APA 6th Edition Books - Edition, Volume, and Page Numbers

How to Cite  for Books

By David Becker
Are you trying to create a reference for the second edition of a multivolume handbook but aren’t sure where or how to include the edition, volume, and page numbers? This is a frequent conundrum that APA Style users have brought to our attention. Their most common question is whether these numbers should be presented together or within separate parentheses.
When citing a chapter, the edition number, the volume number (which is different from a journal’s volume number), and the page range are all enclosed within the same parentheses—in that order—after the title of the book, and they are separated by commas. In a reference to a whole book, cite the edition and volume numbers—separated by a comma—but do not cite a page range.
Here are some templates for citing print versions of books that include edition and volume numbers:

Chapter in an Edited Book Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of chapter. In C. C. Editor & D. D. Editor (Eds.), Title of book (xx ed., Vol. xx, pp. xxx–xxx). Location: Publisher. Authored Book Author, A. A. (Year). Title of book (xx ed., Vol. xx). Location: Publisher. Edited Book Editor, E. E. (Ed.). (Year). Title of book (xx ed., Vol. xx). Location: Publisher.

Entire books and individual chapters are sometimes assigned their own unique digital object identifiers (DOIs). If the book or chapter you are citing lists a DOI, include it at the end of your reference in place of the publisher information, without a period.
Cite the edition of the book you used. If there aren’t multiple editions of the book, or if it isn’t a multivolume work, then do not include this information in your reference.
Here are a few sample references to chapters in edited books with parenthetical edition, volume, and/or page numbers:

Hamilton, R. B., & Newman, J. P. (2018). The response modulation hypothesis: Formulation, development, and implications for psychopathy. In C. J. Patrick (Ed.), Handbook of psychopathy (2nd ed., pp. 80–93). New York, NY: Guilford Press. Slee, R. (2014). Inclusive schooling as an apprenticeship in democracy? In L. Florian (Ed.), The SAGE handbook of special education (2nd ed., Vol. 1, pp. 217–229). London, England: SAGE Publications. Tetrick, L. E., & Peiró, J. M. (2012). Occupational safety and health. In S. W. J. Kozlowksi (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of organizational psychology (Vol. 2, pp. 1228–1244). https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199928286.013.0036

Some publishers title each volume of a multivolume work. In this case, include the volume number within the title when constructing your reference instead of citing it parenthetically. Here is an example reference to a volume with its own title (see also Example 24 on page 204 in the sixth edition of Publication Manual):

Wyer, M. (2018). In the company of feminist science. In C. B. Travis, J. W. White, S. L. Cook, & K. F. Wyche (Eds.), APA handbook of the psychology of women: Vol. 2. Perspectives on women’s private and public lives (pp. 459–474). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000060-025

In APA Style, individual chapters from authored books are not cited in the reference list. We recommend citing the whole book instead. Then, you can cite specific chapters in text as needed.
When citing an entire multivolume work, include the full range of volumes in parentheses. If the volumes were published on different dates, cite the range of years as the publication date.
Here are some sample references to whole books:

Haight, J. M. (Ed.). (2012). The safety professionals handbook: Vol 1. Management applications (2nd ed.). Park Ridge, IL: American Society of Safety Engineers. Kanegsberg, B., & Kanegsberg, E. (Eds.). (2011). Handbook for critical cleaning (2nd ed., Vols. 1–2). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. Travis, C. B., White, J. W., Cook, S. L., & Wyche, K. F. (Eds.). (2018). APA handbook of the psychology of women: Vol. 2. Perspectives on women’s private and public lives. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000060-000 Wypych, G. (2017). Handbook of odors in plastic materials (2nd ed.). Toronto, Canada: ChemTec Publishing.

If you have any additional questions about citing edition, volume, and page numbers, or about any other APA Style issue, feel free to email us at