How to Cite a Book in APA 7th Edition

Books remain one of the most frequently cited source types in academic writing, and getting the format right in APA 7th edition is essential. Whether you are citing a single-author monograph, a chapter in an edited volume, or an ebook with a DOI, the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.) provides clear rules in Section 10.2 for book references. This guide walks through the official template, eight worked examples covering every common scenario, special cases, frequent mistakes, and a quick-reference table so you can format any book citation with confidence.

If you want to skip the manual formatting, you can use the AllCitations APA 7 generator to build a correctly formatted reference in seconds. But understanding the underlying rules is essential for catching errors, especially with edited books and chapters that automated tools sometimes handle inconsistently.

The Official APA Rule

According to Section 10.2 of the APA Publication Manual (7th ed.), the standard reference format for a book is:

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle (Edition). Publisher.

Several important principles govern this template:

• Author can be one person, multiple people, or an organization (a "group author"). For edited books, list the editor(s) in the author position followed by "(Ed.)" or "(Eds.)."
• Year is the copyright year shown on the copyright page of the book. If multiple years are listed, use the most recent.
• Title is italicized. Only the first word of the title, the first word after a colon, and proper nouns are capitalized (sentence case). This applies to the reference list only; in-text citations that mention the title use title case.
• Edition is included in parentheses after the title only if the book is not a first edition (e.g., 2nd ed., Rev. ed.). Do not include edition information for first editions.
• Publisher is the name of the publishing company. APA 7th edition does not require the publisher's location (city and state). This is a major change from APA 6th edition.
• DOI should be included at the end of the reference when available. If the book has a DOI, add it as a hyperlink after the publisher. Do not place a period after a DOI or URL.

For a broader overview of how APA compares to other styles, see our guide on APA vs. MLA: Which Citation Style Should You Use?.

---

Worked Examples

Below are eight worked examples covering the most common book citation scenarios. Each example includes both the reference list entry and the corresponding in-text citations.

1. Book with One Author

The most straightforward case: a single-author book with a standard publisher.

Reference entry:

Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

In-text citations:

• Parenthetical: (Kahneman, 2011)
• Narrative: Kahneman (2011) argued that human judgment is shaped by two distinct cognitive systems.

2. Book with Two Authors

When a book has two authors, list both names separated by an ampersand (&) in the reference list. In narrative in-text citations, use "and" instead of "&" (Section 8.17).

Reference entry:

Dweck, C. S., & Yeager, D. S. (2019). Mindsets: A view from two eras. Perspectives on Psychological Science.

In-text citations:

• Parenthetical: (Dweck & Yeager, 2019)
• Narrative: Dweck and Yeager (2019) explored how mindset theory has evolved over two decades.

3. Book with Three or More Authors

For books with three or more authors, list up to 20 authors in the reference entry. In in-text citations, use only the first author's surname followed by "et al." from the very first citation onward (Section 8.17). This is a change from APA 6th edition, which required listing all authors on first use for works with three to five authors.

Reference entry:

Sternberg, R. J., Sternberg, K., & Mio, J. S. (2012). Cognitive psychology (6th ed.). Cengage Learning.

In-text citations:

• Parenthetical: (Sternberg et al., 2012)
• Narrative: Sternberg et al. (2012) provided a comprehensive overview of cognitive processes.

4. Edited Book

When citing an entire edited book (as opposed to a single chapter within it), list the editor(s) in the author position with "(Ed.)" or "(Eds.)" after their names.

Reference entry:

Gross, J. J. (Ed.). (2014). Handbook of emotion regulation (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.

In-text citations:

• Parenthetical: (Gross, 2014)
• Narrative: Gross (2014) assembled contributions from leading researchers in the field of emotion regulation.

5. Chapter in an Edited Book

When citing a specific chapter within an edited book, the chapter author goes in the author position. The chapter title is not italicized (because it is part of a larger work). The book title is italicized, and the editor(s) are introduced with "In" before their names. Include the page range of the chapter (Section 10.3).

Reference entry:

Matsumoto, D. (2009). Culture and emotional expression. In C. Spielberger (Ed.), Encyclopedia of applied psychology (pp. 535–539). Elsevier.

In-text citations:

• Parenthetical: (Matsumoto, 2009)
• Narrative: Matsumoto (2009) examined how cultural norms shape the display of emotions.

