LibGuides: APA Referencing: Books, eBooks, Dictionaries, Encyclopedias

Checklist for Books/eBooks

Scroll down to see examples.

In-Text Citation

Author: Surname only or group author name. Do not include initials of the first name or middle name in the in-text citation e.g. (Smith, 2024).
Only include an initial if you have 2 different authors with the same surname who have written different books (see below)
Do not include titles, positions, ranks or academic achievements e.g. Dr., Professor, Rt. Hon., Sir, Reverend, PhD etc.
Date: Year of publication.
If it is a direct quote (an author's ideas and words) place double quotation marks around the quote and include the number of the page that will direct your reader to the quote
Only include an in-text citation for resources listed in your reference list
See the in-text citation tab for more information

Reference list

Author. Surname/Family name first, comma, space, initial for first name (and middle name if available), or group name.
Do not include titles, positions, ranks or academic achievements e.g. Dr., Professor, Rt. Hon., Sir, Reverend, PhD etc.
Date. Year of publication in parentheses ( )
Title. This is in italics when it is the name of the whole book. It is in sentence case where there is a capital letter for the first word of the title, a capital letter for the first word of any subtitle and capital letters for proper nouns i.e. names of people, organisations, countries etc. Everything else is in lowercase
Source. Publisher. Include a DOI if available
Add edition information for 2nd and subsequent editions after the title in parentheses. The full stop is after the edition information
Do not include business information for the publisher e.g. Co. Ltd. Inc. etc, but keep words such as Books, Press, Publications, Publishing
When the author and the publisher are the same, omit the publisher from the reference to avoid repetition
If an ebook has a DOI, include it in the reference.
DOIs are hyperlinked (starting with https:// ) and live if your assignment or work is being submitted online. You can use either the default display setting of blue font and underlined or plain text and not underlined. You do not include Whitireia in the DOI. This appears in DOIs because you have accessed an ebook from a subscription-based library database and have had to sign in with your student email address and network password
You do not include a URL if the ebook is from an academic library database. This is because most books are widely available through a variety of databases, platforms as well as in print. Also, most library databases require you to sign in to access their content. If your reader comes from a different institute, the URL would not work for them. Therefore, you treat the book like a print version and stop at the publisher information.
Only include an entry in your reference list for resources cited in the text of your assignment

Books and eBooks

One author

In-text citation

Stamper (2017) explores the...

... (Stamper, 2017).

Reference list entry

Stamper, K. (2017). Word by word: The secret life of dictionaries. Pantheon Books.

Two authors

In-text citation

Gannon and Fauchon (2021) state...

... (Gannon & Fauchon, 2021).

Reference list entry

Gannon, R., & Fauchon, M. (2021). Illustration research methods. Bloomsbury Publishing.

Three or more authors

In-text citation

Stair et al. (2020) explain that...

... (Stair et al., 2020).

Do not include initials of the first name or middle name in the in-text citation
If there are 3 or more authors, cite the first author followed by et al. This is Latin for 'and others'. It is an abbreviation so there is a full stop after al.

Reference list entry

Stair, R., Reynolds, G., & Chesney, T. (2020). Principles of business information systems (4th ed.). Cengage Learning.

Include the surname and initials up to 20 authors with & before the final author

Authors with the same surname who have written a book together

In-text citation

Scott and Scott (2021) found that …

… human anatomy (Scott & Scott, 2021).

Reference list entry

Scott, M., & Scott, D. (2021). Title. Source.

Keep the order of authors as they appear on the book

Authors with the same surname who have written different books

In-text citation

D. Smith (2023) discusses how …

According to M. Smith (2021), the heart is …

… human anatomy (D. Smith, 2023).

… physiology (M. Smith, 2021).

Reference list entry

Smith, D. (2023). Title. Source.

Smith, M. (2021). Title. Source.

Include the initial of the authors in all in-text citations, even if the year of publication differs
Initials help avoid confusion within the text and help readers locate the correct entry in the reference list

DOI (Digital Object Identifier) - With or without

A DOI (Digital Object Identifier) is a unique code consisting of letters and numbers that identifies content and provides a reliable link to its location on the internet. If an ebook has a DOI, include it in your reference by adding https://doi.org/ before the code.

