Skip to Main Content

APA Style 7th Edition

A guide to APA formatting style based on the 7th edition of the APA Publication Manual.

Standard Format

Book & Reference Works

 

Where

Who

When

What

Publisher Information

DOI or URL

Author, A. A. & Author Surname, B. B.

Name of Group

Editor, E. E. (Ed.)

Editor, F. F. (Eds.)

 (year).

Title of book: Use sentence case. 

Title of book (# ed., Vol. #)

Title of book [Audiobook].

Title of book (E. E. Editor, Ed.).

Title of book (T. Translator, Trans.; N. Narrator, Narr.).

 

Publisher Name. 

First Publisher Name; Second Publisher Name. 

https://doi.org/xxxx....

https://xxxx...

 

Edited Book Chapters and Entries in Reference Works

 

Where

Who

When

What

Edited Book Information

DOI or URL

Author, A. A. & Author, B. B.

Name of Group

 

(year).

Title of chapter.

In E. E. Editor (Ed.), Title of book (pp. #-#).  Publisher Name.

In E. E. Editor & F. F. Editor (Eds.), Title of book (# ed., Vol. #, pp. #-#).  Publisher Name.

https://doi.org/xxxx....

https://xxxx...

 

 

 

Adapted from American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed).  https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000

 

Formatting Rules

  • Italicize book titles
  • Utilize sentence case for book titles:
    • First word of the title and first word of the subtitle capitalized
    • Capitalize proper nouns
    • Every other word is lower case
  • Shorten long URLs or DOIs: When a DOI or URL is long or complex, you may use shortDOIs or shortened URLs if desired. Use the shortDOI service provided by the International DOI Foundation (https://shortdoi.org/) to create shortDOIs.
  • Reference works includes: dictionaries, encyclopedias, and diagnostic manuals.
  • eBooks do not include platform, format or device
  • Audiobooks include the narrator and audiobook notation.

Various Examples

 

One author

Richardson, V. (1999). Teaching gerontological social work: A compendium of model syllabi. Council on Social Work Education.

Multiple authors

Shonkoff, J., & Phillips, D. (2000). From neurons to neighborhoods: The science of early childhood development. National Academy Press.

Organization/corporation as author

American Psychological Association.  (2020).  Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.).  https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000

Chapter from an Edited Book

Rappaport, B. A. (1999). On-site school-based mental health clinics: 15 years of experience in Orange County, California. In A.H. Esman, & L. T. Flaherty, (Eds.), Adolescent psychiatry: Development and clinical studies, (pp. 91-100). The Analytic Press.

Print Dictionary

Merriam-Webster.  (2005). Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary (11th ed.).

Online dictionary Merriam-Webster.  (n.d.).  Merriam-Webster.com dictionary.  Retrieved March 3, 2020, from https://www.meriam-webster.com
Entry in dictionary, thesaurus, or encyclopedia, with individual author Dictionary.com LLC (n.d.). Hyperboreal.  In Thesuaus.com.  Retrieved March 10, 2020, from https://www.thesaurus.com/browse/hyperboreal
Multiple volumes from a multi-volume work (use Vols. for multiple)

Wilson, C., Thomas, J., & Abadie, A. (2006). The new encyclopedia of Southern culture (Vols. 1-24). University of North Carolina Press.

Single volume from a multi-volume work (Use Vol. for single)

Wilson, C., & Mohr, C. (2011). The new encyclopedia of Southern culture (Vol. 17: Education). The University of North Carolina Press.

Edition other than the first

Adams, M. (2013). Readings for diversity and social justice (3rd ed.). Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.

Article in a reference book

Allen, A. L. (2004). Privacy in health care. In S. G. Post (Ed.), Encyclopedia of bioethics (pp. 111-122). Macmillan-Thomson.

Translation of works

Piaget, J., & Inhelder, B. (1969).  The psychology of the child (H. Weaver, Trans., 2nd ed.).  Basic Books.  (Original work published 1966)

Authored audiobook without a DOI, with nondatabase URL Reid, K.  (2019).  Such a fun age (N. Lewis, Narr.) [Audiobook].  Penguin Audio.  https://www.audiobooks.com/audiobook/such-a-fun-age/381177

Chapter in an edited e-book without page numbers

Bronk, K. C., & Baumsteiger, R. (2017).  The role of purpose among emerging adults.  In L. M. Padilla-Walker & L. J. Nelson (Eds.) Flourishing in emerging adulthood: Positive development during the third decade of life.  Oxford University Press.  https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190260637.003.0004  

DSM-5 eBook version

American Psychiatric Association.  (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). https://doi-org.libproxy1.usc.edu/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596

 

See Ch. 10 pp. 313-352 of APA Manual for more examples and formatting rules