format apa book review

APA Citation Guide (7th edition) CGS

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Book Review From Library Database (No Title)

Author of Review's Last Name, First Initial. (Year of Publication). [Review of the book  Title of Book: Subtitle if Any , by Book Author's First Initial. Second Initial if Given Last Name].  Name of Journal ,  Volume Number (Issue Number), first page number-last page number. https://doi.org/DOI-number  (if given)

For more information on how to cite Book Reviews in APA 7, refer to pages 334-335 of the Publication Manual of the APA located at the circulation desk.

Book Review from a Website (with Title)

Author of Review's Last Name, First Initial. (Year of Publication). Title of Review. [Review of the book  Title of Book: Subtitle if Any , by Book Author's First Initial. Second Initial if Given Last Name].  Title of Website , URL

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How to Write a Book Review in the APA Format

How to write a paper in mba style.

The academic disciplines of psychology and sociology require authors to submit work that conforms to APA standards. These standards are set by the American Psychological Association (APA) to “advance scholarship by setting sound and rigorous standards for scientific communication.” When writing an APA book review to conform to these standards, authors should also be mindful of APA formatting, style and usage issues.

General APA Book Review Requirements

When writing a book review, spend some time introducing the author's background, motivation and qualifications for writing the book. Note that an APA style book report describes what happens in the book with descriptions of the book's contents and ideas. In contrast, an APA style book review looks at the book's ideas but focuses primarily on the reviewer's opinion and analysis of the book itself. In your book review, begin by introducing the concepts of the book clearly and thoroughly. Summarize the author’s intentions and methods and then evaluate the effectiveness of those methods. Did the book make a convincing argument? Did the data or information presented effectively prove the thesis? Was it interesting? Humorous? How does the book engage the reader?

In-text Citations

When using direct quotations or a paraphrase from a book in your book review, you must cite the author according to the book review format in APA style. This is done by including the name of the author, the year of publication and the page number. You can accomplish this by using a signal phrase that includes the author’s last name. As an example, “According to Gosling (2008), 'We know that creative people tend to be more philosophical but no more or less anxious than other types' (p. 36)." Be sure to place the punctuation after the parenthetical citation rather than directly after the quote. If, throughout the article, you are only quoting from the one book you are reviewing and this is clear to the reader, it is not necessary to include the date after each quote or paraphrased section.

APA Style Reference List

Each quote cited in the APA book review must correspond to a source in a reference list at the end of the article. In a book review, this usually consists of only one book. On occasion, a reviewer may cite other texts in comparison with the one being reviewed. In those cases, the references must appear alphabetically. Sources must be double-spaced and formatted with a hanging indent with all lines but the first line of each entry must be indented. The references should be presented with the author’s name, the publication year in parenthesis, the title (in italics and in sentence case), the city and state of publication and the publisher. If an author's name is not available for the source, verify the reference by visiting the related .edu website. Note the placement of specific punctuation in this example: Gosling, Sam. (2008). Snoop: What your stuff says about you. New York, NY: Basic Books.

APA Book Review Formatting

APA format requires some general formatting standards. The preferred typeface for APA publications is Times New Roman with a 12 point font size, according to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. Use a one-inch margin all around. Double space lines of text throughout the document. This includes the title, headings, body and any references. Align the lines using the flush-left feature in your word processing software. Never divide words at the end of a line by using a hyphen. It is better to keep the line short than break a word at the end of a line.

Check Before Submitting

Before submitting, always check with the source to verify whether certain features are required in the document. For instance, many APA publications require an abstract or a brief summary of the article. However, this is not usually required with a book review and is reserved for papers containing scientific research. Do not hesitate to check with your professor or copy editor with any questions before submitting your manuscript.

