Subject guides: MLA 9th: Books

Books

General works cited tips for books

The publisher's name is written in full; academic press publications - such as Oxford University Press - abbreviate the words University and Press - see 5.64-5 of the MLA Handbook.
For an e-book, italicise the name of the database or website it’s made available through. Include the DOI (or a URL if one’s not provided), preceded by “https://doi.org/”. Omit http:// and https:// if a URL is used.
Only include the “edition” if citing the 2nd (or above) or named version - see 5.49 of the MLA Handbook.

In-text citation

One author

Format

(Author's surname Page number)

Example

(Zipes 57)

Zipes explains . . . (57)

Two authors

Format

(Author's surname and Author's surname Page number)

Example

(Railton and Watson 67)

Railton and Watson describe . . . (67)

Three or more authors

Format

(Author's surname et al. Page number)

Example

(Goldsmith et al. 53)

Goldsmith et al. demonstrate . . . (53)

Tips

Go to Getting started > In-text citation to view detailed information on in-text citation using MLA, including other examples such as multiple authors and translators. Refer to this section to determine when to include/exclude a page(s) number, as it's not always necessary.

Book with a single author

Works cited

Format

Print

Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Year of publication.

E-book

Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Year of publication. Title of database or website, DOI or URL.

Example

Print

Lynch, Deidre. Loving Literature: A Cultural History. U of Chicago P, 2015.

Galbraith, Robert [J. K. Rowling]. The Cuckoo's Calling. Sphere, 2013.

E-book

Pascoe, Bruce. Dark Emu: Aboriginal Australia and the Birth of Agriculture. New ed., Scribe, 2018. ProQuest, ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/monash/detail.action?docID=5581055.

Zipes, Jack. The Irresistible Fairy Tale: The Cultural and Social History of a Genre. Princeton UP, 2012. De Gruyter, https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400841820.

Tips

If an author uses a pseudonym, place their name in square brackets next to it - see 5.14 of the MLA Handbook.
If an author is no longer using a former name (e.g. taken married name or for a trans author), list the works under the author’s current name, regardless of how the name appears in the source - see 5.15 of the MLA Handbook.

Book with two authors

Works cited

Format

Print

Last Name, First Name, and First Name Last Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Year of publication.

E-book

Last Name, First Name, and First Name Last Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Year of publication. Title of database or website, DOI or URL.

Example

Print

Allain, Paul, and Jen Harvie. The Routledge Companion to Theatre and Performance. 2nd ed., Routledge, 2015.

E-book

Railton, Diane, and Paul Watson. Music Video and the Politics of Representation. Edinburgh UP, 2011. ProQuest, ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/monash/detail.action?docID=767129.

Tips

The author's first name is inverted, their second name is not.
The authors' name should be in the same order in which they are presented in their work.

Book with three or more authors

Works cited

Format

Print

First author's Last Name, First Name, et al. Title of Book. Publisher, Year of publication.

E-book

First author's Last Name, First Name, et al. Title of Book. Publisher, Year of publication. Title of database or website, DOI or URL.

Example

Print

Goldsmith, Ben, et al. Local Hollywood: Global Film Production and the Gold Coast. U Queensland P, 2010.

E-book

Zipes, Jack, et al. Fairy-Tale Films Beyond Disney: International Perspectives. Routledge, 2015. ProQuest, ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/monash/detail.action?docID=4014328.

Tips

If a source has three or more authors, then only the first author is listed, followed by a comma and the abbreviation "et al." (meaning "and others").

A chapter or short story from a book with a single author

Works cited

Format

Print

Last Name, First Name. "Title of Chapter." Title of Book, Publisher, Year, Page range of entry.

E-book:

Last Name, First Name. "Title of Chapter." Title of Book, Publisher, Year, Page range of entry. Title of database or website, DOI or URL.

Example

Print

Tribble, Evelyn B. "Authority, Control, Community." Margins and Marginality: The Printed Page in Early Modern England, UP of Virginia, 1993, pp. 11–56.

E-book

Hooks, Bell. “Tragic Biography: Resurrecting Henrietta Lacks.” Writing Beyond Race: Living Theory and Practice, Routledge, 2013, pp. 81-91. ProQuest, ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/monash/detail.action?docID=1075282.

