What is an edited book?
An edited book is a book where the chapters have been written by different authors and then collated or put together by an editor. The book could be a collection of essays or journal articles, or chapters written specifically for the book. You need to reference the chapter(s) you used and the author(s) rather than the book as a whole.
Author Surname(s) of chapter, A. (Date). Title of chapter in sentence case. In E. Editor Surname(s) of book (Ed(s).), Title of book in italic sentence case (edition information., pp. page range of chapter). Name of Publisher(s).
Sturgess, A. (2011). Celebrating the square peg: Twice-exceptional learners. In R. Moltzen (Ed.), Gifted and talented: New Zealand perspectives (3rd ed., pp. 379-403). Pearson.
Examples
Reference list entry
Sturgess, A. (2011). Celebrating the square peg: Twice-exceptional learners. In R. Moltzen (Ed.), Gifted and talented: New Zealand perspectives (3rd ed., pp. 379-403). Pearson.
In-text citations
Page/paragraph numbers are optional for paraphrased information.
Narrative
Sturgess (2011) describes ... (p. 389).
Parenthetical
... (Sturgess, 2011, p. 389).
Chapter from book with more than one editor
Reference list entry
Brotto, V. (2017). Administering medications. In J. Crisp, C. Douglas, G. Rebeiro, & D. Waters (Eds.), Potter & Perry’s fundamentals of nursing (5th ed., pp. 748–842). Elsevier.
In-text citations
Page/paragraph numbers are optional for paraphrased information.
Narrative
Brotto (2017) details ... (p. 751).
Parenthetical
... (Brotto, 2017, p. 751).
Finding the author of a chapter in an edited book
Sometimes it is difficult to find the author of a particular chapter in an edited book—especially in nursing textbooks. The names of chapter authors may appear at the beginning of each chapter, or in the contents page of the book. For example:
In some books, chapter authors appear in a separate list of contributors with details of each chapter they have written. Sometimes contributors are listed with no attributed chapters; it is not necessary to include these contributors in the reference list unless they are clearly identified as the author of a chapter or the editor of the book.
Check how to reference nursing edited books in Tricky Nursing Resources.