In text citation

Coleman and Friedberg (2010) discuss ...

... (Coleman & Friedberg, 2010).

Reference list entry

Coleman, L., & Friedberg, D. (2010). Make the cut: A guide to becoming a successful assistant editor in film and tv. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780240813998

An eBook from a Library database

In-text citation

Moini (2019) examines the "..." (p. 105).

... (Moini, 2019).

Reference list entry

Moini, J. (2019). Anatomy and physiology for health professionals (3rd ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Do not include the database name or URL

eBook freely available on the internet with no DOI

In-text citation

Hill (2015) states that ...

... (Hill, 2015).

Reference list entry

Hill, D. J. (2015). A beginners' guide to plagiarism: What is plagiarism and how can you avoid it? Ako Aotearoa. https://ako.ac.nz/assets/Knowledge-centre/RHPF-c57-A-beginners-guide-to-plagiarism/PRACTICAL-GUIDE-BOOK-A-Beginners-Guide-to-Plagiarism.pdf

Book with same author but different date

In text citation

Smith (2021) discusses...

... (Smith, 2019).

Reference list entry

Smith, L. T. (2019). Māori women: Discourses, projects and mana wahine. In L. Pihima, L. T. Smith, N. Simmonds, J. Seed-Pihama, & K. Gabel (Eds.), Mana wahine reader: A collection of writings 1987-1988 (Vol. 1, pp. 39-52). Te Kotahi Research Institute.

Smith, L. T. (2021). Decolonizing methodologies: Research and indigenous peoples (3rd ed.). Zed.

If the same author has written a number of books which have been published in different years, the reference is arranged by the year of publication, with the earliest going first in the reference list

Books with same author and same date

In text citation

According to Durie (2009b) ... . This raises the question that ... (Durie, 2009a).

Reference list entry

Durie, M. (2009a). Pae mana: Waitangi and the evolving state. Massey University.

Durie, M. (2009b). Pae matatū: Sustaining the Māori estate. Massey University.

Reference list entries are arranged alphabetically by author
If the author writes multiple works, you arrange the reference list entry by the year the item was published, with the earliest going first (see above example same author but different year)
If the same author writes multiple works in the same year, you arrange the reference list entries alphabetically by the title (disregarding "A", "An" and "The" at the beginning of the title)
To show which book the quote or paraphrase comes from, you add a lowercase letter e.g. a, b, c, etc immediately after the year in your reference list
It is this alphabetical order of titles in the reference list that determines which lowercase letter is next to the date in your in-text citation

Edited Book

Edited books

In-text citation

VanLear and Canary (2017) discuss how...

... (VanLear & Canary, 2017).

Reference list entry

VanLear, C. A., & Canary, D. J. (Eds.). (2017). Researching interactive communication behavior: A sourcebook of methods and measures. SAGE Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781506349169

Chapter in an edited book

In-text citation

Greenwood (2015) suggests that "..." (p. 228).

"..." (Greenwood, 2015, p. 228).

Matheson and Dew (2008) believe ...

... (Matheson & Dew, 2008).

Reference list entry

Greenwood, S. (2015). Sex, gender and sexual orientation. In D. Wepa (Ed.), Cultural safety in Aotearoa New Zealand (2nd ed., pp. 222-234). Cambridge University Press.

Matheson, A., & Dew, K. (2008). Health, justice and politics. In K. Dew & A. Matheson (Eds.), Understanding health inequalities in Aotearoa New Zealand (pp. 9-16). Otago University Press.

