Author Names
Book Titles
Edition
Place of Publication
Publisher
Layout and Spacing
In your research you will often encounter publications that refer to another researcher's work. This source within a source is known as a 'secondary source' and is referenced in a particular way.
Where possible, you should try to obtain the original work being referenced and read through the research to form your own opinions.
Often, however, it is impossible to obtain the original publication - it may be published in another language, or in a book or journal which is difficult to access.
In these circumstances, you are permitted to include a citation to the secondary source.
For more information on how to reference these resources see the page on Secondary sources.
Some books will not have an author or editor listed.
Note that books with editors should not follow the pattern below - see the tab for Edited books for how to reference these.
The general format of a reference to a print book with no author is:
Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary (11th ed.). (2005). Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster.
The title needs to be italicised
The description was broadened to include hand-held devices (Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 2005)...
See Also the Missing Elements in Your Reference? page if your entry lacks other elements.
The general format for a reference to a print book with 1 author is:
Examples:
In-text
(Author's surname, Year)
Australian education providers will need to address a number of challenges to ensure standards of special education are fully supporting students with special needs and their families (Dempsey, 2012).
Direct Quotations
(Author's surname, Year, p. xxx)
“These films absorb, through a collage of images, traces of the Italian inheritance of neo-realist cinema” (Acciari, 2014, p. 14).
NOTE: Use "p" when quoting from one page - for example (Acciari, 2014, p. 14), and "pp" when quoting from more than one page - for example (Wessel, 2015, pp.53-54).
The general format of a reference to a print book with 2 authors is:
Examples:
Every time you paraphrase, or use an idea from another source you must include an in-text citation to that source.
If the source has 2 authors the general format for each in-text citation to that source is:
(1st Author's surname & 2nd Authors's surname, Year)
...new technologies need to be evaluated before large scale investment is made by organisations (Marra & Edmond, 2014).
Direct Quotations
If you include a direct quote, that is word-for-word from another source which has 2 authors, the general format of the in-text citation appears;
(1st Author's surname & 2nd Authors's surname, Year, p.xxx)
..."the convergence of media means that the dichotomy between old and new media economies is hard to maintain" (Gorton & Garde-Hansen, 2013, p. 298).
NOTE: Use "p"when quoting from one page - for example (Smith & Brown, 2010, p. 110), and "pp" when quoting from more than one page - for example (Smith & Brown, 2010, pp. 134-135).
The general format of a reference list entry for a print book with 3-7 authors is to list all authors as shown below:
Examples:
First Citation to a Source
If the source has 3-5 authors include all authors names within the in-text citation the first time the source is cited, in the format:
(1st Author's surname, 2nd Author's surname, 3rd Author's surname, 4th Author's surname, & 5th Author's surname, Year)
Example:
... as described in a case series on manual therapy and exercise treatment for patients with hip osteoarthritis (McDonald, Whitman, Cleland, Smith, & Hoeksma, 2006).
Second and Subsequent Citations to a Source
In subsequent in-text citations, include just the first author's surname followed by et al.:
(1st Author's surname et al., Year)
Example:
... techniques including visual observations during ambulation on a flat surface (McDonald et al., 2014).
If a source has 6 or more authors, all in-text citations must include the first author's surname followed by et al.:
(1st Author's surname et al., Year)
Examples:
... comparison and sampling based on the grounded theory model formed the basis for data analysis (Endacott et al., 2014).
Direct Quotations
If you include a direct quote, that is word-for-word from another source which has 3-5 authors, the general format of the in-text citation appears;
... "NS-RPLND has been suggested as an alternative for patients reluctant to receive chemotherapy or undergo regular surveillance, the latter being psychologically stressful" (Kopp et al., 2006, p. 646).
Jorm et al. argue "the key areas for action are prevention and early intervention with first-onset disorders" (2006, p. 4)
Looking for Kozier and Erb's Fundamentals of Nursing (Australian edition)? Don't reference the whole book - reference the individual chapters using the authors listed on each one - see this page for more information. |
The general format of a reference to a print book with 8 or more authors is shown below. The citation should list the first 6 authors, then have an ellipsis (...) and then provide the final author:
Reference list examples:
Every time you paraphrase, or use an idea from another source you must include an in-text citation to that source. This is the general format for a source that has 6 or more authors:
(1st author's surname et al., Year)
Example:
... comparison and sampling based on the grounded theory model formed the basis for data analysis (Endacott et al., 2004)
If you include a direct quote, that is word-for-word from another source which has 6 or more authors, the general format of the in-text citation appears as:
(1st author's surname et al., Year, p. XX)
Example:
... "NS-RPLND has been suggested as an alternative for patients reluctant to receive chemotherapy or undergo regular surveillance, the latter being psychologically stressful" (Kopp et al., 2011, p. 646).
NOTE: Use "p" when quoting from one page - for example (Jorm et al., 2013, p. 4), and "pp" when quoting from more than one page - for example (Jorm et al., 2013, p. 21-22).
'Corporate authors' are groups, societies or organisations who have written publications. This includes universities, research groups, museums, government departments, professional associations, and so on.
The general format of a reference to a print book by a corporate author is:
Reference list examples:
NOTE: When the author is also the publisher it is permitted to use Author to indicate the publisher.
In-text citations:
If the source is a corporate author (eg. a university, association, or government department) include the corporate author's name within the in-text citation, plus the year of publication, in the format:
(Corporate Author, Year)
Example:
... thousands of teachers, principals, early childhood workers and academics have graduated and gone on to make their mark in and out of the classroom in communities (University of Newcastle, 2009).
