PERRLA/Guides/APA 7/Anthology

How to Cite an Anthology in APA 7

An APA 7 reference for a whole anthology lists its editors in the author position with (Ed.) or (Eds.), the anthology's copyright year in parentheses, the title in italics and sentence case, the edition, the publisher, and the DOI if there is one. The in-text citation uses the editors' last names and the year: (Davis & Schaefer, 1995). To cite one reprinted poem, story, or essay inside it, cite that piece's author with the year it first came out and the anthology's year: (Dewey, 1897/2022).

The format

Editor, A. A., & Editor, B. B. (Eds.). (Year). Title of the anthology (#th ed.). Publisher. https://doi.org/xxxx

PERRLA APA Experts · Updated October 21, 2026
Checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition. Every example is formatted by PERRLA's reference engine.

First, the easy way: PERRLA

Search for the anthology in PERRLA's reference search by its ISBN, its DOI, or its title. PERRLA brings it in as a book, which gives the same APA reference as an anthology. Before you add it, check two things. Book catalogs often list an anthology's editors as its authors, so look at each name's role and change it to Editor if needed. Then hold the year, the edition, and the title's capitals up against the book's title and copyright pages.

Adding one by hand? Choose Anthology, then An anthology and All or part of an anthology. Add the editors, then the anthology title, the year, the edition, the publisher, and the DOI or URL. PERRLA puts the editors up front with (Ed.) or (Eds.). For a translated collection, choose Foreign language or translated anthology and add the translator. For one reissued years later, choose Republished anthology and add the original year.

Citing one piece inside it? Choose An entry in an anthology instead, and add the year the piece first came out. PERRLA adds (Original work published ...) to the reference and puts both years in your citation.

Not using PERRLA yet? Here is how to build the same reference by hand.

The parts of the reference

1. Editors

An anthology collects works by many writers, so the people who chose and arranged them go in the author position. Write each editor's last name, a comma, and their initials, with an ampersand (&) before the last one. Then (Ed.) for one editor or (Eds.) for more, once, followed by a period.

Davis, C., & Schaefer, J. (Eds.).

A reader that gathers one writer's work, like The Erik Erikson Reader, still goes under its editor. If the title page instead credits the writer as the author and someone else as the editor, the writer goes first and the editor moves into parentheses after the title.

No editor named at all? The title moves to the front, and the year follows it.

2. Year

Use the anthology's own copyright year, in parentheses, followed by a period. Not the years its pieces first appeared.

(2022).

Check the copyright page. The sixth edition of The Curriculum Studies Reader came out in November 2021, but Routledge gives its copyright as 2022, so 2022 is the year.

3. Title

Write the title in italics and sentence case: capitalize the first word, the first word after a colon, and proper nouns. Keep the title page's wording, ampersand included: don't swap & for and, or the other way around.

Between the heartbeats: Poetry & prose by nurses

4. Edition and other contributors

For any edition after the first, put the edition in parentheses after the title, in plain text. A translated anthology names its translator in the same spot, and when both appear, a semicolon separates them.

The curriculum studies reader (6th ed.).

5. Publisher

Give the publisher's name with no city, state, or Inc.

University of Iowa Press.

6. DOI or URL

End with the anthology's DOI as a link, when it has one, with no period after it. Many print anthologies have none; end after the publisher. Don't add a database name or a store link.

https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003230625

7. Original publication dates

A whole anthology is a new book, so it gets no original publication date, even when every piece in it is older. The original dates belong to the pieces: when you cite one poem, story, or essay, its reference ends with (Original work published 1897), and your citation gives both years, earliest first.

The exception is an anthology reissued as a whole years later. That one ends with the year the collection itself first came out.

Examples

An anthology with two editors

A collection of poems and stories written by nurses, edited by Cortney Davis and Judy Schaefer and published by the University of Iowa Press. Every piece in it has its own author, so citing the whole book credits the two editors.

  • Parenthetical citation(Davis & Schaefer, 1995)
  • Narrative citationDavis and Schaefer (1995)

An anthology with an edition and a DOI

The sixth edition of The Curriculum Studies Reader, a collection of classic and current curriculum writing, from John Dewey's "My Pedagogic Creed" to two pieces by Nel Noddings. It came out in November 2021 with a 2022 copyright, so it's cited as 2022.