Style and Usage Issues

Style and usage requirements are not universal across all disciplines. When conforming to APA book review standards, keep these requirements in mind. Capitalize major words in titles of books and articles within the body of the paper. This excludes conjunctions, articles and prepositions unless they contain over four letters. Capitalize both words in a hyphenated compound when it appears in a title. Use the serial comma throughout your work. Place a comma after each element in a series of three or more items even when the last element is followed by a conjunction. For instance, “the students measured the height, width, and depth of the nests.” Use numerals to express numbers ten and above and all numbers that represent statistical data. For example, you would write, “Mr. Smith spent five years writing the book,” but “Mr. Smith spent 25 years writing the book” and “more than 5 percent of the sample.”

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• Purdue Owl: Writing a Book Review
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Debbie McCarson is a former English teacher and school business administrator. Her articles have appeared in "School Librarians’ Journal" and "The Encyclopedia of New Jersey." A South Jersey native, she is a regular contributor to "South Jersey MOM" magazine.

APA Citation Guide (7th edition) : Book Reviews

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Book review from library database (no title), book review from a website (with title).

Hanging Indents:

All citations should be double spaced and have a hanging indent in a Reference List.

A "hanging indent" means that each subsequent line after the first line of your citation should be indented by 0.5 inches.

Hyperlinks:

Both blue underlined (live) hyperlinks and black without underlining are both acceptable.

All hyperlinks must include https://

Do not put a period after DOIs or hyperlinks.

Author of Review's Last Name, First Initial. (Year of Publication). [Review of the book  Title of Book: Subtitle if Any , by Book Author's First Initial. Second Initial if Given Last Name].  Name of Journal , Volume Number (Issue Number), first page number-last page number. https://doi number if given

For more information on how to cite Book Reviews in APA 7, refer to pages 334-335 of the Publication Manual of the APA located at the circulation desk.

Author of Review's Last Name, First Initial. (Year of Publication). Title of Review. [Review of the book  Title of Book: Subtitle if Any , by Book Author's First Initial. Second Initial if Given Last Name]. Title of Website , URL

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APA Style 7th Edition

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• Plagiarism & Citations

Hanging Indents:

All citations should be double spaced and have a hanging indent in a Reference List.

A "hanging indent" means that each subsequent line after the first line of your citation should be indented by 0.5 inches.

Hyperlinks:

Both blue underlined (live) hyperlinks and black without underlining are both acceptable.

All hyperlinks must include https://

Do not put a period after DOIs or hyperlinks.

Book Review from Library Database (No Title)

Author of Review's Last Name, First Initial. (Year of Publication). [Review of the book  Title of Book: Subtitle if Any , by Book Author's First Initial. Second Initial if Given Last Name].  Name of Journal ,  Volume Number (Issue Number), first page number-last page number. DOI Number if Given

For more information on how to cite Book Reviews in APA 7, refer to pages 334-335 in the APA Publication Manual. 

Book Review from a Website (with Title)

Author of Review's Last Name, First Initial. (Year of Publication). Title of Review. [Review of the book  Title of Book: Subtitle if Any , by Book Author's First Initial. Second Initial if Given Last Name].  Title of Website , URL

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APA Citation Style 7th Edition: Book Reviews

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On This Page: Book Reviews

Book review from library database (no title), book review from a website (with title).

Hanging Indents:

All citations should be double spaced and have a hanging indent in a Reference List.

A "hanging indent" means that each subsequent line after the first line of your citation should be indented by 0.5 inches.

Hyperlinks:

Both blue underlined (live) hyperlinks and black without underlining are both acceptable.

All hyperlinks must include https://

Do not put a period after DOIs or hyperlinks.

Author of Review's Last Name, First Initial. (Year of Publication). [Review of the book  Title of Book: Subtitle if Any , by Book Author's First Initial. Second Initial if Given Last Name].  Name of Journal , Volume Number (Issue Number), first page number-last page number. https://doi number if given

For more information on how to cite Book Reviews in APA 7, refer to pages 334-335 of the Publication Manual of the APA located at the circulation desk.

