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Below, you will find step-by-step instructions for citing books in the APA citation style.
Here is the basic format for citing a book in APA format:
Author, F. M. (Year). Title: Subtitle (edition). Publisher.
Let's break the citation down.
The author's name is listed as their last name, first initial, and middle initial (if they have one.) So an author named John Paul Jones would be listed as:
Jones, J. P.
If you have multiple authors, you will need to list them all. Put them in the order that they appear in the book. Separate them with a comma, and put an ampersand (&) before the last one. So a book written by John Paul Jones, John Quincy Adams, and Thomas Paine would look like this:
Jones, J. P., Adams, J. Q., & Paine, T.
If there is no author, but the book has an editor, you would use the editor's name instead. Follow the name(s) with (Ed.) or (Eds.). If the work has an author and an editor, put the editor's name after the title, but with the first and middle initials before the last name. Here are some examples:
Jones, J. P., Adams, J. Q., & Paine, T. (Eds.)
Jones, J. P., Adams, J. Q., & Paine, T. (1995). How to paint a fence. B. Franklin (Ed.).
The year is simply the date of publication. It is usually listed on the back of the title page. If there are multiple years to choose from, use the most recent one.
Type in the entire title of the book, along with the subtitle if there is one. However, whenever you type in the title, you should only capitalize the first letter of the title, the first letter of the subtitle (the part that follows after the colon), and any proper nouns (the names of individual people, places, and organizations.) Italicize the entire title. So, the book The Pilgrim's Progress from This World, to That Which Is to Come would have its title written like this:
The pilgrim's progress from this world, to that which is to come
If you had a book with a subtitle, for example Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-lived, Joyful Life would have its title written like this:
Designing your life: How to build a well-lived, joyful life
One last example. The book Adventures of Huckleberry Finn would be written like this:
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The extra capitalized words are proper nouns.
If the book lists an edition, record that after the title. It would use the format (Nth ed.), where the N is the edition number. Here are two examples:
Designing your life: How to build a well-lived, joyful life (3rd ed.).
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (4th ed.).
The book may not have an edition. If it doesn't, just leave this part off.
Publisher
The publisher is usually listed on the title page. If the publisher cannot be found there, look at the back of the title page or the spine of the book. List the name of the publisher in a brief format, giving the reader just enough information to look up the publisher. Leave off abbreviations like "Co.," "Inc.," etc. So, for example, Random House LLC would be listed as:
Random House
MacMillan Publishers Ltd. would be listed as:
MacMillan
A copy of the book The Hobbit, or, There And Back Again, by J.R.R. Tolkien, was published in 1937 by George Allen & Unwin Ltd. This is what the citation would look like:
Tolkien, J.R.R. (1937). The hobbit, or, there and back again. George Allen & Unwin.
If a book has an editor, the rules are slightly different than for normal books.
If the book has no author, but does have an editor, you would use the editor's name instead. Follow the name(s) with (Ed.) or (Eds.). If the work has an author and an editor, put the editor's name after the title, but with the first and middle initials before the last name. Here are some examples:
Jones, J. P., Adams, J. Q., & Paine, T. (Eds.)
Jones, J. P., Adams, J. Q., & Paine, T. (1995). How to paint a fence. B. Franklin (Ed.).
The rest of the citation is the same as with normal books.
If you are citing only part of a book, the citation will be a little longer than with normal books. Here is how it would look:
Author, F. M. (Year). Article title. In J. S. Editor, E. H. Editor, & O. P. Editor (Eds.), Title: Subtitle (article pages). Publisher.
The author and year will be the same as with normal citations. Then type the chapter or article title, following the same capitalization rules as with book titles (First letter and proper names only.) Then you type in the initials of the editor(s). If there is one editor, type in (Ed.) after their name. For multiple editors, type (Eds.) after the names. This tells the reader that they are the editors. Follow this with the title of the book, italicized and capitalized as per normal. Follow that up with the page numbers. Put "pp." in front of the numbers. (If the book is a an edition, type that before the pp.) Then finish the citation with the location and publisher.
For example, the chapter "Choosing Paint" from the book How To Paint A Fence, written by John Paul Jones and edited by Benjamin Franklin, would be cited like this:
Jones, J. P. (1995). Choosing paint. In B. Franklin (ed.), How to paint a fence (pp. 15-25). Macmillan.
If the book was a third edition, it would look like this:
Jones, J. P. (1995). Choosing paint. In B. Franklin (ed.), How to paint a fence (3rd ed., pp. 15-25). Macmillan.
To cite an ebook, create a citation exactly as you would for a print book. At the end of the citation, paste the link to the ebook. However, do not copy the link from the web browser. The databases where you find ebooks have a "Get Link" or "Permalink" button. Click on those, and use that link instead.
For example, the ebook Manic Depression: A Medical Dictionary, Bibliography, and Annotated Research Guide to Internet References by James N. and Philip M. Parker, would look like this:
Parker, J. N., & Parker, P. M. (2004). Manic depression: A medical dictionary, bibliography, and annotated research guide to internet references. Icon Group International. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=104279&site=ehost-live
Some instructors do not want the link, however. Ask your instructor before including it.
