How to Cite a Book in APA 7th Edition

Reference / Bibliography

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

In-text citation

(Kahneman, 2011)

Source breakdown

author

Kahneman, D.

title

Thinking, fast and slow

publisher

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

year

2011

Title case instead of sentence case

APA 7 requires sentence case for titles (only capitalize first word and proper nouns). Title case is a common error from other styles.

Including publisher location

APA 7 no longer requires the publisher location. This changed from APA 6, so older guides may show the incorrect format.

Missing DOI when available

If a DOI is available (even for print books), include it at the end of the reference. Many books now have DOIs.

How do I cite a book in APA 7th edition?

To cite a book in APA 7, use this format: Author, A. A. (Year). Title of work: Subtitle. Publisher. DOI or URL. Write the author's last name first, followed by initials. The year goes in parentheses. Italicize the book title and use sentence case (only capitalize the first word, words after a colon, and proper nouns). Include the publisher name but not the location — APA 7 dropped the publisher city requirement that APA 6 had. If the book has a DOI, include it as a URL at the end (e.g., https://doi.org/10.xxxx). For ebooks accessed online without a DOI, include the URL. For print books with no DOI, end with the publisher name and a period.

How do I cite a book with multiple authors in APA?

For 2 to 20 authors, list every author separated by commas, with an ampersand (&) before the last name: Smith, J., Johnson, M., & Williams, R. (2024). Title. Publisher. For 21 or more authors, list the first 19, insert an ellipsis (...), and then add the final author's name. In-text citations use "et al." after the first author for works with 3 or more authors: (Smith et al., 2024). For two authors, always name both: (Smith & Johnson, 2024). This applies from the first citation onward — APA 7 simplified the rule from APA 6, which required listing all authors on the first mention.

How do I cite an edited book or a chapter from an edited book?

For the entire edited book, put (Ed.) or (Eds.) after the editor name(s): Smith, J. (Ed.). (2024). Title of book. Publisher. For a specific chapter within an edited book, cite the chapter author first: Johnson, M. (2024). Chapter title. In J. Smith (Ed.), Title of book (pp. 45–67). Publisher. DOI. Note that "In" is capitalized and the editor's name uses first initial then last name (not inverted). Include the page range for the chapter in parentheses after the book title.