How to Format Multiple Publishers in APA

Hannah Berry (Ph.D.)
Published on 08/06/2025

In academic writing, it is common to encounter books that have been published by more than one publisher. The American Psychological Association (APA) provides clear directions on how to cite in a situation where there are multiple publishers.

General Rule for Formatting

When a book has multiple publishers in APA style:

List all the publishers that appear on the title page or the copyright page.
Separate publisher names with a semicolon.
Keep the order of appearance in the book.
Leave out business terms like “Company” or “Inc.” unless they form part of the official title.
Include the DOI or URL if available for electronic books.

Examples of Books with Multiple Publishers

Example 1 – Print Book with Two Publishers

Citation	*Bourdieu, P. (1990). The logic of practice. Polity Press; Stanford University Press.*
Structure	*Author Surname, Initial. (Year). Title of the book. Publisher 1; Publisher 2.*

Example 2 – Edited Book with Multiple Publishers

Citation	*Lucas, A., & Giles, T. (Eds.). (2019). Global perspectives on education policy. Routledge; Oxford University Press; HarperCollins.*
Structure	*Editor Surname, Initial., & Editor Surname, Initial. (Eds.). (Year). Title of the book. Publisher 1; Publisher 2; Publisher 3.*

Example 3 – Translated Book with Multiple Publishers

Citation	*Foucault, M. (1995). Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison* (A. Sheridan, Trans.). Vintage Books; Gallimard; Penguin; Hachette.**
Structure	*Author Surname, Initial. (Year). Title of the book* (Translator Initial. Translator Surname, Trans.). Publisher 1; Publisher 2; Publisher 3; Publisher 4.**

Use a Hanging Indent for Every Reference – All citations in the APA references list must be done using a hanging indent. This means the first line of the citation will be flush left and the rest of the lines will be indented 0.5 inches. This makes the work easier to read and each source stand out clearly.

Alphabetize Entries by Surname of the First Author – Alphabetize references by the last name of the first author. If the author is an organization, use the first major word of the organization’s name for ordering alphabetically. Don’t use articles like “A,” “An,” or “The” in determining the order.

Italicize Journal and Book Titles but Not Article Titles – Book, report, and journal titles must be in italics according to the APA requirement, but the title of book chapters or articles in regular text. Only the journal title and the volume number are italicized, not the issue number and the page range.

Include DOI or Internet URL Where Possible – For e-books, articles, and reports, provide the DOI (Digital Object Identifier) or direct URL where a DOI is not available. The DOI is preferred because it provides a permanent source link.

Use Sentence Case for Titles of Works – Titles of books, articles, and reports are in sentence case in APA format, meaning only the first word of the title, the first word after a colon or dash, and proper nouns are capitalized. Subtitles too are guided by this rule.

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Hannah Berry (Ph.D.)

Hannah Berry has lectured at several colleges and teaches at the WEA. Besides publishing extensively, she has taught citation skills and written multiple style guides.