How To Cite A Book In MLA Format In Text 2022: Top Full Guide

If you’re looking for a way how to cite a book in MLA format, you’ll want to include the author’s name, the title of the book, the publisher, and the date of publication.

The Modern Language Association (MLA) style for citing books is relatively simple. In the Works Cited list, the author’s name is followed by the book’s title, which is italicized.

The publication information is given next, including the city of publication, the publisher, and the year of publication.

Contents

1 How to Cite a Book in MLA-Format & Examples
2 Where to Find Information For a Book Citation
- 2.1 How to Cite a Textbook in Print
- 2.2 Here are some examples of how to cite a book in print.

How to Cite a Book in MLA-Format & Examples

Citing a Book Chapter

This format is used if chapters of a book are written by different authors or consist of self-contained works such as stories, essays, or poems. You can use a similar format to cite images taken from books or entries in dictionaries.

You should include separate Works Cited entries for each chapter if you cite multiple chapters from the same book.

Start the Works Cited entry by entering the author and title of the chapter. Next, enter the title, editor, publisher, and date. Finally, end the entry with the page range where the chapter appears.

Two editors should be listed. Follow the same guidelines as to when citing multiple authors. Name only the first editor, followed by et. al.

Citing a work in a book without an editor (e.g., citing work from a book without an editor (e.g., a collection of poems or plays by a single author), follow the same format but remove the editor.

You are citing a whole collection or anthology.

You can refer to the entire collection without citing any specific work. Use the standard book citation format. Include the editor(s) and a label to identify the role in the text.

Editions of Books

Add the edition number to the book title or cover page. After the title, the abbreviation “ed” will be added. You will notice that different versions of the Bible may be treated differently.

Included the Original Publication Date

Many classic books are republished multiple times. You can include the publication date if it is important or necessary to place the source in context.

Multi-volume Books

You can cite one volume from a multi-volume work if you include it in the Works Cited entry.

Citing more than one book volume should be done as a single work. In your Works Cited entry, you must indicate the total number. In such cases, in-text citations should include both the volume and page numbers.

Translated books

Include the translator’s name after the title of the book has been translated.

E-books and Online Books

The format of a citation for an electronic book depends on how you access it.

Books accessed online

Use the MLA book citation format if you accessed the book through a website or database. You were followed by your website or database name and a link back to the book. You will need a DOI (or stable URL) or permalink. You may want to note that the book was downloaded as a PDF.

Downloaded e-books

You only need to add the “E-book EED” after the title if you have downloaded the book onto an app or e-reader device.

In-text citations should include an alternative locator, such as a chapter heading or section heading. Use locators that are specific for the device only (e.g., Kindle locations

Where to Find Information For a Book Citation

On the title page, you will usually find the title, author, publisher, publication year, and ISBN. It is possible to look at the publisher’s copyright page and publication years.

It is important to note that the copyright date may not be the same as the publication year. The most recent year will be used for several years on the copyright page.

Include the names of editors and translators on the cover page in the citation.

How to Cite a Textbook in Print

You will need the following information to cite a complete textbook in MLA format.

Name of the editor or author
Title of the textbook.
A version of the textbook (such as a revised or numbered edition)
Name of the publisher
The year that the textbook was published

In this format, place the information.

Last name, First Name of the Author, or Last name. First Name, Editor. The title of the Textbook. Version, Publisher, Year of publication.
This format should be used at the beginning of citations if the textbook is edited.
Last name, First name, and editor.

Here are some examples of how to cite a book 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. Oxford UP 2015, 5th ed.

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Conclusion

To cite a book in MLA, you will need to gather the author’s name, the title of the book, the publication date, and the publisher’s location. After that, you will need to place all of that information within parentheses and italicize the book’s title.