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APA (7th ed.) Citing Guide: Books & Reference Works

APA 7th Edition

This guide is representative of the 7th edition Publication Manual of APA and focuses on a student paper structure.

APA examples are not exhaustive and focus on referencing and citations. Assistance from your professor and/or Writing Centre is suggested for clarification.

Users are responsible for interpretation of APA style guidelines and to seek further assistance when necessary.

Effective September 2020.

What is a Book or Reference Work?

Books and Reference Works:

  • starting point for background reading or overview
  • various formats like print, eBook, open access, open educational resource (OER)
  • may have authors, editors, or the publisher/organization may be considered as the author
  • reference works contain authoritative facts or information like dictionaries, encyclopedias, or directories

For additional examples, See Publication Manual Section 10.2 or the APA Style website.

Multiple Authors

Up to 20 authors:

List all authors up to 20 authors.

Over 20 authors:

List first 19 authors followed by "..." then the last author of the article. There are no spaces before or after "...". See Publication Manual 8.17 for in-text citation examples when there are multiple authors.

See Publication Manual, Section 9.8. See Publication Manual 8.17 for in-text citation examples when there are multiple authors.

eBook With a DOI

Reference list entry:

Hinrichsen, G. A. (2020). Assessment and treatment of older adults: A guide for mental health professionals. American Psychological Association. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0000146-000 

eBook Without a DOI (from a website)

Reference list entry:

Austen, J. (2019). Pride and prejudice. Project Gutenberg. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1342 (Original work published 1813)

Note: Include the last updated date, e.g. (2019) and add the original publication date.

eBook Without a DOI (from a library database)

Reference list entry:

Kreitzer, M. J., & Koithan, M. (2014). Integrative nursing. Oxford University Press.  

Audiobook

Reference list entry:

Levinson, J. C. (2007). Guerrilla marketing: Secrets for making big profits from your small business [Audiobook]. Blackstone.

Print Book

Reference list entry:

Morrison, T.  (2012). Kiss, bow, or shake hands: Sales and marketing: The essential cultural guide--from presentations and promotions to communicating and closing. McGraw-Hill.

Book With 3 or More Authors

Reference list entry:

Peterson, F. A., Lee, H. M., Dunlevie, S. A., Houng, W., White, M. S., & Griswold, S. (2016). Breakthrough leadership: Conversations with innovative leaders. Simply Good Press. 

Book With Edition

Reference list entry:

Keohane, R. O., & Nye, J. S. (2012). Power and interdependence (4th ed.). Longman.

Book With Editor(s)

Reference list entry:

Rourke, J. T. (Ed.). (2014). Taking sides. Clashing views in world politics (16th ed.). McGraw-Hill.

Chapter in an Edited Book Without a DOI

Reference list entry:

Little, C. M. (2014). Fetal development: Environmental influences and critical periods. In C. Kenner & J. W. Lott (Eds.), Comprehensive neonatal nursing care (5th ed., pp. 1-27). Springer Publishing Company.

Note: The reference list entry first lists the chapter author and chapter title before listing the entire book's information. Precede the full book information with "In". When providing the full book information, the author(s) name(s) are not reversed. Chapter page numbers are listed after the full book title and include "pp.".

In-text citation:

Parenthetical citation format: (last name of chapter's author(s), year)

e.g. (Little, 2014)

Narrative citation format: include the chapter's author's or authors' names in the sentence, with the date in brackets

e.g. Little (2014) wrote...

Chapter in an Edited Book With a DOI

Reference list entry:

Platt, L. S. (2020) Design for resilience. In A. Sethumadhavan & F. Sasangohar (Eds.), Design for health: Applications of human factors (pp. 161-181). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/C2018-0-00043-2

Note: The reference list entry first lists the chapter author and chapter title before listing the entire book's information. Precede the full book information with "In". When providing the full book information, the author(s) name(s) are not reversed. Chapter page numbers are listed after the full book title and include "pp.".

