To cite a chapter in a book in a reference entry in APA style 6th edition include the following elements:
- Give the last name and initials (e. g. Watson, J. D.) of up to seven authors with the last name preceded by an ampersand (&). For eight or more authors include the first six names followed by an ellipsis (…) and add the last author's name.
- Year of publication: Give the year in brackets followed by a full stop.
- Chapter title: Only the first letter of the first word and proper nouns are capitalized.
- Editor(s) or Author of the book: Give the name of the author or editor of the book. If it is an editor, write the name (e.g. J. Smith), followed by (Ed.) or (Eds.) respectively. If not available, omit this part.
- Title of the book: Book titles are italicized. Only the first letter of the first word and proper nouns are capitalised.
- Page numbers: Give the full page range.
- Place of publication: List the city and the US state using the two-letter abbreviation. Spell out country names if outside of the UK or the USA.
- Publisher: Give the name of the publisher but omit terms, such as Publishers, Co., and Inc. Retain the words Books and Press.
Here is the basic format for a reference list entry of a chapter in a book in APA style 6th edition:
Author(s) of the chapter. (Year of publication). Chapter title. In Editor(s) or Author of the book (Eds.), Title of the book (pp. Page numbers). Place of publication: Publisher.
APA reference list examples
Take a look at our reference list examples that demonstrate the APA style guidelines for a chapter in a book citation in action:
Examples
A chapter from a book of short stories with one editor
Edgeworth, M. (2010). The limerick gloves. In W. Trevor (Ed.), The Oxford book of Irish short stories (pp. 27–51). Oxford UK: Oxford UP.
A chapter from a book with two editors
Bengtson, D. A. (2003). Status of marine aquaculture in relation to live prey: Past, present and future. In J. G. Støttrup & L. A. McEvoy (Eds.), Live feeds in marine aquaculture (pp. 1-16). Oxford UK: Blackwell Science.
This citation style guide is based on the official Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th edition).
Choose:
6th edition 7th edition
About Citing Books
For each type of source in this guide, both the general form and an example will be provided.
The following format will be used:
In-Text Citation (Paraphrase) - entry that appears in the body of your paper when you express the ideas of a researcher or author using your own words. For more tips on paraphrasing check out The OWL at Purdue.
In-Text Citation (Quotation) - entry that appears in the body of your paper after a direct quote.
References - entry that appears at the end of your paper.
Information on citing and several of the examples were drawn from the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.).
Numbers in parentheses refer to specific pages in the manual.
General Format
In-Text Citation (Paraphrase):
(Author Surname [of Chapter or Article], Year)
In-Text Citation (Quotation):
(Author Surname [of Chapter or Article], Year, page number)
References (Quotation):
Author Surname [of Chapter or Article], First Initial. Second Initial. (Year). Article
or chapter title. In Editor First Initial. Second Initial. Surname (Ed.), Book title:
Subtitle (pp. page range of article or chapter). Publisher.
Example
In-Text Citation (Paraphrase):
(Lawrence & Dodds, 2003)
In-Text Citation (Quotation):
(Lawrence & Dodds, 2003, p. 526)
References:
Lawrence, J. A., & Dodds, A. E. (2003). Goal-directed activities and life-span
development. In J. Valsiner & K. Connolly (Eds.), Handbook of developmental
psychology (pp. 517-533). Sage Publications.