Tips

An author who chooses to spell all of their names in lower case may be listed this way - see hooks example.

Edited book

Works cited

Format

Print

Last Name, First Name, editor. Title of Book. Publisher, Year of publication.

E-book

Last Name, First Name, editor. Title of Book. Publisher, Year of publication. Title of database or website, DOI or URL.

Example

Print

Newcomb, Horace, editor. Television: The Critical View. 7th ed., Oxford UP, 2007.

E-book

Chiluwa, Innocent, and Gwen Bouvier, editors. Twitter: Global Perspectives, Uses and Research Techniques. Nova Science Publishers, 2019. ProQuest, ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/monash/detail.action?docID=5769820.

Tips

When referencing an edited book, then the "author" is the editor(s) who put the book together. Enter the editor's name where the author's would usually be.

Edited book in a series

Works cited

Format

Print

Last Name, First Name, and First Name Last Name, editors. Title of Book. Publisher, Year. Series name.

E-book

Last Name, First Name, and First Name Last Name, editors. Title of Book. Publisher, Year. Series name. Title of database or website, DOI or URL.

Example

Print

Markantonatos, Andreas, and Bernhard Zimmermann, editors. Crisis on Stage: Tragedy and Comedy in Late Fifth-Century Athens. De Gruyter, 2012. Trends in Classics.

E-book

King, Stewart. “Detecting Difference/Constructing Community in Basque, Catalan and Galician Crime Fiction.” Iberian Crime Fiction, edited by Nancy Vosburg, U of Wales P, 2011, pp. 51-74. European Crime Fictions. JSTOR, jstor.org/stable/j.ctt9qhbbh.6.

Tips

If the book is part of a series, include the name of the series and the number of the book (if any) at the end of the reference (or before the database name and DOI/URL for an E-book).
When citing a chapter from a book that is part of a series, cite it as you would a chapter, and include the series information at the end of the reference (or before the database name and DOI/URL for an E-book).

A chapter or essay from an edited work

Works cited

Format

Print

Author of chapter Last Name, First Name. "Title of Chapter." Title of Book, edited by First Name Last Name, Publisher, Year, Page range of entry.

E-book

Author of chapter Last Name, First Name. "Title of Chapter." Title of Book, edited by First Name Last Name, Publisher, Year, Page range of entry. Title of database or website, DOI or URL.

Example

Print

Banks, Miranda J. “A Boy for All Planets: Roswell, Smallville and the Teen Male Melodrama.” Teen TV: Genre, Consumption, Identity, edited by Glyn Davis and Kay Dickinson, British Film Institute, 2004, pp. 17-28.

Cicioni, Mirna. “‘No True Darkness?’ The Critical Response to Life is Beautiful in Italy and Australia.” Beyond “Life is Beautiful”: Comedy and Tragedy in the Cinema of Roberto Benigni, edited by Grace Russo Bullaro, Troubador Publishing, 2005, pp. 272-91.

E-book

Lewis, Reina. "On Veiling, Vision and Voyage: Cross-Cultural Dressing and Narratives of Identity." Feminist Postcolonial Theory: A Reader, edited by Lewis and Sara Mills, Routledge, 2003, pp. 520-41. ProQuest, ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/monash/reader.action?docID=1144713&ppg=533.

Tips

If the author of a chapter is also an editor, you don't need to include their given name the second time - see Lewis example.
When a title appears within the title of a chapter or article, it should be italicised. When a title that would normally be italicised appears in an italicised title, place it in quotation marks - see Cicioni example.

A short story or poem from an edited work

Works cited

Format

Print

Author of chapter Last Name, First Name. "Title of Chapter." Title of Book, edited by First Name Last Name, Publisher, Year, Page range of entry.

E-book

Author of chapter Last Name, First Name. "Title of Chapter." Title of Book, edited by First Name Last Name, Publisher, Year, Page range of entry. Title of database or website, DOI or URL.

Example

Print

Thurber, James. "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty." 21 Essential American Short Stories, edited by Leslie Pockell, Thomas Dunne Books, 2011, pp. 280-84.

E-book

Davenport, Doris. "Miz Clio Savant." Writing Appalachia: An Anthology, edited by Katherine Ledford and Theresa Lloyd, UP of Kentucky, 2020, pp. 515-19. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvv411qc.88.

