Basic format for a book (print) (MLA)

Works cited entry

Wolfe, Tom. Back to Blood. Little, Brown, 2012.

Beard, Mary. SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome. Liveright Publishing, 2015.

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MLA-145

Explain

For most books, arrange the information into three units: (1) author(s); (2) title, italicized; (3) publisher and year.

  • Take the information about the book from its title page and copyright page.
  • Consult How to list authors if the book has multiple authors.
  • Use the complete version of publishers’ names, except for terms such as “Inc.” and “Company”; retain terms such as “Books,” “Press,” and “Publishers”: Alfred A. Knopf; Penguin Books. For university publishers, use “U” and “P” for “University” and “Press”: UP of Florida.
  • If the copyright page lists more than one date, use the most recent one.

General guidelines for the MLA works cited list

Directory to MLA works cited models

Citation at a glance: Book