APA Book Citation Guide With Examples [7th Edition]

APA book citations follow a basic, standard format. However, this format differs depending on the type of book and how many authors or editors it has. This article gives a complete rundown of all the variations you’ll need to know for citing a book in APA format.

APA Book Citation for a Print Book (one author or editor)

The guidelines for citing a book with one or more authors apply to both print books and other types of books such as e-books. Note that titles of books should be written in sentence format and italicized. 

In-text citation (paraphrase)

(Author’s or editor’s last name, year if publication)

Example

(Worth, 2009).

After World War II, Jennifer Worth moved to a convent and became a midwife in London’s East End slums (Worth, 2009).

In-text citation (quotation)

(Author’s or Editor’s last name, year of publication, page number) 

Example

(Worth, 2009, p. 39).

Regarding longevity, Worth (2009) asserted that, “I have a theory that all human babies are born prematurely. Given the human life span – three score years and ten – to be comparable with other animals of similar longevity, human gestation should be about two years” (p. 39). 

Reference list

Author’s or Editor’s Last Name, First Initial. (Year of Publication). Title of book. (If there is a colon followed by a subtitle, use a capital letter for the first word of the subtitle). Publisher. (If the book has a DOI, provide it after the name of the publisher.)

Worth, J. (2009). The midwife: A memoir of birth, joy, and hard times. Penguin Books. 

Or

Risse, T. (Ed.), Governance without a state? Policies and politics in areas of limited statehood. Columbia University Press.

APA Book Citation for a Book with Two Authors or Editors

In-text citation (paraphrase)

(Last names of authors or editors, Year of publication)

Example

(Dos & Lieff, 2012)

Six years before Kersti Lieff’s mother died, she gathered all of the stories of her mother’s life in Berlin after World War II (Dos & Lieff, 2012). 

In-text citation (quotation)

(Last names of authors or editors, Year of publication, page number)

(Dos & Lieff, 2012, p. 6)

Example

The family lived in a small city and “there were not many people living in Ssinemundem mostly those only by the sea-sea captains, sailors, shipping companies and there were even a few people who came as tourists if they could afford it” (Dos & Lieff, 2012, p. 6).

Reference list

Authors’ or editors’ Last Names, First Initials, & Authors’ or editors’ Last Names, First Initials. (Publication Year). Title of book. DOI

Example 

Dos, M., & Lieff, K. (2012). Letters from Berlin: A story of war, survival, and the redeeming power of love and friendship. Lyons Press.

Or

Hajer, M., & H. Wagenaar, H. (Eds.). Deliberative policy analysis. Cambridge University Press.

Citing a Book With Three or More Authors or Editors

Proper APA book citation format differs for a book with one or two authors/editors and one with three or more authors. For a book with three or more authors, only the first author’s/editor’s last name following by “et al.” is written. 

In-text citation 

(Last names of first author or editor, et al., year of publication)

Example

(Rydell et al., 2000)

Reference list

Authors’ or editors’ Last Names, First Initials, Authors’ or editors’ Last Names, First Initials, & Authors’ or editors’ Last Names, First Initials. (Publication Year). Title of book. Publisher. DOI

Example

Rydell, R. W., Findling, J. E., & Pelle, K. D. (2000). Fair America: World’s fairs in the United States. Smithsonian Institution Press.

Or

Orelove, F., Sobsey, D., & Gilles, D. (Eds.). Educating students with severe and multiple disabilities: A collaborative approach. Paul H. Brookes.

Citing a Book With a Group Author

For books with group authors, such as dictionaries, organizations, corporations, government agencies, foundations, etc., replace the name of the group for the author in the citations. 

In-text citation 

(Name of group, year of publication)

Example

(National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, 2007)

Reference list

Name of Group. (Publication Year). Title of book. Publisher. 

National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. (2007). Controlling foodservices costs. Pearson Prentice Hall.

Book With Unknown Author

When a book does not have an author, use the title of the book as the author. 

In-text citation

Use a few words of the book’s title instead of an author’s name. 

(Book’s title, year)

Example

(Diary of an oxygen thief, 2016)

Reference list

Diary of an oxygen thief. (2016). Gallery Books. 

Electronic Book 

For electronic books, you do not have to indicate whether it is an eBook or audiobook. 

In-text citation (paraphrase is the same as for a print book)

Some books online do not have page numbers and provide paragraph numbers to use when citing quotations. 

Example

(Berens, 2007, para. 12)

Reference list

Author’s Last Name. First Initial. (Year). Title of book. Publisher. URL

Example

Berens, E. (2007). Myths and legends of ancient Greece and Rome.  Project Gutenberg. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/22381/22381-h/22381-h.htm

APA Book Citation Summary

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For information on how to cite a book, refer to pages 321-329 in APA 7.