Library Guides: APA (7th Edition) Referencing Guide: Books & eBooks

Is it a book?

Are you sure you should be citing the whole book, and not a chapter in the book? Check the page on Books and book chapters.

If you have a custom textbook created for your subject, look at the section on Custom Textbooks and Books of Readings.

Standard book pattern

Book Pattern:

Format

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date). Title in sentence case: Subtitle (edition, if not the first). Publisher. URL or DOI (if electronic)

Examples

Bach, S., & Grant, A. (2015). Communication and interpersonal skills in nursing (3rd ed.). Learning Matters.

Fenton-Smith, B., Humphreys, P., & Walkinshaw, I. (2017). English medium instruction in higher education in Asia-Pacific: From policy to pedagogy. Springer International Publishing.

McIlwraith, C. W., Nixon, A. J., & Wright, I. M. (2015). Diagnostic and surgical arthroscopy in the horse (4th ed.). Mosby. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-7234-3693-5.01001-8

Winfree, L. T., & Abadinsky, H. (2010). Understanding crime: Essentials of criminological theory (3rd ed.). Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Edited books, when referred to as a whole book (not chapters of an edited book):

Nussbaum, M. C., LaCroix, A. L., & Wood, D. P. (Eds.). (2013). Subversion and sympathy: Gender, law, and the British novel. Oxford UP.

Gach, G. (Ed.). (2009). What book!?: Buddha poems from beat to hiphop. Parallax Press.

Books where the "creators" play different/specific roles in authorship:

Gould, J. (Illustrator), & Rutgers, A. (Writer). (1967). Birds of Australia (Vol. 2). Methuen.

Ormerod, J. (Writer), & Blackwood, F. (Illustrator). (2021). Maudie and Bear: 10th anniversary edition. Hardie Grant.

Note:

You only include an edition number if it is not the first edition. If you have a multi volume work, the volume number goes in the same brackets as the edition number: (3rd ed., Vol. 4).
Include a DOI if available. Do not include a URL or database information for works from academic research databases - such as ProQuest or Medline - or a platform specific book, such as Kindle or Kobo. Include a URL for eBooks from other websites. These eBooks can't be accessed outside of their databases/platforms and should be cited the same way as a print book.
Are you trying to cite a section of a custom textbook? Custom textbooks are works that have been compiled for a particular course or cohort, and the chapters may have originally come from a variety of sources. Please see the section on Custom Textbooks under Class Handouts and Lectures.
In-text citations for non-standard authors: Whoever is in the "author" position of the refence in the references list is treated like an author in text. So, for example, if you had an edited book and the editors of the book were in the "author" position at the beginning of the reference, you would treat them exactly the same way as you would an author - do not include any other information. The same applies for works where the "author" is an illustrator, producer, composer, etc.
Order of authors for non-standard authors: When there are multiple creators involved in a work, cite them in the order in which they appear in the book. For example, in a children's book the illustrator's name may appear before the writer's name. Keep this order and do not change it.

APA (7th Edition) Referencing Guide

Is it a book?

Standard book pattern

How to reference a book using APA 7th