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Citation Guide: Books & eBooks

Help with citing your sources for a research paper.

Essential Elements

Book citations should always include the following:

  • Name of author(s)
  • Year of publication
  • Title of work
  • Location of publisher
  • Name of publisher

Other information you may need:

  • Name of editor(s)
  • Edition of book
  • Volume of book
  • Page numbers (if citing a specific chapter or article)

Tips to Remember

- Capitalize only the first word of the book or article's title and subtitle. All other words should be lowercase except for proper nouns.

- Do not use quotation marks around titles of shorter works within books, such as reference book entries or individual chapters.

Sample Citations - Books

 

Book by a Single Author or Editor

Note that if a DOI is available for a book whether in print or electronic format it should be included at the end of the citation

 

Example - Single Author:

 

Example - Single Editor:

If you are citing an entire edited book, place the editor's name in the author position followed by (Ed.). If you are citing a specific chapter, article, or entry in an edited book or in a reference book, see instructions below.

 

 


Book by Multiple Authors or Editors

Note that if a DOI is available for a book whether in print or electronic format it should be included at the end of the citation

 

List each author by their last names followed by their initials. Use the ampersand (&) rather than the word "and."

Example:

 

 


Book by a Corporate Author or Organization

Note that if a DOI is available for a book whether in print or electronic format it should be included at the end of the citation

Place the full name of the organization in the author position. If the book is in edition other than the first, include the edition after the title.

Example:

American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. (6th ed.).

         Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

 


Chapter or Section of an Edited Book

If you are citing a specific chapter or section of an edited book, list the author of the section first. Include information such as page numbers, edition and volume numbers after the title of the book.

Example:

 


Entry or Article in a Reference Book

Begin the citation with the author of the article, not the author or editor of the book.

Note that if a DOI is available for a book whether in print or electronic format it should be included at the end of the citation

Example - Signed Entry:

  

Example - Unsigned Entry:

If no author is attached to an entry, begin with the title of the entry.

Determinism. (2003). In J. van Huyssteen, N. Howell, N. Gregersen, W. Wildman, & I. Barbour (Eds.), Encyclopedia of science and

         religion (2nd ed., Vol. 1, pp. 216-217). New York, NY: Macmillan.

 

 


Editon Other Than the First

Note that if a DOI is available for a book whether in print or electronic format it should be included at the end of the citation

Include edition information in parentheses after the title. Cite the edition as it is printed on the title page (2nd ed., Rev. ed., 2010 ed., etc.)

Example:

   

 

 


 

Multivolume Work

Note that if a DOI is available for a book whether in print or electronic format it should be included at the end of the citation

Include the volume used in parentheses after the title.

Example:

 

 

 

 


eBook

 

Include the author(s), publication date, Title, and Publisher (leaving off the location) followed by:

  • The DOI (Digital Object Identifier), if available.
  • If no DOI is available, include the e-book's URL address. If you have accessed the material through an academic database (such as the Ebsco ebook collection, NetLibrary, eBrary, or Knovel), you do not need to include the URL.

Example:

 

Cheng, V.J. (2004). Inauthentic: The anxiety over culture and identity. Rutgers University Press

 

 

 

 


 

eBook on a Kindle, iPad, etc.

Note that if a DOI is available for a book whether in print or electronic format it should be included at the end of the citation

After the publication information, include The URL from which you retrieved the book

Example - Kindle

Christian, B., & Griffiths, T. (2016). Algorithms to live by: The computer science of human decisions.

         Henry Holt and Co. http://a.co/7qGBZAk