How to apa cite a chapter in a book

Books: print or ebook

Author, A. A. (Year of Publication). Title of book: Subtitle if given. Publisher Name.

Type of citationExample citation
Reference List Citation  Smith, Z. (2009). Changing my mind: Occasional essays. Penguin Press. 
In-Text Citation  (Smith, 2009)

Books with an editor 

Editor, A. A. (Ed.). (Year of Publication). Title of book: Subtitle if given. Publisher Name

Type of citationExample citation
Reference List Citation  Carlsten, J. M., & McGarry, F. (Eds.). (2015). Film, history, and memory. Palgrave Macmillan. 
In-Text Citation  (Carlsten & McGarry, 2015) 

Books: edition other than the first

Author, A. A. (Year of Publication). Title of book: Subtitle if given (Edition). Publisher Name. 

Type of citationExample citation
Reference List Citation Efron, S. E., & Ravid, R. (2020). Action research in education: A practical guide (2nd ed.). The Guilford Press.
In-Text Citation (Efron & Ravid, 2020) 

Book Chapters

Chapters, Short Stories, Essays, or Articles from a Book

Author of Chapter, A. A. (Year of Publication). Title of chapter. In B. B. Editor & C. C. Editor (Eds.), Title of book (pp. pages of section). Publisher.

Type of citationExample citation
Reference List Citation  van Vugt, M. K. (2015). Cognitive benefits of mindfulness meditation. In K. W. Brown, R. M. Ryan, & J. D. Creswell (Eds.), Handbook of mindfulness: Theory, research, and practice (pp. 190-207). Guilford Press. 
In-Text Citation  (van Vugt, 2015)

Tips

  • Capitalization: For titles books and book chapters, capitalize only the first letter of the first word of the title. If there is a colon in the title, capitalize the first letter of the first word after the colon. You will also capitalize proper nouns.
  • Italicize the titles of books
  • Do not italicize titles of book chapters or essays, poems, and short stories that are part of a larger book publication 
  • Use (Ed.) for one editor
  • Use (Eds.) for multiple editors 

How to Cite a Book in APA Style | Format & Examples

Published on November 14, 2019 by Jack Caulfield. Revised on July 4, 2022.

This article reflects the APA 7th edition guidelines. Click here for APA 6th edition guidelines.

A book citation in APA Style always includes the author’s name, the publication year, the book title, and the publisher. Use the interactive tool to see examples.

Generate accurate APA citations with Scribbr
Note that the format is slightly different for reference books such as dictionaries and encyclopedias, and for scriptural works like the Bible.

Basic book citation format

The in-text citation for a book includes the author’s last name, the year, and (if relevant) a page number.

In the reference list, start with the author’s last name and initials, followed by the year. The book title is written in sentence case (only capitalize the first word and any proper nouns). Include any other contributors (e.g. editors and translators) and the edition if specified (e.g. “2nd ed.”).

APA formatLast name, Initials. (Year). Book title (Editor/translator initials, Last name, Ed. or Trans.) (Edition). Publisher.
APA reference entryAnderson, B. (1983). Imagined communities: Reflections on the origins and spread of nationalism. Verso.
APA in-text citation(Anderson, 1983, p. 23)

Ebooks and online books

A citation of an ebook (i.e. a book accessed on an e-reader) or a book viewed online (e.g. on Google Books or in PDF form) includes the DOI where available. If there is no DOI, link to the page where you viewed the book, or where the ebook can be purchased or accessed.

Since ebooks sometimes do not include page numbers, APA recommends using other methods of identifying a specific passage in your in-text citations—for example, a chapter or section title, or a paragraph number.

APA formatLast name, Initials. (Year). Book title. Publisher. URL or DOI
APA reference entryBurns, A. (2018). Milkman. Faber & Faber. https://amzn.to/2ObKrVf
APA in-text citation(Burns, 2018, para. 15)

Citing a chapter from an edited book

When citing a particular chapter from a book containing texts by various authors (e.g. a collection of essays), begin the citation with the author of the chapter and mention the book’s editor(s) later in the reference. A page range identifies the chapter’s location in the book.

