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APA Citation Style: eBooks

APA Citation Format (Commonly used for psychology and other social science papers)

Basic Rules for Reference List

  • Hanging indentation
  • Authors' names are inverted (last name first); give the last name and initials for all authors of a particular work for up to and including seven authors.
  • Alphabetized by the last name of the first author of each work.
  • Italicize book titles; capitalize only the first word, the first word after a colon or em dash (-), and proper nouns. Do not capitalize the second word of a hyphenated compound (4.15). 
  • Do not italicize, underline, or put quotes around the titles of shorter works such as essays in edited collections.
  • Capitalize only the first letter of the first word of a title and subtitle, the first word after a colon or a dash in the title, and proper nouns.
  • If the book includes a DOI, include the url of the DOI in the reference after the publisher name.
  • Do not include the publisher location.
  • If the book does not have a DOI and comes from an academic research database, end the book reference after the publisher name. Do not include database information in the reference. The reference in this case is the same as for a print book.

APA General Ebook Citation Format

APA General Ebook Citation Format

Citation format for a whole eBook

Online books (including books found on personal websites, databases, or even in audio form)

Begin the entry in the reference list like the entry for a comparable printed work, but use the URL (or a DOI [digital object identifier] if it is available) in place of the publisher information.  Provide them at the end of the reference. "If you must break a DOI or a URL at the end of a line, break it after a double slash or before any other mark of punctuation; do not add a hyphen. Do not put a period at the end of the entry."

Use a retrieval date for an online source only if the content is likely to change.  

Include the type and version of e-book you are referencing (e.g., "[Kindle DX version]").

Format for citing a whole book: use (n.d.) for source without a date

Author, A. (year of publication). Title of book. Retrieved from http://xxxxxxxxx

Author, A. (year of publication). Title of book. https://doi.org/xxxxxxxxxxxx

In E-reader version do not include the E-reader version in the citation.
Author, A. (year of publication). Title of book. Retrieved from http://xxxxxxxxx

Citation examples:

Stoker, B.(1897). Dracula. Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.org/files/345/345-h/345-h.htm

Same ebook in Kindle version

Stoker, B. (1897). Dracula Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.org

 

Citation format for a chapter in an eBook

Format for citing a chapter in an ebook:

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (year of publication). Title of chapter. In Title of book or larger document. Retrieved from http://xxxxxxxxx

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (year of publication). Title of chapter. In Title of book or larger document. doi:xxxxxxxxxx

Format for citing a chapter in an ebook with editor(s)

Author, A. (year of publication). Title of chapter. In E. Editor (Ed.), Title of book (pp. xx–xx). Retrieved from http://xxxxxxxxx

Author, A. (year of publication). Title of chapter. In E. Editor (Ed.), Title of book (pp. xx–xx). doi:xxxxxxxxxx

Online Encyclopedias and Dictionaries

Format: with author and date:
 

Author, A. A., & Author, A. A. (Year Published) Article title. In Encyclopedia Name. Retrieved from http://xxxxxxxxxx

If the encyclopedia or dictionary are updated by the publisher and are not archived, include the retrieval date in the reference:

Duignan, B. (n.d.) What’s the Difference Between a Psychopath and a Sociopath? And How Do Both Differ from Narcissists?  In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved November 7, 2019, from https://www.britannica.com/story/whats-the-difference-between-a-psychopath-and-a-sociopath-and-how-do-both-differ-from-narcissists

Encyclopedias and dictionaries do not provide authors' names. When there is no author, move the entry name to the front of the citation. Provide publication dates if present or specify (n.d.) if no date is present in the entry.

 

Format: without author and date

Entry title. (n.d.) In Title of Encyclopedia or dictionary. Retrieved from http://xxxxxxxxxx