Fundamentals, pharmacology and pathophysiology textbooks, edited volumes, e-books and drug handbooks all have their own quirks. This guide shows each one in APA 7th, AMA 11th and Vancouver first, then Harvard, with short notes on MLA 9th and Chicago author-date.
Everything you need sits on the title page and the copyright page (the reverse of the title page). Write it down while the book is open in front of you, because edition details are easy to lose later.
Illustrative examples. Most authors, titles and DOIs on this page are fictional or use a placeholder such as https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx. Always copy the details from your own book, and follow your program's style requirements and academic-integrity policy where they differ from what you see here.
APA 7th leaves out the publisher's city. The edition goes in parentheses after the title and is not italicised. When the author and publisher are the same organisation, drop the publisher from the end of the reference. For a chapter, the in-text citation names the chapter author, not the editors.
The ProNursingWriters team can format and check citations in APA, AMA, Vancouver or Harvard for your nursing paper.
AMA numbers sources in the order they first appear, with superscript numerals in the text. Authors are written as surname plus initials with no periods, and the publisher's location is not included.
Vancouver (ICMJE/NLM style) also numbers sources in order of first citation. Book titles are plain text, not italic, and the publisher's place comes before the publisher. Programs differ on details such as brackets or superscripts in the text, so check your handbook.
Harvard is a family of styles, and each university publishes its own version. The pattern below follows the common "Cite Them Right" layout; if your school gives you a guide, its examples win.
Both are less common in nursing programs, so here is one book and one chapter in each.
Cite the edition you used. Two editions of the same textbook are different sources, and instructors often ask for the most recent edition of a clinical text. Do not cite an older edition because it was the copy on your shelf without checking that the point you are making still holds.
E-books are cited like print books. Do not name the library platform, the app or the e-reader in APA or AMA. Add a DOI if there is one, or a URL only if it is stable and open to your reader. If the e-book has no page numbers, point to a chapter or section heading in the in-text citation instead of inventing a page.
Chapters versus whole books. If every chapter has its own author and you use one chapter, cite the chapter. If the whole book is written by the same authors, cite the book and give page numbers in the in-text citation.
Nursing drug handbooks, laboratory value guides and similar reference books are cited as books, usually under the editor or the organisation that publishes them, or by the entry when you draw on one specific entry. Because these books are revised regularly, the year and edition are essential. Cite the current edition. Many instructors also expect the evidence behind a claim to come from a guideline or peer-reviewed study, so ask whether a handbook counts as an acceptable main source for your assignment.
If an entry has an individual author, put that person first in APA instead of the entry title. Drug information that lives in an online database or app, and is updated continuously, is treated as a web source: see how to cite a website.
| Element | APA 7th | AMA 11th | Vancouver | Harvard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Author format | Nguyen, T. H. | Nguyen TH | Nguyen TH | Nguyen, T.H. |
| Book title | Italic, sentence case | Italic, title case | Plain text, sentence case | Italic, sentence case |
| Edition | (4th ed.) | 4th ed. | 4th ed. | 4th edn. |
| Publisher place | Omitted | Omitted | Place: Publisher | Usually included |
| In text | (Author, Year) | Superscript number | Number in order of citation | (Author, Year) |
If the chapter has its own author and you use only that chapter, cite the chapter. If the textbook is written by the same authors throughout, cite the book and add page numbers to the in-text citation.
No. APA, AMA, Vancouver and Harvard do not use ISBNs in book references.
Cite the edition you actually used, and check your assignment for a rule about how recent sources must be. If you are using a current edition, confirm the details against the title page rather than a retailer listing.
Most nursing programs in the United States use APA 7th. Medical and some health science courses use AMA, and Vancouver is common in medicine and in programs with an international focus. The syllabus or program handbook decides, so check it first. See APA 7th, AMA and Vancouver for the full guides.