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MLA Style (9th Edition) Citation Guide: Books & Ebooks

• Introduction to MLA Style
• Journal Articles
• Magazine/Newspaper Articles
• Books & Ebooks
• Government & Legal Documents
• Biblical Sources
• Secondary Sources
• Videos/DVDs/TV Shows
• How to Cite: Other
• 9th Edition Updates
• Additional Help

Table of Contents

Book in print, book with editor(s) but no author, translated book, chapters, short stories, essays, or articles from a book (anthology or collection), an introduction, preface, foreword, or afterword, article in a reference book (e.g. encyclopedias, dictionaries).

Note: For your Works Cited list, all citations should be double spaced and have a hanging indent.

A "hanging indent" means that each subsequent line after the first line of your citation should be indented by 0.5 inches.

Authors/Editors

An author can be a person but can also be an organization, or company. These are called group or corporate authors.

If you are citing a chapter from a book that has an editor, the author of the chapter is listed first, and is the name listed in the in-text citation.

Capitalize the first letter of every important word in the title. You do not need to capitalize words such as: in, of, or an.

If there is a colon (:) in the title, include what comes after the colon (also known as the subtitle).

You have the option to use the shortened name of the publisher by abbreviating "University" and "Press" (e.g. Oxford UP, not Oxford University Press).

You also have the option to remove articles (A, An, The), business abbreviations (e.g. Co., Inc.) and descriptive words (e.g. Books, House, Press, Publishers).

The format of all dates is: Date Month (shortened) Year. e.g. 5 Sept. 2012.

Whether to give the year alone or include a month and day depends on your source: write the full date as you find it there.

If no date is listed, omit it unless you can find that information available in a reliable source. In that case the date is cited in square brackets. e.g. [2008]

Page Numbers

Page number on your Works Cited page (but not for in-text citations) are now proceeded by p. for a single page number and pp. for a range of page numbers. E.g. p. 156 or pp. 79-92.

Access Date

Date of access is optional in MLA 8th/9th edition; it is recommended for pages that may change frequently or that do not have a copyright/publication date.

Last Name, First Name.  Title of Book . City of Publication, Publisher, Publication Date.

Note :  The city of publication should only be used if the book was published before 1900, if the publisher has offices in more than one country, or if the publisher is unknown in North America.

Works Cited List Example:

Kurlansky, Mark. Salt: A World History . Walker, 2002.

In-Text Citation Example:

(Author's Last Name Page Number)

Example: (Kurlansky 10)

Two Authors

Last Name, First Name of First Author, and First Name Last Name of Second Author.  Title of Book: Subtitle if Any.  Edition if given and is not first edition, Publisher Name often shortened, Year of publication. 

Note: Only the first author listed appears in "Last Name, First Name" format. Authors' names are separated by a comma. Before the last author to be listed, add the word "and."

 Jacobson, Diane L., and Robert Kysar.  A Beginner's Guide to the Books of the Bible,  Augsburg, 1991.

 (Author's Last Name and Author's Last Name Page Number)

 Example: (Jacobson and Kysar 25)

Three or More Authors

Last Name, First Name of First Author, et al.  Title of Book: Subtitle if Any.  Edition if given and is not first edition, Publisher Name often shortened, Year of publication. 

Note:  If you have three or more authors list only the first author's name followed by et al. instead of listing all authors names. For example Smith, John, et al. The first author is the first name listed on the work you are citing, not the first name alphabetically.

Nickels, William, et al.  Understanding Business.  9th ed., McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 2016. 

(First Author's Last Name et al. Page Number)

Example: (Nickels et al. 5)

eBook from a Library Database

Last Name, First Name of First Author, et al.  Title of Book: Subtitle if Any.  Edition if given and is not first edition, Publisher Name often shortened, Year of publication.  Name of eBook Database,  doi:DOI number/URL/Permalink.

Calhoun, Craig. Sociology in America: A History . U of Chicago P, 2008.  ProQuest Ebook Central , ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/up/detail.action?docID=408466&pq-origsite=primo.  

 (Author's Last Name Page Number)

 Example: (Calhoun 53)

eBook for Kindle or other eBook Reader

Note:  The MLA uses the term "eBook" to refer to publications formatted specifically for reading with an eBook reader device (e.g., a Kindle) or a corresponding web application, which will not have URLs or DOIs. Citations will be very similar to physical book citations; just add the word "eBook" in the "version" slot of the MLA template (i.e., after the author, the title of the source, the title of the container, and the names of any other contributors).

Silva, Paul J.  How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing , eBook, American Psychological Association, 2007.

 Example: (Silva 30)

Note : When no page numbers are listed on an eBook, cite the chapter number instead in your in-text citation. Example: (Smith ch. 2).  

Last Name of editor, First Name, editor(s).  Title of Book: Subtitle if Any.  Edition if given and is not first edition, Publisher Name often shortened, Year of Publication.

 Wolfteich, Claire E., editor. Invitation to Practical Theology: Catholic Voices and Visions . Paulist, 2014. 

 (Last name page number)

 Example: (Wolfteich 103)

Electronic Materials

(More than one editor)

Kidwell, Jeremy, and Sean Doherty, editors. Theology and Economics: A Christian Vision of the Common Good.  eBook, Palgrave Macmillan, 2015. 

(Last name page number)

Example: (Kidwell and Doherty 103)

If you want to emphasize the work rather than the translator, cite as you would any other book. Add “translated by” and follow with the name(s) of the translator(s).

Boitani, Piero. The Bible and Its Rewritings . Translated by Anita Weston, Oxford UP, 1999.

Example: (Boitani 89)

Augustine. The Confessions of St. Augustine . Translated by Edward Bouverie Pusey, eBook, Floating Press, 1921.

Example: (Augustine 65) 

Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Short Story, Essay, or Article."  Title of Book: Subtitle if Any,  edited by Editor's First Name and Last Name, Edition if given and is not first, Publisher Name often shortened, Year of publication, Page numbers of the essay, article, or short story. 

Boys, Mary C. “Learning in the Presence of the Other: Feminisms and the Interreligious Encounter.” Faith and Feminism: Ecumenical Essays , edited by Diane B. Lipsett, Westminster John Knox Press, 2014, pp. 103-114.

Note:  The first author's name listed is the author of the chapter/essay/short story.

Note: If there is no editor given you may leave out that part of the citation.

Example: (Boys 110)

When citing an introduction, a preface, a foreword, or an afterword, write the name of the author(s) of the piece you are citing. Then give the name of the part being cited, which should not be italicized or enclosed in quotation marks; in italics, provide the name of the work and the name of the author of the introduction/preface/foreword/afterword. Finish the citation with the details of publication and page range.

Farrell, Thomas B. Introduction.  Norms of Rhetorical Culture , by Farrell, Yale UP, 1993, pp. 1-13.

(Farrell 5)

If the writer of the piece is different from the author of the complete work, then write the full name of the principal work's author after the word "By." For example, if you were to cite Hugh Dalziel Duncan’s introduction of Kenneth Burke’s book Permanence and Change, you would write the entry as follows:

Duncan, Hugh Dalziel. Introduction.  Permanence and Change: An Anatomy of Purpose,  by Kenneth Burke, 1935, 3rd ed., U of California P, 1984, pp. xiii-xliv.

