APA 7th Edition is the most commonly used referencing style here at the University of Portsmouth. Below you will find general guidance on how to reference and cite using APA 7th Edition, as well as examples for the specific sources you are likely to use in your assignments. 

Your department or lecturer may prefer you to reference sources differently from the guidance given here. Always follow the requirements of your department or lecturer. 

External visitors are welcome to use this guide, but note that your institution's requirements may differ from those suggested here.

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If, after looking at this guidance, you are still stuck, then we can help. If you have a quick question then chat to us online, and if you need more help then you can Book an online APA 7 referencing appointment.

 

In the majority of cases, when using an edited book, you should reference each individual chapter you use. This is to ensure you give credit to the authors of these chapters, who are likely to be different people in each case. 

Please follow our guidance for chapters in edited books for these. 

If the edited book you are using is a dictionary, thesaurus, encyclopaedia or other reference work, please follow our guidance for entries in reference works.

 

Very occasionally, you may come across an edited book where the authors of individual chapters or sections are not provided. In this case you can reference and cite the whole edited book. 

If you have used an ebook version, include the DOI or URL at the end of your reference as you would for any other ebook. 

 

Reference

Editor of book, Initials. (Ed.). (Year of publication). Title of book (Edition number if it is not the first edition). Publisher.

Wood, D., Bradshaw, S., Dickens, T., Parker-McLeod, J., Simpson, F., & Weaver, G. (Eds.). (2022). Blackstone's handbook for policing students 2023 (17th ed.). Oxford University Press. 

 

In-text Citation

For information about the use of page numbers within in-text citations, please see our guidance here

Recent guidance (Wood et al., 2022) suggests that…

Wood et al. (2022, p. 25) describe this as...