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Citations - APA: Books, eBooks & Pamphlets

Updates

Citation examples on this page have been updated on 9/15/2022.

On This Page

Formatting

Note: All citations should be double spaced and have a hanging indent in a Reference List.

A "hanging indent" means that each subsequent line after the first line of your citation should be indented by 0.5 inches.

How Can I Tell if it's a Book in Print or an eBook?

A print book means it's printed on paper. If you checked the book out of a library or bought it from a bookstore, it's print.

An eBook is a book you can read entirely online.

Tips

Authors/Editors

An author won't necessarily be a person's name. It may be an organization or company, for example Health Canada. These are called group or corporate authors.

 

If a book has no author or editor, begin the citation with the book title, followed by the year of publication in round brackets.

If an author is also the publisher, put the word "Author" where you'd normally put the publisher name. This happens most often with corporate or group authors.

When a book has one to seven authors or editors, all authors' names are cited in the Reference List entry. When a book has eight or more authors or editors, list the first six authors followed by three spaced ellipse points (. . .) , and then the last author's name. Rules are different for in-text citations; please see the examples provided.

Titles

Capitalize the first letter of the first word of the title. If there is a colon (:) in the title, also capitalize the first letter of the first word after the colon.

Capitalize the first letter of proper names in titles, such as names of places or people. Example: Canada

Place of Publication

For cities in the US and Canada list the city name and the province or state code. For other countries, list the city name and the country. Examples: Toronto, ON ; Tokyo, Japan

Electronic Books

Don't include the place of publication or a publisher for an electronic book (eBook). Instead follow the rules below:

Ebooks from Library Databases

If an eBook has a doi, use it. Otherwise we recommend giving the name of the database you found the eBook from.

Ebooks from Websites (not from library databases)

If an eBook from a website was originally published in print, give the author, year, title, edition (if given) and the url. If it was never published in print, treat it like a multi-page website.

Book In Print With One Author

Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given. (Year of Publication). Title of book: Subtitle if given (edition if given and is not first edition). Publisher Name often shortened.

Reference List Example

Watson, J. (2012). Human caring science: A theory of nursing (2nd ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.
In-Text Paraphrase

(Author's Last Name, Year)

Example: (Watson, 2012)
In-Text Quote

(Author's Last Name, Year, p. Page Number)

Example: (Watson, 2012, p. 70)

Book in Print with Two Authors

First Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given., & Second Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given. (Year of Publication). Title of book: Subtitle if given (edition if given and is not first edition). Publisher Name often shortened.

*Hanging indent not shown above.

Reference List Example

Smith, J. R., & Robbins, T. (2012). Animal living science: A theory of habitation (2nd ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.

 

In-Text Paraphrase
 

 

Example: (Smith & Robbins, 2012)
In-Text Quote

 

 

Example: (Smith & Robbins, 2012, p. 14)

Book in Print with Three to Twenty Authors

First Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given., Second Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given., & Third Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given. (Year of Publication). Title of book: Subtitle if given (edition if given and is not first edition). Publisher Name often shortened.  

Note: Authors' names are separated by commas. Put a comma before the name of the last author cited.

More Than Twenty Authors
List by last names and initials; commas separate author names. After the 19th author's name, use an ellipsis in place of the remaining authors' names. Then, end with the final author's name (do not place an ampersand before it). There should be no more than twenty names in the citation in total.

Reference List Example

Case, L. P., Daristotle, L., Hayek, M. G., & Raash, M. F. (2011). Canine and feline nutrition: A resource for companion animal professionals (3rd ed.). Mosby.
In-Text Paraphrase

(Case et al., 2011)
In-Text Quote (Case et al., 2011, p. 532)

Book With Group or Corporate Author

Name of Corporate Author. (Year of Publication). Title of book: Subtitle if given (edition if given and is not first edition). Publisher Name often shortened.  

Reference List Example

American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Author.

If the Corporate Author is also the publisher of the book, put the word "Author" where you'd normally put the Publisher Name.
In-Text Paraphrase

(Name of Corporate Author, Year)

Example: (American Psychological Association, 2010)
In-Text Quote

(Name of Corporate Author, Year, p. Page Number)

Example: (American Psychological Association, 2010, p. 205)

No Author

If no author or creator is provided, start the citation with the title/name of the item you are citing instead. Follow the title/name of the item with the date of publication, and the continue with other citation details.  