(Duncan xiv)

For entries in encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other reference works, cite the entry name as you would any other work in a collection but do not include the publisher information. Also, if the reference book is organized alphabetically, as most are, do not list the volume or the page number of the article or item.

"Ideology."  The American Heritage Dictionary , 3rd ed., Dell, 1997, p. 369.

("Ideology" 369)

Online Reference book

Isaacson, Joel. "Monet, Claude." Grove Art Online , Oxford Art Online , www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T059077.

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• Skill Guides
• Subject Guides

MLA Citation Guide (MLA 9th Edition): Books

• Understanding Core Elements
• Formatting Appendices and Works Cited List
• Writing an Annotated Bibliography
• Academic Honesty and Citation
• In-Text Citation
• Encyclopedias and Dictionaries
• Charts, Graphs, Images, and Tables
• Class Notes and Presentations
• Interviews and Emails
• Journal and Magazine Articles
• Newspaper Articles
• Social Media
• Special Collections
• Videos and DVDs
• In Digital Assignments
• When Information Is Missing
• Citation Software

General Guideline

The general MLA 9 formatting for books is:

Work Cited List: Last Name, First Name.  Title of Book.  Publisher, Publication Date. 

In-Text: (Author Last Name page number of quote or idea).

Book with One Author

Last Name, First Name. Title of Book.  Publisher, Publication Date. 

(Author Last Name page number).

Kirsh , Steven J.  Children, Adolescents, and Media Violence: A Critical Look at the Research.  Sage, 2006.

Book with More Than One Author

When a book has two authors , order the authors in the same way they are presented in the book.

Last Name, First Name of First Author, and First Name Last Name of Second Author. Title of Book.  Publisher, Publication Date. 

(First Author Last Name page number).

Wykes , Maggie, and Barrie Gunter.  The Media and Body Image: If Looks Could Kill.  Sage, 2005. 

If there are three or more authors , list only the first author followed by the phrase et al. (Latin for "and others") in place of the subsequent authors' names.

Last Name, First Name of First Author, et al. Title of Book . Publisher, Publication Date.

(First Author Last Name, et al. page number).

Nickels, William, et al. Understanding Canadian Business . McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 2016.

(Nickel, et al)

Book with Editor(s) and No Author

Last Name of Editor, First Name, editor(s). Title of Book . Publisher, Publication Date.

Matuz, Roger, editor. Contemporary Canadian Artists . Gale Canada, 1997.

A Work in an Anthology, Reference, or Collection

 format.

Last Name, First Name. "Title of Essay." Title of Collection, e dited by Editor's Name(s), Publisher, Year, Page range of entry. 

(Last Name page number)

 Example

Ross, Colin. "The Story of Grey Owl."  Fiction/Non-Fiction: A Reader and Rhetoric,  edited by Garry  Engkent  and Lucia  Engkent , Thomson Nelson, 2006, pp. 327-333. 

  Note:  The first author's name listed is the author of the chapter/essay/short story. If there is no editor given you may leave out that part of the citation.

Book by a Group or Corporate Author

Name of Corporate Author. Title of Book.  Publisher, Publication Date.

Calgary Educational Partnership Foundation.  Employability Skills: Creating My Future,  Nelson, 1996.

 Note : When a work is published by an organization that is also its author, begin the entry with the title, skipping the author element. List the organization as publisher.

Self-Published

Last Name, First Name. Title.  Date. 

Hocking, Amanda. Fate.  2010.

(Hocking 10).

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Citation Guide

• Annotated Bibliographies
• Citing Articles (APA)
• Citing Books (APA)
• Citing Other Resources (APA)
• Citing Online Resources
• Citing Articles (MLA)
• Citing Books (MLA)
• Citing Other Resources (MLA)
• Which Style to Use?
• Avoiding Plagiarism

More ways to get in touch

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Side-nav stylesheet

Please note.

In a Bibliography, Works Cited list, or References list, your citations should be:

• double-spaced and
• in alphabetical order .

Navigation for this page

• Single author on this page
• Two authors on this page
• Three or more authors on this page
• Editor on this page
• Institution author on this page
• Unknown author on this page
• Edition other than first on this page
• Scholarly edition on this page
• Series on this page
• Multiple volumes on this page
• Translations on this page
• Illustrated book on this page
• Reference book entry on this page
• Section of book on this page
• Work from an anthology on this page
• E-book on this page

Citing entire books

Book by a single author.

Author. Book Title: Subtitle . Publisher, year.

Broome, Brian. Punch Me Up to the Gods: A Memoir . Mariner Books, 2021.

Gorman, Amanda. The Hill We Climb: An Inaugural Poem for the Country . Viking, 2021.

Book by two authors

First author (Last, First), and Second Author (First Last). Book Title: Subtitle . Publisher, year.

Snell, Karen, and Johan Söderman. Hip-Hop within and without the Academy . Lexington Books, 2014.

Book by three or more authors

Author, et al. Book Title: Subtitle . Publisher, year.

Neeve, Dorinda, et al. Asian Art . Pearson, 2015.

Book with editors

Editor name(s), editor(s). Book Title: Subtitle . Publisher, year.

Jung, Moon-Kie, and João H. Costa Vargas, editors. Antiblackness . Duke UP, 2021.

Niemann, Yolanda Flores, et al., editors. Presumed Incompetent II: Race, Class, Power, and Resistance of Women in Academia . UP of Colorado, 2020.

Organizational or institutional author

Name of Organization or Institution (when alphabetizing, ignore initial articles like A, An, and The). Book Title: Subtitle . Publisher, year

New York Public Library. Treasures . St. Martin’s Press, 2021.

Publisher is author, or author is unknown

Book Title: Subtitle (when alphabetizing, ignore initial articles like A, An, and The). Publisher, year.

American Indians and Route 66 . American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association, 2016.

Citizen Development: The Handbook for Creators and Change Makers . Project Management Institute, 2021.

Edition other than the first

Author. Book Title: Subtitle. Number or other description of edition—i.e., expanded, abbreviated, revised (abbreviated rev.)—whatever is specified, Publisher, year.

Levins Morales, Aurora. Medicine Stories: Essays for Radicals . Rev. and expanded ed., Duke UP, 2019.

Saraswati, L. Ayu, et al., editors. Introduction to Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies: Interdisciplinary and Intersectional Approaches.  2nd ed., Oxford UP, 2020.

Scholarly or classic edition of a book

Author of the primary work. Book Title: Subtitle . Year of original work, if known. If scholarly edition, Editor (if any), Publisher, year.

Silko, Leslie Mormon. Ceremony . 1977. Penguin Books, 2006.

Tan, Amy. The Joy Luck Club . 1989. Edited by Harold Bloom, Bloom's Literary Criticism, 2009.

Book in a named series

Author. Book Title: Subtitle . Book, series, or general editor (if applicable), Publisher, year. Name of Series and series number (if any).

Clifton, Lucille. The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton, 1965-2010 . Edited by Kevin Young and Michael S. Glaser, BOA Editions, 2012. American Poets Continuum Series 134.

Book in multivolume series

Author or Editor. Title of Multivolume Series: Subtitle . Book, series, or general editor (if applicable), edition (if any), volume, Publisher, year. Total volumes in series, if known. If individual volume has a unique title, list volume number, series title, and relevant contributors after publication year.

David, Gabriel. Trailblazers, Black Women Who Helped Make America Great: American Firsts/American Icons . Vol. 1, 2Leaf Press / U of Chicago P, 2021. 6 vols.