APA formatLast name, Initials. (Year). Title of chapter. In Editor initials. Last name (Ed. or Eds.), Book title (pp. page range). Publisher. DOI if available
APA reference entryBelsey, C. (2006). Poststructuralism. In S. Malpas & P. Wake (Eds.), The Routledge companion to critical theory (pp. 51–61). Routledge.
APA in-text citation(Belsey, 2006, p. 55).

Multivolume books

Some books come in multiple volumes. You may want to cite the entire book if you’ve used multiple volumes, or just a single volume if that was all you used.

Citing a single volume

When citing from one volume of a multivolume book, the format varies slightly depending on whether each volume has a title or just a number.

If the volume has a specific title, this should be written as part of the title in your reference list entry.

Eliot, T. S. (2015). The poems of T. S. Eliot: Vol. 1. Collected and uncollected poems (C. Ricks & J. McCue, Eds.). Faber & Faber.

If the volume is only numbered, not titled, the volume number is not italicized and appears in parentheses after the title.

Dylan, B. (2005). Chronicles (Vol. 1). Simon & Schuster.

Citing a multivolume book as a whole

When citing the whole book, mention the volumes in parentheses after the title. Individual volume titles are not included even if they do exist.

Eliot, T. S. (2015). The poems of T. S. Eliot (Vols. 1–2) (C. Ricks & J. McCue, Eds.). Faber & Faber.

Where to find the information for an APA book citation

All the information you need to cite a book can usually be found on the title and copyright pages.

How to apa cite a chapter in a book

The APA reference list entry for the book above would look like this:

Butler, C. (2002). Postmodernism: A very short introduction. Oxford University Press.

Frequently asked questions about APA Style citations

When should I cite a chapter instead of the whole book?

When a book’s chapters are written by different authors, you should cite the specific chapter you are referring to.

When all the chapters are written by the same author (or group of authors), you should usually cite the entire book, but some styles include exceptions to this.

  • In APA Style, single-author books should always be cited as a whole, even if you only quote or paraphrase from one chapter.
  • In MLA Style, if a single-author book is a collection of stand-alone works (e.g. short stories), you should cite the individual work.
  • In Chicago Style, you may choose to cite a single chapter of a single-author book if you feel it is more appropriate than citing the whole book.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Caulfield, J. (2022, July 04). How to Cite a Book in APA Style | Format & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved November 9, 2022, from https://www.scribbr.com/apa-examples/book/

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How do you cite a chapter in a book in APA in text?

Article or Chapter in an Edited Book.
General Format..
In-Text Citation (Paraphrase):.
(Author Surname [of Chapter or Article], Year).
In-Text Citation (Quotation):.
(Author Surname [of Chapter or Article], Year, page number).
References (Quotation):.
Author Surname [of Chapter or Article], First Initial. ... .
or chapter title..

How do you cite a chapter in a book in APA 7th edition?

The author(s) of the chapter.
The author(s) of the chapter..
The date of publication of the book..
The title of the chapter..
The editor(s) of the book..
The title of the book..
The page numbers for the chapter (complete range - e.g., 25-39).
The name of the publishers..
If it is an electronic book, you will need a URL or a DOI..

How do I cite a chapter from a book?

Chapter Author Last Name, Chapter Author First Name. Year. "Title of Chapter: Subtitle of Chapter." In Title of Book: Subtitle of Book, edited by Editor First Name Editor Last Name, startingpage-endingpage. Place of publication: Publisher.

How do you cite a chapter in a book APA 8?

Example Format for Chapter in Edited Book One Editor Title of chapter. In A. A. Editor (Ed.), Title of book (pp. chapter pages). Publisher.