Citing a Book in APA

Basic Information

• In citing a book in APA you need to follow this exact format in order to accomplish proper APA citation style.

Step 1: Formatting the author’s name

• The author’s name should be written in reversed order. The last name should be first place followed by a comma and then add the initials of the first name only, follow it with a period.

—Example: Howard, F.


• In adding the middle initials of the author, place it after the period of the first name, separate it with a comma and end it with a point.

—Example: Howard, F., E.


• If the author’s name have suffixes such as Jr./Sr. or roman numerals, place it after the period of the initials of the first name and separate it with a comma.

—Example: Howard, F., Jr.


• If the source is written by multiple authors, cite the author’s name one after the other using the format in author names and separate it with commas. If the source has more than six authors, state all of the authors until the sixth and replace all succeeding authors with “et al.”

—Example: Howard, F., Lee, R., Lincoln, A., Adams, J., Johnson, E., Ronald, T., et al.

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Step 2: Placing the Year Your Source was Published

• When citing the year the source was published, place the year only and enclosed it with a parenthesis. Place the year after the name of the author and end it with a period outside the closing parenthesis.

—Example: Howard, F. (2009).

Step 3: Place the Title of the Source

• In citing the title of your source, write the complete title of the source you are citing and it should be italicized. Capitalize the first letter of the title and the first letter of the subtitle if there are any. Observe capitalization rules on proper names and such. End it with a period.

—Example: Howard, F. (2009). The way to write perfectly in three methods.

Step 4: Cite the publisher of your source

• Add the first the city where the source is published. Place it after the title and do not italicize it. When placing the publisher’s city, only place the city’s name if it is widely known, i.e. New York, Berlin, Tokyo, Washington DC etc. Afterwards add the name of the publishing company, separating it from the city with a colon. Do not add suffixes such as (corp., Inc, Ltd and such) however retain words such as “books” and “prints.” Finally end the citation with a period.

—Example: Howard, F. (2009). The way to write perfectly in three methods. New York: Press books.


• If the publishing city is not familiar or can be easily confused with other cities, place the state or province where it is located separating it with a comma.

Step 5: Add the Page or Pages where the Citation was Taken

• If the citation only taken from a selected part of a source, indicate the chapter and page/s where the citation is found. Place the chapter after the date ending it with a colon, then add the title. After the title add the page/s where the citation was taken. Remember to place the abbreviation “pp” for pages, “p” for page, finally end it with a period.

—Example: Howard, F. (2009). Chapter 3: The way to write perfectly in three methods, pp 43. New York: Press books.


• If the citation is taken from consecutive pages in a source, place a hyphen between the first page cited and the last page. (pp 65-68). If the pages are not consecutive, place a comma between pages cited. (pp 32,43,54,66)


• If the source has a revised or abridge editions and you are citing from those sources, place the number, name or the year when the edition was published after the source’s title in parenthesis, finally add the abbreviation “ed” for edition, “Rev. ed” for revised edition and “Abr. ed” for abridge edition.

—Example: Howard, F. (2009). Chapter 3: The way to write perfectly in three methods (2nd Rev. ed), pp 43. New York: Press books.