Referencing books in MLA

This page outlines the correct format for books in an MLA list of works cited:

• Book
• Book (later edition)
• Book (republished)
• Book (scholarly edition)
• Book (translation)
• Anthology or edited book
• Work in an anthology or edited book
• Introduction, preface, foreword, or afterword
• Online book
• E-book reader book
• Other sources

New to referencing? See the introduction to referencing.

Order: Author/s (the first author uses last name-first name format and subsequent authors use first name-last name format). Book Title (italicised with the first letter of major words capitalised), subtitle (optional). Contributors (translators or editors), Version (edition), Number (vol. and/or no.) City of publication*, publisher name, year of publication

Note: In past editions of MLA, all sources needed to indicate the publishing medium (e.g. "Print" for physical books and journals, "Web" for online material). In the most recent edition of MLA, however, the publishing medium is no longer required information.

* The city of publication is only required if the book was published before 1900, or if the publisher has offices in more than one city or if the publisher is unknown outside of North America.

• If each chapter of the book is written by a different author, see work in an anthology or edited book below.
• For basic formatting rules (punctuation, when to use upper-case letters), see lists of works cited.
• Something missing? More than one author? See referencing elements for answers to common issues.

Order: Author/s (the first author uses last name-first name format and subsequent authors use first name-last name format). Book Title (italicised with the first letter of major words capitalised), subtitle (optional). Edition, city of publication*, publisher name, year of publication.

* The city of publication is only required if the book was published before 1900, or if the publisher has offices in more than one city, or if the publisher is unknown outside of North America.

Order: Author/s (the first author uses last name-first name format and subsequent authors use first name-last name format). Book Title (italicised with the first letter of major words capitalised), subtitle (optional). Original year of publication. City of publication*, publisher name, current year of publication.

* The city of publication is only required if the book was published before 1900, or if the publisher has offices in more than one city, or if the publisher is unknown outside of North America.

Order: Author/s (the first author uses last name-first name format and subsequent authors use first name-last name format). Book Title (italicised with the first letter of major words capitalised), subtitle (optional). Original year of publication (optional). Editor(s), city of publication*, publisher name, current year of publication.

• Use this format for books prepared for publication by someone other than the author, e.g. modern reprints of older books that include a named editor.

* The city of publication is only required if the book was published before 1900, or if the publisher has offices in more than one city, or if the publisher is unknown outside of North America. In this example, the edition cited is published in 2005, so the publishers name is given. If, however, the edition cited was published in 1705, then London would be given instead of the publisher Penguin.

Order: Author/s (the first author uses last name-first name format and subsequent authors use first name-last name format). Book Title (italicised with the first letter of major words capitalised), subtitle (optional), translator(s), city of publication*, publisher name, year of publication.

* The city of publication is only required if the book was published before 1900, or if the publisher has offices in more than one city, or if the publisher is unknown outside of North America.

Order: Editor/s (the first editor uses last name-first name format and subsequent editors use first name-last name format).  Book Title (italicised with the first letter of major words capitalised), subtitle (optional). City of publication*, publisher name, year of publication.

• To reference an individual chapter or work in an anthology, see work in an anthology or edited book below.

* The city of publication is only required if the book was published before 1900, or if the publisher has offices in more than one city, or if the publisher is unknown outside of North America.

Order: Author/s (the first author uses last name-first name format and subsequent authors use first name-last name format). Book Title (italicised with the first letter of major words capitalised), subtitle (optional). Original year of publication. City of publication*, publisher name, current year of publication.

• You should only list these separately if the individual works or chapters are written by different authors. If they are all written by the same person, list the entire book rather than each individual part.
• The title of the book is italicised, but the title of the work or chapter goes inside quotation marks.
• The page number range includes the first and last page of the full work or chapter, not just the pages you used.

Order: Author/s of the section being cited (the first author uses last name-first name format and subsequent authors use first name-last name format). Section type (Introduction, Preface, Foreword, Afterword). Book title (italicised with the first letter of major words capitalised), subtitle (optional). Source author's or editors name (use first name-last name format), city of publication*, publisher name, year of publication, page range.

* The city of publication is only required if the book was published before 1900, or if the publisher has offices in more than one city, or if the publisher is unknown outside of North America.

A URL or web address should be given to help readers locate the source. Only use www. (https:// can be deleted). If an EBSCO permalink is available, use this instead of a URL. When a DOI is available, use this instead of the URL or permalink.

For most university assignments, it is unnecessary to include the second container (the larger whole the source is part of) for e-books. However, if required, you can include second containers, such as YouTube, databases, Netflix etc.

The date of access is optional but recommended when the source provides no indication of production or publication date.

Order: Author(s) (the first author uses last name-first name format and subsequent authors use first name-last name format). Book title (italicised with the first letter of major words capitalised), subtitle (optional), Contributors (translators or editors), version (edition), number (vol. and/or no.), publisher name, year of publication. 2nd container's title (e.g. name of internet site, italicised; note that the 2nd container will usually be unnecessary, although it may be useful to include it if the source is only available through a unique platform/repository), DOI, permalink or URL. Date of access (also optional).

• The date you looked at the web page (date of retrieval) is included because, unlike printed materials, websites can be updated and changed over time.
• Note: In this example, the title of the 2nd container (New Zealand Electronic Text Centre) is given because this source is unique to that platform. Generally, this 2nd container is unnecessary, particularly in undergraduate assignments not intended for publication.

Software is needed to read an e-book on a device (e.g. Kindle) or computer rather than a URL and according to the MLA Handbook this is considered a version.

Order: Author(s) (the first author uses last name-first name format and subsequent authors use first name-last name format). Book title (italicised with the first letter of major words capitalised), subtitle (optional), edition no. or E-reader version (e.g. Kindle ed., EPUB; if the reader is unknown, simply specify 'e-book'), publisher name, year of publication.

• As different e-readers paginate in different ways, do not use device-specific location numbers for an e-book in the in-text citation. If the e-book reader version does not have the same page numbers as the print version, use the rules for unpaginated sources.

Encyclopædia entries, study guides, and other book-like sources are covered in the section on referencing other material.

References and further reading

Disclaimer

These pages are provided as a guide to proper referencing. Your course, department, school, or institute may prescribe specific conventions, and their recommendations supersede these instructions. If you have questions not covered here, check in the style guide listed above, ask your course coordinator, or ask at Academic Q+A.

Page authorised by Director - Centre for Learner Success
Last updated on 4 March, 2020