Author of Review's Last Name, First Initial. (Year of Publication). Title of Review. [Review of the book  Title of Book: Subtitle if Any , by Book Author's First Initial. Second Initial if Given Last Name]. Title of Website , URL

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• Last Updated: Aug 2, 2024 3:35 PM
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APA Citation Guide (7th edition) : Book Reviews

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On This Page

Book review from library database (no title).

• Book Review From Library Database (with Title)

Hanging Indents:

All citations should be double-spaced and have a hanging indent in a Reference list.

A "hanging indent" means that each subsequent line after the first line of your citation should be indented by 0.5 inches.

Hyperlinks:

Both blue underlined (live) hyperlinks and black without underlining are both acceptable.

All hyperlinks must include https://

Do not put a period after DOIs or hyperlinks.

Author of Review's Last Name, First Initial. (Year of Publication). [Review of the book  Title of Book: Subtitle if Any , by Book Author's First Initial. Second Initial if Given Last Name].  Name of Journal , Volume Number (Issue Number), first page number-last page number. DOI Number if Given

For more information on how to cite Book Reviews in APA 7, refer to pages 334-335 of the Publication Manual of the APA.

Book Review from a Website (with Title)

Author of Review's Last Name, First Initial. (Year of Publication). Title of Review. [Review of the book  Title of Book: Subtitle if Any , by Book Author's First Initial. Second Initial if Given Last Name]. Title of Website , URL

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APA 7th Edition Citation Examples

• Volume and Issue Numbers
• Page Numbers
• Undated Sources
• Citing a Source Within a Source
• In-Text Citations
• Academic Journals
• Encyclopedia Articles
• Book, Film, and Product Reviews

Format for book, film, and product reviews

Library database.

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Author last name, first initial. (Date). Article title. [Review of the book/film/product  Book/film/product title ].  Journal Title, volume (issue), page numbers. URL  

• Author:  List the last name, followed by the first initial (and second initial). See  Authors  for more information.
• Date:  List the date between parentheses, followed by a period.
• Article title:  Capitalize the first word of the title, subtitle, and proper nouns, followed by a period.
• Review of: Include words "Review of the [book/film/product]" before title. Italicize the title. Capitalize the first word of the title, subtitle, and proper nouns, followed by a period.
• Journal title:  In italics. Capitalize all important words.
• Volume and issue number:  Volume number in italics. Issue number in parentheses, no italics.
• Page number(s):  If from a database, list page numbers followed by a period.
• URL:  If from the free web, use a URL. 

See specific examples below.

A titled book, film, or product review:

Grimes, W. (2006, December 13). Beyond Mandalay, the road to isolation and xenophobia [Review of the book The river of lost footsteps: Histories of Burma, by T. Myint-U]. New York Times , pp. E8, E10.

An untitled book, film, or product review (for example, a review covering multiple works):

Guha, M. (2006). [Review of the books Fleeting pleasures: A history of intoxicants, by M. London and Dirty: A search for answers inside America's teenage drug epidemic , by M. Maran]. Journal of Mental Health, 15 , 713-716. http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t713432595

Follow the correct formatting for the type of publication (e.g. a newspaper, a scholarly journal) the review is taken from, including the DOI if one is available.

Cohen, P. (2007, May 9). Love, honor, cherish, and buy [Review of the book One perfect day: The selling of the American wedding, by R. Mead]. New York Times . http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/books/09bride.html

See  Publication Manual , 10.7.

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• Writing Tips

How to Cite a Review in APA Referencing

• 2-minute read
• 8th November 2020

Reviews of books, films, and other media can be great sources in academic writing. But how do you cite a review using APA referencing ? In this post, we explain the basics of citations and the reference list entry.

In-Text Citations for a Review in APA Style

Citations for a review in APA referencing are similar to those for other sources. This means you cite the reviewer’s surname and year of publication:

One review was especially scathing (Smith, 2001).

In addition, if you quote a print source, make sure to cite a page number:

Smith (2001) dismisses the argument as “puerile” (p. 16).

For more on APA citations, see our blog post on the topic .