A reprinted essay or short story in a collection

Works cited

Format

Print

Last Name, First Name. "Title of Essay/Short Story." Original Publication Year. Title of reprint publication, edited by First Name Last Name, Reprint Publisher, Year of reprint, Page range of reprint.

E-book

Example

Print

Haigh, A.E. "Dramatic Contests at Athens." 1898. Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism, edited by Lynn M. Zott, Gale, 2002, pp.3-12.

E-book

Butler, Judith. "Bodily Inscriptions, Performative Subversions." 1999. Feminisms Redux: An Anthology of Literary Theory and Criticism, edited by Robyn Warhol-Down et al., Rutgers UP, 2009, pp. 465-76. ProQuest, ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/monash/reader.action?docID=3032152&ppg=487.

Tips

The editor may be omitted if the work is taken from a collection without an editor.

An introduction, preface, forward, or afterword

Works cited

Format

With a generic label and no unique title

Print

Author Last Name, First Name (of the part being cited). Introduction/Preface/Foreword/Afterword. Book Title, by Author First Name Last Name (of entire work), Publisher, Year, Page range of part being cited.

E-book

With a unique title

Print

Author Last Name, First Name (of the part being cited). "Unique title name." Book Title, by Author First Name Last Name (of entire work), Publisher, Year, Page range of part being cited.

E-book

Author Last Name, First Name (of the part being cited). "Unique title name." Book Title, by Author First Name Last Name (of entire work), Publisher, Year, Page range of part being cited. Title of database or website, DOI or URL.

Example

Print

Flora, Reis. Foreword. A Discography of Hindustani and Karnatic Music, by Michael S. Kinnear, Greenwood Press, 1985, pp. ix-x.

E-book

Kolker, Robert. Introduction. Alfred Hitchcock’s "Psycho": A Casebook, edited by Kolker, Oxford UP, 2004, pp. 23-27. ProQuest, ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/monash/reader.action?docID=279772&ppg=34.

Tips

Start the citation with the author of the introduction/foreword/preface/afterword. If the author of the piece is different from the author of the complete work, then write the full name of the principal works author after the word "by" - see Flora example.
If the author of the introduction is also the editor of the book, only their surname is given the second time - see Kolker example.

Translated book

Works cited

Format

Print

Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Translated by First Name Last Name, Publisher, Year.

E-book

Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Translated by First Name Last Name, Publisher, Year. Title of database or website, DOI or URL.

Print

Last Name, First Name, translator. Title of Book. By Author First Name Last Name, Publisher, Year.

E-book

Last Name, First Name, translator. Title of Book. By Author First Name Last Name, Publisher, Year. Title of database or website, DOI or URL.

Example

Print

Kafka, Franz. Metamorphosis and Other Stories. Translated by Michael Hofmann, Penguin, 2007.

Lattimore, Richmond, translator. The Odyssey of Homer. Harper and Row, 1967.

E-book

Sheng Keyi. Death Fugue. Translated by Shelly Bryant, Giramondo, 2014. ProQuest, ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/monash/detail.action?docID=1790807.

Scripture and Classical texts

Works cited

Format

In a named version

Print

Title. Version, Publisher, Year of publication.

E-book

Title. Version, Publisher, Year of publication. Title of database or website, DOI or URL.

With a general editor

Print

Title. Editor First Name Last Name, general editor, Publisher, Year of publication.

E-book

Title. Editor First Name Last Name, general editor, Publisher, Year of publication. Title of database or website, DOI or URL.

Example

Print

The Bible. English Standard Version, Crossway Bibles, 2007.

The Qur'an: English Translation and Parallel Arabic Text. Translated by M. A. S. Abdel Haleem, Oxford UP, 2010.

E-book

The Bible: Authorized King James Version. Robert Carroll and Stephen Prickett, general editors, Oxford UP, 1998. Oxford Scholarly Editions Online, https://doi.org/10.1093/actrade/9780199535941.book.1.

Tips

In the first example, the source is identified as a named version, indicating the work as having been produced in more than one form. The third example refers to the edition, and requires the general editors to be listed.

Foreign languages

Works cited

Format

Print

Last Name, First Name. Title of Book (in Roman-characters). Publisher, Year of Publication.

