MLA Guide: BOOKS & NON‐PERIODICAL

PUBLICATIONS

Follow this format to create your Works Cited list using the
Modern Language Association style
In your Works Cited list, remember to double‐space, and use a hanging indent of one half inch on each line after the first line of each citation; observe and use correct punctuation. To save space, all citation examples shown below are single‐spaced.
Models are shown in bold print while examples are shown as they should be written. See Works Cited page for more details.

BASIC FORMAT:

Author (last name first). Title. City of publication: Publisher’s name, year of                                                              publication (copyright date).
You should use the complete title, author/editor’s name(s), city of publication and publisher’s name as found on the TITLE PAGE, and the copyright date from the verso (back of the title page).

GENERAL GUIDELINES:

1. State full titles, including subtitles. Place a colon (:) after title before subtitle with a period after title.
2. Italicize the title. (You may underline if not using a word processing program).
3. Capitalize the first word, last word, and all principal words (nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, subordinating conjunctions).
4. Do not capitalize articles, coordinating conjunctions or to in infinitives.
5. If several cities are listed, give only the first; for cities outside of the U.S., give abbreviated name of country.
6. Shorten the publisher’s name: e.g. Use Harper instead of Harper and Row, Publishers Inc.
7. If the year of publication is not shown on the title page use the latest copyright dateon the verso. Look for the copyright symbol: © followed by a date.

A Book by a Single Author

Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. New York: LevineScholastic, 2000.

Two books by the Same Author

Note: Use the author’s name in the first entry only. In subsequent listings, type three hyphens followed by a period and the title.
Frye, Northrop. Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1957. ,—ed.  Sound and Poetry. New York: Columbia UP, 1957.

Book by More than One Author

Note: Put authors names in same order as on the title page, reversing only the first author’s name. If there are more than three authors, you may name only the first and add et al, or list all of the authors.

Eggins, Suzanne, and Diana Slade. Analyzing Casual Conversation. London: Cassell, 1997.

Gilman, Sander, et al. Hysteria beyond Freud. Berkeley: U of California P, 1993.

Book With No Author Named

Encyclopedia of Virginia. New York: Somerset, 1993.

Book by Corporate Author

National Research Council. Beyond Six Billion: forecasting the World’s Population.
Washington: Natl. Acad., 2000.

Anthology or Collection

Sevillano, Mando, comp. The Hopi Way: Tales from a Vanishing Culture. Flagstaff:
Northland, 1986.

Weisser, Susan Ostrov, ed. Women and Romance: A Reader. New York: New York UP,
2001.

Part of a Book (essay or selection)

Author(s), “Title of Article or Selection.” Title of Book. Ed., Trans. or Comp.
Editor’s, Translator’s or Compiler’s Name(s). Place of Publication:
Publisher, Year. Pages.
Allende, Isabel. “Toad’s Mouth.” Trans. Margaret Sayers Peden. A Hammock beneath
the Mangoes: Stories from Latin America. Ed. Thomas Colchi. New York: Plume,
1992. 83-88.

Article in a Reference Book

Author (if given). “Title of Article.” Title of Reference Book. Editor. Editor’s name.
Number of Volumes (if appropriate). City: Publisher, Year.
Allen, Anita L. “Privacy in Health Care.” Encyclopedia of Bioethics. Ed. Warren T. Reich.
Rev. ed. 5 vols. New York: MacmillanSimon, 1995.

Note: If the reference book is familiar do not give full publication information. List only the edition and the year of publication.

McCoy, Jennifer L. “Venezuela.” The World Book Encyclopedia. 2000 ed.

For other examples see the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers in the Secondary Library (REF 808.02 GIB).

Work Cited

Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6 th ed. New York: MLA,
2003.