LESSON 75 - APA STYLE OF REFERENCING || HOW TO CITE BOOKS AND JOURNALS USING APA 7TH EDITION

APA 7th edition referencing in social science hinges on getting the author-date system right—then formatting the reference list entries in a specific order. The core takeaway is that APA 7th uses publication dates to drive both in-text citations and the reference list, with details like italics, punctuation, and page/paragraph markers determining whether a citation is considered complete.

For books with a single author, the reference entry includes the author’s surname and initials, the year of publication, the book title (italicized), and the publisher. In-text citations follow the author–year pattern, and when quoting or referring to a specific location, page numbers are added using “p.” for one page or “pp.” for multiple pages (e.g., pp. 17–18). APA 7th also removes the need to include the place of publication, a change from APA 6th.

Ordering in the reference list follows publication chronology: works by the same author are listed from oldest to newest in APA 7th (where APA 6th listed newest first). Undated works come before dated works, and works “in press” come last. When two different authors share the same last name, their entries are sorted by initials. If the same author has multiple works in the same year, APA 7th distinguishes them by adding lowercase letters after the year (e.g., 1994a, 1994b). Those same letters must appear in both the reference list and the in-text citations.

For books with multiple authors, in-text citations are shortened after the first author by using “et al.” from the first citation onward. In the reference list, up to 20 authors are listed; if there are more than 20, APA uses ellipses after the 19th author and then includes the last author to make the total count 20.

Ebooks and online books follow the same author–year structure, but include a URL or DOI at the end. When page numbers are unavailable, APA 7th permits citing a chapter, section, or paragraph number instead. For example, an in-text citation can use the author and year plus a paragraph number (e.g., paragraph 17) when the ebook lacks page numbering.

Chapters in edited books require a different structure: the chapter author appears first, followed by the chapter title, then the editors’ names (with “eds.” in parentheses), and the edited book title (italicized). The chapter page range is included, and the publisher follows. In-text citations for chapters can be author–year, with page numbers when needed.

Journal articles are formatted with the article title in plain text, while the journal title and volume number are italicized. APA 7th also uses issue numbers in parentheses (not italicized) and includes the article’s page range. For in-text citations, the rule remains author–year, and page numbers are used when quoting or pinpointing a specific passage.

Overall, the lesson frames APA 7th as a precise system: correct author ordering, correct date logic, and correct punctuation/typography (especially italics and parentheses) determine whether citations for books, edited-book chapters, and journal articles meet academic standards.