To cite a book, you need the author, the year of publication, the title, the edition (if it isn't the first) and the publisher. In APA 7, the year follows the author and the title is italic in sentence case: Author, A. A. (Year). Title of book (2nd ed.). Publisher. In MLA 9, the title is italic in title case and the year comes last: Last, First. Title of Book. Publisher, Year. Neither style includes the city of publication.
Every author, book and publisher below is fictional.
Where to find the details
Use the title page and the copyright page (the back of the title page), not the cover. The cover can shorten a subtitle or show a series name in large type. From those pages, note:
- Every author's name, in the order they appear.
- The full title, including any subtitle.
- The edition, if it says 2nd, revised or similar.
- The publisher's name. Leave off words like "Inc." or "Ltd."
- The year of the edition you used. If several printings are listed, use the year of the edition, not the latest printing.
APA 7th edition
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of book: Subtitle (Edition). Publisher. DOI or URL
Hartley, M. J. (2021). The quiet coast: How small harbors survived the shipping boom. Tidewater Press.
In-text: (Hartley, 2021) or Hartley (2021)
With a quotation: (Hartley, 2021, p. 84)
Book titles are italic and in sentence case: capitalize the first word, the first word after a colon, and proper nouns. Write the publisher's name as it appears, and include a DOI if the book has one.
Osei, K., & Lindqvist, P. (2019). Field methods in urban ecology (3rd ed.). Northbank Academic.
In-text: (Osei & Lindqvist, 2019)
Narrative: Osei and Lindqvist (2019)
For three or more authors, list them all in the reference (up to 20) but write only the first name plus "et al." in the text from the first citation: (Rahman et al., 2022).
Chapter in an edited book
When each chapter has its own author, cite the chapter you used.
Delgado, R. (2020). Reading maps as stories. In S. Whitfield & A. Ng (Eds.), Places on paper: Essays on cartography (pp. 45–68). Harlow House.
In-text: (Delgado, 2020)
Notice that the editors' initials come before their surnames, followed by (Eds.) or (Ed.) for one editor. If the book has an edition number, combine it with the pages: (2nd ed., pp. 45–68).
E-books
APA 7 treats an e-book like a print book. Don't add "Kindle edition" or the device or app you used. If the e-book has a DOI, add it as https://doi.org/…; if it doesn't, and it's from a library database, the entry is the same as the print version. For quotations, use a page number if the e-book shows one; otherwise use a chapter, section heading or paragraph number. See how to include a page number in a citation for the options.
MLA 9th edition
Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Edition, Publisher, Year.
Hartley, Mara J. The Quiet Coast: How Small Harbors Survived the Shipping Boom. Tidewater Press, 2021.
In-text: (Hartley 84)
MLA uses title case for the book title, puts the year at the end, and doesn't use "p." before page numbers in parentheses.
Osei, Kwame, and Petra Lindqvist. Field Methods in Urban Ecology. 3rd ed., Northbank Academic, 2019.
In-text: (Osei and Lindqvist 112)
With three or more authors, list the first author followed by "et al." in both the works-cited entry and the in-text citation: Rahman, Nadia, et al.
Delgado, Rafael. "Reading Maps as Stories." Places on Paper: Essays on Cartography, edited by Sarah Whitfield and Alan Ng, Harlow House, 2020, pp. 45-68.
In-text: (Delgado 52)
The chapter title goes in quotation marks, the book is the italic container, and the editors appear in normal first-name-first order after "edited by."
For an e-book, MLA lets you describe the version you read, such as "e-book ed.," in the version position after the title. If you read it through a library database, you can add the database name as a second container. Ask your instructor whether they want the version noted.
Citation GeneratorAPA, MLA, Chicago and moreChicago style (notes-bibliography)
Chicago uses a footnote at the point of use and a bibliography entry at the end. The note gives the publication facts in parentheses; the bibliography uses periods.
Footnote:
- Mara J. Hartley, The Quiet Coast: How Small Harbors Survived the Shipping Boom (Tidewater Press, 2021), 84.
Shortened note:
- Hartley, Quiet Coast, 90.
Bibliography:
Hartley, Mara J. The Quiet Coast: How Small Harbors Survived the Shipping Boom. Tidewater Press, 2021.
Chicago has traditionally included the city of publication (Boston: Tidewater Press, 2021). Recent guidance makes it optional. If your instructor uses an older edition of the manual or prefers the city, add it, and do the same for every book.
Footnote:
- Rafael Delgado, "Reading Maps as Stories," in Places on Paper: Essays on Cartography, ed. Sarah Whitfield and Alan Ng (Harlow House, 2020), 52.
Bibliography:
Delgado, Rafael. "Reading Maps as Stories." In Places on Paper: Essays on Cartography, edited by Sarah Whitfield and Alan Ng, 45–68. Harlow House, 2020.
More on note numbering and placement is in our guide to footnotes.
Side-by-side
| Element | APA 7 | MLA 9 | Chicago (notes) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Author names | Surname, initials | Surname, full first name | Full name in note, inverted in bibliography |
| Title | Italic, sentence case | Italic, title case | Italic, title case |
| Year position | After author | End of entry | End of publication facts |
| Edition | (2nd ed.) after title | 2nd ed., after title | 2nd ed., after title |
| City | No | No | Optional |
| In-text | (Hartley, 2021, p. 84) | (Hartley 84) | Footnote |
Special cases
- Translated book. APA adds the translator after the title, (L. Brandt, Trans.), and both years in the in-text citation if the original year is known (Hartley, 1998/2021). MLA adds "Translated by First Last," after the title.
- Edited book you cite as a whole. Put the editors in the author position: Whitfield, S., & Ng, A. (Eds.). (2020). in APA; Whitfield, Sarah, and Alan Ng, editors. in MLA.
- Multivolume work. Add the volume after the title: (Vol. 2) in APA, vol. 2 in MLA.
- No author. Start with the title. Reference works and some reports are the usual examples.
Common mistakes
- Citing the whole book when you used one chapter by a different author. Cite the chapter.
- Copying the cover's capitalization into APA. Convert the title to sentence case.
- Using the latest printing year. Use the year of the edition.
- Adding "Kindle" to an APA reference. It isn't needed.
Not sure which style your course expects? Our APA vs. MLA vs. Chicago guide explains which subjects use which.
Key takeaways
- Take details from the title page and copyright page, not the cover.
- APA: Author, A. A. (Year). Sentence-case title (ed.). Publisher.
- MLA: Last, First. Title-Case Title. ed., Publisher, Year.
- For a chapter by its own author, cite the chapter with the editors and page range.
- No city of publication in APA or MLA; optional in Chicago.