Malone, Bill C., editor. Music . U of North Carolina P, 2013. Vol. 12 of The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture , Charles Regan Wilson, general editor, 24 vols.

Book in translation

Author. Book Title: Subtitle . Editor, if any, Translator, Publisher, year.

Césaire, Suzanne. The Great Camouflage: Writings of Dissent (1941-1945) . Edited by Daniel Maximin, translated by Keith L. Walker, Wesleyan UP, 2009.

Book with illustrations or photographs

Author or Editor. Book Title: Subtitle . Illustrator and/or Photographer, Publisher, year.

Bloomfield, April, and J. J. Goode. A Girl and her Greens: Hearty Meals from the Garden . Photographs by David Loftus, illustrated by Sun Young Park, Ecco, 2015.

Comic book or graphic narrative

Author. Title of Issue , if unique. If relevant, Contributors to the issue and their roles (e.g., penciler, inker, colorist, letterer, etc.). Series Title , series contributors and roles (if relevant), issue number, Publisher, year.

Wilson, G. Willow. Game Over . Penciled by Takeshi Miyazawa. Ms. Marvel , no. 17, Marvel Comics, 2017.

Citing parts of books

Book section (preface, introduction, afterword, etc.).

Author of section. "Section Title" or Description. Book Title: Subtitle , Editor, edition, and volume (if any), Publisher, year, page(s). Total volumes (if any).

Kendi, Ibrim X. "A Community of Souls: An Introduction." Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619–2019 , edited by Kendi and Keisha N. Blain, One World, 2021, pp. xiii–xvii.

Gordon-Reed, Annette. Foreword. Racism: A Reader , edited by Cole Brown, Harvard UP, 2020, pp. xvii–xxiii.

Encyclopedia, dictionary, or handbook entry

Author of entry, if known. "Heading (part of speech and entry number, if applicable)." Book Title: Subtitle , Editor, edition, and volume (if any), Publisher, year, page(s). Total volumes (if any).

"Absurd, Adj. (2)." Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary , 11th ed., Merriam-Webster, 2020, p. 5.

Dunlap, Janeria. "Stereotype Threat." Encyclopedia of Race and Racism , edited by Patrick L. Mason, 2nd ed., vol. 4, Macmillan Reference USA, 2013, pp. 136–40. 4 vols.

Work in an anthology

Author of selection, if known. "Selection Title." Anthology Title: Subtitle , Editor, edition, and volume (if any), Publisher, year, page(s). Total volumes or series title and number (if any). Previous publication information, if relevant.

Chinn, Sarah E. "Feeling Her Way: Audre Lorde and the Power of Touch." Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism , edited by Thomas J. Schoenberg and Lawrence J. Trudeau, vol. 173, Gale, 2006, pp. 123–36. Originally published in GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies , vol. 9, no. 1-2, 2003, pp. 181–204.

Hair, William I., and Amy Louise Wood. "Lynching and Racial Violence." Race , edited by Thomas C. Holt and Laurie B. Green, pp. 87–91. The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture , Charles Regan Wilson, general editor, vol. 24, U of North Carolina P, 2013. 24 vols.

Plath, Sylvia. "Daddy." Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing , edited by X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia, 2nd Custom Edition for Anne Arundel Community College, Part 2: Poetry, Pearson, 2013, pp. 1116–18.

Shanté, Roxanne. "Roxanne's Revenge." The Anthology of Rap , edited by Adam Bradley and Andrew DuBois, Yale UP, 2010, pp. 283–86.

Wilson, Jamie J., et al. "Freedom Summer 1964." 50 Events that Shaped African American History: An Encyclopedia of the American Mosaic , edited by Wilson, Vol. 2, Greenwood, 2020, pp. 484–500. Religion in Politics and Science Today.

Citing e-books

Ebook download of print book.

Cite as you would a printed source, with e-book as edition.

Parrish, Tim. Fear and What Follows: The Violent Education of a Christian Racist, A Memoir . E-book ed., UP of Mississippi, 2013.

Sullivan, Shannon. Good White People: The Problem with Middle-Class White Anti-Racism . Edited by Robert Bernasconi and T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting, e-book ed., State U of New York P, 2014. Philosophy and Race.

eBook or eBook section from a database or website

Cite as you would in print, omitting, if not given, page numbers and other print publication details, Database or Website , https://doi.org/DOI. If no DOI, use the resource’s URL (a permalink URL, when available), without http://.

"Anti-Racist Feminism." Feminist Philosophies A-Z , edited by Nancy McHugh, Edinburgh UP, 2007. Credo Reference , ezproxy.aacc.edu/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/edinburghfem/anti_racist_feminism.

Brownstein, Michael. "Implicit Bias." The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy , edited by Edward N. Zalta, fall ed., 2019. Stanford University , plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2019/entries/implicit-bias.

Derks, Scott. "Jazz Singer and Dancer." Women at Work , 2nd ed., Grey House Publishing, 2015, pp.187–216. Vol. 6 of Working Americans . ProQuest Ebook Central , ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.aacc.edu/lib/aacc-ebooks/detail.action?docID=4395383.

Dyson, Michael Eric. Holler If You Hear Me: Searching for Tupac Shakur . Basic Civitas Books, 2006. Ebook Central , ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.aacc.edu/lib/aacc-ebooks/detail.action?docID=794438.

Reed, Alison. "Introduction, Part II: Poetic Knowledge: On Why Art Matters to Antiracism Inc. " Antiracism Inc.: Why the Way We Talk about Racial Justice Matters , edited by Felice Blake et al., Punctum Books, pp. 41–52.  JSTOR , https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv11hptff.

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• Last Updated: Nov 6, 2023 12:33 PM
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Library photo courtesy of Barry Halkin Photography

Works-Cited-List Entries

How to cite a book.

To create a basic works-cited-list entry for a book, list the author, the title, the publisher, and the publication date. You may need to include other elements depending on the type of book you are citing (e.g., an edited book, a translation) and how it is published (e.g., in print, as an e-book, online). Below are sample entries for books along with links to posts containing many other examples.

Book by One Author

Mantel, Hilary. Wolf Hall . Picador, 2010.

Book by an Unknown Author

Beowulf . Translated by Alan Sullivan and Timothy Murphy, edited by Sarah Anderson, Pearson, 2004.

An Edited Book

Sánchez Prado, Ignacio M., editor. Mexican Literature in Theory . Bloomsbury, 2018.

More Examples

Anthologies

Books Series

Edited Collections

Multivolume Works

Translations

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• Knowledge Base
• Citing sources
• How to Cite a Book | APA, MLA, & Chicago Examples

How to Cite a Book | APA, MLA, & Chicago Examples

Published on February 26, 2021 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on August 23, 2022.

To cite a book, you need a brief in-text citation and a corresponding reference listing the author’s name, the title, the year of publication, and the publisher. The order and format of information depends on the citation style you’re using. The most common styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago style .

Use the interactive example generator to explore the format of book citations in MLA and APA.

Table of contents

Citing a book in mla style, citing a book in apa style, citing a book in chicago style, where to find source information in a book, frequently asked questions about citations.

An MLA book citation includes the author’s name , the book title (in italics, capitalized headline-style), the edition (if specified), the publisher, and the year of publication. If it’s an e-book , write “e-book” (or a more specific description, e.g. “Kindle ed.”) before the publisher name.

