Note that, depending on whether you are using the citation-sequence or citation-name format or the name-year format, the date placement will vary.

Author. List author(s) last name first, and use initials for first and middle names, with no periods or spaces. Use a period only after the last initial of the last author.

Publication year. In name-year format, put the year of publication immediately after the author name(s). In citation-sequence or citation-name format, put the year of publication after the publisher’s name.

Title. Do not italicize or put quotation marks around titles and subtitles of books. Capitalize only the first word of the title and any proper nouns or proper adjectives.

City of publication. List the city of publication (and the country or state abbreviation for unfamiliar cities) followed by a colon.

Publisher. Give the publisher’s name. In citation-sequence or citation-name format, follow with a semicolon. In name-year format, follow with a period.

A citation for the book below would look like this:

CITATION-SEQUENCE OR CITATION-NAME FORMAT

1. Wilson EO. The diversity of life. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press; 1992.

NAME-YEAR FORMAT

Wilson EO. 1992. The diversity of life. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.