Book & eBook Chapter Citation Tutorial
Book Chapter Citation Rules
These guidelines are for citing a chapter in an edited book or ebook. Do not create references for chapters of authored books. Instead, write a reference for the whole authored book and cite the chapter in the text if desired. When citing a chapter in a book or ebook include:
The author(s) of the chapter, year of publication, title of the chapter, editors of the book, the page numbers of the chapter, and the publisher. Use this format for both print and ebook edited book chapters, including edited book chapters from academic research databases.
The title of the chapter should be written in sentence case with the first letter of the first word in the subtitle capitalized as well. The title of the book should be italicized and written in sentence case. The first letter of the first word in the subtitle of a book should also be capitalized. All references should also be double-spaced.
Include any edition information in the same parentheses as the page range of the chapter, separated with a comma.
For ebook chapters without pagination, omit the page range from the reference.
Do not include the publisher location.
If the chapter has a DOI, include the chapter DOI in the reference after the publisher name. A DOI is a digital object identifier which is a persistent identifier or handle used to identify a document.
Present both DOIs and URLs as hyperlinks (i.e., beginning with “http:” or “https:”). It is acceptable to use either the default display settings for hyperlinks in your word-processing program (e.g., usually blue font, underlined) or plain text that is not underlined. Leave links live if the work is to be published or read online.
If a chapter without a DOI has a stable URL that will resolve for readers, include the URL of the chapter in the reference. Do not include the name of the database in the reference.
If the chapter is from an academic research database and has no DOI or stable URL, end the book reference after the publisher name. Do not include the name of the database in the reference. The reference in this case is the same as for a print book chapter.
Below are examples of book and ebook chapter citations. After you are finished reviewing examples and in-text citation information you can test your knowledge with our Book Chapter Citation Game!
Basic Structure of a Book Chapter Citation
The author's last name should be written first followed by a comma and then the author's initials for their first name and middle name (if given). See the examples below.
Example of a Book Chapter Citation with a DOI
Example of a Book Chapter Citation with Edition Information
Book and eBook Chapter In-Text Citations
In-text citations are the brief citations included in the body of your paper. They refer your reader to the full citation in the references section of your paper.
In APA, the in-text citation can either be a parenthetical citation or a narrative citation. Below are examples of each type of in-text citation.
Parenthetical Citations
In APA, the in-text citation is usually placed in parenthesis at the end of your sentence with the author's last name and year. The page number is also required if you are directly quoting from a source or paraphrasing a source.
Precede a single page number with p.
Precede a range of pages with pp.
If page numbers are unavailable, you will need to use the paragraph number preceded by para. or paras.
To direct quote from an article that has an article number, use the page numbering from the document in your in-text citations. For example, for information taken from “Page 4 of 9", use “p. 4” for the direct quote.
The period goes after/outside the parenthesis.
(Held, 2022).
(Hall, 2022, para. 5).
(Ricks, 2018, pp. 175-176).
Multiple Authors, Corporate Authors, No Authors:
Two Authors From the Same Source:
When referring to a source with two authors, join the authors' last names with an ampersand. For example:
(Hall & Ricks, 2016, p. 198).
Three or More Authors From the Same Source:
When referring to a source with three authors or more, list the first author's last name followed by et al. For example:
(Hall et al., 2022, pp. 201-202).
Corporate or Group Author:
If the author of a work is a business, organization, government agency, group, etc. that is referred to as a corporate or group author. Use the corporate author's name. For example:
(American Psychological Association, 2020, p. 277).
No Authors:
If there is no author listed, use the title of the work in place of the author's last name. If the title is long, it should be shortened for the in-text citation. The main words of the title should also be capitalized. If the title is not italicized within the reference, use quotation marks around the title. It the title is italicized within the reference, then the title also needs to be italicized in the in-text citation. For example:
("News Today," 2022)
(On This Day, 2022).
Examples in a Sentence:
Participating in professional organizations allows for career professionals to network (Held, 2022).
“Creating interactive lessons helps students retain information” (Hall, 2022, para. 5).
“Participating in water polo has a positive impact on high school students’ well-being” (Hall & Ricks, 2018, pp. 175-176).
"Participating in high school band correlates with higher math scores" (Hall et al., 2022, pp. 201-202).
Long Quotes:
Quotes longer than 40 words need to be formatted as a block quote. The quotation should begin on a new line and is indented 1/2 inch from the left margin, i.e., in the same place you would begin a new paragraph. Type the entire quotation on the new margin, and indent the first line of any subsequent paragraph within the quotation 1/2 inch from the new margin. The entire block quote is double-spaced. Do not add an extra line space before or after the block quote. The period goes before the in-text citation in a block quote.
Below is an example of a parenthetical block quote:
Narrative Citations
In narrative citations the author appears in running text and the date appears in parentheses immediately after the author’s name. For example:
Hall (2022) found that youth sports increase self-confidence.
If the narrative citation includes a direct quote or is a paraphrase then include the page or paragraph number(s) at the end of the sentence. For example:
Hall (2022) stated, “Networking helps improve employment prospects” (p. 205).
Multiple Authors, Corporate Authors, No Authors:
Two Authors From the Same Source:
When referring to a source with two authors, join the authors' last names using the word "and." For example:
Hall and Ricks (2016) stated, “…” (p. 198).
Three or More Authors From the Same Source:
When referring to a source with three authors or more, list the first author's last name followed by et al. For example:
According to Hall et al. (2022), “….” (pp. 201-202).
Corporate or Group Author:
If the author of a work is a business, organization, government agency, group, etc. that is referred to as a corporate or group author. Use the corporate author's name. For example:
The American Psychological Association (2020) stated, “…” (p. 277).
Long Quotes:
Quotes longer than 40 words need to be formatted as a block quote. The quotation should begin on a new line and is indented 1/2 inch from the left margin, i.e., in the same place you would begin a new paragraph. Type the entire quotation on the new margin, and indent the first line of any subsequent paragraph within the quotation 1/2 inch from the new margin. The entire block quote is double-spaced. Do not add an extra line space before or after the block quote. The period goes before the in-text citation in a block quote.
Below is an example of a narrative long quote:
