author's Last Name, First Initial. (Year of Publication). Title of Book. City Where Published: Publisher.

Example:

Aronowitz, S., & Giroux, H. A. (1991). Postmodern education: Politics, culture, and social criticism. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Article or Chapter in Edited Book

In-Text Citation

(Martino & Berrill, 2007)

References

Author's Last Name, First Initial. (Year of Publication). Article Title. In Editor’s First Initial and Last Name (Ed.), Title of Book (pp. #-#). City Where Published: Publisher.

Example

Martino, W., & Berrill, D. (2007).' Dangerous pedagogies': Exploring issues of sexuality and masculinity in male teacher candidates' lives. In K. Davison & B. Frank (Eds.), Masculinities and schooling: International practices and perspectives (pp. 13-34).  London, ON: Althouse Press.

Notice:

1. For a book with one editor, use the abbreviation "Ed." For a work with multiple editors, use the abbreviation "Eds." The first and last page numbers of the article are listed after the title of the book, just before the city of publication.

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.

(Illston et al., 1979)

References

Provide last name and initials for all authors.

Author's Last Name, First Initial., Author's Last Name, First Initial., & Author's Last Name, First Initial. (Year of Publication). Title of Book. City Where Published: Publisher.

Example

Illston, J. M., Dinwood, J. M., & Smith, A. A. (1979). Concrete, timber, and metals: The nature and behaviour of structured materials. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.

Notice:

1. Do not change the order of authors in a multi-authored work; the first author in the list is the lead author. For example, do not change Lee, Brown, & Green to Brown, Green, & Lee; Lee must be listed first.

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

For a work with six or seven authors, list all authors' names in the references entry. For a work with more than seven authors, list the first six authors and insert ellipses. After the ellipses, write the last author's name.

Author's Last Name, First Initial., Author's Last Name, First Initial., (list first six authors), . . . Final Author's Last Name, First Initial. (Year of Publication). Title of Book. City Where      Published: Publisher.

Example

Brown, D., Harper. H., Friel, M., Ingham, M., Otter, G., Raskin, J., . . .Daley, A. (2008). Basic writing skills. Toronto: McGraw Hill.

Notice:

1. Do not change the order of authors in a multi-authored work; the first author in the list is the lead author. For example, do not change Lee, Brown, & Green to Brown, Green, & Lee; Lee must be listed first.

Electronic Book

Online Only: In-Text Citation

(Stevens, n.d.)

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

(Gibbs, 2001)

References

Editor's Last Name, First Initial. (Ed.). (Year of Publication). Title of Book. City Where Published:   Publisher.

Example

Gibbs, J. T. (Ed.). (2001). Children of color: Psychological interventions with culturally diverse youth. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Notice:

1. Use the abbreviation "Ed." in parentheses after the editor's name.

Article or Chapter in a Coursepack

In-Text Citation

An in-text citation for an article or chapter in a coursepack includes the original source publication date and the reprint date.

(Morgan, 2006/2013)

References

Author's Last Name, First Initial. (Year of Publication). Article Title. In Editor's First Initial and Last Name (Ed.), Title of Coursepack (pp. #- #).  City Where Published: Publisher. (Reprinted from Original publication title, page range, original author or editor, original publication date, original publisher)

Example

Morgan, G. (2013). Mechanization takes command: Organizations as machines. In B. Ahlstrand   (Ed.), ADMN 2410H: Organization theory (pp. 31-50). Toronto: CSPI - Coursepack. (Reprinted from Images of organization, pp. 19-38, by G. Morgan, 2006, Sage   Publications)

Notice:

1. For a book with one editor, use the abbreviation "Ed." For a work with multiple editors, use the abbreviation "Eds." The coursepack page numbers are listed after the title of the book, just before the city of publication. The original source page numbers are listed in the reprint information. Any in-text citation that includes a page reference (i.e. for a direct quotation) should refer to the coursepack page numbers. The reprint information is usually listed on the first page of the article or chapter in the coursepack.

Book With Translator

In-Text Citation

Eisenstein (1943/1968)

References

Author's Last Name, First Initial. (Year of Republication). Title of Book (Translator’s First Initial. and Last Name, Trans.). City Where Published: Publisher. (Year of Original Publication).

Example

Eisenstein, S. (1968). Film sense (J. Leyda, Trans.). London: Faberand Faber. (1943).

Notice:

1. The translator's name is followed by "Trans." and placed in parentheses after the title. Because the example for a translated book is of a republished work, date of original publication and date of republication are given.

Book With Organizational Author

In-Text Citation

If there is a readily identified abbreviation, in the first in-text citation the full name of the organization is given in full, with the abbreviation in square brackets:

(American Psychological Association [APA], 2010)

Subsequent references use the abbreviation:

(APA, 2010)

For in-text citations, where the organization has no abbreviation (Trent University, City of Oshawa), the full name of the organization continues to be given: (Trent University, 2010)

References

Name of Group or Corporate Author. (Year of Publication). Title of Book (Edition #).  City Where Published: Publisher.

Example

American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Notice:

1. In this case the corporate author is also the publisher. Associations, corporations, study groups, and government agencies are some examples of what is considered a group author.

Reference Book

In-Text Citation

(Coleman, 1994)

References

Editor's Last Name, First Initial. (Ed.). (Year of Publication). Title of Book. City Where Published:   Publisher.

Example

Coleman, A. M. (Ed.). (1994). Companion encyclopedia of psychology. London: Routledge.

Entry in a Reference Book

When citing information from an entry in a reference work with no byline, begin the reference with the term that the information is listed under. The examples below are references to information found under the term "cognitive dissonance."

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.