E-book

Last Name, First Name. Title of Book (in Roman-characters). Publisher, Year of Publication. Title of database or website, DOI or URL.

Print

Roman-characters Last Name, First Name [non-Roman Characters Last Name, First Name]. Title of Book in Non-Roman Characters [Transliterated Title; Translated Title]. Publisher, Year of Publication.

E-book

Roman-characters Last Name, First Name [non-Roman Characters Last Name, First Name]. Title of Book in Non-Roman Characters [Transliterated Title; Translated Title]. Publisher, Year of Publication. Title of database or website, DOI or URL.

Example

Print

Lu Xun. 鲁迅全集. 第一至二十集 [Lu Xun quan ji. di yi zhi er shi ji; Complete Work of Lu Xun]. Guang ming ri bao chu ban she, 2012.

E-book

Kimmerling, Anna, and Oleg Leonodovich. "Я вырос в сталинскую эпоху": политический автопортрет советского журналиста ["I︠A︡ vyros v stalinskui︠u︡ ėpokhu": Politicheskiĭ avtoportret sovetskogo zhurnalista; "I Grew Up in Stalin’s Era": Political Self-Portrait of a Soviet Journalist]. HSE, 2019. Eastview, https://doi.org/10.17323/978-5-7598-1795-6.

Tips

When using a reference published in a language using non-Roman characters, the author’s name and the publisher should be transliterated into Roman characters - see section 2.82 of the MLA Handbook.
For the title, you may use the original script and transliteration in addition to the English translation.
If the given name and the last name of the first author are not inverted, there is no need for a comma after the last name.
You do not need to italicise the title if it is not in Roman characters.

Illustrated book

Works cited

Format

Print

Author of book Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Illustrated by First Name Last Name, Publisher, Year of Publication.

E-book

Author of book Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Illustrated by First Name Last Name, Publisher, Year of Publication. Title of the database or website, DOI or URL.

Example

Print

Rowe, Amy and Philip Rowe. Ernest the Fierce Mouse. Illustrated by Andrea Norton, Gallery Books, 1990.

E-book

Beehler, Bruce M. Natural Encounters: Biking, Hiking, and Birding Through the Seasons. Illustrated by John C. Anderton. Yale UP, 2019. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvgc62fw.

Book with a corporate author

Works cited

Format

Print

Organisation Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Year of Publication.

E-book

Organisation Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Year of Publication. Title of database or website, DOI or URL.

Example

Print

Museum of Modern Art. Pixar: Twenty Years of Animation. Australian Centre for the Moving Image, 2005.

E-book

The Multigraph Collective. Interacting with Print: Elements of Reading in the Era of Print Saturation. U of Chicago P, 2019. ProQuest, ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/monash/detail.action?docID=4914482.

Tips

A corporate author may include a commission, a committee, a division, a government agency, or a group that does not identify individual members on the title page.
When a nongovernment organisation is both the author and publisher, skip the author element and begin the entry with the title of the work - see section 5.19 of the MLA Handbook.
If the author of the work is a committee or division of an organisation, list the committee or division as the author, and list the organisation as the publisher - see section 5.19 of the MLA Handbook.

Book with a corporate author prepared by an editor

Works cited

Format

Print

Organisation Name. Title of Book. Edited by First Name Last Name, Publisher, Year of Publication.

E-book

Organisation Name. Title of Book. Edited by First Name Last Name, Publisher, Year of Publication. Title of database or website, DOI or URL.

Example

Print

Australian Theatre Workshop. The Best of the One Act Plays. Edited by Mathew Clausen, Pearson, 2011.

E-book

BSE Collective. Black Sexual Economies: Race and Sex in a Culture of Capital. Edited by Adrienne D. Davis, U of Illinois P, 2019. ProQuest, ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/monash/detail.action?docID=5846421.

Book published in Audiobook format

Works cited

Format

Author's Last Name, First Name. Title of work. Narrated by First Name Last Name, audiobook ed., ed., Publisher, 2014.

Example

Brontë, Emily. Wuthering Heights. Narrated by Juliet Stevenson, audiobook ed., Penguin Classics, 2012.

Tips

Place the work's author in the "author" element, and the narrator of the audio production in the "contributor" element.
Include "audiobook ed." after the narrator's name to signify the audiobook format.