Note the format: chapter author first, then the year, then the chapter title (not italicized), then "In" followed by the editor's initials and surname, "(Ed.)," the italicized book title, the page range in parentheses, and finally the publisher.

6. Book with No Author or Corporate Author

When a book lists no individual author, an organization or institution may be the author. Use the organization name in the author position. If the organization is also the publisher, write "Author" in the publisher position to avoid repetition (Section 10.2, Example 26).

Reference entry:

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

Since the American Psychiatric Association is both the author and the publisher, "Author" is used in the publisher position.

In-text citations:

• Parenthetical, first use: (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2022)
• Parenthetical, subsequent uses: (APA, 2022)
• Narrative: The American Psychiatric Association (APA, 2022) revised diagnostic criteria across several categories.

If a book truly has no identifiable author or organization, move the title into the author position, just as with websites.

7. Ebook or Online Book with DOI

Many academic books are now available electronically and have a Digital Object Identifier (DOI). When a book has a DOI, include it at the end of the reference as a hyperlink. The format of the book (ebook, PDF, Kindle) does not need to be specified unless you are citing a version with different content, such as an audiobook with an added narrator introduction (Section 10.2).

Reference entry:

Brown, L. S. (2018). Feminist therapy (2nd ed.). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000092-000

Do not place a period after the DOI.

In-text citations:

• Parenthetical: (Brown, 2018)
• Narrative: Brown (2018) outlined the core principles and techniques of feminist therapy.

8. Translated Book

When citing a translated book, credit the original author in the author position and the translator(s) after the title, marked with "Trans." Include the original publication year at the end of the reference in parentheses if the translation was published in a different year (Section 10.2, Example 28).

Reference entry:

Piaget, J. (1969). The psychology of the child (H. Weaver, Trans.). Basic Books. (Original work published 1966)

In-text citations:

• Parenthetical: (Piaget, 1966/1969)
• Narrative: Piaget (1966/1969) described the stages of cognitive development in children.

In-text citations for translated works include both the original publication year and the translation year, separated by a slash.

---

Special Cases

Edition Numbers

Include edition information in parentheses after the title when the book is not a first edition. Common notations include "2nd ed.," "3rd ed.," "Rev. ed." (revised edition), and "5th ed., text rev." Place edition information after the subtitle, if there is one, and before the closing parenthesis: Title of book: Subtitle (3rd ed.). Do not include any edition notation for first editions.

Reprinted Works

When a book has been republished by a different publisher, include the reprint information at the end of the reference. The format is: (Reprinted from Title, by A. A. Author, Year, Publisher). In-text citations include both years: (Author, original year/reprint year). For example, a classic work reprinted in a modern series would look like:

Freud, S. (2010). The interpretation of dreams (J. Strachey, Trans.). Basic Books. (Original work published 1900)

In-text: (Freud, 1900/2010)

Multi-Volume Works

When citing an entire multi-volume work, indicate the volume range in parentheses after the title: Title of work (Vols. 1–4). When citing a single volume from a multi-volume set, indicate the specific volume: Title of work (Vol. 2). If each volume has its own title, the individual volume title follows the series title.

Example (entire set):

Koch, S. (Ed.). (1959–1963). Psychology: A study of a science (Vols. 1–6). McGraw-Hill.

Example (single volume with its own title):

Koch, S. (Ed.). (1959). Psychology: A study of a science: Vol. 1. Sensory, perceptual, and physiological formulations. McGraw-Hill.

---

Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Including the publisher location. APA 7th edition removed the requirement to include the publisher's city and state (or country). This is one of the biggest differences from APA 6th edition. Simply list the publisher name without any location. If you see "New York, NY: Publisher" in an older reference, update it to just "Publisher."

Missing the edition number. If you are citing a second or later edition and forget to include the edition in parentheses, your reader may look up the wrong version of the book. Always check the title page or copyright page for edition information.

Incorrect DOI formatting. DOIs should be presented as full hyperlinks in the format https://doi.org/xxxxx. Do not use the older "doi:" prefix format, and do not place a period after the DOI. APA 7th edition standardized DOI presentation as URLs (Section 9.34).

Misusing et al. for two-author works. The "et al." shorthand is only for works with three or more authors. For two-author works, always list both names in every citation: (Dweck & Yeager, 2019), not (Dweck et al., 2019).

