Free APA Book Citation Generator
Generate accurate APA citations for books, ebooks, edited volumes, and book chapters. Search by title, author, or ISBN for instant formatting.
The American Psychological Association (APA) style is one of the most widely used citation formats in the social sciences, education, and business. The 7th edition, published in 2019, introduced several changes to book citations including the removal of publisher location and updated rules for author lists of up to 20 contributors. Whether you are writing a research paper, thesis, or coursework assignment, correctly formatted book references are essential for academic credibility.
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APA Book Citation Format
Every APA book reference follows a consistent pattern: author, date, title, and source (publisher). The author's last name comes first, followed by initials. The publication year appears in parentheses, and the book title is set in italics with sentence-case capitalization. Below is the standard template along with the key formatting rules you need to follow.
Basic Format:
Author Names:
Last name, First initial. Middle initial.
Title Formatting:
Italicized, sentence case capitalization
APA Book Citation Examples
The following examples show how to format APA book references for the most common scenarios you will encounter. Each entry includes both the full reference list entry and the corresponding parenthetical in-text citation. Pay close attention to punctuation, italicization, and the placement of the ampersand in multi-author works.
Book with One Author
In-text: (Williams, 2023)
Book with Two Authors
In-text: (Smith & Johnson, 2024)
Edited Book
In-text: (Thompson, 2023)
Book Chapter
In-text: (Garcia, 2024)
Ebook with DOI
In-text: (Brown, 2023)
Citing Books with Multiple Authors
2 Authors
Reference list:
In-text:
3+ Authors
Reference list: List all authors
In-text: First author + et al.
Common APA Book Citation Mistakes to Avoid
Even experienced writers make formatting errors in APA book references. Here are the most frequent mistakes and how to fix them.
- Using title case instead of sentence case. APA requires sentence-case capitalization for book titles, meaning only the first word, the first word after a colon, and proper nouns are capitalized. A common error is writing "The Art Of Academic Writing" instead of "The art of academic writing."
- Including publisher location. APA 7th edition no longer requires the city or state of the publisher. If you are following older guides or 6th edition templates, remove the location from your references.
- Forgetting the period after the publisher name. The publisher name should be followed by a period, which is the final punctuation of the entry (unless a DOI or URL follows). Omitting it is a small but frequent oversight.
- Incorrect use of "et al." in references. In the reference list, you must list all authors up to 20. The "et al." abbreviation is only used in in-text citations for works with three or more authors, not in the reference list itself.
- Omitting the DOI for ebooks. When a DOI is available for an ebook, it should always be included at the end of the reference. DOIs provide a stable link to the source and are preferred over URLs.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I cite a book with one author in APA?
Use the format: Author, A. A. (Year). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Publisher. For example: Smith, J. D. (2024). The art of writing. Academic Press. Note that the book title is italicized and written in sentence case, meaning only the first word and proper nouns are capitalized. The period after the publisher name is the final punctuation mark in the entry.
How do I cite a book with multiple authors in APA?
List up to 20 authors separated by commas, with an ampersand (&) before the last author. For 21+ authors, list the first 19, then an ellipsis (...), then the last author. In-text citations for works with three or more authors are shortened to the first author followed by "et al." from the very first citation onward, which is a change introduced in the 7th edition.
How do I cite an edited book in APA?
For edited books, include (Ed.) for a single editor or (Eds.) for multiple editors after the editor names, followed by a period and then the year in parentheses. For example: Smith, J. D. (Ed.). (2024). Collected essays on writing. Academic Press. If you are citing a chapter within the edited book rather than the book as a whole, the editor information appears after the word "In" in the middle of the reference entry.
How do I cite a book chapter in APA?
Include the chapter author, year, chapter title (not italicized), the word "In" followed by the editor(s) with initials before surname, the book title in italics, the page range in parentheses, and the publisher. For example: Jones, M. (2024). Chapter title. In J. Smith (Ed.), Book title (pp. 50-75). Publisher. The key difference from citing a whole book is that the chapter title uses sentence case without italics, while the book title remains italicized.
How do I cite an ebook in APA?
Cite ebooks the same as print books but include the DOI or URL at the end if one is available. Do not include the name of the database if you accessed the book through an academic library database such as EBSCO or ProQuest. The format label (e.g., Kindle) is only required for audiobooks; standard ebooks do not need a format specification in APA 7th edition.
Do I need to include the publisher location in APA 7th edition?
No. APA 7th edition removed the requirement to include the publisher location (city and state or country) in book references. This is a notable change from APA 6th edition, where the location was required. Simply list the publisher name after the book title and any edition or volume information.
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