How to Cite a Reference to a Book With an Editor & No Author in APA

The American Psychological Association (APA) is a system of documenting information used in a paper or essay. In-text citations are used to allow the reader to look up complete bibliographic information in the reference list at the end of the paper. All sources used for the paper must be cited. APA is the most common bibliographic style used in the sciences and social sciences. It allows for consistent formatting from paper to paper. Currently, the 6th edition, 2nd printing, of the APA Style Guide is being used.

Things You'll Need

  • APA style guide or on-line reference source
  • Original book for reference
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Instructions

    • 1

      Cite the book in the body of your paper providing the editor(s) name and year of publication in parentheses. This should appear at the point where you reference an idea, fact or concept from the book. If you use a quotation also provide the page number. The format should be (last name of editor, year). If quoting, your citation should be (last name of editor, year, p. page number).

    • 2

      Type the word References on a new page at the back of the essay. It should not have italics, underlining or bolding, but it should be centered on the page.

    • 3

      Add each new entry alphabetically by last name of the author (or editor, if no author is listed). When there are multiple authors or editors, the first author listed is the one to use for alphabetizing.

    • 4

      Indent the first line of each new entry one-half inch from the margin on the left side of your paper. This is known as a hanging indentation. Double-space your reference list.

    • 5

      Write the last name of the editor of the book, followed by the editor's first initial. (Ed.) should follow in parentheses. If there is more than one editor, list them alphabetically using an ampersand (&) between their names and follow with (Eds.). This is followed by year of publication in parentheses. Title of the book, Location of publication and publisher. The title of the book should be written in italics. Only the first word of the title and subtitle should be capitalized.

    • 6

      Use the guideline and example included here to help you create your reference or look at one of the online guides.

      Guideline:

      The full reference will appear as: Last name, Initial. (Ed.). (Year). Title of book: Subtitle of book. City, State abbreviation: Publisher.

      Example:

      Carroll, W.K. (Ed.). (1992). Organizing dissent: Contemporary social movements in theory and in practice. Toronto, ON: Garamond Press.

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