Forgetting "Trans." for translated works. When citing a translated book, the translator must be credited after the title. Omitting this information makes it unclear which version of the text you consulted and does not give proper credit to the translator.

Confusing chapter citations with whole-book citations. When you want to cite a specific chapter in an edited book, use the chapter format (Section 10.3), not the whole-book format. The chapter author, chapter title, page range, and "In Editor (Ed.)" structure are all required. Citing the whole edited book when you only used one chapter is imprecise.

Capitalizing the title incorrectly. Reference list titles use sentence case: capitalize only the first word, the first word after a colon, and proper nouns. A common mistake is using title case (capitalizing all major words), which is reserved for in-text title mentions, not the reference list.

For a deeper dive into in-text citation rules, including how to handle multiple authors, secondary sources, and more, see our Complete Guide to In-Text Citations.

---

Quick-Reference Table

The following table summarizes the key book citation variations at a glance:

---

Tools and Resources

Building your reference list does not have to be a manual process. Here are some resources to help:

• AllCitations APA 7 Generator: Enter a book's ISBN, DOI, or details manually and generate a formatted APA 7 reference instantly. You can export citations as BibTeX or RIS for use in Zotero, Mendeley, or other reference managers.
• Purdue OWL APA Formatting Guide: The Purdue Online Writing Lab is one of the most widely used free resources for citation guidance across all styles.
• APA Style Blog: The official blog from the American Psychological Association, with posts clarifying tricky citation scenarios and announcing updates to APA guidelines.

You can explore all the citation styles supported by AllCitations on our citation styles page.

---

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I include the publisher location in APA 7?

No. APA 7th edition eliminated the requirement to include the publisher's city and state (or country) in book references. This is a significant change from APA 6th edition, where references included the location before the publisher name (e.g., "New York, NY: Publisher"). In APA 7th edition, simply list the publisher name directly. If you are updating references from an older paper, remove any publisher locations to comply with the current format.

How do I cite an ebook?

Cite an ebook using the same format as a print book. Do not include the ebook format (Kindle, PDF, EPUB) or the platform you read it on unless the version has substantially different content from the print edition, such as an enhanced ebook with embedded videos. If the ebook has a DOI, include it at the end of the reference as a hyperlink. If you accessed the ebook through a database (like EBSCO or ProQuest) and it does not have a DOI, treat it as a standard book reference without a URL — database-specific URLs are not stable and should not be included (Section 9.30).

When do I include an edition number?

Include the edition number in parentheses after the title when the book is a second or later edition. Common formats include "(2nd ed.)," "(3rd ed.)," "(Rev. ed.)," and "(5th ed., text rev.)." Do not include edition information for first editions. If the title page or copyright page of the book does not mention an edition, it is typically a first edition and no notation is needed.

How do I cite a chapter in an edited book?

Use the chapter-in-edited-book format from APA Section 10.3. The chapter author goes in the author position, followed by the year, the chapter title (not italicized), "In" followed by the editor's initials and surname with "(Ed.)" or "(Eds.)," the italicized book title, the page range of the chapter in parentheses, and the publisher. For example: Matsumoto, D. (2009). Culture and emotional expression. In C. Spielberger (Ed.), Encyclopedia of applied psychology (pp. 535–539). Elsevier. Only cite the whole edited book if you are referring to the book as a whole rather than a specific chapter.

Do I need a DOI for books?

You should include a DOI whenever one is available. Many academic books published in recent years have been assigned DOIs, especially those from major academic publishers like the American Psychological Association, Springer, and Elsevier. You can look up a book's DOI at https://www.doi.org/ or https://www.crossref.org/. If no DOI exists and you accessed a print book, simply end the reference with the publisher name. If you accessed the book online without a DOI, include the URL only if it leads directly to the book (not a database login page).

How do I handle a reprinted or translated work?

For reprinted works, include the reprint information at the end of the reference in parentheses: (Reprinted from Original Title, by A. A. Author, Year, Original Publisher). In-text citations include both years separated by a slash: (Author, original year/reprint year). For translated works, credit the translator after the title with "(Trans.)" and include the original publication year at the end: (Original work published Year). In-text citations also use both years: (Author, original year/translation year). For example, (Piaget, 1966/1969) indicates the original was published in 1966 and the translation you consulted was published in 1969.