How to cite Books in MLA
Wondering how to cite a book in MLA format? Here’s the general rule.
General book format:
Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Publication Date.
In our citation examples we use the following color coding:
- Red – Author
- Blue – Title of book/article/charter/webpage
- Pink – Date
- Orange – Website/Publisher
- Violet – Editor/Translator
- Black – Volume/Issue
- Sienna – Pages
- Peach – Additional information about the source (i.e. its type, specific features etc.)
- Light Magenta – Dictionary entry
Single author
Dugan, John P. Leadership Theory: Cultivating Critical Perspectives. John Wiley & Sons,
2024.
Two authors
The second author should appear as he or she is mentioned in the book.
Bickerton, Christopher J., and Carlo Invernizzi Accetti. Technopopulism: The New Logic of
Democratic Politics. Oxford UP, 2021.
Three and more authors
If there are three and more authors, the first name must be followed by et al.
Sewart, David, et al. Distance Education: International Perspectives. Routledge, 2020.
Corporate/Organization author
The corporation’s name should start the line and appear in text instead of the author.
World Health Organization and United Nations Children’s Fund. Global Report on Assistive
Technology. World Health Organization, 2022.
Unknown author
The Encyclopedia of Climate and Weather. Oxford UP, 2024.
Two or more works by the same author
The dashes at the beginning of the following line stand for the same author’s name.
Schermerhorn, John R. Exploring Management. Wiley, 2024.
—. Management. Wiley, 2020.
Two or more works by the same author, same year.
Schermerhorn, John R. Management. Wiley, 2024.
—. Management: International Adaptation. Wiley, 2024.
Author with an editor
Howells, William Dean. Their Wedding Journey. Edited by John K. Reeves, Indiana UP, 2024.
Author with a translator
Marquez, Gabriel Garcia. One Hundred Years of Solitude. Translated by Gregory Rabassa,
Blackstone Publishing, 2022.
Editor with no Author
Peate, Ian, and Suzanne Evans, editors. Fundamentals of Anatomy and Physiology:
For Nursing and Healthcare Students. John Wiley & Sons, 2020.
Work in an anthology
Martini, Silvia, and Luigi Corvaglia. “Premature Infants.” Frailty in Children: From the
Perioperative Management to the Multidisciplinary Approach, edited by Mario Lima and Maria Cristina Mondardini, Springer Nature, 2023, pp. 11-32.
Edition other than first
Falaschi, Paolo. Orthogeriatrics. 2nd ed., Springer Nature, 2021.
Multivolume work
Some book series may consist of several volumes. In this instance, when citing it, it is necessary to state the volume of the book where the information was taken from. However, if the volume has its own name, it is formatted as a book.
Harnack, Adolf. History of Dogma. Vol. 1, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2020.
Encyclopedia/Dictionary
This entry should not include information about the publisher or page number.
“Activist Media.” A Dictionary of Journalism. 2nd ed., 2024.
Foreword, Introduction, Preface or Afterword
Waszink, Jan. Introduction. Annals of the War in the Low Countries, by Grotius,
Leuven UP, 2023, pp. i-x.