Reviews in an APA Reference List

The format for a review in an APA reference list will depend on where it was published. For instance, for a review published in a newspaper, you would cite it as a newspaper article . But for a review published on a blog or website, you would cite it as a blog post or website instead.

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In all cases, though, you will need to adapt the format by adding details of the thing being reviewed in square brackets after the review title.

You can see APA-style references for reviews from an academic journal and a website below, complete with this extra information:

Smith, G. (2001). A backward step for applied ethics [Review of the book Righteous Thought, Righteous Action , by X. Morrison]. Journal of Applied Philosophy , 18(1), 16–24.

Bert, E. (2018). Neil Breen outdoes himself again [Review of the film Twisted Pair , by N. Breen, Dir.]. BadMovieCentral. http://www.badmoviecentral.com/reviews/twisted-pair/

This ensures the reader can identify both the review you’re citing and the thing being reviewed from the reference list entry alone.

Expert APA Proofreading

To make sure your references are all in order, as well as the rest of your academic writing, check out our free online APA guide . You might also want to get your work proofread by one of our APA experts. Learn more about our APA proofreading services here.

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APA Citations (7th edition)

Citing books and ebooks.

• Citing Journal Articles
• Citing Videos
• Citing Web Resources

In this tutorial, you will learn the basics for citing a book, how to cite if there is more than one author or if a book is not a first edition, and how to cite a chapter from an edited book. Regardless if you use a print book or an eBook, you will cite it in the same way. There is no differentiation.

Every APA reference needs four parts:  author, date, title,  and  source . As you go through these examples, you will learn how to identify these four parts and how to place and format them into a proper APA reference.

Example 1: A Book With One Author

For the first example, you will learn how to cite this book:  Betting the Farm on a Drought: Stories from the Front Lines of Climate Change .

The first step is to identify the  author  of the book. This can usually be found on the cover or title page.

To list an author, write the  last name , a  comma , and the  first and middle initials , followed by a  period .

Example: McGraw, S.

Next, identify when this book was written. In this case, you will need to open the book and look inside, usually on the back of the title page, to find the date,  2015 .

List the  date  after the author, in  parentheses , followed by a  period .

Example: McGraw, S. (2015).

Next, identify the  title . Even though there is no colon on the page,  Stories from the Front Lines of Climate Change  is styled differently and in a smaller font. This shows that it is the  subtitle , and should be separated from the title with a  colon .

List the  title  of the book after the date, in  italics . Make sure you only capitalize the  first word of the title ,  the first word of the subtitle , which comes after the colon, and any  proper nouns .

Example: McGraw, S. (2015).  Betting the farm on a drought: Stories from the front lines of climate change .

Next, you need to identify the  source . For books, you need the  publisher . The book's title page shows that the publisher is  University of Texas Press .

Type the name of the  publisher , and end with a  period .

Example: McGraw, S. (2015).  Betting the farm on a drought: Stories from the front lines of climate change . University of Texas Press.

The last piece of information you need is the  DOI , which stands for digital object identifier. You can find a book’s DOI on the back of the title page. Not every book and eBook will have a DOI available. If there is no DOI, then this element can be omitted.

If the book contains a DOI, then include it after the publisher. First, type  https://doi.org/  and then the book’s DOI. Otherwise, end after the publisher. This concludes the reference.

Example: McGraw, S. (2015).  Betting the farm on a drought: Stories from the front lines of climate change . University of Texas Press. https://doi.org/10.7560/756618

If you refer to a work in your paper, either by directly quoting, paraphrasing, or by referring to main ideas, you will need to include an in-text parenthetical citation. There are a number of ways to do this. In this example, a  signal phrase  is used to introduce a direct quote. Note that the  author's name  is given in the text, and the  publication date  and  page number(s)  are enclosed in parentheses at the beginning and end of the sentence.

Example: As McGraw (2015) writes, "As with the nuclear danger in the 1960s, the potential risks of global climate change are staggering" (p. 39).

