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

Example:

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.

Example:

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.

Example:

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.

Example:

World Health Organization and United Nations Children’s Fund. Global Report on Assistive

Technology. World Health Organization, 2022.

Unknown author

Example:

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.

Example:

Schermerhorn, John R. Exploring Management. Wiley, 2024.

—. Management. Wiley, 2020.

Two or more works by the same author, same year.

Example:

Schermerhorn, John R. Management. Wiley, 2024.

—. Management: International Adaptation. Wiley, 2024.

Author with an editor

Example:

Howells, William Dean. Their Wedding Journey. Edited by John K. Reeves, Indiana UP, 2024.

Author with a translator

Example:

Marquez, Gabriel Garcia. One Hundred Years of Solitude. Translated by Gregory Rabassa,

Blackstone Publishing, 2022.

Editor with no Author

Example:

Peate, Ian, and Suzanne Evans, editors. Fundamentals of Anatomy and Physiology:

For Nursing and Healthcare Students. John Wiley & Sons, 2020.

Work in an anthology

Example:

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

Example:

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.

Example:

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.

Example:

“Activist Media.” A Dictionary of Journalism. 2nd ed., 2024.

Foreword, Introduction, Preface or Afterword

Example:

Waszink, Jan. Introduction. Annals of the War in the Low Countries, by Grotius,

Leuven UP, 2023, pp. i-x.

Further study