MLA – Citing Books

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Essential elements of a book citation in MLA include the author’s name, the title of the book (italicized), the edition if applicable, the publisher, and the year of publication. If there are multiple authors, the names should be listed in the same order as they appear on the title page. For books with editors instead of authors, include the editor’s name followed by “editor” or “editors.” If the book is part of a series, the series name and number should be included as well. In-text citations refer to the author’s last name and page number(s) where the information was found. This approach is designed to ensure that all necessary information is provided for readers to find the original source easily.

Citing a Book with One Author

Include the author’s last name, first name, the title of the book in italics, the publisher, and the year of publication.

Format:
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Year.

Examples:

  1. Gladwell, Malcolm. Outliers: The Story of Success. Little, Brown and Company, 2008.
  2. Sacks, Oliver. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. Touchstone, 1998.
  3. Krakauer, Jon. Into the Wild. Villard, 1996.

Citing a Book with Two Authors

Include both authors’ last names and first names, the title of the book in italics, the publisher, and the year of publication.

Format:
First Author’s Last Name, First Name, and Second Author’s First Name Last Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Year.

Examples:

  1. Diamond, Jared, and James A. Robinson. Natural Experiments of History. Harvard University Press, 2010.
  2. Strunk, William, Jr., and E. B. White. The Elements of Style. 4th ed., Allyn and Bacon, 2000.
  3. Levitt, Steven D., and Stephen J. Dubner. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. William Morrow, 2005.

Citing a Book with Three or More Authors

Include the first author’s last name and first name followed by “et al.,” the title of the book in italics, the publisher, and the year of publication.

Format:
First Author’s Last Name, First Name, et al. Title of Book. Publisher, Year.

Examples:

  1. King, Stephen, et al. Hearts in Atlantis. Scribner, 1999.
  2. Brown, Theodore, et al. Chemistry: The Central Science. 14th ed., Pearson, 2017.
  3. Schaller, George B., et al. The Last Panda. University of Chicago Press, 1993.

Citing a Book Edition

Include the author’s last name, first name, the title of the book in italics, edition number, the publisher, and the year of publication.

Format:
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Edition, Publisher, Year.

Examples:

  1. Freud, Sigmund. The Interpretation of Dreams. 3rd ed., Avon, 1980.
  2. Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. 9th ed., University of Chicago Press, 2018.
  3. Orwell, George. 1984. Centennial ed., Plume, 2003.

Citing a Translated Book

Include the original author’s last name and first name, the title of the book in italics, translated by translator’s first name and last name, the publisher, and the year of publication.

Format:
Original Author’s Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Translated by Translator’s First Name Last Name, Publisher, Year.

Examples:

  1. García Márquez, Gabriel. One Hundred Years of Solitude. Translated by Gregory Rabassa, Harper & Row, 1970.
  2. Dostoevsky, Fyodor. Crime and Punishment. Translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, Vintage, 1992.
  3. Camus, Albert. The Stranger. Translated by Matthew Ward, Vintage International, 1989.

Citing a Book Volume

Include the author’s last name, first name, the title of the book in italics, volume number, the publisher, and the year of publication.

Format:
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Vol. Number, Publisher, Year.

Examples:

  1. Tolkien, J. R. R. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Vol. 1, Houghton Mifflin, 1954.
  2. Durant, Will. The Story of Civilization: Our Oriental Heritage. Vol. 1, Simon and Schuster, 1954.
  3. Proust, Marcel. In Search of Lost Time: Swann’s Way. Vol. 1, Modern Library, 2003.

Citing a Book Chapter from an Edited Work

Include the chapter author’s last name and first name, the title of the chapter in quotation marks, the title of the book in italics, edited by editor’s first name and last name, the publisher, the year of publication, and the page range of the chapter.

Format:
Chapter Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Chapter.” Title of Book, edited by Editor’s First Name Last Name, Publisher, Year, pp. Page Range.

Examples:

  1. Gould, Stephen Jay. “The Panda’s Thumb of Technology.” The Best American Science Writing 2002, edited by Matt Ridley, HarperCollins, 2002, pp. 22-31.
  2. Austen, Jane. “Pride and Prejudice.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, W. W. Norton & Company, 2018, pp. 493-678.
  3. Huxley, Aldous. “Brave New World Revisited.” Brave New World and Brave New World Revisited, edited by Christopher Hitchens, Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2005, pp. 239-354.

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