The corresponding in-text citation lists the author’s last name and the page number of the passage cited.

You can also use our free MLA Citation Generator to create your book citations.

Generate accurate MLA citations with Scribbr

Citing a book chapter in mla.

To cite a book chapter , first give the author and title (in quotation marks) of the chapter cited, then information about the book as a whole and the page range of the specific chapter.

The in-text citation lists the author of the chapter and the page number of the relevant passage.

Scribbr Citation Checker New

The AI-powered Citation Checker helps you avoid common mistakes such as:

• Missing commas and periods
• Incorrect usage of “et al.”
• Ampersands (&) in narrative citations
• Missing reference entries

An APA Style book citation lists the author’s last name and initials, the year of publication, the title and any subtitle (in italics, capitalizing only the first word), the edition (if specified), and the publisher. Add a DOI or URL to the end of the entry if available (e.g. for e-books or books accessed online ).

In an in-text citation, state the author’s last name and the publication year, and a page number if you need to show the location of a specific quote or paraphrase .

You can also use our free APA Citation Generator to automatically generate your book citations. Search for a title, DOI, or ISBN to retrieve the details.

Generate accurate APA citations with Scribbr

Citing a book chapter in apa.

To cite a book chapter , list information about the chapter first, followed by information about the book, including the book’s editor(s) and the chapter’s page range within the book.

The author of the chapter, not the editor of the book, is listed in the in-text citation.

Chicago notes and bibliography style uses footnotes to cite sources instead of parenthetical citations. These notes refer to a bibliography at the end giving full source details.

A Chicago bibliography entry for a book includes the author’s name, the book title and subtitle, the edition (if stated), the location and name of the publisher, and the year of publication. For an e-book , add the e-book format (e.g. “Kindle”) at the end.

Chicago also has an alternative style, Chicago author-date . You can see examples of book citations in this style here .

Citing a book chapter in Chicago

To cite a book chapter , start with the author and the title of the chapter (in quotation marks), then give the title (in italics) and editor of the book, the page range of the chapter, the location and name of the publisher, and the year of publication.

All the information you need for a book citation can usually be found on the book’s title page and copyright page. The main things you’re looking for are:

• the title (and subtitle if present)
• name(s) of the author(s)
• year of publication
• place of publication

You should also check if the book specifies an edition (e.g. 2nd edition, revised edition) and if any other contributors are named (e.g. editor, translator).

The image below shows where to find the relevant information on the title and copyright pages of a typical book.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

The main elements included in all book citations across APA , MLA , and Chicago style are the author, the title, the year of publication, and the name of the publisher. A page number is also included in in-text citations to highlight the specific passage cited.

In Chicago style and in the 6th edition of APA Style , the location of the publisher is also included, e.g. London: Penguin.

When a book’s chapters are written by different authors, you should cite the specific chapter you are referring to.

When all the chapters are written by the same author (or group of authors), you should usually cite the entire book, but some styles include exceptions to this.

• In APA Style , single-author books should always be cited as a whole, even if you only quote or paraphrase from one chapter.
• In MLA Style , if a single-author book is a collection of stand-alone works (e.g. short stories ), you should cite the individual work.
• In Chicago Style , you may choose to cite a single chapter of a single-author book if you feel it is more appropriate than citing the whole book.

Check if your university or course guidelines specify which citation style to use. If the choice is left up to you, consider which style is most commonly used in your field.

• APA Style is the most popular citation style, widely used in the social and behavioral sciences.
• MLA style is the second most popular, used mainly in the humanities.
• Chicago notes and bibliography style is also popular in the humanities, especially history.
• Chicago author-date style tends to be used in the sciences.

Other more specialized styles exist for certain fields, such as Bluebook and OSCOLA for law.

The most important thing is to choose one style and use it consistently throughout your text.

The abbreviation “ et al. ” (Latin for “and others”) is used to shorten citations of sources with multiple authors.

“Et al.” is used in APA in-text citations of sources with 3+ authors, e.g. (Smith et al., 2019). It is not used in APA reference entries .

Use “et al.” for 3+ authors in MLA in-text citations and Works Cited entries.

Use “et al.” for 4+ authors in a Chicago in-text citation , and for 10+ authors in a Chicago bibliography entry.

When you want to cite a specific passage in a source without page numbers (e.g. an e-book or website ), all the main citation styles recommend using an alternate locator in your in-text citation . You might use a heading or chapter number, e.g. (Smith, 2016, ch. 1)

In APA Style , you can count the paragraph numbers in a text to identify a location by paragraph number. MLA and Chicago recommend that you only use paragraph numbers if they’re explicitly marked in the text.

For audiovisual sources (e.g. videos ), all styles recommend using a timestamp to show a specific point in the video when relevant.

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If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Caulfield, J. (2022, August 23). How to Cite a Book | APA, MLA, & Chicago Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved November 21, 2023, from https://www.scribbr.com/citing-sources/cite-a-book/

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Key Elements

• Book Title  (italicized)
• Publication year
• Page number (p.) or Page numbers (pp.)
• From database: D atabase (italicized) , permanent link
• From web site: Web site title  (italicized) , web site URL (no http), and date a ccessed

One  Author (p. 21)

Start with the last name of the author (also when it is a corporation, p. 25), and add the first name and middle initial. Italicize the book  title.

E-book (p. 48)

After the publication year, include the database in italics and then the permanent link to the book.

Two  Authors (p. 21)

List the authors in the order they appear on the title page. List the first author with the last name first, then, list the second as first and last name.

Three  or More Authors (p. 22)

List the first author as last and first name, then add and "et al," which means "and others."

Entire Edited Book (p. 23)

Put the editor's name in the author position followed by "editor."

Editor & Author (p. 30)

Begin with the author of the chapter or entry not the editor of the book. After the title of the book, add "edited by" and the editor's name.

For reference books that are arranged alphabetically, page numbers are not necessary.

E-book (p. 34)

Editor & No Author (p. 24)

Begin with the title of the entry or chapter. If the entries are alphabetical, page numbers are not necessary.

Specific Volume (p. 39)

Include the volume number after the edition. No edition? After the editor's name. No editor? After the title.

Specific Edition (p. 38)

Only include edition if it is NOT the first edition. Write the edition as it appears in the book after the editor. No editor? After the title.

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Home / Guides / Citation Guides / MLA Format / How to Cite a Book Chapter in MLA

How to Cite a Book Chapter in MLA

This page is a how-to guide for using individual book chapters as sources and citing them correctly in your papers. This guide will help you determine when to cite a chapter separately and teach you how to cite a chapter both in the text of your paper and in the Works Cited page.

The information below follows the guidelines of the MLA Handbook , 9th Edition, but it is not associated with the Modern Language Association.

Table of Contents

Why you need to cite sources.

• When to Cite a Chapter

In-text citations

Works cited citations/references.

• Core elements of MLA citations
• Note on containers

Chapter/Article in an Edited Book

Chapter in an anthology/compilation/reference.

• Chapter in an Encyclopedia or Multi-volume set

Introduction/Preface/Foreword/Afterword

To write successful papers, you need to do research on your topic, and you include that research in your papers using citations. Citing a source in your paper means that you are using other people’s expertise to support your ideas. You “borrow” the credibility of these experts to increase your own credibility as a researcher. According to the Modern Language Association’s Handbook , “By giving credit to the precursors whose ideas they work with, scholars allow future researchers interested in the history of a conversation to trace the line of inquiry back to its beginning” (95).

