• 2-minute read
• 2nd April 2013

How to Reference a Book using the APA Style

In this blog post, we will look at how to cite printed books using the American Psychological Association (APA) referencing style.

Format for Books in an APA Reference List

The general format for a book in APA style is as follows:

Surname, Initial(s). (Year). Title. Publisher.

A book written by only one author would be referenced like this:

Mendler, A. N. (2012). When teaching gets tough: Smart ways to reclaim your game. ASCD.

When citing a book written by more than one author, all authors should be named in the reference list entry. For instance:

Moss, C. M. & Brookhart, S. M. (2012). Learning targets: Helping students aim for understanding in today’s lesson. ASCD.

If the book you’ve cited is a reprint or republication, moreover, you will need to include the original date of publication at the end of the reference:

Smith, B. (1992). Some books live forever: A history of republication. Re-Press Inc. (Original work published 1940)

Citing a Book in APA Referencing

The basic format for citing a book in an APA reference list involves giving the author’s surname and the date of publication in parentheses:

A teacher should use technology and attend webinars (Mendler, 2012).

If you name the author or authors in the text, though, you only need to give the date of publication in parentheses. For instance:

Moss and Brookhart (2012) argue that learning targets should be used…

When quoting a source, you should include a page number or page numbers for the section you’ve quoted. For example:

Learning targets promote ‘higher-order thinking’ (Moss & Brookhart, 2012, p. 209).

Finally, if you’re citing a republished or reprinted version of the book, make sure to include both the original date of publication and the date of republication:

The work was later reissued (Smith, 1940/1992).

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