PERRLA/Guides/APA 7/Multivolume work

How to Cite a Multivolume Work in APA 7

An APA 7 reference for a multivolume work lists the editors or authors, the year, the title in italics with the volumes in parentheses after it, (Vols. 1–3), and the publisher. For one volume with its own title, the volume number and that title join the main title: APA handbook of health psychology: Vol. 1. Foundations and context of health psychology. The in-text citation is the first editor's or author's name and the year: (Schneiderman et al., 2025).

The format

Editor, A. A., & Editor, B. B. (Eds.). (Year). Title of the work (Vols. 1–3). 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

In PERRLA, choose Book, then Book, e-book, or audiobook, and pick Volume in a series as the kind. Put the title shared by every volume in Series Title, the single volume's own title (if it has one) in Volume Title, and the number in Volume Number. Citing the whole set? Leave Volume Title empty and type the range, like 1–3, in Volume Number, and PERRLA writes Vols. for you. Add the editors as Editor contributors, or the authors as Author contributors, then the year, publisher, and DOI.

PERRLA builds the "Vol. 1." title, puts the volume number and edition in the right parentheses, and moves editors to the front with (Eds.) when the work has no authors.

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

The parts of the reference

1. Editors or authors

Most multivolume works, like handbooks and encyclopedias, are edited. List the editors' last names and initials, then (Eds.) for more than one or (Ed.) for one, then a period.

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

Which editors? For the whole set, use the editors of the whole work, often called editors-in-chief, even if each volume has its own volume editors. For one volume, use the editors credited on that volume. APA PsycNet's record for Volume 4 of the APA Handbook of Clinical Psychology lists the handbook's three lead editors plus Nnamdi Pole, who edited that volume. Copy the order from the volume you used, since it can change from volume to volume.

2. Year

Put the copyright year in parentheses, followed by a period. Use the copyright page, not the release date: the APA Handbook of Health Psychology went on sale in September 2024, but its volumes carry a 2025 copyright.

(2025).

If you cite the whole set and its volumes came out in different years, give the range of years with an en dash: (2016–2019).

3. Title and volume numbers

Write the title in italics and sentence case. For the whole set, or for a volume with no title of its own, put the volume numbers in parentheses after the title, not in italics. Several volumes take Vols.; one volume takes Vol.

APA handbook of health psychology (Vols. 1–3).

When there's also an edition, it goes first in the same parentheses: (2nd ed., Vol. 1).

4. A volume with its own title

When the single volume has its own title, the volume number and volume title become part of the italic title: the main title, a colon, Vol. and the number, a period, then the volume's title in sentence case.

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

Nothing goes in parentheses after it unless the work has an edition number.

5. Publisher

Give the publisher's name, without a city. If a group author wrote the work and also published it, leave the publisher out. Here the editors are people, so the publisher stays.

American Psychological Association.

6. DOI or URL

Many handbooks give each volume its own DOI. Use the DOI for the volume you cite, written as a link, with no period after it.

https://doi.org/10.1037/0000394-000

If you cite the whole set and it has no DOI of its own, end after the publisher. Don't borrow one volume's DOI for the whole set.

Examples

Several volumes of a multivolume work

The three-volume APA Handbook of Health Psychology, cited as a whole. All seven editors appear, and the volume range goes in parentheses after the title. There's no single DOI for the set, so the reference ends with the publisher.

  • Parenthetical citation(Schneiderman et al., 2025)
  • Narrative citationSchneiderman et al. (2025)

One volume that has its own title

Volume 1 of the same handbook, Foundations and Context of Health Psychology, with its own DOI. The volume number and volume title become part of the italic title.

  • Parenthetical citation(Schneiderman et al., 2025, p. 45)
  • Narrative citationSchneiderman et al. (2025, p. 45)

One volume with its own volume editor

Volume 4 of the five-volume APA Handbook of Clinical Psychology, on psychopathology and health. Its editors are the handbook's three lead editors and Nnamdi Pole, who edited this volume, in the order APA PsycNet lists them.

