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APA Guide: Books and E-books

A guide to writing papers and citing sources in American Psychological Association style.

Formatting

For a References page, your citations need to be double spaced and have a hanging indent. A hanging indent just means that every line after the first in your citation is indented 0.5". 

In Microsoft Word (PC or Mac), highlight your citation and right click on it. Select "Paragraph" in the menu that appears, then under "Indentation" click on the Special drop down and select "Hanging". Make sure the "By" field is set to 0.5".

Basic Format

Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle.  Publisher. DOI (if available)

eBooks

It is not necessary to note that you have used an eBook or audiobook when the content is the same as a physical book. However, you should distinguish between the eBook or audiobook and the print version if the content is different or abridged, or if you would like to cite the narrator of an audiobook.

Lastname, F. M. (Year). Title of book. Publisher. URL

Lastname, F. M. (Year). Title of book [eBook edition]. Publisher. URL

Lastname, F. M. (Year). Title of book (N. Narrator, Narr.) [Audiobook]. Publisher. URL (if applicable)

Edited Books

Edited book, no author

Editor, E. E. (Ed.). (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Publisher. DOI (if available)

Leitch, M. G., & Rushton, C. J. (Eds.). (2019). A new companion to Malory. D. S. Brewer.

 

Edited Book with an author or authors

Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle (E. Editor, Ed.). Publisher. DOI (if available)

Malory, T. (2017). Le morte darthur (P. J. C. Field, Ed.). D. S. Brewer. (Original work published 1469-70)

Other Books

Translated works: List translator(s) at the end of the title, indicate when the work was originally published as well.

Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle (T. Translator, Trans.). Publisher. (Original work published YEAR) DOI (if available)

Plato (1989). Symposium (A. Nehamas & P. Woodruff, Trans.). Hackett Publishing Company. (Original work published ca. 385-378 BCE)

 

Later editions: List the edition at the end of the title.

Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle (# edition). Publisher. DOI (if available)

Helfer, M. E., Kempe, R. S., &Krugman, R. D. (1997). The battered child (5th ed.). University of Chicago Press.

 

Multivolume work: List the volume or volumes cited after the title.

Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle (Vol. #)Publisher. DOI (if available)

David, A., & Simpson, J. (Eds.). (2006). The Norton anthology of English literature: The Middle Ages (8th ed.,Vol. A). W. W. Norton and Company.

All examples on this page taken from Purdue Online Writing Lab (https://owl.purdue.edu)