First, the easy way: PERRLA
In PERRLA, choose Book, then Book, e-book, or audiobook, then the kind Republished book. Fill in the details from your copy: the author, the title, the year on your edition's copyright page in Publication Year, and your edition's publisher. Then type the year the book first came out in Original Publication Year.
PERRLA adds (Original work published …) to the end of the reference and writes both years into every in-text citation, original first. Can't find the original year? Choose the kind All or part of a book instead, so the citation shows only your edition's year. PERRLA's reference search can find most books from an ISBN. It fills in the edition you have, so switch the kind to Republished book and add the original year yourself.
Not using PERRLA yet? Here is how to build the same reference by hand.
The parts of the reference
1. Author
The original author goes first: last name, comma, initials. A republished book keeps its original author, even when someone else edited the new edition or wrote a new introduction.
Peplau, H. E.
2. Year of your edition
Give the year of the edition you actually read, from its copyright page, in parentheses. This is the reissue's year, not the year the book first appeared.
(1991).
Look for the copyright year, not a later printing. Many classics have a line like "tenth printing, 2004" on the copyright page, and that printing year isn't the publication year.
3. Title
Write the title of your edition in italics and sentence case, with the subtitle after a colon.
Interpersonal relations in nursing: A conceptual frame of reference for psychodynamic nursing.
4. Edition or editor
If your edition has a name or number, like a commemorative or anniversary edition, put it in parentheses after the title, not italic. If the new edition credits an editor, put the editor there too, initials first, with Ed.
From novice to expert: Excellence and power in clinical nursing practice (Commemorative ed.).
Wonderful adventures of Mrs Seacole in many lands (S. Salih, Ed.).
5. Publisher
Give the publisher of your edition, not the original one, followed by a period. Use the name as your copy prints it, including an imprint like Penguin Classics.
Springer Publishing Company.
6. DOI or URL
If your edition has a DOI, or you read it online at a stable URL that isn't a library database, it goes after the publisher. Most republished print books have neither, and the reference goes straight from the publisher to the original date.
7. Original publication date
End with the year the book was first published, in parentheses, after the words Original work published. There's no period after the closing parenthesis.
(Original work published 1952)
If you can't find when the book first came out, leave this part off and cite your edition as an ordinary book.
Examples
A classic reissued by a new publisher
Hildegard Peplau's foundational nursing theory book was first published by G. P. Putnam's Sons in 1952. Springer Publishing Company reissued it in 1991.
References
Peplau, H. E. (1991). Interpersonal relations in nursing: A conceptual frame of reference for psychodynamic nursing. Springer Publishing Company. (Original work published 1952)
- Parenthetical citation(Peplau, 1952/1991)
- Narrative citationPeplau (1952/1991)
A commemorative or anniversary edition
Patricia Benner's From Novice to Expert first came out from Addison-Wesley in 1984. Prentice Hall published the commemorative edition in 2001. The edition label goes in parentheses after the title, and the original year still goes at the end.
References
Benner, P. (2001). From novice to expert: Excellence and power in clinical nursing practice (Commemorative ed.). Prentice Hall. (Original work published 1984)
- Parenthetical citation(Benner, 1984/2001, p. 13)
- Narrative citationBenner (1984/2001, p. 13)
A republished book with a new editor
Mary Seacole's 1857 memoir of nursing in the Crimean War, republished by Penguin Classics in 2005 and edited by Sara Salih. The editor goes in parentheses after the title, and Seacole stays in the author position.
References
Seacole, M. (2005). Wonderful adventures of Mrs Seacole in many lands (S. Salih, Ed.). Penguin Classics. (Original work published 1857)
- Parenthetical citation(Seacole, 1857/2005, p. 73)
- Narrative citationSeacole (1857/2005, p. 73)
In-text citations
A republished book's in-text citation carries both years: the original year, a slash, then the year of the edition you read. The earlier year always comes first. Add a page number from your edition when you quote.
- Parenthetical: (Peplau, 1952/1991)
- Narrative: Peplau (1952/1991) described four phases of the nurse–patient relationship.
- A quote: (Benner, 1984/2001, p. 13)
- With an editor: cite the author, not the editor: (Seacole, 1857/2005, p. 73)
The page number is always from the edition you read, since the 1991 reissue and the 1952 original may not share pagination.
Common mistakes
- (Peplau, 1991)(Peplau, 1952/1991)A republished book needs both years in the text, so readers can see it's a 1950s work and still find your edition.
- (Peplau, 1991/1952)(Peplau, 1952/1991)The original year always comes first, then the year of your edition.
- Peplau, H. E. (1952). Interpersonal relations in nursing: A conceptual frame of reference for psychodynamic nursing. Springer Publishing Company.Peplau, H. E. (1991). Interpersonal relations in nursing: A conceptual frame of reference for psychodynamic nursing. Springer Publishing Company. (Original work published 1952)The date element is the year of the edition you read. The 1952 date belongs at the end, and pairing it with a 1991 publisher points to a book that doesn't exist.
- (Original work published 1952).(Original work published 1952)No period after the closing parenthesis. The reference simply ends there.
- Seacole, M., & Salih, S. (2005).Seacole, M. (2005). Wonderful adventures of Mrs Seacole in many lands (S. Salih, Ed.).The editor of a republished edition isn't a coauthor. The editor goes in parentheses after the title, and only the author appears in the in-text citation.
Quick checklist
- The original author in the author position
- The year of your edition, from its copyright page
- Title in italics and sentence case
- Edition label or new editor in parentheses after the title
- Your edition's publisher
- (Original work published Year) at the end, with no period after it
- Both years in the text, original first: (Peplau, 1952/1991)
Questions students ask
What's the difference between a republished book and a new edition?
A republished or reissued book is the same work brought back into print, sometimes with a new introduction or editor. A new edition, like a 7th edition textbook, is a revised version of the book. A new edition is cited with its edition number and its own year, without (Original work published …).
Which year goes in the APA reference for a reprinted book?
The year of the edition you read goes in the main date, right after the author. The year the book first came out goes at the end, after Original work published. In the text, both appear, original first: (Benner, 1984/2001).
What if I can't find the original publication date?
Then cite your edition as an ordinary book, with only its own year. Check the copyright page first, since it usually lists the earlier dates, and the publisher's page or a library catalog often says when the book first appeared.
Do I list the original publisher?
No. APA 7 gives only the publisher of the edition you read. The original publication shows up as the year at the end of the reference, not as a second publisher.
Does it matter if I read the republished book as an e-book?
No. APA 7 formats print books and e-books the same way, and the reference never names the format or device, like Kindle. Use the details of the edition you read, add its DOI or a stable URL if it has one, and keep the original year at the end.
Does the original year go in a narrative citation too?
Yes. A narrative citation looks like Peplau (1952/1991), with both years in the parentheses after the name.
Related guides
Rules checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.), Sections 8.15, 9.41, and 10.2, and the APA Style website's book references (republished book, with editor; book with a new foreword) and children's book references (republished or anniversary edition). Example sources verified against the publisher's listing (Penguin) and Library of Congress catalog data for each edition and its original publication (via Open Library).