If the chapters are written by different authors and the whole book has been put together by an editor or editors, it is referenced as a chapter in an edited book
The chapter author is first as they are the person you have quoted or paraphrased. This corresponds with the in-text citation
Title of the chapter follows the date of publication. The word 'In' is next, then the editor information. Editor(s) is in parentheses and is abbreviated so followed by a full stop and has a capital letter. The closed round bracket is followed by a comma
If the editor(s) have also written a chapter, they are mentioned as authors and editors. Note: The order of the initials change in the editor field
The book title is a stand alone work so is in italics. Any edition information and page numbers of the chapter are placed within the same parentheses. Use pp. as it is for more than one page.
Finish with the source information

Book or eBook - Secondary source

Often authors quote from or refer to research of other authors in their work. If you wish to refer to the original author's quote this is called citing from a secondary source. Cite secondary sources sparingly, e.g. if the original work is out of print, unavailable or available only in a language that you do not understand. As a matter of good scholarly practice, it is best to locate the original source and quote or paraphrase from that.

In-text citation

Wearmouth and Connors (2004, as cited in Glynn & Berryman, 2005) discussed the importance of ...

... (Wearmouth and Connors, 2004, as cited in Glynn & Berryman, 2005, p. 298).

Reference list entry

Glynn, T., & Berryman, M. (2005). Understanding and responding to students' behaviour difficulties. In D. Fraser, R. Moltzen, & K. Ryba (Eds.), Learners with special needs in Aotearoa New Zealand (3rd ed., pp. 294-315). Dunmore Press.

Give credit to all authors in text ( the author(s) of the original work and the author(s) of the work you have read)
In text use the phrase as cited in
Only list the book you have read in your reference list (cite what you sight).

Dictionary, thesaurus or encyclopedia entry

A dictionary, thesaurus or encyclopedia entry is treated in a similar way to a chapter in an edited book. If the entry has an author, place this author in the author position.

Often a dictionary, thesaurus or encyclopedia does not have an individual author(s). If there is no named author(s) for the entry, but there is an editor(s), place the editor(s) in the author position.

If there is no author and no editor, the company responsible for the work is treated as a group author and is placed in the author position e.g. Merriam-Webster, Oxford University Press (see APA Manual, p. 328 and APA Style).

Entry in a dictionary, thesaurus or encyclopedia, with individual author(s)

In text citation

Hwang (2002) describes North Korea as ...

... (Hwang, 2002).

McKinnon (2008) states that ...

... (McKinnon, 2008).

Deverson and Kennedy (2005) explain...

... (Deverson & Kennedy, 2005).

Reference list entry

Deverson, T., & Kennedy, G. (Eds). (2005). Pakeha. In The New Zealand Oxford dictionary. Oxford University Press.

Hwang, E.-G. (2002). North Korea: Economic system. In D. Levinson & K. Christenson (Eds.), Encyclopedia of modern Asia (Vol. 4, pp. 350-353). Charles Scribner's Sons.

McKinnon, M. (2008). Place names: Colonial naming. In Te Ara: The encyclopedia of New Zealand. Ministry for Culture & Heritage. https://teara.govt.nz/en/place-names/page-3

Entry in a dictionary, thesaurus or encyclopedia, with group author

In text citation

American Psychological Association (2015) defines mood induction as "..." (p. 667).

Mood induction is defined as "..." (American Psychological Association, 2015, p. 667).

According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica (n.d.), Vitamin A is ...

Vitamin A is ... (Encyclopaedia Britannica, n.d.).

Merriam-Webster (n.d.) describes semantics as ...

Semantics is the study of ... (Merriam-Webster, n.d.).

Reference list entry

American Psychological Association. (2015). Mood induction. In APA dictionary of psychology (2nd ed., p. 667).

Encyclopaedia Britannica. (n.d.). Vitamin A: Chemical compound. In Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved August 8, 2021, from https://www.britannica.com/science/vitamin-A

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Semantics. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved May 20, 2021, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/semantics

If there is no named author for the entry, but there are editors, move the editors to the author position
If there are no named authors or editors, treat the company responsible for the dictionary/encyclopedia as a group author
If the author and publisher are the same, include the name in the author field and omit from the publisher field to avoid repetition
Provide the page number(s) for the entry after the title of a print dictionary, thesaurus or encyclopedia. When both an edition and page number(s) are present, place them in the same parentheses, separated by a comma. Use p. for one page e.g. p. 667, pp. for a page range e.g. pp. 350-353
If an online reference work is continously updated and not archived, use (n.d.) as the year of publication and include a retrieval date i.e. the date you accessed the information