How to Quote a Textbook

To quote a textbook, put the borrowed words in quotation marks and follow them with an in-text citation that points to the author and the exact page. In MLA that looks like (Myers and DeWall 214); in APA it looks like (Myers & DeWall, 2021, p. 214). A textbook is cited like any other book, with two wrinkles that trip students up: the edition number and the fact that textbooks often have multiple authors or editors. Both belong in the full entry on your Works Cited or References page.

Quote a textbook in MLA 9

MLA uses author and page number, nothing else, in the in-text citation. Introduce the quotation, close the quotation marks, then give the citation before the period.

The textbook says stress “is a process by which we perceive and respond to certain events” (Myers and DeWall 402).

The matching Works Cited entry lists the authors, the italicized title, the edition, the publisher, and the year:

• Myers, David G., and C. Nathan DeWall. Psychology. 13th ed., Worth Publishers, 2021.

Note that the edition (“13th ed.”) comes right after the title. Leave it off only for a first edition, which is never labeled. If you are working from a specific chapter written by a different author than the book’s editors, name the chapter author first and treat the editors as the book’s editors. For the general mechanics of pulling a quote out of a book, see how to quote a book.

Two authors versus three or more

With two authors, name both in every citation, joined by “and”: (Myers and DeWall 402). With three or more, name only the first author followed by “et al.” in both the in-text citation and the Works Cited entry:

• In text: (Lilienfeld et al. 88)
• Works Cited: Lilienfeld, Scott O., et al. Psychology: From Inquiry to Understanding. 4th ed., Pearson, 2018.

“Et al.” is Latin for “and others” and takes a period because “al.” is an abbreviation. There is no comma before it in MLA. The full rundown lives in how to quote multiple authors.

Quote a textbook in APA 7

APA adds the year and uses “p.” before the page number. The author and year can sit in the sentence or in the parentheses, but a direct quote always needs the page.

Myers and DeWall (2021) defined stress as “a process by which we perceive and respond to certain events” (p. 402).

Or fully parenthetical: (Myers & DeWall, 2021, p. 402). Note the ampersand inside the parentheses and the word “and” when the names run in your sentence. The reference entry gives the edition in parentheses after the title, not italicized:

• Myers, D. G., & DeWall, C. N. (2021). Psychology (13th ed.). Worth Publishers.

Multiple authors in APA

APA 7 handles author counts differently than MLA. With two authors, name both every time, joined by an ampersand in parentheses: (Myers & DeWall, 2021, p. 402). With three or more authors, use “et al.” from the very first citation: (Lilienfeld et al., 2018, p. 88). In the reference list, list up to 20 authors before abbreviating, so a four-author textbook shows all four names:

• Lilienfeld, S. O., Lynn, S. J., Namy, L. L., & Woolf, N. J. (2018). Psychology: From inquiry to understanding (4th ed.). Pearson.

Quoting a chapter in an edited textbook

Many textbooks, especially in the sciences and social sciences, are edited collections where each chapter has its own author. Quote the chapter author, not the editors, in your in-text citation. The reference entry names the chapter author first, then the editors and the whole book.

APA reference for a chapter:

• Gould, E. (2019). Neural plasticity. In D. Krakauer (Ed.), Foundations of neuroscience (3rd ed., pp. 45–72). MIT Press.

MLA Works Cited for a chapter:

• Gould, Elizabeth. “Neural Plasticity.” Foundations of Neuroscience, edited by David Krakauer, 3rd ed., MIT Press, 2019, pp. 45–72.

Where the page number goes

Whether you need a page number is not optional for a direct quote: a quotation always gets one. You skip it only when you paraphrase and your instructor does not require it, or when the source has no pages. A printed textbook always has page numbers, so use them. For the reasoning behind when a page number is and isn’t required, see how to cite a quote and when you need a page number. Some textbooks are also sold in APA-specific formats, and the APA edition rules are collected in how to quote a textbook in APA.

FAQ

Do I cite the edition when quoting a textbook?

Yes, in the full Works Cited or References entry. Put “13th ed.” after the title in MLA, or “(13th ed.)” after the title in APA. The in-text citation does not mention the edition. Skip the edition label only for a first edition.

How do I quote a textbook with no named author?

Some textbooks list an organization or editor instead of an author. Use the organization as the author, or start the entry with the title if only editors are named. In text, use a shortened title in quotation marks or italics to match the start of the full entry.

Is quoting a textbook different from quoting a regular book?

No. A textbook is cited with the same book format. The only reasons textbooks feel different are that they usually have an edition number and often several authors or editors, both of which the standard book rules already cover.

Do I need a page number for an e-textbook without pages?

If your e-textbook uses stable page numbers, cite them. If it has no fixed pages, cite a chapter or section heading in place of the page in APA, and give no number in MLA, since MLA does not invent one.