How to Cite a Book

Books, edited volumes, chapters, and e-books cited correctly in every major academic format. This guide covers APA 7th, IEEE, Harvard, Vancouver, Chicago NB, Chicago AD, and MLA — with examples for every book type.

APA 7th IEEE Harvard Chicago MLA 9th Vancouver

What Information Do You Need?

Locate these details on the book's title page and copyright page (usually the reverse of the title page):

Publisher location: APA 7th (2020) removed the requirement for publisher city. However, Chicago, Harvard, MLA, and Turabian still require the city of publication. Always include it unless you are writing in APA.

APA 7th Edition — Books

Single author
Said, E. W. (1978). Orientalism. Pantheon Books.
Edited book
Brown, A. B., & Wilson, C. D. (Eds.). (2022). Handbook of organizational leadership research (3rd ed.). Routledge.
Chapter in edited book
Nguyen, T. H. (2022). Servant leadership in higher education administration. In A. B. Brown & C. D. Wilson (Eds.), Handbook of organizational leadership research (3rd ed., pp. 145–178). Routledge.
E-book with DOI
Said, E. W. (1978). Orientalism. Pantheon Books. https://doi.org/10.7551/orientalism.1978.001.0001
In-text — APA
(Said, 1978, p. 145) or Said (1978) argues that…

IEEE — Books

Single or multiple authors
[1] E. W. Said, Orientalism. New York, NY, USA: Pantheon Books, 1978. [2] J. W. Creswell and J. D. Creswell, Research Design, 6th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA, USA: SAGE, 2022.
Chapter in edited book
[3] T. H. Nguyen, "Servant leadership in higher education administration," in Handbook of Organizational Leadership Research, 3rd ed., A. B. Brown and C. D. Wilson, Eds. London, UK: Routledge, 2022, pp. 145–178.

IEEE publisher location: IEEE still requires the publisher city and country/state — unlike APA 7th. Use the two-letter state code for US cities: "Cambridge, MA, USA" not just "MIT Press."

Harvard — Books

Single author
Said, E.W. (1978) Orientalism. New York: Pantheon Books.
Edited book
Brown, A.B. and Wilson, C.D. (eds.) (2022) Handbook of organizational leadership research. 3rd edn. London: Routledge.
Chapter in edited book
Nguyen, T.H. (2022) 'Servant leadership in higher education administration', in Brown, A.B. and Wilson, C.D. (eds.) Handbook of organizational leadership research. 3rd edn. London: Routledge, pp. 145–178.
In-text — Harvard
(Said, 1978, p. 145)

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Vancouver — Books

Single or multiple authors
1. Polit DF, Beck CT. Nursing Research: Generating and Assessing Evidence for Nursing Practice. 11th ed. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer; 2022. 2. Creswell JW, Creswell JD. Research Design. Thousand Oaks (CA): SAGE; 2022.
Chapter in edited book
3. Roberts LN, Patel H. Servant leadership in healthcare administration. In: Thompson AR, Singh R, editors. Handbook of Organizational Leadership Research. 4th ed. Oxford: Routledge; 2021. p. 344-61.

Chicago Notes-Bibliography — Books

Footnote
¹ Edward W. Said, Orientalism (New York: Pantheon Books, 1978), 145. ² Thi H. Nguyen, "Servant Leadership in Higher Education Administration," in Handbook of Organizational Leadership Research, ed. Anna B. Brown and Carl D. Wilson (London: Routledge, 2022), 148.
Bibliography
Said, Edward W. Orientalism. New York: Pantheon Books, 1978. Nguyen, Thi H. "Servant Leadership in Higher Education Administration." In Handbook of Organizational Leadership Research, edited by Anna B. Brown and Carl D. Wilson, 145–178. London: Routledge, 2022.

MLA 9th Edition — Books

Single author
Said, Edward W. Orientalism. Pantheon Books, 1978.
Chapter in edited book
Nguyen, Thi H. "Servant Leadership in Higher Education Administration." Handbook of Organizational Leadership Research, edited by Anna B. Brown and Carl D. Wilson, 3rd ed., Routledge, 2022, pp. 145–78.
In-text — MLA
(Said 145)

E-books and Online Books

If you read a book in a digital format, cite it the same as a print book. Add a DOI or URL if the e-book is freely available online. For books accessed through library platforms like ProQuest Ebook Central or EBSCO, use the publisher DOI or book URL — not the platform-specific URL.

APA — e-book with URL
Said, E. W. (1978). Orientalism. Pantheon Books. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Orientalism

Translated Books

APA
Piaget, J. (1952). The origins of intelligence in children (M. Cook, Trans.). W. W. Norton. (Original work published 1936)
Chicago NB — footnote
³ Jean Piaget, The Origins of Intelligence in Children, trans. Margaret Cook (New York: Norton, 1952), 45.

Quick Comparison — Book Citation Elements

ElementAPA 7thIEEEHarvardChicagoMLA
Publisher locationNot requiredCity, CountryCityCity: PublisherNot required
Edition(3rd ed.)3rd ed.3rd edn.3rd edn3rd ed.
Author formatLast, I.I. LastLast, I.First LastLast, First
Book titleItalicsItalicsItalicsItalicsItalics

Common Mistakes