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Updated . Example details checked against Scribner catalog, ISBN 9781501144318.
The APA format
Pattern
Last name, A. A. (Year). Title of book: Subtitle in sentence case (2nd ed.). Publisher. https://doi.org/xx
- Title in italics and sentence case, with a capital after the colon.
- Edition in parentheses straight after the title, not italic: (2nd ed.).
- Publisher without location (APA 7 dropped it). If the author is also the publisher, leave the publisher out.
- DOI at the end if the book has one; most print books do not.
A real example
Reference entry
Walker, M. (2017). Why we sleep: Unlocking the power of sleep and dreams. Scribner.
In-text citation
(Walker, 2017, p. 112)
When details are missing
- Editors instead of an author: Last name, A. A. (Ed.). (Year). Title.
- No date: (n.d.).
- A republished classic: add the original year: (Original work published 1818), and cite (Shelley, 1818/2003).
A second edition
Reference entry
Walker, M. (2017). Why we sleep: Unlocking the power of sleep and dreams (2nd ed.). Scribner.
In-text citation
(Walker, 2017, p. 112)
Common mistakes
- Title case for the book title. APA uses sentence case: Why we sleep: Unlocking the power of sleep and dreams.
- A city before the publisher. APA 7 leaves out the place.
- No page in a quotation. Direct quotations always take a page: (Walker, 2017, p. 112).
Or let Format do it.
Type or paste the ISBN and Format fetches the author, title, publisher and year from Open Library. Format writes the References entry and the in-text citation in APA 7, exactly as shown above, and builds the References page when you export to Word or PDF. MLA and APA are free.
Questions
How do I cite an e-book?
The same way as print. APA 7 does not ask for the format or the e-reader.
What if the e-book has no page numbers?
Use a chapter or section and a paragraph: (Walker, 2017, Chapter 3, para. 2).
More citation guides
The same source in other styles
Similar sources in APA
Every source kind is on the APA page, and every style is on How to cite.