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MLA: Books

Bibliographic Citations

Things to Keep in Mind!

  • Publisher names should be given in full. omitting only business names (e.g., Inc.). 
  • For a University Press, abbreviate that portion of the name as UP

 

Works with One Author

Last name, First name M. Book Title. Publisher, Year

Stoker, Bram. Dracula. Grosset and Dunlap, 1897. 

 

Works with Two Authors

 First Author's Last name, First name, and Second Author's First and Last names. Book Title. Publisher, Year.

Lunsford, Andrea, and Lisa Ede. Singular Texts/Plural Authors: Perspectives on Collaborative Writing. Southern Illinois UP, 1990.

 

Works with Three or More Authors

First Author's Last name, First name, et al. Book Title. Publisher, Year.

Sebranek, Patrick, et al. Writers INC: A Guide to Writing, Thinking,  and Learning. Write Source, 1990. 

Things to Remember for Works by the Same Author!

  • List the first work as normal.
  • List all other works by replacing the author's name with three hyphens (---) followed by a period.
  • Entries by the same author should be listed alphabetically by title.

Last name, First name, M. Book Title. Publisher, Year.

---. Book Title. Publisher, Year. 

Lewis, Clive Staples. Out of the Silent Planet. The Bodley Head, 1938.

---. Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold. Bles, 1956.

In-Text Citations for Works with One Author

  • Signal phrases in MLA use the present tense. 
  • In end citations, no punctuation separates the elements.
  • A period goes after the final parenthesis

Signal phrase:  Last name states... (Page#). 

Stoker states...(34). 

End citation: (Last name Page#). 

(Stoker 34). 

In-Text Citations for Works with Two Authors

  • Both authors must be named in both the signal phrase and end citiation

Signal phrase: First author's Last name and Second Author's Last name say... (Page#). 

Lunsford and Ede say... (6). 

End citation: (First Author's Last name and Second Author's Last name Page#) 

(Lunsford and Ede 6).

In-Text Citations for Works with Three or More Authors

  • For works with three or more authors, name te first author followed by et al. 

Signal phrase: First Author's Last name, et al., state... (Page#)

Sebranek, et al., state... (34).

End citation: (First Author's Last name et al. Page#). 

(Sebranek et al. 34). 

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