If an author's name is known by a common acronym (eg. ABS for Australian Bureau of Statistics, AIHW for Australian Institute for Health and Welfare), include the full name, plus the acronym in the first in-text citation, in the format:
(Corporate Author (CA), Year)
Example:
"Over half of people aged 15 years and older (56%) considered their overall health to be very good or excellent, and 29% stated that their health was good" (Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 2009, p. 3).
In subsequent references, include just the acronym:
(CA, Year)
Example:
... 19% of people aged 18 years and over (19%) were current daily smokers (ABS, 2009).
Edited books contain chapters written by different authors. In most cases you would actually want to reference the individual chapters you use from the edited book, not the edited book itself. See the Book chapters page for more information.
The general form of reference for a printed book:
Edited Book: 1 Editor
Edited Book: 2 Editors
Edited Book: 3-7 Editors
Edited Book: 8+ Editors
The general format of a reference to a book chapter with no publication date is:
Reference list example:
Please note: When dealing with “no date” references, simply follow the same “nothing precedes something” guidance that the APA Publication Manual gives regarding alphabetising author surnames in the reference list (see p. 181). Using this guideline, “no date” references should always precede references with “some date.” Also remember that “no date” is abbreviated as “n.d.” in both the reference list and the in-text citations
Below is an example that show the correct way to alphabetise these types of references in the reference list:
Taylor, H., Carter, N., & Beckett, S. (n.d.).
Taylor, H., Carter, N., & Beckett, S. (2010).
University of Newcastle. (n.d.).
University of Newcastle. (2012).
If no publication date is available, after the name of the author substitute ‘n.d.’ (no date) for the year.
Example:
Peterson's study (n.d.) showed that pictures of kittens on Facebook are popular.
See Also the Missing Elements in Your Reference? page if your entry lacks other elements.
eBooks follow the same author formatting patterns as those of physical books, the difference being that the physical publication information is removed to show the electronic access.
In the case of ebooks with a DOI the publication section of the citation is replaced by "doi:" and then the ebook's DOI, as shown below:
If a DOI cannot be found, then the URL of the book is included. However, it is preferable to include a DOI rather than a URL in a reference. Check the What are DOIs? page for more information.
Reference list examples:
eBooks follow the same author formatting patterns as those of physical books, the difference being that the physical publication information is removed to show the electronic access. In the case of ebooks with a URL (i.e. without a DOI) the publication section of the citation is replaced by a retrieval statement, as shown below:
Many eBooks are published as a downloadable file for readers to view in one or more electronic devices or e-readers such as Kindle, Nook or iBooks.
Citing eBooks read via an eBook reader follows the similar formatting patterns as those of other eBooks, but add the of e-book version after the book title in square brackets, e.g. [Kindle DX version]. Include the DOI if it is available. For eBooks without a DOI, include the location where the e-book was downloaded, e.g. 'Retrieved from Amazon.com'.
The in-text citations follow the same pattern as for other eBooks. To cite direct quotations from eBooks without fixed pages, you may use the chapter, section, paragraph or other number as a locator, e.g. (Smith, 2019, chap. 3, para. 4).
For more information, see How Do I Cite a Kindle? from the APA Style Blog
Hiscock, H., & Sciberras, E. (Eds.). (2019). Sleep and ADHD: An evidence-based guide to assessment and treatment [Kindle version]. Retrieved from Amazon.com
Schiraldi, G. R. (2001). The post-traumatic stress disorder sourcebook: A guide to healing, recovery, and growth [Adobe Digital Editions version]. doi:10.1036/0071393722
Yao, M., Zhou, A., & Jia, M. (2018). Applied artificial intelligence: A handbook for business leaders [Kindle DX version]. Retrieved from Amazon.com
Translated texts are republished works that have been translated from another original language. They can include ancient texts and modern works.
When you have an original publication date:
The general format for a reference to a translated book where the original translation date is known;
Example
Your in-text citation should appear with; (Author surname, year originally published/year of translation)
Example
Translated Foreign Works
To cite an original foreign edition of a work you can insert additional information to assist your reader to locate the source you used.
Example
Translated Ancient Texts
In-text
For ancient texts (e.g. The Bible, the Qur'an, Aristotle, Plato, etc) an original date of publication is not applicable but the date of translation can be used in-text.
Your in-text citation will include: the name of the work, year of translation preceded by trans., or the year of the version that you used followed by version.
Examples
(Aristotle, trans. 2008)
(Plato, 1962 version)
APA does not as yet have clear guidelines for referencing ancient texts in a bibliography. The Library recommends the following patterns, based on the template for translated books and considering other APA guidelines.
Diodorus of Sicily. (1961). Diodorus of Sicily. (C. H. Oldfather, Trans.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
For information on how to reference entries or chapters from reference works such as:
see the Book chapters page.
For advice on how to reference chapters from difficult textbooks such as:
see the Book chapters page for more information.
For other textbooks with clear authors or editors see the other tabs on this page and/or the Book chapters page.
For online and print syllabus documents, refer to the information on the Education Resources page.
If you are referring to syllabus information on a website (rather than a downloaded document), you should cite the information as a web page.
The general format for a reference to a graphic novel is:
Where the graphic novel is a single volume in a series (as is common with Marvel and DC), the format would be:
For children's books (illustrated or otherwise) and books from graded reading schemes (such as Springboard, PM Library, Macmillan Readers, etc), refer to the information on the Education Resources page.
A number of organisations still publish print pamphlets and brochures.
For referencing information and examples, refer to the Health Resources page.
For pamphlets and brochures found online, refer to the Web resources page.
Course readers and compiled texts are usually collections of chapters and articles specifically chosen as readings for a particular subject.
To reference from these publications see the notes on the Course Material page.