In other words, when you cite sources properly, you are establishing and demonstrating your credibility as a researcher, and you ensure that you are not plagiarizing the material. This improves your writing and makes it more persuasive. The citations also allow readers to distinguish the information found in sources from your original thoughts on the topic.

When to Cite a Chapter 

The main reason writers will cite a chapter of a book instead of the whole book is when the chapter is written by an author(s) different from the book’s editor(s). An editor compiles a selection of articles written by other experts in the field.

If the author of the book wrote all of the chapters, you do not need to cite the chapters separately even if the chapters have names, and can instead use the standard format for citing a book in MLA . You should, however, include page numbers.

How to Cite a Chapter in a Paper

You can use information from your research in three ways:

• Paraphrase – Take the information from a specific sentence, paragraph, or section of the chapter and rewrite it in your own words.
• Summarize – Take a larger view of the section or the chapter and rewrite it in your own words.
• Quote – Use the exact words written  by the author and enclose the words in quotation marks.

With all the above methods of citing research in your paper, you need to follow that information with an in-text citation and create a corresponding reference for the source on the Works Cited page.  

Creating correct in-text citations within your text are important. Each in-text citation

• Alerts your reader that you are using information from an outside source.
• Usually appears in parentheses at the end of a sentence.
• Is short and only has enough information to help the reader find the complete reference listed in the Works Cited page at the end of the paper.

An in-text citation in the Modern Language Association (MLA) style has two parts (227-228):

• Name of the author or authors
• While many online sources do not have a page number, academic journals almost always do, even when they are available online.

In most cases, the in-text citation is at the end of the sentence in parentheses. When you cite the author’s name in your text, you don’t have to repeat it in the parentheses at the end. Do not separate the author’s name and the page number with a comma. See below for examples.

In-text citations are helpful, but they do not give a lot of information on the source. That’s where your works cited citations come in handy. The works cited citations are designed to provide enough information so that your reader can find the original source, if needed. Every full citation follows the core elements outlined below.

Core Elements of MLA Citations

The outline for any MLA citation follows this format. Please note the punctuation at the end of each section.

Note on Containers

The 9th edition of the official Handbook uses a term for citing references that was first introduced in the 8th edition: c ontainers .

In books that have individual chapters written by different authors, the book is considered the container because it contains parts of a larger whole. The title of the first container, the book name, is printed in italics and follows the chapter name.

When accessing book chapters through a database, the database is considered the second container. This title is also printed in italics.

Below, let’s look at how to cite different types of chapters.

An edited book contains chapters that are written by authors different from the editor. When citing from a book that has been edited by someone other than the writer of the chapter, the chapter writer’s name is cited first, followed by the title of the chapter. The chapter is the source article, and the book is the first container. The editor’s name follows the name of the book.

Example citations for a chapter in an edited print book

Cite your source

Example citations for the same chapter accessed through an online source/database

Anthologies or compilations are collected works of literature such as poems or stories. An anthology can contain a selection of work from one author or from many authors. The editor of the book chooses the pieces to include and usually writes a foreword or introduction. When citing work from an anthology or compilation, the original creator of the work is listed first, followed by the title of the piece. The anthology is the first container and is listed in italics after the name of the individual piece. The editor’s name follows the name of the book.

Example of citations from a chapter in an anthology

Chapter in an Encyclopedia or Multivolume Set 

Encyclopedias are reference works that provide summaries of information from all branches of knowledge or all branches of knowledge in a particular field. Entries in an encyclopedia often have a title, but no author listed. When citing a section of an encyclopedia, the section or chapter name is listed first. The name of the encyclopedia is the first container. The publisher of the encyclopedia follows its name.

Encyclopedia sections often do not have author names. If no author is listed, start the citation with the section name. Online sources will also not have page numbers, so omit them as well.

Examples of citations from an encyclopedia

Multivolume sets can have one title for the entire set and may have individual titles for each volume. When citing these sources, cite the title of the entire multi-volume set followed by the volume number.

Example of citations from a multivolume work

Books that are edited or are part of an anthology or compilation often have additional sections that are written by the book’s editor or another writer. These pieces can be an introduction, a preface, or a foreword, which is at the beginning of the book, or an afterword, which is at the end. When citing information from one of these sections, the writer of that section is listed first, followed by the name of the section (Introduction, Preface, etc.). This section name is not enclosed in quotation marks. The title of the book is the first container, and it is listed in italics after the section name. The editor’s name follows the name of the book.

Examples of Citations from an Introduction/Preface/Foreword/Afterword

MLA Handbook . 9th ed., Modern Language Association of America, 2021.

Published October 31, 2011. Updated June 19, 2021.

Written by Catherine Sigler . Catherine has a Ph.D. in English Education and has taught college-level writing for 15 years.

MLA Formatting Guide

MLA Formatting

• Annotated Bibliography
• Bibliography
• Block Quotes
• et al Usage
• In-text Citations
• Paraphrasing
• Page Numbers
• Sample Paper
• Works Cited
• MLA 8 Updates
• MLA 9 Updates
• View MLA Guide

Citation Examples

• Book Chapter
• Journal Article
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• View all MLA Examples

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It’s 100% free to create MLA citations. The EasyBib Citation Generator also supports 7,000+ other citation styles. These other styles—including APA, Chicago, and Harvard—are accessible for anyone with an EasyBib Plus subscription.

No matter what citation style you’re using (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.) the EasyBib Citation Generator can help you create the right bibliography quickly.

Yes, there’s an option to download source citations as a Word Doc or a Google Doc. You may also copy citations from the EasyBib Citation Generator and paste them into your paper.

Creating an account is not a requirement for generating MLA citations. However, registering for an EasyBib account is free and an account is how you can save all the citation you create. This can help make it easier to manage your citations and bibliographies.

Yes! Whether you’d like to learn how to construct citations on your own, our Autocite tool isn’t able to gather the metadata you need, or anything in between, manual citations are always an option. Click here for directions on using creating manual citations.

If any important information is missing (e.g., author’s name, title, publishing date, URL, etc.), first see if you can find it in the source yourself. If you cannot, leave the information blank and continue creating your citation.

It supports MLA, APA, Chicago, Harvard, and over 7,000 total citation styles.

To cite a book chapter in MLA style with an editor and/or a translator, you need to have basic information including the authors, chapter title, editors and/or translators, publication year, book title, publisher, and page numbers. The templates for in-text citations and a works-cited-list entry of a book chapter (edited and translated) and examples are given below:

In-text citation template and example:

For citations in prose, use the first name and surname of the author on the first occurrence. For subsequent citations, use only the surname. In parenthetical citations, always use only the surname of the author(s).

Citation in prose:

First mention: Chris Rojek states that ….

Subsequent occurrences: Rojek confirms ….

Parenthetical:

Works-cited-list entry template and example:

Enclose the chapter title in double quotation marks and use title case. The title of the book is given in italics and title case.

Surname, First Name. “Title of the Chapter.” Title of the Book , edited and translated by Name of the Editor(s)/Translator(s), Publisher, Publication Date, page range.

Rojek, Chris. “Indexing, Dragging and the Social Construction of Tourist Sights.” Touring Cultures: Transformations of Travel and Theory , edited and translated by Chris Rojek and John Urry, Routledge, 1997, pp. 52–74.

