How Do I Cite A Book in MLA? A Detailed Guide With Examples

Imagine you’re writing your academic paper, report, or assignment, and while doing research, you’re taking relevant data and information from various sources. Academic citations are the best way to give reference to those sources if you’re considering mentioning them. MLA is the most commonly used citation style, however, if you’re confused about “How do I cite a book in MLA?”, then you’re at the right place.

There are different kinds of citation styles, such as APA, Chicago, and Harvard, but, MLA stands out among all of them because it emphasises more on data authorship than other styles. It significantly helps students to give credit to the original authors and also to make their written work authentic and reliable. However, not every student is adept at citing a book in MLA. By learning the required techniques, they can cite a book in their work efficiently.

This blog focuses on what MLA format is, the purposes of citing a book in MLA, eight different methods of citing a book in MLA, and essential guidelines for writing a paper in MLA.

What is MLA Format?

MLA, Modern Language Association, is a widely used method of citing sources and formatting research papers according to its respective guidelines. It is prominently used in arts, history, philosophy, and other humanities disciplines. Whether you’re getting data and information from books, magazines, journals, or research papers, you can effortlessly cite them in your paper in MLA.

However, if you want to cite a book in MLA, here is the following format:

Author’s Name. Title of the Book (italicised). Publisher, and Publication Year (If not given, use place of publication)

Example of Citing a Book in MLA

Here’s an example of citing a book in MLA. It will further enhance your knowledge about this citation style:

Purposes of Citing a Book in MLA

There are two types of MLA citations: In-Text citations and Works cited. The in-text citations are those that are added at the end of the sentences and quotes; however, the works cited are added at the end of the written pager. Both types of MLAs serve a significant amount of purposes. These are the reasons citations were invented in the first place. Here are the purposes of citing a book in MLA:

• To Guide the Readers

The main objective of citing a book in MLA format is to guide readers. When reading academic and research papers, readers must know all the data sources used in writing the given text. When a book is cited in MLA, readers effortlessly can go to those sources from where the information is taken.

• To Give Credit to Authors

Another important purpose of citing a book in MLA is to give credit to the authors. When you’re writing your papers by taking help from different books and sources, it is very important to acknowledge the credibility and excellence of these sources. Moreover, it now just helps to give credit but also to authenticate your work efficiently.

• To Facilitate Further Research

When readers read academic papers with MLA book citations, it immensely helps them to explore those sources and verify them efficiently. It also guides them on how research was conducted while writing this particular work. Moreover, it also enhances their research process as most of the data sources are already available to them.

• To Support Your Arguments

Citing a book in MLA style also significantly helps writers to support their arguments and claims. When they mention something about being true or false, they cite the original sources to support those claims. It significantly makes their work authentic and reliable for the readers and students seeking insights into that subject.

• To Maintain Academic Standards

Another significant purpose of citing a book in MLA is to maintain different academic standards. All academic institutions require students and writers to write their papers using a particular formatting style, such as MLA. It is further recommended that books in MLA be cited consistently as it also increases the readability and flow of academic work.

Eight Different Methods to Cite a Book in MLA

Above, we have discussed the purposes of citing a book in MLA. For instance, it helps to guide readers, give credit to authors, facilitate further research, support your arguments, and meet academic standards efficiently. Now, we are going to discuss different methods of citing a book in MLA. By efficiently understanding them, you can make your paper authentic and worthwhile. Here are the eight different methods to cite a book in MLA:

Method 1: Citing a Print Book in MLA

Before the time of online literature material and e-books, students had to browse through print books to cite important details, facts, and figures in their work. However, this is an example of citing a print book in MLA:

In-Text Citation: (Author’s last name Page No.)

“I was within and without, simultaneously, enhanced and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life” (Fitzgerald 39).

Works Cited: Author’s last name, first name. Title of the Book. Publisher, Publication Year.

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1925.

Method 2: Citing a Web or Online Book in MLA

Nowadays, various books are available on the internet, such as Google Books, Project Gutenberg, and EBSCO, which immensely help students during their research. This is how a web or online book is cited in MLA:

In-Text Citation: (Author’s last name)

“Perhaps one did not want to be loved so much as to be understood” (Orwell).

Works Cited: Author’s last name, first name. Title of the Book. Publisher, Publication Year. Title of the Website, URL.

Orwell, George. 1984. HarperCollins, 2013. GoogleBooks,https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B9J5LDUmtu_0bnVIbVJrTjZZTWM/view?resourcekey=0–sUzIH5C1tBJtGyHx4eSyg.

