Citation Guide

How to Cite a Book

Learn how to cite books in every major citation style. Compare APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, IEEE, Vancouver, and ABNT formats with real examples.

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Compare formats across styles

APA7th Edition

Template

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of work: Subtitle. Publisher. DOI or URL

Example

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

In-Text

(Kahneman, 2011)
MLA9th Edition

Template

Author. Title of Book. Publisher, Year.

Example

Gladwell, Malcolm. Outliers: The Story of Success. Little, Brown and Company, 2008.

In-Text

(Gladwell 45)
Chicago17th Edition

Template

Last, First. Title of Book. Place: Publisher, Year.

Example

Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. 9th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2018.

In-Text

(Turabian 2018, 45)
HarvardStandard

Template

Author, A.A. (Year) Title of book. Edition. Place: Publisher.

Example

Cottrell, S. (2019) The study skills handbook. 5th edn. London: Red Globe Press.

In-Text

(Cottrell, 2019)

Template

[#] A. Author, Title of Book, ed. City, State/Country: Publisher, Year.

Example

[1] A. V. Oppenheim and R. W. Schafer, Discrete-Time Signal Processing, 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ, USA: Pearson, 2010.

In-Text

[1]
VancouverStandard

Template

Author AA. Title of book. Edition. Place: Publisher; Year.

Example

Kumar V, Abbas AK, Aster JC. Robbins and Cotran pathologic basis of disease. 10th ed. Philadelphia: Elsevier; 2021.

In-Text

(1)
ABNTNBR 6023:2025

Template

SOBRENOME, Nome. Título do livro: subtítulo. Edição. Local: Editora, ano.

Example

GIL, Antonio Carlos. Como elaborar projetos de pesquisa. 6. ed. São Paulo: Atlas, 2017.

In-Text

(GIL, 2017)

Tips for citing a book

  • 1Always italicize (or bold for ABNT) the book title.
  • 2Include the edition number if it is not the first edition.
  • 3Some styles require the publisher location, others do not.
  • 4Include a DOI if the book has one, even for print copies.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to include the publisher location?

It depends on the style. APA 7 and MLA 9 dropped this requirement. Chicago, Harvard, Vancouver, IEEE, and ABNT still require it.

How do I cite a book with multiple authors?

Each style has its own rules for how many authors to list and how to format them. APA lists up to 20; MLA uses "and" between two authors; Vancouver lists up to 6 then "et al."

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