How To Cite Books

Author's (or Editors) name: For the first author, list the last name, then first name. List all authors first name first (Ex: Jones, Bob and Sally Smith).
Title of the part or selection of the book (in quotes)
Title of the book (in italics)
Name of the editor, translator, or compiler
Edition used
Number(s) of volume(s) used
Series name, if any is given
Imprint: city of publication, name of publisher, and year of publication
Title of database or website (for web books only)
Page numbers of the selection from the book. Do not give page numbers for reference book entries that arrangend in alphabetical order.
Medium: Print or Web
Additional information about the source (i.e., total number of volumes in a multi-volume work) and annotation when required

If a source doesn't provide one of these fields, skip it and continue to the next field.

Article from a Typical Reference Book

Dinwiddie, Gniesha Y. "Education, USA." International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. Ed. William A.

Darity. 2nd ed. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. Print.

A Typical Book

Friedman, Thomas. The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century. New York: Farrar, 2005. Print

A Typical eBook

Reiman, Alan, and Roy Edelfelt. Careers in Education. 4th ed. Chicago: VGM Career, 2004. VGM Professional

Careers Ser. NetLibrary. Web. 31 Oct. 2009.

More Examples

See the Citation Guide for more examples.

The MLA Format