Method 3: Citing an E-Book in MLA

Nowadays, reading e-books has also become a trend that is read using e-readers, Kindles and Nooks. E-readers often offer free books or sell them at a nominal price. When citing information from e-readers, this is the format you should consider to use:

In-Text Citation: (Author’s last name, Chapter No.)

“Was he an animal, that music could move him so? He felt as if the way to the unknown nourishment he longed for were coming to light” (Kafka).

Works Cited: Author’s last name, first name. Title of the E-Book. E-Book ed., Publisher, Publication Year. Name of the e-reader device.

Kafta, Franz. Metamorphosis. E-book ed., Simon & Schuster, 1915. Kindle.

Method 4: Citing an Edited or Translated Book in MLA

Sometimes, students and writers also take information and insights from different edited and translated books while writing their papers. Here is how you can cite edited or translated books in MLA:

In-Text Citation: (Author’s last name Page No.)

“They were so close to each other that they preferred death to separation” (Marquez 388).

Works Cited: Author’s last name, first name. Title of the Book. Translated by or Edited by First Name Last Name, Publisher, Publication Year.

Marquez, Gabriel Garcia. One Hundred Years of Solitude. Translated by Gregory Rabassa, HarperCollins Publishers, 1970.

Method 5: Citing an Anthology Book in MLA

Anthology is referred to the collection of literary work done by multiple authors. Students also take data and information from anthology books while writing their respective academic work. Here is the process of citing an anthology book in MLA:

In-Text Citation: (Author’s last name Page No.)

There was a pistol shot from the woods, followed closely by another. Then silence. The old lady’s head jerked around. She could hear the wind move through the tree tops like a long, satisfied insuck of breath. “Bailey Boy!” she called (O’Connor 129).

Works Cited: Author’s last name, first name. “Title of the Work”. Title of the Anthology, Edited by First Name Last Name, Publisher, Publication Year, pp. Page Range.

O’Connor, Flannery. “The Complete Stories”. A Good Man is Hard To Find, Edited by Robert Giroux, Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1971, pp, 117-134

Method 6: Citing a Chapter of a Book in MLA

When the authors want readers to explore the whole chapter from the source they have taken information from, they prominently cite those chapters in their work. Here is an example of citing a chapter of a book in MLA:

In-Text Citation: (Author’s last name Page No.)

“It would have been so pointless to kill himself that even if he had wanted to, the pointlessness would have made him unstable” (Kafka 43).

Works Cited: Author’s last name, first name. “Title of Chapter or Section”. Title of the Book. Publisher, Publication Year, Page Number(s).

Kafka, Franz. “The Trial”. The Trial. Schocken Books, 1998, 43.

Method 7: Citing a Book with Multiple Authors in MLA

Sometimes, when the books are written by two or more common authors, both of their names are mentioned in the MLA citations. Here is an example of citing a book with two or more than three authors:

• With 2 Authors

In-Text Citation: (1st Author’s Last Name and 2nd Author’s Last Name Page.No)

“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive” (Lama and Cutler 45).

Works Cited: 1st Author’s Last Name, First Name, and 2nd Author’s First Name Last Name. Title of the Book. Publisher, Publication Year.

Lama, Dalai, and Howard Cutler. The Art of Happiness. Riverhead Books, 1998.

• With 3+ Authors

In-Text Citation: (1st Author’s Last Name et al. Page No.)

“Animals are strictly dry, they sinless live and swiftly die, but sinful, ginful, rum-soaked men, survive for three-score years and ten” (Traver et at.112)

Works Cited: 1st Author’s Last Name, First Name, et al. Title of the Book. Publisher, Publication Year.

(Traver, Robert, et al. Anatomy of a Murder. St. Martin’s Press, 1958.

Method 8: Citing the Bible in MLA

When an academic paper or report is written about religious knowledge and texts, citing the Bible in MLA becomes inevitable. It significantly helps readers to understand from which version and verse of the Bible information is taken. This is how the Bible is cited in MLA:

In-Text Citation: (Bible Title: Chapter Name, Verse Number or Range)

“The steadfast love of the lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Holy Bible: Lamentations 3:22-23)

Works Cited: Bible Title, Version. Edited by First Name, Last Name, Publisher, Publication Date.

Holy Bible, English Standard Version, Edited by Crossway Bibles, Crossway, 2001.

Essential Guidelines to Write Your Paper in MLA

When citing a book in MLA, following reference formats, guidelines, and techniques is not enough. You must also write your paper efficiently in MLA format. These guidelines might include paper size, fonts, margins, first page, and works cited formatting. Explore them and understand them efficiently to not just add authentic sources to your paper but also to make it credible to be published in top journals, databases, and magazines.

General Guidelines

Here are the general guidelines for writing your paper in MLA:

Frequently Asked Questions