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

In-text citations

A multivolume work's in-text citation is the first editor's or author's last name and the year, the same as any edited book. Volume numbers stay in the reference, not the citation.

  • Three or more editors: the first editor and et al.: (Schneiderman et al., 2025) or Schneiderman et al. (2025)
  • A quote: add the page: (Schneiderman et al., 2025, p. 45)
  • Two references with the same editors and year, like the whole set and one of its volumes: add a lowercase letter to each year, (Schneiderman et al., 2025a) and (Schneiderman et al., 2025b), lettered in the order the two references fall on your references page, which goes by title

When you used only one volume, cite that volume rather than the whole set. It gives your reader a shorter path to your source.

Common mistakes

  • APA handbook of health psychology (Vol. 1–3).APA handbook of health psychology (Vols. 1–3).More than one volume takes the plural abbreviation, Vols.
  • APA handbook of health psychology (Vols. 1–3).APA handbook of health psychology (Vols. 1–3).The parentheses with the volume numbers aren't italic. Only the title is.
  • 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 title join the main title in italics, with a colon before Vol. and a period after the number.
  • Schneiderman, N., Smith, T. W., Anderson, N. B., Antoni, M. H., Penedo, F. J., Revenson, T. A., & Abraído-Lanza, A. F. (Eds.). (2024).Schneiderman, N., Smith, T. W., Anderson, N. B., Antoni, M. H., Penedo, F. J., Revenson, T. A., & Abraído-Lanza, A. F. (Eds.). (2025).Use the copyright year from the book, not the month it went on sale.
  • Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.American Psychological Association.APA 7 dropped publisher locations from book references.

Quick checklist

  • Editors of the whole work for a set; the volume's own editors for one volume
  • The copyright year, or a range of years for a set published over time
  • (Vols. 1–3) for several volumes, (Vol. 2) for one untitled volume, in plain text
  • A volume with its own title: Title: Vol. 4. Volume title, all in italics
  • The publisher, with no city
  • The DOI for the volume you cite, when it has one

Questions students ask

Should I cite the whole set or just one volume?

Cite what you used. If everything you used came from one volume, cite that volume, with its own title and DOI if it has them. Cite the whole set only when you drew on several volumes or are describing the work as a whole.

Where does the volume number go in APA 7?

If the volume has no title of its own, put the number in parentheses after the book title, not italicized: (Vol. 2). If the volume has its own title, the number goes inside the italic title, between the main title and the volume title: Main title: Vol. 2. Volume title.

Is it Vol. or Vols.?

Vol. for one volume, Vols. for more than one: (Vol. 3), (Vols. 1–3). Use an en dash between the first and last volume numbers in a range.

Who goes first: the editor-in-chief or the volume editors?

For the whole set, the editors of the whole work, often called editors-in-chief. For one volume, the editors credited on that volume's title page, in that order. In big handbooks, that's often the editors-in-chief followed by the volume editors.

How do I cite a chapter from one volume?

Cite the chapter the same way as any chapter in an edited book: the chapter's authors, year, and title, then "In" and the volume's editors and title, with the chapter's page range. See our chapter in an edited book guide.

What if two of my references have the same editors and year?

Citing a whole set and one of its volumes, or two volumes from the same year, gives you two references that start the same way. Add a, b, and so on after the year in both the reference and the in-text citation, (Schneiderman et al., 2025a), and PERRLA adds those letters for you when both references are in your paper.

Rules checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.), Sections 8.19, 9.19, 9.20, 9.29, and 10.2, and the APA Style website's pages on book and e-book references and the elements of reference list entries. Example sources verified against APA PsycNet, each volume's DOI record, and the American Psychological Association's book page for the set.

PERRLA builds multivolume references for you, from the volume numbers to the "Vol. 4." titles.

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