  • Parenthetical citation(Flinders & Thornton, 2022)
  • Narrative citationFlinders and Thornton (2022)

A reader of one writer's work, with one editor

The Erik Erikson Reader gathers the psychologist's writing from across his career, selected and edited by Robert Coles. The whole collection goes under its editor, with (Ed.).

  • Parenthetical citation(Coles, 2000)
  • Narrative citationColes (2000)

In-text citations

For a whole anthology, the APA 7 in-text citation gives the editors' last names and the year, with no Ed.

  • One editor: (Coles, 2000) or Coles (2000)
  • Two editors: both names every time: (Davis & Schaefer, 1995) or Davis and Schaefer (1995)
  • Three or more editors: the first editor and et al., starting with the first citation
  • One piece inside it: the piece's author, the year it first came out, a slash, and the anthology's year: (Dewey, 1897/2022) or Dewey (1897/2022)
  • A quote from one piece: add the page number after the two years

Most papers cite a single poem, story, or essay, not the whole collection. That piece gets its own reference, with In, the editors, the anthology title, and its page range.

Common mistakes

  • Flinders, D. J., & Thornton, S. J. (2022).Flinders, D. J., & Thornton, S. J. (Eds.). (2022).Without (Eds.), the reference says these two wrote every piece in the book. Book catalogs often list editors as authors, so add the role back.
  • (2021). The curriculum studies reader (6th ed.).(2022). The curriculum studies reader (6th ed.).Use the copyright year, not the date the book first came out.
  • (Flinders & Thornton, 2022) for Dewey's "My Pedagogic Creed"(Dewey, 1897/2022)When you use one piece, credit the person who wrote it and give both years. Cite the editors only for the book as a whole.
  • The Erik Erikson reader. W. W. Norton & Company. (Original work published 1950)The Erik Erikson reader. W. W. Norton & Company.The collection itself is new, so the whole anthology gets no original date. Original dates go with the individual pieces.
  • Between the Heartbeats: Poetry & Prose by NursesBetween the heartbeats: Poetry & prose by nursesBook titles take sentence case in an APA reference, even when the cover uses title case.
  • Iowa City, IA: University of Iowa Press.University of Iowa Press.APA 7 dropped the publisher's city and state.

Quick checklist

  • Editors first, with (Ed.) or (Eds.)
  • The anthology's copyright year, not the years its pieces first appeared
  • Title in italics and sentence case
  • Edition in plain parentheses after the title
  • Publisher, then the DOI or URL when there is one
  • In text: the editors for the whole book, the piece's author and both years for one piece

Questions students ask

What's the difference between an anthology and an edited book?

An anthology collects works that were mostly published somewhere else first: poems, stories, essays, classic articles. An edited book's chapters were written for that book. The whole-book reference looks the same for both. The difference shows when you cite one piece: a reprinted piece in an anthology also gets its original publication year.

How do I cite one poem, story, or essay in an anthology?

Start with the piece's author, the anthology's year, and the piece's title, then In, the editors, the anthology title in italics, the page range, the publisher, and (Original work published) with the year it first came out. In the text, give both years: (Dewey, 1897/2022).

What year do I use for an anthology?

The copyright year of the edition you're holding, from its copyright page. A store or catalog date can be a year early, and the pieces inside can be decades or centuries older.

How do I cite a translated anthology?

Add the translator after the title, in parentheses, as (A. A. Translator, Trans.). If the collection was first published in its original language in an earlier year, end with (Original work published) and that year, and give both years in the text.

What if the anthology has no editor?

Move the title into the author position, followed by the year. In the text, use the title in italics and title case with the year.

Do I include page numbers for a whole anthology?

Not in the reference. Add a page number only in your in-text citation when you quote. Page ranges belong in the reference for a single piece from the anthology.

Rules checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.), Sections 8.15, 8.17, 9.8, 9.10, 9.12, 9.13–9.14, 9.19, 9.29, 9.34–9.35, 10.2, and 10.3, and the APA Style website's book and edited book chapter pages. Example sources verified against the University of Iowa Press and Routledge book pages, the cover and Library of Congress cataloging of Between the Heartbeats (LCCN 95030297), the Routledge book's Crossref DOI record, and the Open Library and Internet Archive catalog records of The Erik Erikson Reader (LCCN 99041168).

PERRLA builds the anthology reference with the editors up front, and handles the two-year citations for the pieces inside it.

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