To cite a chapter in an edited book in MLA style, you need to have basic information including the authors, chapter title (unique title and/or generic label), editors, publication year, book title, publisher, and page numbers. The templates for in-text citations and works-cited-list entries for a chapter in an edited book written by a single author and some examples are given below:

First mention: Gayatri Gopinath ….

Subsequent occurrences: Gopinath ….

….(Gopinath).

Include the unique chapter title in title case and enclose it in double quotation marks. If the chapter does not have a unique title and instead uses a generic label, do not enclose it in quotation marks.

Include the book title in title case and in italics.

Surname, First Name. Generic Label. Title of the Book , edited by Editor(s) Name, Publisher, Publication Date, page range.

Surname, First Name. “Unique Chapter Title.” Title of the Book , edited by Editor(s) Name, Publisher, Publication Date, page range.

Surname, First Name. “Unique Chapter Title.” Generic Label. Title of the Book , edited by Editor(s) Name, Publisher, Publication Date, page range.

Notice that the last template uses a chapter with both a unique chapter title and a generic label. In this case, use the unique chapter title first and enclose it in double quotation marks and follow it with the generic label (as shown in the third example below).

Gopinath, Gayatri. Introduction. Political Emotions , edited by Ann Cvetkovich et al., Routledge, 2010, pp. 167–92.

Gopinath, Gayatri. “Archive, Affect, and the Everyday: Queer Diasporic Re-Visions.” Political Emotions , edited by Ann Cvetkovich et al., Routledge, 2010, pp. 167–92.

Gopinath, Gayatri. “Archive, Affect, and the Everyday: Queer Diasporic Re-Visions.” Introduction. Political Emotions , edited by Ann Cvetkovich et al., Routledge, 2010, pp. 167–92.

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MLA Style Guide, 8th & 9th Editions: Number

• Works Cited entries: What to Include
• Title of source
• Title of container
• Contributors
• Publication date
• Supplemental Elements
• Book with Personal Author(s)
• Book with Organization as Author
• Book with Editor(s)
• Parts of Books
• Government Publication
• Journal Article
• Magazine Article
• Multivolume Works
• Newspaper Article
• Other Formats
• Websites, Social Media, and Email
• About In-text Citations
• In-text Examples
• How to Paraphrase and Quote
• Citing Poetry
• Formatting Your MLA Paper
• Formatting Your Works Cited List
• MLA Annotated Bibliography
• MLA 9th Edition Quick Guide
• Submit Your Paper for MLA Style Review

Number (Works Cited)

Number is the sixth core element. This element may not be necessary for every Works Cited entry. Number is used to document multiple volume works which are numbered. For example, journals are typically numbered by volume and issue.

• This element begins with a capital letter only if the proceeding element ended with a period. If the proceeding element ended with a comma, the first letter of this element will be lower case.
• Abbreviate the word volume as "vol." and the word number as "no.". Separate the two parts with a comma and a space in this format: vol. 10, no. 2,
• This element ends with a comma.

Book in multiple volumes:

Damrosch, David, et al, editors. The Longman Anthology of World Literature.  2nd ed.,  v ol. A, Pearson Education, 2009.

Journal article:

Houtman, Eveline. "Mind-Blowing: Fostering Self-Regulated Learning in Information Literacy Instruction." Communications in Information Literacy,  vol.9, no. 1, 2015, pp. 6-18. www.comminfolit.org/index.phpjournal=cil&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=v9i1p6&path%5B%5D=203​.

Comic book issue:

Byrne, John and Jim Lee. "The Resurrection and the Flesh."  X-Men,   vol. 2, no. 4,  Marvel Comics, Jan. 1992.

Television series episode:

"Something Nice Back Home."  Lost,  directed by Stephen Williams, performance by Matthew Fox , season 4, episode 10, Bad Robot, 2008.

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How to cite a book in a bibliography using MLA

The most basic entry for a book consists of the author’s name, the book title, the publisher’s name, and the year of publication. This guide gives examples and guidance according to the 9th edition of the MLA Handbook .

Basic structure:

Last Name, First Name. Book Title . Publisher Name, Year Published.

Smith, John M. The Sample Book . BibMe Publishers, 2008.

Author formatting

• Reverse the author’s name (Last name then first name), placing a comma after the last name and a period after the first name (or any middle name initial).
• The name should not be abbreviated and should be written exactly as it appears on the title page.
• Titles and affiliations (sir, mr., mrs., PhD., Dr., etc.) associated with the author should generally be omitted.
• A suffix, such as a roman numeral or Jr./Sr. should appear after the author’s given name, preceded by a comma.

Smith, John, Jr. The Sample Book . BibMe Publishers, 2008.

Two authors

For a book written by two authors, both names are listed in the order they appear on the title page.

• Reverse only the first author’s name and write the second name in normal order (first name last name).
• Separate author names with a comma and place the word “and” between the names.

Smith, John, and Jane Doe. The Sample Book . BibMe Publishers, 2008.

Three authors or more

For books with three or more authors, include only the first author’s name in the citation, followed by a comma and the abbreviation “et al.”

Smith, John, et al. The Sample Book . BibMe Publishers, 2008.

Title formatting

• Italicize the full title of the book, including any subtitles, and follow it with a period.
• If the book has a subtitle, follow the main title with a colon (unless the main title ends with a question mark or exclamation point).
• Use title case.

Smith, John M. The Sample Book: Let’s Learn to Cite . BibMe Publishers, 2008.

Publication information formatting

After the book title is the publisher’s name, a comma, then the year the book was published.

Where do you find this information? Generally, you will find the publication information on the title page of the book. If it is not available there, it may be on the copyright page.

Abbreviations for publisher names

Publisher names should be abbreviated where appropriate.

Omit articles (e.g., A, An) and business titles (e.g., Co., Corp., Inc., Ltd.). For example:

• The BibMe Publishers –> BibMe Publishers
• BibMe Publishers, Ltd. –> BibMe Publishers

If the publisher is an academic or university press, with the words “university” and “press” (in any language), abbreviate “U” for “university” and “P” for “press” in the publisher’s name. This will distinguish the publisher from the university, which may publish independently of the publisher in question. (e.g., Oxford UP).

• University of BibMe Press –> U of BibMe P
• BibMe University Press –> BibMe UP
• BibMe Press –> BibMe Press

Smith, John. The Sample Book . Iowa State UP, 2008.

Citing an afterword, foreword, introduction, or preface

If you are citing a specific contribution to a book, such as an afterword, foreword, introduction, or preface, do the following:

• After the author’s name, include either the generic label (e.g., Afterword) followed by a period OR include the unique section’s title in quotation marks (e.g., “Novel Moves”) followed by a period.
• Include the page number or page range after the publication year. Separated the page and year with a comma, and follow the page(s) with a period.

Smith, John. Introduction. The Sample Book . BibMe, 2008, pp. 12-20.

Smith, John. “Unique Introduction Title.” The Sample Book . BibMe, 2008, pp. 12-20.

Citing editions or a revised book

When a book has no edition number or name, it is generally a first edition and no indication is needed. If the book you’re citing does show a later edition than its first, you should indicate the new edition in your citation. You will usually find edition details, including the date, on the title page or the copyright page.

