how to cite a book in apa format

To cite a book in APA format (7th edition), you need two things: an in-text citation and a reference list entry. Here’s a quick, practical guide you can copy and adapt.

Basic APA book format (7th ed.)

Reference list entry (book):

Author last name, Initials. (Year). Book title: Subtitle. Publisher.

Example:

Moriarty, L. (2014). Big little lies. G. P. Putnam’s Sons.

Key points for the reference:

• Author: Last name first, then initials (e.g., Smith, J. K.).

• Year: Year in parentheses, followed by a period (e.g., (2020).).

• Title: In italics, sentence case (only first word and proper nouns capitalized).

• Publisher: Just the main name (omit “Co.”, “Inc.”, “Publishers”).

In-text citation (book):

• Paraphrase: (Author, Year) → (Moriarty, 2014).

• Direct quote: (Author, Year, p. X) → (Moriarty, 2014, p. 23).

Mini cheat-sheet for common book types

1. Single‑author book

Reference list

Author last name, Initials. (Year). Book title: Subtitle. Publisher.

Example:

Anderson, B. (1983). Imagined communities: Reflections on the origins and spread of nationalism. Verso.

In-text

• Paraphrase: (Anderson, 1983).

• Quote: (Anderson, 1983, p. 23).

2. Two or more authors

Reference list

Author last name, Initials., & Author last name, Initials. (Year). Book title. Publisher.

Example:

Goldin, C. D., & Katz, L. F. (2008). The race between education and technology. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

In-text

• First and every time (for 2 authors): (Goldin & Katz, 2008).

• For 3 or more authors: use first author + “et al.” → (Smith et al., 2021).

3. E‑books and online books

If the book has a DOI or stable URL, add it at the end. Reference list

Author last name, Initials. (Year). Book title. Publisher. URL or DOI

Example:

Burns, A. (2018). Milkman. Faber & Faber. [https://amzn.to/2ObKrVf1]

In-text (no page numbers) If there are no page numbers, use another locator:

• (Burns, 2018, para. 15)
• (Burns, 2018, Chapter 3)

4. Chapter in an edited book

Use this when you’re citing a specific chapter written by one author in a book edited by someone else. Reference list

Author last name, Initials. (Year). Title of chapter. In Editor initials. Last name (Ed. or Eds.), Book title: Subtitle (pp. xx–xx). Publisher.

Example:

Nussbaum, M. C. (2020). Legal reasoning. In J. Tasioulas (Ed.), The Cambridge companion to the philosophy of law (pp. 59–77). Cambridge University Press.

In-text

• (Nussbaum, 2020, p. 65).

Tiny storytelling “recipe” to remember it

Imagine you’re building a label for your source:

1. You start with who wrote it (author).
2. Then you stamp when it came out (year).
3. Next, you write the name of the story (title in italics, sentence case).
4. Finally, you add who printed it (publisher), and sometimes where online (DOI/URL).

If you keep that order in mind—Who, When, What, Where —you can reconstruct almost any APA book reference.

Quick HTML table you can reuse

Because you asked for structured, SEO‑friendly content, here’s an HTML table snippet you can drop into a blog or notes:

html

<table>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Type</th>
      <th>Reference list format (APA 7th)</th>
      <th>In-text example</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Single-author book</td>
      <td>Author, A. A. (Year). <i>Book title: Subtitle</i>. Publisher.</td>
      <td>(Author, Year)</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Two authors</td>
      <td>Author, A. A., &amp; Author, B. B. (Year). <i>Book title</i>. Publisher.</td>
      <td>(Author &amp; Author, Year)</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>3+ authors</td>
      <td>Author, A. A., Author, B. B., &amp; Author, C. C. (Year). <i>Book title</i>. Publisher.</td>
      <td>(Author et al., Year)</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>E-book/online book</td>
      <td>Author, A. A. (Year). <i>Book title</i>. Publisher. DOI or URL</td>
      <td>(Author, Year, para. X) if no pages</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Chapter in edited book</td>
      <td>Author, A. A. (Year). Title of chapter. In E. E. Editor (Ed.), <i>Book title: Subtitle</i> (pp. xx–xx). Publisher.</td>
      <td>(Author, Year, p. X)</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

If your teacher says “APA 7th, book only”

You’re usually safe if you:

1. Put the book in the reference list like this:
   • Last name, Initials. (Year). Title in italics, sentence case. Publisher.

2. Use (Last name, Year) in the text when you paraphrase.
3. Use (Last name, Year, p. X) when you quote.

TL;DR

• Reference list: Author. (Year).Title. Publisher.

• In-text: (Author, Year) or (Author, Year, p. X).
• For e‑books, add a DOI or URL; for chapters, include the editor and page range.

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