Example 2: Multiple Authors; Editions

For this next book, there are  two authors . You can obtain the date, the title, and the publisher from the book, using the steps illustrated in the first example. Note that this book is a  eighth edition . You will need to include that information in your citation as well.

When citing multiple authors, list the first author as normal, followed by a  comma , an  ampersand (&) , and then the second author. In this example, the first author has a middle initial, so this is included. The  edition  is placed right after the  title  but  before the period .

Example: Wald, K. D., & Calhoun-Brown, A. (2018).  Religion and politics in the United States  (8th ed.). Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Example 3: A Chapter in an Edited Book

In this example, the entire book is overseen by  editors , but each  chapter  has a different author. If you are only using information from a single chapter, you will need to cite it a certain way.

First, find the general information for this book, as demonstrated in the previous examples. Then you need to locate the  author ,  title,  and  page numbers  of the chapter you are citing.

To cite, list the  author of the chapter  first, followed by the  date  and then the  title of the chapter . Note that the title of the chapter is not in italics. Then type the word  In , and list the  editors of the book , with the initials first. At the end of their names, list  Ed. or Eds. in parentheses , which is the abbreviation for editor or editors. Then, type a  comma , the  title of the book , and include the  page numbers in parentheses . End with the publisher.

Example: Landes, D. (2000). Culture makes almost all the difference. In L. E. Harrison & S. P. Huntington (Eds.),  Culture matters: How values shape human progress  (pp. 2–13). Basic Books.

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Q. How do I reference a book review in APA style?

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Answered By: Theresa Bell (she/her/hers) Last Updated: Nov 02, 2021     Views: 11893

APA Style (7th ed.)

Since book reviews are published in a variety of formats,

the reference format of a review should be the same as the format for the the type of content appearing within that source, with the addition of information about the item being reviewed in square brackets after the review title. (American Psychological Association, 2020, p. 334)

Please see below for a generic example of a book review published in a scholarly journal with an assigned DOI:

Lastname of review author, A. (Year, Month day). Title of review [Review of the book Book title , by A. Author & B. Author]. Title of Journal, volume# (issue#), page#-page#. https://doi.org/xxxxxxxx

In-text citation: (Lastname of review author, year, p. X)

For more information, see pages 334-335 in the APA Style manual.

American Psychological Association. (2020).  Publication manual of the American Psychological Association  (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000

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APA Formatting and Style Guide (6th Edition)

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Book Review Format and Citations in APA, MLA, and Chicago

by  Antony W

August 29, 2024

This the complete guide to everything there is to know about book review format.

Whether your teacher has asked you to prepare for a book review assignment or you’re already working on one, this post will help you to structure your paper more appropriately.

Using the right format to write a book review shows that you care about content organization. It also helps to improve your writing style and analytical skills.

How to Format a Book Review

It is important to note that not all books can be reviewed using the same format or template. While certain elements may be similar, there exist distinct review formats for different types of books reviews .

So here’s the approach that we use:

History Book Review Format

When writing a book review for historical works, it is essential to familiarize oneself with the author’s previous publications by reading various articles and books. In some cases, the author may have even offered critical reviews of other authors’ works, which can serve as valuable sources.

By gathering all relevant information, you can gain a deeper understanding of the author’s perspective.

• Identify the genre of history the author specializes in and their writing approach. History books can focus on various themes, including gender, class, race, labor, law, and culture.
• Write a summary of the book, making sure it includes the topic, the author’s argument, the demographics, time, and significant events mentioned in the book.
• Analyze the author’s structure of the book. History books can be in chronological or thematic structure. So you must determine if the structure aligns with the author’s arguments.
• Evaluate the evidence provided by the author in favor of their arguments. Evidence can include data, narratives, and characters.
• Highlight both the strengths and weaknesses of the book.
• You should include a concluding thought on whether or not to recommend the book to readers.

Critical Book Review Format 

A critical book review involves a more in-depth evaluation of all the ideas and information presented in the book.