• Place the edition after the book title, and before the publisher. There is a period after the title, and a comma after the edition.
• A numbered edition is abbreviated to “# ed.” (e.g., 9th ed.).
• Abbreviate “Revised edition” as “Rev. ed.”
• “Abridged edition” as “Abr. ed.”

Smith, John. The Sample Book . Rev. ed., BibMe, 2008.

Smith, John. The Sample Book . 2nd ed., BibMe, 2008.

Write ordinal numbers (e.g., 2nd) without a superscript.

You don’t need to include a source’s printing details, such as reprint details, in the source’s works-cited list entry. You may include an edition number as discussed above.

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As per the MLA Handbook , titles used in p arenthetical citations may be shortened or abbreviated if they are longer than a few words.

SHORTENED TITLES

Long titles can be shortened to the first noun phrase, first punctuation mark, or at the end of the first clause.

• My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry –>  My Grandmother
• Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe –>  Fried Green Tomatoes

ABBREVIATED TITLES

Abbreviating titles can be helpful and more concise when citing multiple works by a single author. Abbreviated titles should only be used in parenthetical citations. In prose, MLA suggests sticking to a shortened form of the title instead.

Common Abbreviations (Shakespeare, Chaucer, Bible)

Appendix 1 of the MLA Handbook provides a list of common academic abbreviations to be used in parenthetical citations. Some standard references include works by established classical authors like Shakespeare and Chaucer and books in the Bible.

• The first act of Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra (Ant.) ….
• “Eternity was in our lips and in our eyes” ( Ant . 1.3.28)

Single-Word Abbreviations

You can also come up with your own straightforward abbreviations if needed. For single-word titles, use the first syllable followed by a period.

• In Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing ( Home. ), she writes…( Home. 45).

Multiple-Word Abbreviations

For titles containing multiple words, you may abbreviate. Your abbreviation should consist of the first letter of each capitalized word. Be sure to use the full title on first reference and introduce the abbreviation in parentheses immediately afterward.

• Amanda Gorman writes in  Call Us What We Carry ( CUWWC ) that… ( CUWWC 12).

As per Section 6 of the MLA Handbook , 9 th edition, if a book you are citing is part of a multivolume work, the volume number should be mentioned in the full reference in your works cited page. The placement of the volume number may change depending on if the books are individually titled and/or if you are citing one book or the entire collection.

Author’s Last Name, First Name. Book Title. Edition no., vol. no., Publisher, year of publication.

Pinksmith, Tom. The Secret Life of Koalas . 2nd ed., vol. 1, Oxford UP, 2003.

If you are referring to the the entire multivolume set, mention the number of volumes at the end of the citation instead.

Author’s Last Name, First Name. Book Title. Edition no., Publisher, year(s) of publication. # vols. in set.

Pinksmith, Tom. The Secret Life of Koalas . 2nd ed., Oxford UP, 2003-21. 7 vols.

As per Appendix 2 of the MLA Handbook , 9 th edition, a foreword, afterword, or introduction should be cited as a book chapter. If the chapter doesn’t have a unique name, write the label in regular roman text (not italicized or in quotation marks) immediately following the name(s) of the author(s). If the introduction, foreword, or afterword does have a separate title, use its title within quotation marks instead of the label in your citation.

The citation should also include the title of the book in italics, the publisher, year of publication, and the page range details for the section being cited.

Author’s Last Name, First Name. Section Name or “Section Title.” Book Name , Publisher, year, pp. xx-xx.

Duncan, David. Preface. Introduction to Alchemy , Altruist Publications, 1967, pp. 23-46.

In MLA style, works that stand alone are italicized. The book title, website, and report are examples of such references. However, works that are a part of a main work, such as a chapter in a book or an article in a journal, are not italicized. Instead, they are enclosed in double quotation marks. As author names are included in citations, these elements are not added in in-text citations unless the names of the authors are not available for a source.

In cases in which italicization is not possible (e.g., handwriting and typewriting), then standalone works like book titles, websites, and reports should be underlined instead.

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Cite a Book in MLA

Don't let plagiarism errors spoil your paper

Citing books in mla.

How do you cite a book? What information do you need to include and where does it go? Citation Machine citing tools can help you easily create formatted citations for your research paper.

First, find your book using the search box above. The book’s author, title, or ISBN will work. If there are books with similar titles, authors, different editions, etc., you will be shown all possibilities, so you can choose the correct book. From there, the citing tools will automatically pull information on the source and help you create a citation.

Books aren’t just in print. They can be electronic, too. You can find them in online databases, websites, audiobooks, and other forms of media. Citation Machine citing tools can handle those, as well.

Standard book citation:

Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. Scholastic, 2008.

Translated works in MLA format:

If the focus was on the text, rather than the actual translation, cite the source like this:

Vila-Matas, Enrique. Never Any End to Paris. Translated by Anne McLean, New Directions, 2011.

If the focus was on the translation, include the translator’s name first in the citation.

McLean, Anne, translator. Never Any End to Paris. By Enrique Vila-Matas, New Directions, 2011.

Wish you had an automatic MLA citation generator to do all of the heavy lifting for you? Try out our generator, at the top of this page.

How to cite a textbook in print:

To cite a full textbook in print in MLA format, you’ll need to find the following pieces of information:

• Name of the author(s) or editor(s)
• Title of the textbook, including any subtitles
• Version of the textbook (such as a numbered edition or revised edition)
• Name of the publisher
• Year the textbook was published

Place the pieces of information in this format:

Last name, First name of the author or Last name, First name, editor. Title of the Textbook. Version, Publisher, Year published.

If the textbook was compiled by an editor, use this format at the beginning of the citation:

Last name, First name, editor.

Examples of how to cite a textbook in print:

Lilly, Leonard S. Braunwald’s Heart Disease: Review and Assessment . 9th ed., Elsevier Saunders, 2012.

Cherny, Nathan, et al., editors. Oxford Textbook of Palliative Medicine . 5th ed., Oxford UP, 2015.

E-books in MLA format:

Citing an e-book (a digital book that lacks a URL and that you use software to read on a personal e-reader):

Alcott, Louisa May. Little Women. E-book ed., Barnes & Noble Classics, 2004.

In the “version” section of the citation, include “E-book ed.” to specify that you used an e-book version of a printed book.

You can also use the “final supplemental” section of the citation to specify the file type of the electronic edition of the work if you know the work varies by file format.

Alcott, Louisa May. Little Women. E-book ed., Barnes & Noble Classics, 2004. EPUB.

If you’re citing a book available from a website, here’s an example in MLA format:

Doyle, Arthur Conan. “A Scandal in Bohemia.” The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Internet Archive, archive.org/details/deysayan844_gmail_Cano/mode/2up?ref=ol&view=theater&q=119.

The website is the container, which is found in the third position of the citation, in italics.

Wish you had a second set of eyes to review your citations? Use our MLA citation generator and compare the output to yours.

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MLA Referencing – Citing an Edited Book

3-minute read

• 19th January 2017

MLA referencing offers a simple way of citing sources in a college paper . However, for an edited book, there are some rules you need to remember, especially on the “Works Cited” page. First, though, let’s take a quick look at citing sources in the text.

In-Text Citations

When citing something from an edited book in MLA , give the surname of the author of the section cited and the relevant page number(s) in parentheses:

Communication can influence an individual’s expectations (Smith 253).

As with other source types, you do not need to repeat the name of the author in citations when they’re already named in the text:

According to Smith, communication is “one of the means by which an individual can influence another individual’s expectations” (253).

