MLA Style: Basics
Books
Books by Number of Authors
Book by a Single Author
General Format
Author's Last name, Author's first name. Title. Contributors (if any), Publisher, Publication year.
For Example
Allende, Isabel. The House of the Spirits: A Novel. Translated by Magda Bogin, Atria Paperback, 2015.
In-Text Citation
(Allende 42).
Book by Two Authors
General Format
First Author's Last name, First Author's first name, and second Author's first name, second author's last name. Title. Contributors (if any), Publisher, Publication year.
For Example
Bowker, Geoffrey C., and Susan Leigh Star. Sorting Things Out: Classification and Its Consequences. MIT Press, 2000.
In-Text Citation
(Bowker and Star 175).
Books by Three or More Authors
General Format
First Author's Last name, First Author's First name, et al. Title. Contributors (if any), Publisher, Publication year.
For Example
Hand, Cynthia, et al. My Lady Jane. HarperTeen, 2016.
In-Text Citation
(Hand et al. 97).
Book Chapter in an Edited Book
General Format
Author's Last name, Author's First name. "Chapter Title." Book Title, edited by Editor's Name(s), Publisher, Publication year, pp. pages of chapter.
For Example
Cong-Huyen, Anne, and Kush Patel. "Precarious Labor and Radical Care in Libraries and Digital Humanities." Knowledge Justice: Disrupting Library and Information Studies Through Critical Race Theory, edited by Sofia Y. Leung and Jorge R. López-McNight, MIT Press, 2021, pp. 263-282.
In-Text Citation
(Cong-Huyen and Patel 265).
Books in Various Formats
eBook
If you can point your reader to the location of the electronic book by including information about where you found it, like a website or a database, do so. If you access an electronic book using an eReader and this type of information is not available, add e-book ed. as the version you're citing.
eReader eBook
Hand, Cynthia, et al. My Lady Jane. e-book ed., HarperTeen, 2016.
eBook Available in a Database
Powers, Madison, and Ruth Faden. Social Justice: The Moral Foundations of Public Health and Health Policy. Oxford UP, 2006. eBook Collection, ezproxy.snhu.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=315058&site=eds-live&scope=site.
Audiobook
General Format
Author's last name, author's first name. Title. Narrated by Narrator's first and last names, audiobook ed., unabridged or abridged ed., publisher, publication date.
For Example
Harari, Yuval N. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. Narrated by Derek Perkins, audiobook ed., unabridged ed., HarperCollins, 2017.
If you accessed the audiobook through an app, your citation might look like this:
Harari, Yuval N. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. Audible, Narrated by Derek Perkins, audiobook ed., unabridged ed., HarperCollins, 2017. App.
In-Text Citation
(Harari 00:15:45-00:18:15).
Books in Multivolume Sets
Multivolume Work
General Format
Author Surname, Author First Name. Multivolume Title. Edited by Editor, Publisher, Publication Year, total number of volumes vols.
For Example
Austen, Jane. The Oxford Illustrated Jane Austen. Edited by R. W. Chapman, Oxford UP, 1988. 6 vols.
In-Text Citation
(Austen 73).
One Volume from a Multivolume Work
General Format
Author's last name, author's first name. Volume Title. Edited by Editor's first and last names, publisher, publication date, Vol. number of Title of Multivolume Work.
For Example
Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. Edited by R. W. Chapman, Oxford UP, 1988. Vol. 2 of The Oxford Illustrated Jane Austen.
In-Text Citation
(Austen 42).
Reference Entries in Encyclopedias or Dictionaries
Article in a Print Reference Book with an Author
General Format
Author Surname, Author First Name. "Article or Entry Title."Encyclopedia or Dictionary Title, edited by Editor, edition, Publisher, Publication Year, pp. page range where entry appears.
For Example
Martin, Brian. "Activism, Social and Political." Encyclopedia of activism and social justice, edited by Gary L. Anderson, Sage Publications, 2007, pp. 817.
In-Text Citation
(Martin 817).
Author in a Reference eBook without an Author
General Format
"Article or Entry Title."Encyclopedia or Dictionary Title, edited by Editor, edition, Publisher, Publication Year. Name of Database or other container, DOI or URL.
For Example
"Civil Disobedience." The MacMillan encyclopedia, 2nd ed., Market House Books, 2003. Credo Reference, ezproxy.snhu.edu/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/move/civil_disobedience/0?institutionId=943
In-Text Citation
("Civil Disobedience.").