While one may argue that historical book reviews also involve evaluating ideas and information, a critical book review requires a more thorough examination of each piece of information, and thus it requires more effort and time. 

For a critical book review, a proper format would be to limit the review to three to four pages and focus on a comprehensive analysis. 

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Citations Used in Book Reviews

The citation formatting used for academic book reviews include APA, MLA, Chicago, and Turabian. Let’s look at a summary of each in the following section:

The writing style of the American Psychological Association (APA) format is well suited for academic work in fields such as Education, Psychology, and Sciences.

When applying the APA format to a book review, use the following formatting:

• Typeface : Times New Roman
• Font size : 12 points
• Margins : One-inch margin on all pages
• Line spacing : Double-spacing between lines of text, including headings, title, and references
• Alignment : Left-justified margin or flush-left feature for entire document
• Hyphenation : Avoid using hyphens to separate words at the end of a line
• Sentence length : Strive for shorter sentences to prevent words from extending into the next line.

Adhering to these formatting standards in accordance with the APA style can enhance the readability and professionalism of your writing.

If you’ve decided to use the MLA format for your book review, observe the following rules:

• Paper format: standard, white paper
• Paper dimensions: 8.5 x 11 inches
• Text spacing: double-spaced, following MLA format
• Font and typeface: no strict rule, but italics should be distinct from regular type style
• Font size: 12 points throughout the document
• Space after punctuation marks: only one space
• Margins: 1 inch on all sides
• Page numbers: sequentially at the top right corner of each page in the header
• Gap from top of page: 1 ½ inches
• Titles of works: italicized throughout the review essay
• Endnotes: on a separate page before the Works Cited page
• Works Cited page: included at the end of the paper, listing resources in alphabetical order

You should follow these guidelines to ensure proper formatting of the paper according to MLA guidelines.

Ensure that there is a minimum 1-inch margin on all sides of the page, with the main text double-spaced. Maintain a ½-inch indent when starting new paragraphs, and avoid using “justified” alignment and opt for left alignment to create a ragged right edge.

You have the option to include the page number either at the top right corner or at the bottom center of the page, but do not place it in both locations.

Including the title at the top of the page, center-aligned and double-spaced, is sufficient. The font used for the title and text should be identical, and there should be a gap between the title and the page, with the title positioned approximately 1/3 down the page.

Additional instructions include:

• Do not include a page number on the title page, but count it as the first page in the page numbering.
• Capitalize every heading or headline.
• Clearly distinguish between different heading levels, such as chapters and subheadings.
• Use the following format for prose quotations of five or more lines: block quote with a blank line before and after, and indent the citation by an extra ½ inch.
• For poetry quotations, the minimum is two lines or more.
• Do not double-space quotations and citations.
• Always provide the full form of an acronym when introducing it for the first time.
• Also, you should capitalize and bold the title and subtitles.

Final Thoughts

If you’ve read this guide up to this far, then it should be clear that formatting a book review isn’t difficult at all.

However, if even after understanding the material in this guide you don’t have the time to work on the project, you can take advantage of our writing help and we’ll write the book review for you.

About the author 

Antony W is a professional writer and coach at Help for Assessment. He spends countless hours every day researching and writing great content filled with expert advice on how to write engaging essays, research papers, and assignments.

Generate accurate APA citations for free

• Knowledge Base
• APA Style 6th edition
• How to cite a book in APA Style (6th edition)

Citing a Book in APA Style (6th Edition) | Format & Examples

Published on November 5, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on January 25, 2024.

A book citation in APA Style always includes the author’s name, the publication year, the book title, and the publisher.

You can use our free APA Citation Generator to generate your APA book citations . Just paste the ISBN or DOI and the generator retrieves all the necessary information.

Generate accurate APA citations with Scribbr

Table of contents, basic book citation format, ebooks and online books in apa, citing a chapter from an edited book, multivolume books, where to find the information for an apa book citation.

The APA in-text citation for a book includes the author’s last name, the year, and (if relevant) a page number.

