How to Cite an Anthology (APA style)

Anthologies are collections of multiple works -- either by the same author or organized around the same theme. How you cite an anthology in the sixth edition of the American Psychological Association (APA) style depends on whether you're citing the entire anthology, or a single work included in the anthology.

Reference List - Anthology

Treat the editor of an anthology as its author--even if all the collected works are by the same author. The format is as follows: Editor Lastname, First Initials (Ed.). (Year). Anthology title: Subtitle if included (Volume number if applicable). Publisher location: Publisher. For example: Rabinow, P. (Ed.). (1984). The Foucault reader. New York, NY: Random House.

Reference List - Work Within an Anthology

To cite a specific work within the anthology, place the author of the work first. The editor/anthology information is also included: Author Lastname, First Initial(s). (Year). Title of work: Subtitle if necessary. In Editor First Initial(s) Lastname (Ed.), Title of anthology: subtitle (Volume number or page numbers). Publisher location: Publisher. (Original work published Year) For example: Fassbinder, R.W. (1992). Imitation of life: On the films of Douglas Sirk. In M. Töteberg & L. A. Lensing (Eds.), The anarchy of the imagination (pp. 77-89). Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press. (Original work published 1971)

In-Text Citation

In-text citations for anthologies follow the author, date format -- list the editor if you're referencing the whole anthology, and the author if you're referencing a single work. Also include the page you're citing. For example: Foucault notes that correction houses did not come into English culture until a 17th-century economic recession (Rabinow, 1984, p. 133).

For a work within an anthology, the original publication date is placed before the anthology date: "Imitation of Life" shows just how American melodrama introduced a tradition of "films with blood, with tears, with violence, hate" to German film (Fassbinder, 1971/1992, p. 77).

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