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APA 6th Style:  Books & eBooks

UON Library guide for APA 6th

General Rules and Examples

Books & ebooks

 

General rules:

Author Names

  • Appear first in the reference, surname first followed by a comma, then initials (do not include the full first names of authors).
  • Include all author names when a book has up to 7 authors.
  • When authors number eight or more, list the first 6 authors, insert three ellipses points (. . .), then add the last author.
  • If the book is edited, place the editor names in the author position. After the last editor include the abbreviation (Ed.) or (Eds.), then a full-stop.

Book Titles

  • Capitalise the first word of the title and sub-title (and any proper nouns).
  • Book titles appear in italics.

Edition

  • Include details of the edition in brackets after the title, followed by a full-stop.
  • Editions should only be noted if 2nd ed. or above, if a special 1st edition (e.g. 1st Aust. ed.), or if the book has been otherwise updated or revised (e.g. Rev. ed., Updated 8th ed., etc). APA does not require a standard 1st ed. to be documented.
  • Remove any superscript from editions when typing - all letters should be on the same line (e.g. 2nd ed.).

Place of Publication

  • Include only the first place of publication, if more than one is listed.
  • For U.S. publications include the official state abbreviation after the city. This is also acceptable for Australian states and territories. For all other countries, spell out the name in full (e.g., New York, NY; Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.; Abingdon, England).
  • Note that place of publication is not required for ebooks.

Publisher

  • Do not include terms such as "Inc", "Co", or "Pty Ltd".
  • Note that publisher information is not required for ebooks.

Layout and Spacing

  • The second and subsequent lines of each reference are indented.
  • Include a double-space between each entry in the Reference List.

References within books and chapters

 

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.

Books with no author listed

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

Reference List

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

In-Text

The in-text citation for a source that has no author needs to include the first few words of the reference list entry and the year of publication.

The title needs to be italicised

Example:

 

           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.

Books with 1 author

 

Reference List

The general format for a reference to a print book with 1 author is:

Example of a Book Reference List Entry

 

 

Examples:

In-text

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 1 author:

 

(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

If you include a direct quote, that is word-for-word from a source which has 1 author, the general format of the in-text citation appears;

 

(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).

Books with 2 authors

 

Reference list

The general format of a reference to a print book with 2 authors is:

http://lgimages.s3.amazonaws.com/data/imagemanager/13724/book_2_authors.jpg

 

Examples:

 

In-text

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).

Books with 3-7 authors

 

Reference List

The general format of a reference list entry for a print book with 3-7 authors is to list all authors as shown below:

Example of a Book Reference List Entry

 

 

Examples:

 

In-text

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)

Books with 8+ authors

 

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:

 

In-text citations:

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)

 

Direct Quotations:

 

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).

Books written by corporate authors

 

'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:

Example of a Book Reference List Entry

 

 

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

 

A note on referencing edited books

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.

 

Reference List

The general form of reference for a printed book:

Edited Book: 1 Editor

Example of a Edited Book Reference List Entry

 

 

Edited Book: 2 Editors

Example of a Edited Book Reference List Entry

 

 

Edited Book: 3-7 Editors

Example of a Edited Book Reference List Entry

 

 

 

Edited Book: 8+ Editors

Example of a Edited Book Reference List Entry

 

 

Books with no listed publication date

 

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).

 

In-text citation:

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 with a DOI

 

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:

Example of a Book Reference List Entry


 

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 with a URL

 

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:

General Guidelines:

  • eBooks do not require the publisher information as part of the reference.
  • 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.
  • If the book was found in a database (for example, OVID or ProQuest Ebook Central), include the main part of the database homepage URL only (e.g. http://ovidsp.uk.ovid.com or http://ebookcentral.proquest.com). Note: You will need to remove the University proxy (ezproxy.newcastle.edu.au) from any link used to meet APA guidelines.
  • Do not insert a hyphen if you need to break a URL across lines. Break the URL before a slash or dash or at another logical division point.
  • Do not include a full-stop after the URL at the end of the reference.

 

Reference list examples:

eBooks Readers

 

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

 

Reference list examples

 

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

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:

Reference List

The general format for a reference to a translated book where the original translation date is known;

   

Example

In-Text

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)

Reference List

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.

Reference works

 

For information on how to reference entries or chapters from reference works such as:

  • Dictionaries
  • Encyclopaedias
  • Thesaurii
  • Indexes, etc

see the Book chapters page.

Difficult-to-reference textbooks

 

For advice on how to reference chapters from difficult textbooks such as:

  • Kozier and Erb's Fundamentals of Nursing (Australian Edition) [catalogue link]
  • Medical-Surgical Nursing: Critical Thinking for Person-Centred Care (Australian Edition) [catalogue link]
  • Smeltzer & Bare’s Textbook of Medical-Surgical Nursing (Third Edition) [catalogue link]
  • Teaching: Making A Difference [catalogue link]
  • Education, Change and Society [catalogue link]

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.

Syllabus documents

 

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.

Graphic novels

 

General notes:

  • Graphic novels should be referenced following the standard guidelines for books, the main difference being that in addition to a writer, there is also an artist. The official APA Style Blog suggests that if the images are essential to the story being understood, both creators should be identified as authors, especially if both creators are listed on the cover.
  • Note that in this case the artist is considered to be an 'author' as they have contributed to the work in a major way. The APA Style Blog's notes suggest that other creators such as inkers, colourists or letterers would only be considered 'contributors', and would then not need to be included in the reference as an 'author'. The rule of thumb for APA seems to be inclusion on the cover - list all creators listed on the cover of graphic novels as authors.
  • Include the creators in the order they are listed on the graphic novel. Standard order is writer, then artist/s, but this is not always the case. The 'Saga' example below has the artist listed first, then the writer.
  • As with any book, include an edition statement if one is stated on the graphic novel, e.g. the 'Maus' graphic novel below is the 25th anniversary edition.
  • For children's books and graded readers, see the Education Resources 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:

 

Reference list examples:

 

Children's books and graded readers

 

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.

Pamphlets and brochures (print)

 

A number of organisations still publish print pamphlets and brochures.

For referencing information and examples, refer to the Health Resources page.

 


 

Pamphlets and brochures (online)

 

For pamphlets and brochures found online, refer to the Web resources page.

Course Readers and Compiled Texts ('Custom Book Editions')

 

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.

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