In-text citation:

Parenthetical citation format: (last name of chapter's author(s), year)

e.g. (Platt, 2020)

Narrative citation format: include the chapter's author's or authors' names in the sentence, with the date in brackets

e.g. Platt (2020) wrote...

Essay or Short Story in a Book

Reference list entry:

Gallant, M. (2005). My heart is broken. In R. Brown & D. Bennett (Eds.), Canadian short stories (pp. 130-136). Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Note: The reference list entry first lists the essay or short story author before listing the entire book's information. Precede the full book information with "In". When providing the full book information, the author(s) name(s) are not reversed. Page numbers are listed after the full book title and include "pp.".

In-text citation:

Parenthetical citation format: (last name of essay's author(s), year)

e.g. (Gallant, 2005)

Narrative citation format: include the essay's author's or authors' names in the sentence, with the date in brackets

e.g. Gallant (2005) wrote...

Print Dictionary

Reference list entry:

Harris, J. (2018). A dictionary of social work and social care (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.

Entry in a Print Dictionary

Reference list entry:

HarperCollins Publisher. (2010) Therapy. In Collins Canadian dictionary (1st ed., p. 621).

Note: Because the author and publisher are the same, only use the name in the author field to avoid repetition.

Electronic Dictionary

Reference list entry:

Dictionary.com. (n.d.). Dictionary.com. Retrieved June 25, 2020, from https://www.dictionary.com/

Note: Because the author and publisher are the same, only use the name in the author field to avoid repetition.

Entry in an Electronic Dictionary

Reference list entry:

Dictionary.com. (n.d.). Therapy. In Dictionary.com. Retrieved June 25, 2020, from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/therapy

Note: Because the author and publisher are the same, only use the name in the author field to avoid repetition.

Wikipedia & Other Wiki Type Sites

Reference list entry:

Politics of Canada. (2020, June 7). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Canada 

Note: The date represents the particular version used.

In-text citation:

Parenthetical citation format: ("entry title," year) * the comma is inside the quotation marks

e.g. ("Politics of Canada," 2005)

Narrative citation format: include the entry title in quotation marks with the date in brackets

e.g. "Politics of Canada" (2005) stated...

Conference Proceedings (IEEE example)

Reference list entry:

Ghosh, S. (2018). Smart homes: Architectural and engineering design imperatives for smart city building codes. In 2018 Technologies for Smart-City Energy Security and Power (ICSESP), 1-4. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICSESP.2018.8376676

For more information see APA Style

Reference Work (DSM)

Referencing the complete manual

Reference list entry (print version):

American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed., text rev.).

Reference list entry (online version):

American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed., text rev.). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425787

Referencing an entry in the manual

Reference list entry (print version):

American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Generalized anxiety disorder. In Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed., text rev.).

Entry in DSM-5 (online version)

American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Generalized anxiety disorder. In Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed., text rev.). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425787.x05_Anxiety_Disorders

Note: Because the author and publisher are the same, only use the name in the author field to avoid repetition. For further information, see APA Style.

Reference Work (Lexicomp Online)

Reference list entry:

Wolters Kluwer. (2020, March 3). Aspirin. LexiComp. https://www.wolterskluwercdi.com/lexicomp-online/

In-text citation:

(Wolters Kluwer, 2020)

Notes: As recommended by APA Style, use the publisher/distributor Wolters Kluwer in the author field. If a particular author or copyright holder is identified, use that for the author field. Identify the database name as the source. This database has limited access and users would not be able to access the information without a license to the database.

In-Text Citation

For all of the examples above, the in-text citation follows the same format unless noted with the example. Refer to the Publication Manual, Section 8.17 for explanation with multiple authors.

Parenthetical citation format: (last name of author(s), year)

e.g. (Hinrichsen, 2020)

e.g. (Kreitzer & Koithan, 2014)

Narrative citation format: include the author's or authors' names in the sentence, with the date in brackets

e.g. Hinrichsen (2020) wrote...

e.g. Kreitzer and Koithan (2014) wrote...

More in-text citation information on this guide.