PERRLA/Guides/APA 7/Book in a series

How to Cite a Book in a Series in APA 7

In APA 7, a book that belongs to a publisher's series is cited like any other book, and the series name is left out: author, year, title in italics, publisher, and DOI. If you're citing one volume of a multivolume work, add the volume to the title: in parentheses after the title when the volume has no title of its own, as in Harrison's principles of internal medicine (21st ed., Vol. 1), or as part of the italic title when it does. The in-text citation is the author or editor and the year: (Loscalzo et al., 2022).

The format

Editor, A. A., & Editor, B. B. (Eds.). (Year). Title of the whole work: Vol. #. Title of the volume. 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

Citing one volume of a multivolume work? In PERRLA, choose Book, then Book, e-book, or audiobook, then the kind Volume in a series. Type the title of the whole work in Series Title, the volume's own title (if it has one) in Volume Title, and the number in Volume Number. PERRLA decides where the volume goes: inside the italic title when the volume has a name, in parentheses with the edition when it doesn't.

For a book that's simply part of a publisher's series, like a handbook line or a set of short introductions, choose the kind All or part of a book and leave the series name out. PERRLA's reference search can also find most books from an ISBN or a DOI. It fills them in as an ordinary book, so for one volume, switch the kind to Volume in a series and move the volume number out of the title and into its own field.

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

The parts of the reference

1. Authors or editors

Start with whoever is named on the title page of the volume you used. For an edited multivolume work, that's the editors, followed by (Ed.) or (Eds.) and a period. List every editor the volume names, up to 20.

Norcross, J. C., VandenBos, G. R., Freedheim, D. K., & Pole, N. (Eds.).

Large handbooks often list editors-in-chief for the whole set plus an associate editor for each volume. When you cite one volume, use the editors that volume's title page lists. When you cite several volumes together, use the editors-in-chief.

2. Year

Give the copyright year of the volume you used, in parentheses, followed by a period. Volumes of one work can come out in different years, so check the copyright page of your volume.

(2016).

3. Title of the whole work and the volume

This is where a volume differs from an ordinary book, and there are two patterns.

The volume has its own title. Write the title of the whole work, a colon, Vol. and the number, a period, then the volume's title. All of it is italic and in sentence case.

APA handbook of clinical psychology: Vol. 4. Psychopathology and health.

The volume has no title of its own. Write the title of the whole work in italics, then put the volume number in parentheses after it, not italic. If there's an edition, it goes first in the same parentheses, separated by a comma.

Harrison's principles of internal medicine (21st ed., Vol. 1).

4. Series name

For a book that's part of a publisher's series (the APA Handbooks in Psychology series, the Theories of Psychotherapy Series, and so on), leave the series name out of the reference. It isn't italicized in your sentences either, if you mention it at all.

Craske, M. G. (2017). Cognitive-behavioral therapy (2nd ed.).

The exception: if the series name is printed as part of the book's own title or subtitle, keep it, because then it's the title.

Public health: A very short introduction.

5. Publisher

Give the publisher's name as the book shows it, followed by a period. Don't include the city. When the publisher is also the author, leave the publisher out.

American Psychological Association.

6. DOI or URL

If the volume has a DOI, end with it as a https://doi.org/ link, with no period after it. Each volume of a big handbook usually has its own DOI, so use the one for the volume you read.

https://doi.org/10.1037/14862-000

No DOI? A print volume, or an e-book from a library database, ends after the publisher.

Examples

One volume with its own title

Volume 4 of the five-volume APA Handbook of Clinical Psychology, which has its own title, Psychopathology and Health. APA's own record of the volume lists four editors: the handbook's three editors-in-chief and the volume's associate editor. In PERRLA, this is the kind Volume in a series.

  • Parenthetical citation(Norcross et al., 2016)
  • Narrative citationNorcross et al. (2016)

One volume with no title of its own

Volume 1 of the two-volume 21st edition of Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, the internal medicine reference many nurse practitioner and PA students use. The volumes are numbered but not titled, so the volume number goes in parentheses with the edition.

  • Parenthetical citation(Loscalzo et al., 2022, p. 215)
  • Narrative citationLoscalzo et al. (2022, p. 215)

A book in a publisher's series

Michelle Craske's Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy is one book in the American Psychological Association's Theories of Psychotherapy Series. The series name doesn't go in the reference. In PERRLA, this is an ordinary book: the kind All or part of a book.

