LibGuides: APA Citation Guide: Encyclopedias (2024)

FAQs

LibGuides: APA Citation Guide: Encyclopedias? ›

Last Name, First Initial(s). (Year). Title of encyclopedia entry. In editor's First Initial(s) Last Name if available (Ed.), Title of Encyclopedia.

Last Name (Ed.), Name of encyclopedia or dictionary (Volume number if any, pp. first page of entry-last page of entry or p. page number for one page entry). Publication City, Province, State or Country: Publisher Name often shortened.

Last Name, First Name. Encyclopedia/Dictionary name, Edition ed., s.v. “Article Title.” Publication City: Publisher Name, Year Published. Smith, John. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 8th ed., s.v. “Internet.” Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2009.

Major reference books (major dictionaries and encyclopedias, i.e. World Book) can be cited with a note in text rather than in a reference. 1. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th ed., s.v. "salvation."

The title of the encyclopedia is italicized. The edition of the encyclopedia must be specified following the title.

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Printed for 244 years, the Britannica was the longest-running in-print encyclopaedia in the English language. It was first published between 1768 and 1771 in the Scottish capital of Edinburgh, in three volumes.

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Why can't you cite Britannica? ›

Is Encyclopedia Britannica considered authoritative enough for academic paper citations? No, because, being essentially a compiled summary of data secured from other sources, the Encyclopedia Britannica is considered a secondary source.

Entries are reviewed by an editorial board, but they are not “peer-reviewed”. Most professors that ask for scholarly sources are looking for articles from academic, peer-reviewed journals. Using this definition, encyclopedia articles do not qualify.

An encyclopedia references information without any analysis or opinion; therefore, it is a tertiary source. Nevertheless, depending on the scope of your research, encyclopedias can be referenced as primary sources.

When using APA format, follow the author-date method of in-text citation. This means that the author's last name and the year of publication for the source should appear in the text, like, for example, (Jones, 1998). One complete reference for each source should appear in the reference list at the end of the paper.

A reference for a dictionary would be: Organization Name. (date). Title of dictionary [in italics], Retrieved date, from [URL] [for online dictionaries] or place of publishing followed by a period and URL if retrieved from a URL. For example, I defined the word "stereotypy" in a paper from Merriam-Webster.

The English language Encyclopædia Britannica and German Brockhaus are general encyclopedias. Some are about specific topics. For example, there are encyclopedias of medicine or philosophy. Others include the Dictionary of National Biography, the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, and Black's Law Dictionary.

If no author or creator is provided, start the citation with the title/name of the item you are citing instead. Follow the title/name of the item with the date of publication, and the continue with other citation details. Note: an author/creator won't necessarily be a person's name.