APA Support Centre: FAQ Blog

Supplementary material in an eBook

Many eBooks come with Supplementary materials, such as videos, which can be viewed on a website. How should these be cited?

The APA Style Experts advise that Supplementary materials should be cited as part of the eBook, using the in-text citation to clarify. 

In other words:

• First, create your Reference List citation for the eBook.
• After the title of the book, but before the period, add a description of the supplementary material in square brackets, for example, [Video supplement].
• Next, create your in-text citation as normal.
• After the year in your in-text citation, add a comma, then the description of the supplementary material.

The APA Style Experts based this advice on the guidance for online-only supplemental material to a journal article, and for citing specific parts of a source.

Example:

• Reference List citation: Turner, M. W. (2022). Moira's pen: a queen's thief collection [PDF supplement]. HarperCollins.
• Parenthetical citation: (Turner, 2022, PDF supplement)
• Narrative citation: Turner (2022, PDF supplement)

The same advice may be applied to print books (i.e. books made out of paper) which come with DVD or CD-ROM supplements.

Happy citing!