How to Cite an Anthology or Collected Works

by Chelsea Lee

An anthology is a collection of works,  organized around a central theme, that has been assembled by an editor or publisher. One type of anthology is often called a collected works or complete works, in which all the writings of a particular author are published in one volume (or set of volumes) for easy reference. Other anthologies contain works by many different authors all of which share a theme (e.g., American literature of the 19th century).

Anthologies, and especially collected or complete works, may seem tricky to cite when both the author(s) and the editor(s) are responsible for the entire book. Therefore some readers assume that both should appear in the citation. However, this is not the case. The proper method of citation for anthologies is explored below.

Whole Anthology Citation

Whole edited anthologies should be cited like any other whole edited book would be cited. Only the editor appears in the author part of the reference.

Strachey, J. (Ed. & Trans.). (1953). The standard edition of the complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud (Vol. 4). Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books

• In text: (Strachey, 1953)

Gold, M. (Ed.). (1999). A Kurt Lewin reader: The complete social scientist. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

• In text: (Gold, 1999)

If desired, the name of the author of the collected works can be incorporated into the narrative. 

Kurt Lewin was one of the most influential social scientists of the 20th century (for a collection of his works, see Gold, 1999).

Multivolume Anthology Citation

To cite multiple volumes in an anthology, include the range of years over which the volumes were published (unless all were published in the same year) and the volume numbers in parentheses after the title.

Koch, S. (Ed.). (1959–1963). Psychology: A study of science (Vols. 1–3). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

•  In text: (Koch, 1959–1963)

Work in an Anthology Citation

Likewise, a work in an anthology should be cited like a chapter in an edited book, in which the chapter author and chapter title appear at the beginning of the reference, followed by information about the edited book.

The only additional consideration for works in anthologies is that the individual work has been republished, which means that both the publication date of the anthology and the original publication date of the work in question are included in the reference entry and in-text citation. The publication date of the anthology goes in the main date slot of the reference and the original publication date goes at the end.

Freud, S. (1953). The method of interpreting dreams: An analysis of a specimen dream. In J. Strachey (Ed. & Trans.), The standard edition of the complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud (Vol. 4). Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books (Original work published 1900)

• In text: (Freud, 1900/1953)

Lewin, K. (1999). Personal adjustment and group belongingness. In M. Gold (Ed.), A Kurt Lewin reader: The complete social scientist (pp. 327–332). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. (Original work published 1941)

• In text: (Lewin, 1941/1999)

We hope these examples help you understand how to cite anthologies and the works within them. For more example citations of edited books and book chapters, see Publication Manual § 7.02.