- Apa Book Citation 6th Edition
- Apa Format 6th Edition Example
- Apa Format 6th Edition Chapter In A Books
- Apa Format 6th Edition Chapter In A Book
- Apa Format 6th Edition Chapter In A Book 2
Do you need to reference a book for your psychology or other social science paper? Then you will need to know how to use APA format, which is the official style of the American Psychological Association and is used in most types of science and social science writing.
Summary — Citing Updated 6/ 2011 – Rich Lewis *Examples are from the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6 th Ed. APA Format Broken Down: Use this format if you are using 1 chapter out of a book that has many chapters, and each chapter is written by a different author. If each chapter is written by the same author, just cite the entire book. Parts of the APA Citation Explanation Author’s Last name, First initial. Middle initial. Example: Hager, R. Information on citing and several of the examples were drawn from the APA Manual (6th ed.). Numbers in parentheses refer to specific pages in the manual.
Before you create a reference page for your papers, essays, articles, or reports, it is important to learn how to format your references in proper APA style. This style dictates certain rules and guidelines for different types of references, including books.
There are also a number of different situations that affect how you will write your references such as whether the book has more than one author and whether it involves a chapter in an edited book. The following examples and guidelines can help you prepare book references in proper APA format.
Basic Structure of APA Formatted Book References
First, let's start by looking at the standard APA format for writing a book reference. The basic structure of a book reference should list the author's last name, first initials, publication year, book title, location, and publisher.
Your reference should appear as follows:
Author, I. N. (Year). Title of book. Location: Publisher.
For example:

Rogers, C. R. (1961). On becoming a person. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
This basic format can be used for many types of book references that have a single author or multiple authors. However, you may need to use one of the following formats for books that are edited, have no author, translated, or requires some specialized formatting.

Edited Book With One or More Authors
How should you reference a book that is an edited edition with a single or several editors? Edited books with one or more authors should follow the basic structure of a book reference and include the initials, last name, and 'Ed.' in parentheses after the book title.
For example:
Adler, A. (1956). The individual psychology of Alfred Adler: A systematic presentation of selections from his writings. H. L. Ansbacher & R. R. Ansbacher (Eds.). New York: Basic Books.
Edited Book With No Author
Edited books with no author should list the last name and first initials of the editor or editors, followed by 'Ed.' or 'Eds.' in parentheses. The remainder of the reference should follow the basic structure and include the publication year, book title in italics, location, and publisher.
For example:
Atkinson, J. W. & Rayner, J. O. (Eds.). (1974). Motivation and achievement. Washington, DC: V. H. Winston.

Article Featured in an Edited Book
Apa Book Citation 6th Edition
Sometimes books feature a collection of articles written by different authors in an edited book. Articles by individual authors that appear in such works should list the last name and first initial of the author, followed by the publication date, and book title. Next, the editors should be noted followed by the location and publisher.
For example:
Bartol, C. R., & Bartol, A. M. (2005). History of forensic psychology. In I. B. Weiner & A. K. Hess (Eds.), The Handbook of Forensic Psychology (pp.1-27). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Translated Books
Many of psychology's most famous texts were originally written in another language and then translated into English. Books translated from another language should include the last name and first initial of the author, followed by the year of publication and book title. The first initials and last name of the translator and the notation 'Trans.' should then be included in parentheses. Next provide the location, publisher, and a note of the original date of publication.
For example:
Freud, S. (1914). The psychopathology of everyday life. (A. A. Brill, Trans.). London: T. Fisher Unwin. (Original work published 1901).
More Tips for Book References in APA Format
- Remember that your reference page needs to be double-spaced.
- The first line of each reference should be flush left with the margin of the page. Each subsequent line of your reference should be indented.
- If a digital object identifier (DOI) is available, include it at the end of the reference.
- If a book has been accessed via an online database, follow the basic APA format and include the URL at the end.
- Be sure you are following the other guidelines for your reference page.
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Reference List: Books
Summary:
APA (American Psychological Association) style is most commonly used to cite sources within the social sciences. This resource, revised according to the 6th edition, second printing of the APA manual, offers examples for the general format of APA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the reference page. For more information, please consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, (6th ed., 2nd printing).
Basic Format for Books
Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Location: Publisher.
Note: For 'Location,' you should always list the city and the state using the two letter postal abbreviation without periods (New York, NY).
Calfee, R. C., & Valencia, R. R. (1991). APA guide to preparing manuscripts for journal publication. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Edited Book, No Author
Duncan, G. J., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (Eds.). (1997). Consequences of growing up poor. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.
Edited Book with an Author or Authors
Plath, S. (2000). The unabridged journals. K. V. Kukil (Ed.). New York, NY: Anchor.
A Translation
Laplace, P. S. (1951). A philosophical essay on probabilities (F. W. Truscott & F. L. Emory, Trans.). New York, NY: Dover. (Original work published 1814)
Note: When you cite a republished work, like the one above, in your text, it should appear with both dates: Laplace (1814/1951).
Apa Format 6th Edition Example
Edition Other Than the First
Helfer, M. E., Kempe, R. S., & Krugman, R. D. (1997). The battered child (5th ed.). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Article or Chapter in an Edited Book
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year of publication). Title of chapter. In A. A. Editor & B. B. Editor (Eds.), Title of book (pages of chapter). Location: Publisher.
Apa Format 6th Edition Chapter In A Books
Note: When you list the pages of the chapter or essay in parentheses after the book title, use 'pp.' before the numbers: (pp. 1-21). This abbreviation, however, does not appear before the page numbers in periodical references, except for newspapers. List any edition number in the same set of parentheses as the page numbers, separated by a comma: (2nd ed., pp. 66-72).
O'Neil, J. M., & Egan, J. (1992). Men's and women's gender role journeys: A metaphor for healing, transition, and transformation. In B. R. Wainrib (Ed.), Gender issues across the life cycle (pp. 107-123). New York, NY: Springer.
Multivolume Work
Apa Format 6th Edition Chapter In A Book
Wiener, P. (Ed.). (1973). Dictionary of the history of ideas (Vols. 1-4). New York, NY: Scribner's.