MLA 9th Edition Style Guide: Book

EXAMPLE: print book, two authors

Jacobs, Alan, and Michael Dorris. The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction. Oxford UP, 2019.

Citation in prose

Doctors have not yet explained the effect of climate change on human health (Charon and Sharpe 213).

Parenthetical citation

According to Charon and Sharpe, “doctors have not yet explained the effect of climate change on human health” (213).

Work cited

Charon, Rita, and Lionel Sharpe. The Principles and Practice of Narrative Medicine. Oxford UP, 2017.

EXAMPLE: print book, three or more authors

Jacobs, Alan, et al. The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction. Oxford UP, 2011.

Citation in prose

Doctors have not yet explained the effect of climate change on human health (Charon et al. 213).

Parenthetical citation

According to Charon and colleagues, “doctors have not yet explained the effect of climate change on

human health” (213).

Work cited

Charon, Rita, et al. The Principles and Practice of Narrative Medicine. Oxford UP, 2017.

Translators are key contributors however, depending on the focus of the discussion in your work, the way to format your source will differ. Here are two examples:

Dostoevsky, Feodor. Crime and Punishment. Translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, Vintage

eBooks, 1993.

NOTE: The translators of the novel have a key role or participation in the work but are not necessarily the focus of the discussion within your writing.

Wall, Geoffrey, translator. Madame Bovary. By Gustave Flaubert, Penguin Books, 2003.

NOTE: The translator and their particular translation are the focus of the discussion within your writing and are part of the overall presentation of your work.

EXAMPLE: e-book, editors

Dorris, Michael, and Alan Jacobs, editors. The Critical View. E-book ed., U of Pennsylvania P, 2018.

EXAMPLE: e-book, edition

Dorris, Michael. The Critical View. 5^th ed., e-book ed., U of Pennsylvania P, 2018.

MLA Handbook. 9^th ed., e-book ed., Modern Language Association of America, 2021.

EXAMPLE: e-book, edition, file format

MLA Handbook. 9^th ed., e-book ed., Modern Language Association of America, 2021. EPUB.

EXAMPLE: e-book, in database

Haber, David. Health Promotion and Aging: Practical Applications for Health Professionals, Springer

Publishing, 2019. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/upr/detail.action?docID=5850258.

Citation in prose

Doctors have not yet explained the effect of climate change on human health (Charon 213).

Parenthetical citation

According to Charon, “doctors have not yet explained the effect of climate change on human health” (213).

Citation in prose

Historians have attempted to explain the social and economic effects of the changes in Western civilization (Ross 52).

Parenthetical citation

According to Ross, “historians are deep in debate over the changes in Western society and its economic ramifications for the world” (52).

Work cited (print)

Ross, William A. "The Story of the Changing Role of the West." The Oxford Handbook

 of Western Civilization, edited by Gary Tyson, Oxford UP, 2006, pp. 41-64.

Work cited (online)

Ross, William A. "The Story of the Changing Role of the West." The Oxford Handbook

of Western Civilization, edited by Gary Tyson, Oxford UP, 2006. Oxford Handbooks Online, https://doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199686971.001.0001.

EXAMPLE: print book, author and publisher are the same

MLA Handbook. 9th ed., Modern Language Association of America, 2021.

Note: If the organization is both author and publisher, start your entry with the title and use the organization name as the publisher.

EXAMPLE: print book, edition

Dorris, Michael. The Critical View. 5^th ed., U of Pennsylvania P, 2018.

Dorris, Michael. The Critical View. Expanded ed., U of Pennsylvania P, 2018.

Dorris, Michael. The Critical View. Updated ed., U of Pennsylvania P, 2018.

Citation in prose

Historians have attempted to explain the social and economic effects of the changes in Western civilization (Ross 52).

Parenthetical citation

According to Ross, “historians are deep in debate over the changes in Western society and its economic ramifications for the world” (52).

Work cited (number, example: 2nd, 5th)

Ross, William A. The Story of the Changing Role of the West. Edited by Gary Tyson, 3rd ed., Oxford UP, 2016.

Work cited (descriptive, example: updated, critical)

Ross, William A. The Story of the Changing Role of the West. Rev. ed., Oxford UP, 2016.

Ross, William A. The Story of the Changing Role of the West. New expanded ed., HarperCollins Publishers, 2019.

EXAMPLE: print book, editors

Jacobs, Alan, and Michael Dorris, editors. The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction. Oxford UP, 2019.

Citation in prose

Historians have attempted to explain the social and economic effects of the changes in Western civilization (Ross 52).

Parenthetical citation

According to Ross, “historians are deep in debate over the changes in Western society and its economic ramifications for the world” (52).

Work cited (print with author of essay)

Ross, William A. "The Story of the Changing Role of the West." The Oxford Handbook

 of Western Civilization, edited by Gary Tyson, Oxford UP, 2006, pp. 41-64.

Work cited (print with editor(s) of book)

Smith, Fred, editor. The Story of the Changing Role of the West. Hackett Publishing,

2006.

Smith, Fred, and Susan Sanders, editors. The Story of the Changing Role of the West.

Hackett Publishing, 2006.

Citation in prose

Historians have attempted to explain the social and economic effects of the changes in Western civilization (Ross 52).

Parenthetical citation

According to Ross, “historians are deep in debate over the changes in Western society and its economic ramifications for the world” (52).

Work cited (print)

Ross, William A. "The Story of the Changing Role of the West." The Oxford Handbook

 of Western Civilization, edited by Gary Tyson, Oxford UP, 2006, pp. 41-64.