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MLA Style: Books

MLS Writing Style standards and helpful information

Online Resources for Citing Books

Electronic Books

Electronic Books
Many books are now read in an electronic form. This can be done through a website or database or on a special device such as a Kindle.

Basic Format for e-books on a website or database:
Last Name, First Name Middle Initial. (or Middle Name). "Title of chapter or section." Title of E-book,
          translated by or edited by First Name, Last Name, vol. number, Publisher, Year of Publication,
          pp. pages. Title of Web Wite or Database, URL.

Example:

Mark Atherton. There and Back Again : J R R Tolkien and the Origins of The Hobbit. I.B. Tauris, 2012. EBSCOhost, https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=572534&site=ehost-live.

Basic Format for an e-book on an e-reader:
Last Name, First Name Middle Initial. (or Middle Name). "Title of chapter or section." Title of E-book,
          translated by or edited by First Name, Last Name, E-book, Publisher, Year of Publication.

Example:
Baillie, Justine Jenny. Toni Morrison and Literary Tradition: The Invention of an Aesthetic. E-book,
          Bloomsbury Academic, London, 2013.

Books with Single or Multiple Authors

Book: One Author
Basic Format:
Last Name, First Name, Middle Initial (or Middle Name). Title of Book. City of Publication*, Publisher,
          Year of Publication.

*NOTE: Listing the City of Publication is only necessary if it meets one of the following criteria:

  • if the book was published before 1900
  • if the publisher has multiple offices in more than one country
  • if the publisher is not well known in North America

Example:
Krieger, Paul A. A visual analogy guide to human anatomy (2nd ed.). Morton Publishing Company,
          2009.

Book: Two Authors
Basic Format:
Last Name, First Name, Middle Initial. (or Middle Name), and First Name Middle Initial.
          (or Middle Name) Last Name. Title of Book. Publisher. Year of Publication.

Example:
Silvestri, Linda Anne, and Angela Silvestri. Saunders 2018-2019 Strategies for Test Success: Passing
          Nursing School and the NCLEX Exam. 5th ed., Elsevier. 2017.

Book: Three or More Authors
Only list the first author's name then the term "et al." which means "and others" in Latin. 

 

Books with Editors

Edited Book: Anthology or Collection 
Basic Format:

Last Name, First Name Middle Initial. (or Middle Name), editor. Title of Work.
          
Publisher. Year of Publication.

Example:
Werth, James L., Jr., editor. Counseling Clients Who Are Near the End of Life. Springer Publishing,
          LLC. 2013.

Article or Chapter in an Edited Book
Basic Format:
Last Name, First Name Middle Initial. (or Middle Name), "Title of chapter." Title of Work, 
          Edited by Last Name, First Name Middle Initial. (or Middle Name), Publisher,
          Year of Publication, pp. Page Range of Entry. 

Example:

Gamino, Louis. A. and Michael B. Bevins, "Ethical challenges when counseling clients
          nearing the end of life." Counseling Clients Near the End of Life, Edited by James Werth Jr., 
          Springer Publishing, LLC., 2013, pp. 3-22.