Mistakes Checklist
Common APA Book Citation Mistakes
Published studies report citation/reference error rates between 25-54%. Use this page to catch the most frequent formatting failures before submission.
Top mistakes to avoid
- ⚠Using title case instead of sentence case
- ⚠Including publisher location (not required in APA 7)
- ⚠Forgetting to italicize the title
- ⚠Omitting the DOI when available
Wrong vs correct examples
Title case instead of sentence case
Wrong
Kahneman, D. (2011). *Thinking, Fast And Slow*. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Correct
Kahneman, D. (2011). *Thinking, fast and slow*. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
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
Wrong
Kahneman, D. (2011). *Thinking, fast and slow*. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Correct
Kahneman, D. (2011). *Thinking, fast and slow*. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
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
Wrong
Newport, C. (2016). *Deep work*. Grand Central Publishing.
Correct
Newport, C. (2016). *Deep work*. Grand Central Publishing. https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx
If a DOI is available (even for print books), include it at the end of the reference. Many books now have DOIs.
Mistake frequency snapshot
Fix checklist
- ✓Italicize the book title
- ✓Use sentence case for the title (only first word capitalized)
- ✓Include DOI if available, even for print books
- ✓Do not include publisher location (changed in APA 7)
Frequently asked questions
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.
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