In the reference list , start with the author’s last name and initials, followed by the year. The book title is written in sentence case (only capitalize the first word and any proper nouns). Include other contributors (e.g. editors and translators) and the edition if specified.

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The AI-powered Citation Checker helps you avoid common mistakes such as:

• Missing commas and periods
• Incorrect usage of “et al.”
• Ampersands (&) in narrative citations
• Missing reference entries

To cite a book you accessed online, replace information about the publisher with information about the book’s format and location online.

Books accessed on e-readers

A citation of an ebook (i.e. a book accessed on an e-reader) includes the ebook format in square brackets. Add a DOI where available, and otherwise link to the page where the ebook can be purchased or accessed.

Since ebooks sometimes do not include page numbers, APA recommends using other methods of identifying a specific passage in your in-text citations – for example, a chapter or section title or a paragraph number.

Books accessed online

A book accessed through a web browser (for example, in PDF form or on Google Books) follows a slightly different format:

When citing a particular chapter from a book containing texts by various authors (e.g. a collection of essays), begin the citation with the author of the chapter and mention the book’s editor(s) later in the reference. A page range identifies the chapter’s location in the book:

Citing a single volume

When citing from one volume of a multivolume book, the format varies slightly depending on whether each volume has a title or just a number.

If the volume has a specific title, this should simply be written as part of the title in your reference list entry:

Eliot, T. S. (2015). The poems of T. S. Eliot: Vol. 1. Collected and uncollected poems (Ricks, C., & McCue, J., Eds.). London, England: Faber & Faber.

If the volume is only numbered, not titled, the volume number is not italicized and appears in parentheses after the title:

Dylan, B. (2005). Chronicles (Vol. 1) . New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.

Citing a multivolume book as a whole

If you refer to the book in general, you may wish to cite the whole thing rather than a specific volume. In this case, individual volume titles are not included even if they do exist:

Eliot, T. S. (2015). The poems of T. S. Eliot (Vols. 1–2) (Ricks, C., & McCue, J., Eds.). London, England: Faber & Faber.

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All the information you need to cite a book can usually be found on the title page and the copyright page:

The APA reference list entry for the book above would look like this:

Butler, C. (2002). Postmodernism: A very short introduction . Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

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If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Caulfield, J. (2024, January 25). Citing a Book in APA Style (6th Edition) | Format & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved September 9, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/apa-style/6th-edition/archived-apa-book-citation/

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Sample Papers

This page contains sample papers formatted in seventh edition APA Style. The sample papers show the format that authors should use to submit a manuscript for publication in a professional journal and that students should use to submit a paper to an instructor for a course assignment. You can download the Word files to use as templates and edit them as needed for the purposes of your own papers.

Most guidelines in the Publication Manual apply to both professional manuscripts and student papers. However, there are specific guidelines for professional papers versus student papers, including professional and student title page formats. All authors should check with the person or entity to whom they are submitting their paper (e.g., publisher or instructor) for guidelines that are different from or in addition to those specified by APA Style.

Sample papers from the Publication Manual

The following two sample papers were published in annotated form in the Publication Manual and are reproduced here as PDFs for your ease of use. The annotations draw attention to content and formatting and provide the relevant sections of the Publication Manual (7th ed.) to consult for more information.

• Student sample paper with annotations (PDF, 5MB)
• Professional sample paper with annotations (PDF, 2.7MB)

We also offer these sample papers in Microsoft Word (.docx) format with the annotations as comments to the text.

• Student sample paper with annotations as comments (DOCX, 42KB)
• Professional sample paper with annotations as comments (DOCX, 103KB)

Finally, we offer these sample papers in Microsoft Word (.docx) format without the annotations.

• Student sample paper without annotations (DOCX, 36KB)
• Professional sample paper without annotations (DOCX, 96KB)

Sample professional paper templates by paper type

These sample papers demonstrate APA Style formatting standards for different professional paper types. Professional papers can contain many different elements depending on the nature of the work. Authors seeking publication should refer to the journal’s instructions for authors or manuscript submission guidelines for specific requirements and/or sections to include.

