How to Cite a Textbook in APA
A textbook citation in APA 7 needs five things: author, year, title, edition, and publisher. Format it like this: Author, A. A. (Year). Title of book (Xth ed.). Publisher.
The Basic Format
APA 7 treats a textbook like any other authored book. You list the author with initials, the year in parentheses, the title in italics with sentence case, the edition in parentheses (not italicized), then the publisher.
Note: APA 7 dropped the publisher location. You don't need "New York, NY" or "Boston, MA" anymore. Just the publisher name.
A Worked Example
Say you're citing the 8th edition of Campbell Biology by Reece and coauthors, published by Pearson in 2014. Your reference entry looks like this:
Reece, J. B., Urry, L. A., Cain, M. L., Wasserman, S. A., Minorsky, P. V., & Jackson, R. B. (2014). Campbell biology (10th ed.). Pearson.
Notice the ampersand before the last author, the italicized title in sentence case, and the edition abbreviated as "10th ed." inside parentheses. No period between the edition parenthetical and the closing period at the end.
In-Text Citations
For a paraphrase, use (Author, Year). For a direct quote or a specific figure, add the page number.
Paraphrase: (Reece et al., 2014) Direct quote: (Reece et al., 2014, p. 217)
With three or more authors, use the first author's last name followed by "et al." from the very first citation. APA 6 used to spell out all authors on first mention. APA 7 doesn't.
If you have two authors, list both every time with an ampersand: (Smith & Jones, 2020).
First Edition vs. Later Editions
You only include the edition when it's not the first. So a first-edition textbook drops the edition parenthetical entirely.
Cite the actual edition you read, not the newest one. Page numbers, chapter organization, and even wording shift between editions. If your professor cross-checks and the page number doesn't match, that's the tell.
Ebook vs. Print
Here's what a lot of students get wrong. APA 7 says you cite an ebook the same way you cite the print version, as long as the content is the same. You don't need to write "[Ebook]" or note the format.
You only add a DOI or URL when:
- The book has a DOI (some academic ebooks do)
- The book exists only online with no print equivalent
If your Kindle version of a textbook matches the print 5th edition, cite it as the 5th edition. Done.
For a DOI, format it as https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx at the end of the reference. No period after the DOI.
Chapters in an Edited Textbook
Many textbooks are edited collections where each chapter has a different author. If you're citing one chapter, the format changes.
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of chapter. In E. E. Editor (Ed.), Title of book (Xth ed., pp. xx-xx). Publisher.
Example:
Chen, L. (2019). Neural coding of sound. In M. Rossi (Ed.), Auditory neuroscience (2nd ed., pp. 45-78). Wiley.
The chapter title is not italicized. The book title is. Page range goes inside the parentheses with the edition.
Group and Corporate Authors
If a professional organization wrote the textbook (like the American Psychological Association's own Publication Manual), the organization is the author. Spell it out in the reference and either spell it out or abbreviate it in-text after the first use.
American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.).
First in-text: (American Psychological Association [APA], 2020) After that: (APA, 2020)
Yes, when the author and publisher are the same (as with the APA manual), you skip the publisher.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Using title case ("How To Cite") when APA wants sentence case ("How to cite"). Capitalize only the first word, proper nouns, and the word after a colon.
- Adding a URL for a print textbook you happen to own digitally.
- Writing "et. al" or "et al" without the period. It's "et al."
- Including the publisher's city.
- Missing the period after the edition.
Quick Reference Card
Reference entry: Author. (Year). Title (Edition). Publisher. In-text paraphrase: (Author, Year) In-text quote: (Author, Year, p. #) Three or more authors: (First et al., Year)
Copy that structure and swap the fields. Your reference list stays clean and your in-text citations match.