Author Names
Book Titles
Edition
Place of Publication: is not needed in MLA 8th.
Publisher
Year of Publication
eBooks
Secondary Sources
For citations taken from secondary sources, see Secondary Sources.
The following is the general format of a reference to a print book and an eBook with one author.
See general rules for books for more details.
... (Author's Last Name page/s cited) ...
... (Weller 34) ...
... (Wolf 21) ...
... (Janke 55) ...
Author's Last Name, First Name. Book Title: Subtitle. Edition, Publisher, Year of Publication. Database Name, DOI or URL.
Janke, Terri. True Tracks : Respecting Indigenous Knowledge and Culture, NewSouth Publishing, 2021. ProQuest Ebook Central, ebookcentral.proquest.com.
Weller, Martin. The Digital Scholar: How Technology Is Transforming Academic Practice. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2011.
Wolf, Shelby A. Interpreting Literature with Children, Routledge, 2003. ProQuest Ebook Central, ebookcentral.proquest.com.
The following is the general format of a reference to a print book with two authors.
See general rules for books for more details.
... (Last Name of Author One and Author Two page/s cited) ...
... (Grazer and Fishman 25) ...
1st Author's Last Name, First Name, and 2nd Author's First name Last name. Book Title: Subtitle. Edition, Publisher, Year.
Grazer, Brian, and Charles Fishman. A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life. Simon & Schuster, 2015.
When a book has 3 or more authors, list only the first author followed by et al. in both the in-text citations and the works-cited list.
The following is the general format of a reference to a print book with 3 or more authors.
See general rules for books for more details.
... (Last Name of Author One et al. page/s cited) ...
... (Haralambos et al. 23) ...
1st Author's Last Name, First Name, et al. Book Title: Subtitle. Edition, Publisher, Year.
Haralambos, Michael, et al. Sociology: Themes and Perspectives. 8th ed., Collins Educational, 2013.
'Corporate authors' are groups, societies or organisations who have written publications. This includes universities, research groups, museums, government departments, professional associations, and so on.
When a book is published by an organisation that is also its author, begin the entry with the title, skipping the author element, and list the organisation only a publisher.
The following is the general format of a reference to a book by a corporate author.
See general rules for books for more details.
... (Corporate Author page/s cited) ...
... (MLA Handbook 25) ...
... (United Nations 14) ...
Corporate Author. Year. Book Title: Subtitle. Edition, Publisher, Year.
MLA Handbook. 8th ed., Modern Language Association of America, 2016.
United Nations. Consequences of Rapid Population Growth in Developing Countries. Taylor and Francis, 1991.
Edited books usually contain chapters written by different authors. In most cases you would actually want to reference the individual chapters you use from the edited book, not the edited book itself. See Book chapters for more information.
An edited work of one author is normally cited under the name of the author. See more details under edited work of one author at the bottom of this page.
The following is the general format of a reference to an edited book. The editors are listed in place of the author, followed by the descriptive label editor or editors when there are more editors. Note that the in-text citation does not include editor/s.
See general rules for books for more details.
... (Editor's Last Name page/s cited) ...
... (Germov and Poole 24) ...
... (Healey 19) ...
Editor's Last Names, First Name, editor. Book Title: Subtitle. Edition, Publisher, Year.
Germov, John and Marilyn Poole, editors. Public Sociology: An Introduction to Australian Society. 4th ed., Allen & Unwin, 2019.
Healey, Justin, editor. Stolen Generations: The Way Forward. Spinney P, 2009.
The edited work of one author is normally listed with the author’s name appearing first and the name(s) of the editor(s) appearing after the title, preceded by edited by in the works-cited list. For example:
... (Bonnefoy 15) ...
Bonnefoy, Yves. New and Selected Poems. Edited by John Naughton and Anthony Rudolf, U of Chicago P, 1995.
Some books may not have an author or editor listed. If the author or editor is unknown, the in-text citation and the works-cited list entry should normally begin with the title. An initial article is ignored in alphabetizing. The in-text citations may refer to a short form of the title but must include the first word (other than an initial article).
The following is the general format of a reference to a print book with no author or editor.
See general rules for books for more details.
... (Shortened Book Title page/s cited) ...
... (Anzac Memorial 15) ...
Book Title: Subtitle. Edition, Publisher, Year.
Anzac Memorial: Published for the Benefit of the Returned Soldiers Association of New South Wales. Returned Soldiers Association, 1916.
Please note that if a work is explicitly attributed to “Anonymous” (e.g., on the title page or at the head of the work), it should be cited accordingly.
When the publication date of a work cannot be ascertained, omit that element. The abbreviation n.d. is not used anymore.
The following is the general format of a reference to a print book without a publication date.
See general rules for books for more details.
... (Author's Last Name page/s cited) ...
... (Kirby-Smith 12.) ...
Author's Last Name, First Name. Book Title: Subtitle. Edition. Publisher.
Kirby-Smith, Virginia. The Development of Australian Theatre and Drama, 1788-1964. University Microfilms.
eBooks with a DOI follow the same formatting patterns as those of print books, but add the DOI to the end of the citation. If no fixed page numbers are available, cite a section title or a chapter or other number in the text citation, if any (or simply omit).
The following is the general format of a reference to an ebook by one author with a DOI.
See general rules for books for more details.
... (Author's Last Name page/s cited) ...
... (Bonds ch. 3) ...
Author's Last Name, First Name. Book Title: Subtitle. edition, Publisher, Year. Database, DOI or URL.
Bonds, Mark Evan. Absolute Music: The History of an Idea. Oxford UP, 2014. Oxford Scholarship Online, doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199343638.001.0001.
eBooks without DOI follow the same formatting patterns as those of print books, but add the URL to the end of the citation. If no fixed page numbers are available, cite a section title or a chapter or other number in the text citation, if any (or simply omit).
The following is the general format of a reference to an ebook without a DOI.
See general rules for books for more details.
... (Author's Last Name Page/s cited) ...
... (Lystra 24) ...
Author's Last Name, First Name. Book Title: Subtitle. Edition, Publisher, Year. Database, URL.
Lystra, Karen. Dangerous Intimacy: The Untold Story of Mark Twain’s Final Years. U of California P, 2004. ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/kt8779q6kr/.
Translated texts are republished works that have been translated from another original language. They can include ancient texts and modern works.
A translated work of one author is normally cited under the name of the author. See more details under translated work of one author at the bottom of this page.
When you discuss a source that was translated from another language and your focus is on the translation, cite the source under the translator.
The following is the general format of a reference to a translated book with the translator as the focus or a translated book without an author.
See general rules for books for more details.
... (Translator's Last Name page/s cited) ...
... (Silverstein 14) ...
Translator's Last Name, First Name, translator. Book Title: Subtitle. By Author, Edition, Publisher, Year.
Silverstein, Theodore, translator. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. U of Chicago P, 1974.
The translated work of one author is normally listed with the author’s name appearing first and the name(s) of the translator(s) appearing after the title, preceded by translated by. For example:
Menchú, Rigoberta. Crossing Borders. Translated and edited by Ann Wright, Verso, 1999.
Be sure to check with your lecturer if these kinds of resources are suitable for use in your assignments.
For information on how to reference entries or chapters from reference works such as:
see Book chapters.