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.

Template + Example

APA Book Citation Template

Complete guide to citing books in APA format. Learn proper formatting for authors, titles, publishers, and DOIs in APA 7th edition.

Copy-ready template

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

Filled example

Reference

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

In-text citation

(Kahneman, 2011)

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Field mapping

author: Kahneman, D.
title: Thinking, fast and slow
publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
year: 2011

Common mistakes

⚠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

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