The only time you’ll need to cite the editor or editors is when citing an edited volume as a whole, but this would be unusual most of the time.

The Works Cited Page (Chapter from an Edited Book)

MLA requires that all sources cited are listed in a “Works Cited” page at the end of your document. When citing a single chapter from an edited book, the format to use is:

Author Surname, Forename. “Chapter Title.” Edited Book Title , edited by Editor’s Name, Publisher, Year, Page Range.

As such, the essay used in the examples above would appear as:

Smith, John W. “Communication and Expectations: A Social Process and the Cognitive Operations It Depends Upon and Influences.” Readings in Animal Cognition , edited by Mark Bekoff and Dale Jamieson, MIT Press, 1996, pp. 243–55.

The Works Cited Page (Multiple Chapters)

This format differs slightly if you’re citing several chapters from the same edited book, as MLA referencing allows you to cross-reference entries to save repeating information.

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This involves first adding a separate entry in the “Works Cited” list for the volume as a whole:

Editor Surname, Forename, editor(s). Title of Book . Publisher, Year of Publication.

If a book has multiple editors, you only need to invert the names of the first author. We would therefore list Readings in Animal Cognition as:

Bekoff, Mark and Dale Jamieson, editors. Readings in Animal Cognition . MIT Press, 1996.

After this, each essay from the edited volume can be listed separately, mentioning the editor(s) of the edited book and page range to show where they come from:

Gruen, Lori. “Gendered Knowledge? Examining Influences on Scientific and Ethological Inquiries.” Bekoff and Jamieson, pp. 17–27.

Smith, John W. “Communication and Expectations: A Social Process and the Cognitive Operations It Depends Upon and Influences.” Bekoff and Jamieson, pp. 243–55.

Thornhill, Randy. “The Study of Adaptation.” Bekoff and Jamieson, pp. 107–27.

Finally, remember to maintain alphabetical order by surname throughout your “Works Cited” page. This order must be used even if it means that chapters from an edited book aren’t listed together.

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MLA Works Cited Page: Periodicals

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MLA (Modern Language Association) style is most commonly used to write papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities. This resource, updated to reflect the MLA Handbook (8 th ed.), offers examples for the general format of MLA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the Works Cited page.

Periodicals include magazines, newspapers, and scholarly journals. Works cited entries for periodical sources include three main elements—the author of the article, the title of the article, and information about the magazine, newspaper, or journal. MLA uses the generic term “container” to refer to any print or digital venue (a website or print journal, for example) in which an essay or article may be included.

Below is the generic citation for periodicals using the MLA style. Use this as guidance if you are trying to cite a type of source not described on this page, omitting any information that does not apply:

Author. Title. Title of container (self contained if book), Other contributors (translators or editors), Version (edition), Number (vol. and/or no.), Publisher, Publisher Date, Location (pp.). 2nd container’s title, Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Pub date, Location (pp.).

Article in a Magazine

Cite by listing the article's author, putting the title of the article in quotations marks, and italicizing the periodical title. Follow with the date of publication. Remember to abbreviate the month. The basic format is as follows:

Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Periodical , Day Month Year, pages.

Poniewozik, James. "TV Makes a Too-Close Call." Time, 20 Nov. 2000, pp. 70-71.

Buchman, Dana. "A Special Education." Good Housekeeping, Mar. 2006, pp. 143-48.

Article in a Newspaper

Cite a newspaper article as you would a magazine article, but note the different pagination in most newspapers. If there is more than one edition available for that date (as in an early and late edition of a newspaper), identify the edition after the newspaper title.

Brubaker, Bill. "New Health Center Targets County's Uninsured Patients." Washington Post, 24 May 2007, p. LZ01.

Krugman, Andrew. "Fear of Eating." New York Times, late ed.,  21 May 2007, p. A1.

If the newspaper is a less well-known or local publication, include the city name in brackets after the title of the newspaper.

Behre, Robert. "Presidential Hopefuls Get Final Crack at Core of S.C. Democrats." Post and Courier [Charleston, SC],29 Apr. 2007, p. A11.

Trembacki, Paul. "Brees Hopes to Win Heisman for Team." Purdue Exponent [West Lafayette, IN], 5 Dec. 2000, p. 20.

To cite a review, include the title of the review (if available), then the phrase, “Review of” and provide the title of the work (in italics for books, plays, and films; in quotation marks for articles, poems, and short stories). Finally, provide performance and/or publication information.

Review Author. "Title of Review (if there is one)." Review of Performance Title, by Author/Director/Artist. Title of Periodical, Day Month Year, page.

Seitz, Matt Zoller. "Life in the Sprawling Suburbs, If You Can Really Call It Living." Review of Radiant City , directed by Gary Burns and Jim Brown. New York Times, 30 May 2007, p. E1.

Weiller, K. H. Review of Sport, Rhetoric, and Gender: Historical Perspectives and Media Representations , edited by Linda K. Fuller. Choice, Apr. 2007, p. 1377.

An Editorial & Letter to the Editor

Cite as you would any article in a periodical, but include the designators "Editorial" or "Letter" to identify the type of work it is.

"Of Mines and Men." Editorial. Wall Street Journal, eastern edition, 24 Oct. 2003, p. A14.

Hamer, John. Letter. American Journalism Review, Dec. 2006/Jan. 2007, p. 7.

Anonymous Articles

Cite the article’s title first, then finish the citation as you would any other for that kind of periodical.

"Business: Global Warming's Boom Town; Tourism in Greenland." The Economist , 26 May 2007, p. 82.

"Aging; Women Expect to Care for Aging Parents but Seldom Prepare." Women's Health Weekly, 10 May 2007, p. 18.

An Article in a Scholarly Journal

A scholarly journal can be thought of as a container, as are collections of short stories or poems, a television series, or even a website. A container can be thought of as anything that contains other pieces of work. In this case, cite the author and title of article as you normally would. Then, put the title of the journal in italics. Include the volume number (“vol.”) and issue number (“no.”) when possible, separated by commas. Finally, add the year and page numbers.

Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Journal , Volume, Issue, Year, pages.

Bagchi, Alaknanda. "Conflicting Nationalisms: The Voice of the Subaltern in Mahasweta Devi's Bashai Tudu ." Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature, vol. 15, no. 1, 1996, pp. 41-50.

Duvall, John N. "The (Super)Marketplace of Images: Television as Unmediated Mediation in DeLillo's White Noise ." Arizona Quarterly , vol. 50, no. 3, 1994, pp. 127-53.

An Article in a Special Issue of a Scholarly Journal

When an article appears in a special issue of a journal, cite the name of the special issue in the entry’s title space, in italics. Add the descriptor “special issue of” and include the name of the journal, also in italics, followed by the rest of the information required for a standard scholarly journal citation.

Web entries should follow a similar format, and should include a DOI (if available), otherwise include a URL or permalink.

Burgess, Anthony. "Politics in the Novels of Graham Greene." Literature and Society, special issue of Journal of Contemporary History, vol. 2, no. 2, 1967, pp. 93-99.

Case, Sue-Ellen. “Eve's Apple, or Women's Narrative Bytes.” Technocriticism and Hypernarrative, special issue of Modern Fiction Studies, vol. 43, no. 3, 1997, pp. 631-50. Project Muse , doi:10.1353/mfs.1997.0056.