Remember: an author/creator may be an organization or corporation, for example Health California. If you don't have a person's name as the author, but do have the name of an organization or corporation, put that organization/corporation's name as the author.

Anonymous

If and only if an item is signed as being created by Anonymous, use "Anonymous" where you'd normally put the author's name.

In-Text

When you have no author, use a shortened version of the title where you'd normally put the author's name.

If you're citing something which is part of a bigger work, like an article from a magazine, newspaper, journal, encyclopedia, or chapter/short story from a book, put the shortened title in quotation marks in your in-text citation:

Example, paraphrase: ("A few words," 2014)

If you're citing an entire work, like a book, website, video, etc., italicize the shortened title in your in-text citation:

Example, paraphrase: (A few words, 2014)

eBook From a Library Database with One Author

Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given. (Year of Publication). Title of book: Subtitle if given (edition if given and is not first edition). Publisher Name often shortened. https://doi.org/DOI-number-if-given

 

Reference List Example

Schildt, H. (2011). Java: The complete reference (8th ed.). Riley Press. https://doi.org/DOI-number-if-given
In-Text Paraphrase

(Author's Last Name, Year)

Example: (Schildt, 2011)
In-Text Quote

(Author's Last Name, Year, p. Page Number)

Example: (Schildt, 2011, p. 101)

eBook From a Library Database with Two Authors

First Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given., & Second Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given. (Year of Publication). Title of book: Subtitle if given (edition if given and is not first edition). Publisher Name often shortened. https://doi.org/DOI-number-if-given

Reference List Example

Johnson, Bethany L., & Quinlan, Margaret M. (2019). You’re doing it wrong!: Mothering, media, and medical expertise. Rutgers University Press.
In-Text Paraphrase

 

(Johnson & Quinlan, 2019)
In-Text Quote (Johnson & Quinlan, 2019, p. 30)

eBook From a Library Database with Three to Twenty Authors

First Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given., Second Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given., & Third Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given. (Year of Publication). Title of book: Subtitle if given (edition if given and is not first edition). Publisher Name often shortened. https://doi.org/DOI-number-if-given  

Note: Authors' names are separated by commas. Put a comma before the name of the last author cited.

More Than Twenty Authors
List by last names and initials; commas separate author names. After the 19th author's name, use an ellipsis in place of the remaining authors' names. Then, end with the final author's name (do not place an ampersand before it). There should be no more than twenty names in the citation in total.

Reference List Example

Fahim, M.A., Al-Sahhaf, T.A., & Elkilani, A. (2010). Fundamentals of petroleum refining: Vol. 1st ed. Elsevier Science.

 

In-Text Paraphrase

(Fahim et al., 2010)

 

In-Text Quote

 (Fahim et al., 2010, p. 52)

eBook from a Website / Open Textbook (One Author)

Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given. (Year of Publication). Title of book: Subtitle if given (edition if given and is not first edition) [Name of Electronic Book Provider or Device version if any, e.g. Google Books version, Kobo version]. Retrieved from URL

Reference List Example

OpenStax. (2013, March 6). Anatomy and physiology. Retrieved from https://opentextbc.ca/anatomyandphysiology/
In-Text Paraphrase

(Author's Last Name, Year)

Example: (Nightingale, 1860)
In-Text Quote

(Author's Last Name, Year, p. Page Number)

Example: (Nightingale, 1860, p. 157)

eBook from a Website / Open Textbook (Two to Seven Authors)

Last Name of First Author, First Initial. Second Initial if Given., & Last Name of Second Author, First Initial. Second Initial if Given. (Year of Publication). Title of book: Subtitle if given (edition if given and is not first edition) [Name of Electronic Book Provider or Device version if any, e.g. Google Books version, Kobo version]. Retrieved from URL

Reference List Example

Allen, G. M., & Tozzer, A. M. (1910). Animal figures in the Maya codices. [Project Gutenberg version]. Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/19042
In-Text See chart here

Short Story, Essay, Chapters, or Article from a Book (Anthology or Collection)

Note: All citations should be double spaced and have a hanging indent in a References List.

Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given. (Year of Publication). Title of chapter, article, essay or short story. In Editor's First Initial. Second Initial if Given. Editor's Last Name (Ed.), Title of book (pp. first page number-last page number). Publisher Name often shortened.

Note:

If you have more than one editor list their name(s) after the first editor listed in the book, giving their initials and last name. Put an ampersand (&) before the last editor's name.

When you have one editor the short form (Ed.) is used after the editor's name. If you have more than one editor use (Eds.) instead.

For cities in the US and Canada, list the city name and the province or state code. For other countries, list the city name and the country.

Reference List Example

Stockert, P. A. & Taylor, C. (2014). Sleep. In P. A. Potter, A. G. Perry, J. C. Ross-Kerr & M.J. Wood (Eds.), Canadian fundamentals of nursing (5th Cdn. ed., pp. 993-1016). Elsevier.

Note: If there is no editor given you may leave out that part of the citation.
In-Text Paraphrase

(Author's Last Name, Year) See chart here for in-text rules for 2 or more authors.

Example (2 authors) (Stockert & Taylor, 2014)
In-Text Quote

(Author's Last Name, Year, p. Page Number) See chart here for in-text rules for 2 or more authors.

Example (2 authors) (Stockert & Taylor, 2014, p. 998)

Pamphlet

Name of Corporate/Group Author. (Year of Publication). Title of pamphlet or brochure: Subtitle if given [Brochure]. Publisher Name often shortened.

Use the term [Brochure] for a pamphlet or brochure.

Reference List Example

Region of Waterloo Public Health. (n.d.). Eat well for less [Brochure]. Author.

Use the letters n.d. where you would normally put the date of publication when no date is provided.

In this example the author is also the publisher of the brochure. In this case put the word Author where you'd normally put the publisher's name.
In-Text Paraphrase

(Name of Corporate/Group Author, Year)

Example: (Region of Waterloo Public Health, n.d.)
In-Text Quote

(Name of Corporate/Group Author, Year, p. Page Number)

(Region of Waterloo Public Health, n.d., p. 15)

Course Packages

Author of chapter/article’s Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given. (Year of Publication of Course Pack). Title of chapter or article from course pack. In First Initial. Last Name of Instructor Who Created Course Pack if Listed (Comp.),Title of coursepackage often starts with the course code (pp. first page of reading-last page of reading). Los Angeles Harbor College.

Reference List Example

Morris, M. (2014). The lifeguard. In T. Hay (Comp.), SES 225: Stories of youth (pp.125-132). Los Angeles Harbor College.
In-Text Paraphrase

(Author of chapter/article's Last Name, Year) See chart here for in-text rules for 2 or more authors.

Example: (Morris, 2014)
In-Text Quote

(Author of chapter/article's, Year, p. Page Number) See chart here for in-text rules for 2 or more authors.

Example: (Morris, 2014, p. 125)

Laboratory Manuals

Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given. (Year of Publication). Title of laboratory manual: Subtitle if given (edition if given and is not first edition). Publisher Name often shortened.

Note: Check your manual for the specific publisher.

Reference List Example

Wassenaar-Faber, M. (2015). BIO173 lab manual : Introduction to biological techniques part I. Los Angeles Harbor College. 
In-Text Paraphrase

(Author's Last Name, Year)

Example: (Wassenaar-Faber, 2015) 
In-Text Quote

(Author's Last Name, Year, p. Page Number)

Example: (Wassenaar-Faber, 2015, pg. 26)

Two or More Works by the Same Author With the Same Year

When you are citing two different sources that share the same author and year of publication, assign lowercase letters after the year of publication (a, b, c, etc.). Assign these letters according to which title comes first alphabetically. Use these letters in both in-text citations and the Reference list.

Example In-Text:

Paraphrasing content from first source by this author (Daristotle, 2015a). "Now I am quoting from the second source by the same author" (Daristotle, 2015b, p. 50).

Example Reference List entries:

Daristotle, J. (2015a). Name of book used as first source. Fancy Publisher.

Daristotle, J. (2015b). Title of book used as second source. Very Fancy Publisher.

 

This guide is used/adapted with the permission of Seneca College Libraries.