MLA Style: Basics

Books

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Book by a Single Author

General Format:

AuthorLastName, AuthorFirstName MiddleInitial. Title of Book. Publisher, Date.

For example:

Goulimari, Pelagia. Literary Criticism and Theory: From Plato to Postcolonialism. Routledge, 2014.

 

Books by Two Authors

General Format:

AuthorLastNameA, AuthorFirstNameA MiddleInitialA, and AuthorFirstNameB AuthorLastNameB. Title of Book. Publisher, Date.

For example:

Russell, D. A., and Michael Winterbottom. Classical Literary Criticism. Oxford UP, 2008.

 

Books by Three or More Authors

General Format:

AuthorLastNameA, AuthorFirstNameA MiddleInitialA., et al. Title of Book. Publisher, Date.

For example:

Marscot, Michel et al. Applied Social Sciences. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013.

See note ¹

 

Electronic Book

General Format:

AuthorLastName, AuthorFirstName MiddleInitial. Title of Book. Publisher, Year Published. Title of database or website, URL or DOI.

For example:

Price, H. P. Studies in the Way of Words. Harvard UP, 1991. ACLS Humanities E-book, http://hdl.handle.net/2027/heb.08428.0001.001.

OR

Beckford, James A. Social Theory and Religion. Cambridge UP, 2003. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/snhu-ebooks/detail.action?docID=1357382.

 

Multivolume Work

General Format:

AuthorLastName, AuthorFirstName. Title of Work. Publisher, Date,# vols.

OR

AuthorLastName, AuthorFirstName. Title of Work. Edition# ed., Publisher, Date,# vols.

For example:

Tucker, Spencer C. et al., editors. The Civil War Naval Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO, 2011, 2 vols.

 

One Volume from a Multivolume Work

General Format:

AuthorLastNameA, AuthorFirstNameA. Title of Work. vol. #, Publisher, Date.

OR

AuthorLastNameA, AuthorFirstNameA. Title of Work. Edition# ed., vol. #, Publisher, Date.

For example:

Tucker, Spencer C. et al., editors. The Civil War Naval Encyclopedia. vol. 1, ABC-CLIO, 2011.

OR

Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty!: An American History. 4th ed., vol. 1, W. W. Norton & Co., 2014.

See note ²

 

Book Chapter in a Volume

General Format:

AuthorLastName, AuthorFirstName. “Title of Chapter.” Title of Book, edited by Editor’s Name(s), vol .#, Publisher, Date, pp. #. 

For example:

Freeman, Kassie. "Divide And Conquer: Long-Term Consequences for Education, Economic Participation, and Higher Education Engagement." Community Engagement in Higher Education: Policy Reforms and Practice,  edited by W. James Jacon et al., vol. 3, Sense Publishers, 2015, pp. 31-39.

 

Article in a Reference Book (Encyclopedias or Dictionaries)

General Format:

“Title of Article.” Title of Reference Book. Edition# ed., Date.

For example:

"Archetype." Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. 11th ed., 2016.