• Literature review professional paper template (DOCX, 47KB)
• Mixed methods professional paper template (DOCX, 68KB)
• Qualitative professional paper template (DOCX, 72KB)
• Quantitative professional paper template (DOCX, 77KB)
• Review professional paper template (DOCX, 112KB)

Sample papers are covered in the seventh edition APA Style manuals in the Publication Manual Chapter 2 and the Concise Guide Chapter 1

Related handouts

• Heading Levels Template: Student Paper (PDF, 257KB)
• Heading Levels Template: Professional Paper (PDF, 213KB)

Other instructional aids

• Journal Article Reporting Standards (JARS)
• APA Style Tutorials and Webinars
• Handouts and Guides
• Paper Format

View all instructional aids

Sample student paper templates by paper type

These sample papers demonstrate APA Style formatting standards for different student paper types. Students may write the same types of papers as professional authors (e.g., quantitative studies, literature reviews) or other types of papers for course assignments (e.g., reaction or response papers, discussion posts), dissertations, and theses.

APA does not set formal requirements for the nature or contents of an APA Style student paper. Students should follow the guidelines and requirements of their instructor, department, and/or institution when writing papers. For instance, an abstract and keywords are not required for APA Style student papers, although an instructor may request them in student papers that are longer or more complex. Specific questions about a paper being written for a course assignment should be directed to the instructor or institution assigning the paper.

• Discussion post student paper template (DOCX, 31KB)
• Literature review student paper template (DOCX, 37KB)
• Quantitative study student paper template (DOCX, 53KB)

Sample papers in real life

Although published articles differ in format from manuscripts submitted for publication or student papers (e.g., different line spacing, font, margins, and column format), articles published in APA journals provide excellent demonstrations of APA Style in action.

APA journals began publishing papers in seventh edition APA Style in 2020. Professional authors should check the author submission guidelines for the journal to which they want to submit their paper for any journal-specific style requirements.

Credits for sample professional paper templates

Quantitative professional paper template: Adapted from “Fake News, Fast and Slow: Deliberation Reduces Belief in False (but Not True) News Headlines,” by B. Bago, D. G. Rand, and G. Pennycook, 2020, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General , 149 (8), pp. 1608–1613 ( https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000729 ). Copyright 2020 by the American Psychological Association.

Qualitative professional paper template: Adapted from “‘My Smartphone Is an Extension of Myself’: A Holistic Qualitative Exploration of the Impact of Using a Smartphone,” by L. J. Harkin and D. Kuss, 2020, Psychology of Popular Media , 10 (1), pp. 28–38 ( https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000278 ). Copyright 2020 by the American Psychological Association.

Mixed methods professional paper template: Adapted from “‘I Am a Change Agent’: A Mixed Methods Analysis of Students’ Social Justice Value Orientation in an Undergraduate Community Psychology Course,” by D. X. Henderson, A. T. Majors, and M. Wright, 2019,  Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology , 7 (1), 68–80. ( https://doi.org/10.1037/stl0000171 ). Copyright 2019 by the American Psychological Association.

Literature review professional paper template: Adapted from “Rethinking Emotions in the Context of Infants’ Prosocial Behavior: The Role of Interest and Positive Emotions,” by S. I. Hammond and J. K. Drummond, 2019, Developmental Psychology , 55 (9), pp. 1882–1888 ( https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000685 ). Copyright 2019 by the American Psychological Association.

Review professional paper template: Adapted from “Joining the Conversation: Teaching Students to Think and Communicate Like Scholars,” by E. L. Parks, 2022, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology , 8 (1), pp. 70–78 ( https://doi.org/10.1037/stl0000193 ). Copyright 2020 by the American Psychological Association.

Credits for sample student paper templates

These papers came from real students who gave their permission to have them edited and posted by APA.