How to Cite a Book in APA Style
Basic Format
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of book. Publisher.
Examples
Single Author
Fitzgerald, F. S. (1925). The Great Gatsby. Scribner.
Multiple Authors
Smith, J., & Doe, J. (2020). Research methods in literature. Academic Press.
Edited Book
Johnson, M. (Ed.). (2019). Contemporary American poetry. Norton.
E-book
Brown, D. (2021). Digital literature. Tech Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1234/example
In-Text Citations
For in-text citations, use the author's last name and publication year:
(Fitzgerald, 1925)
According to Fitzgerald (1925)...
Key Points
- Italicize book titles
- Use sentence case for book titles (capitalize only first word and proper nouns)
- Include DOI for e-books when available
- Use "&" between authors in reference list
- For multiple authors, list all authors up to 20
Need to Create an APA Book Citation?
Use our free citation generator to automatically format your book citations in APA style.
Generate APA CitationHow to Cite a Book in APA Style
Basic Format
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of book. Publisher.
Examples
Single Author
Fitzgerald, F. S. (1925). The Great Gatsby. Scribner.
Multiple Authors
Smith, J., & Doe, J. (2020). Research methods in literature. Academic Press.
Edited Book
Johnson, M. (Ed.). (2019). Contemporary American poetry. Norton.
E-book
Brown, D. (2021). Digital literature. Tech Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1234/example
In-Text Citations
For in-text citations, use the author's last name and publication year:
(Fitzgerald, 1925)
According to Fitzgerald (1925)...
Key Points
- Italicize book titles
- Use sentence case for book titles (capitalize only first word and proper nouns)
- Include DOI for e-books when available
- Use "&" between authors in reference list
- For multiple authors, list all authors up to 20
Need to Create an APA Book Citation?
Use our free citation generator to automatically format your book citations in APA style.
Generate APA Citation