  • Parenthetical citation(Craske, 2017)
  • Narrative citationCraske (2017)

A series name that's part of the title

Virginia Berridge's book in Oxford's Very Short Introductions. Here the series name is printed as the book's subtitle, so it stays in the title.

  • Parenthetical citation(Berridge, 2016)
  • Narrative citationBerridge (2016)

In-text citations

A book in a series, or one volume of a multivolume work, is cited in the text like any book: the author's or editor's last name and the year. The volume number doesn't go in the in-text citation, because the reference already names the volume. Add a page number when you quote.

  • One author: (Craske, 2017) or Craske (2017)
  • Three or more editors: the first editor and et al., from the first citation: (Norcross et al., 2016) or Norcross et al. (2016)
  • A quote: add the page: (Loscalzo et al., 2022, p. 215)

Don't write (Eds.) in the in-text citation. Editors are cited by name, exactly like authors.

Common mistakes

  • Cognitive-behavioral therapy (2nd ed.). Theories of Psychotherapy Series. American Psychological Association.Cognitive-behavioral therapy (2nd ed.). American Psychological Association.APA 7 leaves the name of a publisher's book series out of the reference. Turabian and Chicago do include series names, which is where this habit comes from.
  • APA handbook of clinical psychology (Vol. 4). Psychopathology and health.APA handbook of clinical psychology: Vol. 4. Psychopathology and health.When a volume has its own title, the volume number and that title become part of the italic title. Parentheses are only for volumes without a title of their own.
  • Harrison's principles of internal medicine (Volume 1, 21st ed.).Harrison's principles of internal medicine (21st ed., Vol. 1).Abbreviate volume to Vol., and put the edition first when a book has both, separated by a comma.
  • Harrison's principles of internal medicine (21st ed., Vol. 1).Harrison's principles of internal medicine (21st ed., Vol. 1).The parentheses after the title aren't italic. Only the title itself is.
  • (Norcross et al., 2016, Vol. 4)(Norcross et al., 2016)The reference entry already identifies the volume, so the in-text citation doesn't repeat it. If you cite two volumes of the same work, each gets its own reference.

Quick checklist

  • Editors or authors from the title page of the volume you used
  • The copyright year of that volume
  • A titled volume: Vol. # and its title inside the italic title
  • An untitled volume: (Vol. #) after the title, with the edition first if there is one
  • No publisher's series name, unless it's printed as part of the title
  • The volume's own DOI, if it has one

Questions students ask

Do I include the series title in an APA 7 book reference?

No, not for a book in a publisher's series. APA 7 leaves series names out. The only time a series name stays is when it's printed as part of the book's own title or subtitle, as with Oxford's Very Short Introductions.

How do I cite one volume of a multivolume book in APA 7?

Cite the volume you used. If it has its own title, write the main title, a colon, Vol. and the number, a period, and the volume title, all in italics. If it doesn't, put (Vol. 1) after the italic title, with the edition first if there is one.

Who goes first when a handbook has editors-in-chief and volume editors?

For one volume, list the editors named on that volume's title page, which for many handbooks means the editors-in-chief plus the volume's associate editor. When you cite several volumes in one reference, list the editors-in-chief.

Can I cite the whole multivolume set instead of one volume?

You can, when you're referring to the work as a whole. List the editors-in-chief, then put the volume range in parentheses after the title, as Vols. with the first and last numbers and an en dash between them. If you used only one or two volumes, cite those volumes instead, so your reader can find what you read.

I'm citing two volumes of the same handbook. Do they both show up as Norcross et al. (2016)?

That's the catch with et al. If two references from the same year would shorten to the same et al. citation, APA says to write out as many names as it takes to tell them apart. For two handbook volumes that differ only in their last editor, that means every name.

Does the volume number go in my in-text citation?

No. The in-text citation is the author or editor and the year, plus a page number for a quote. The reference entry tells your reader which volume it is.

Rules checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.), Sections 6.22, 8.17, 8.18, 9.7–9.37, and 10.2, and the APA Style website's book references (several volumes of a multivolume work), children's book references (a book in a series), and elements of reference list entries (volume numbers in the title element). Example sources verified against APA PsycNet and the Crossref records for each DOI, the CiNii catalog record for Harrison's, and library catalog records for series membership.

PERRLA puts the volume in the right place for you, inside the italic title or in parentheses with the edition.

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