Book

(Selected examples in this guide are taken from the  MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 5th ed.)

A bibliography entry for a book has three parts: the author, title, and publication information, which includes the place of publication, the publisher, and the date of publication. Each part of the entry is followed by a period and two spaces.  Underline the title of each book.  Remember to indent every line after the first line for each entry.

Geertz, Clifford.  The Interpretation of Cultures.  New York: Basic Books, 1973.

Single Author

The author’s name should be given as it is listed on the title page of the text.

Kasson, John F. Civilizing the Machine: Technology and Republican Values. New York:  Penguin, 1976.

Martin, Emily.  The Woman in the body: A Cultural Analysis of Reproduction. Boston: Beacon Press, 1992.

Multiple Authors

The authors’ names should be given as they are on the title page of the text, in the order that they appear (which will NOT always be alphabetical).

If the names of editors, translators or compilers appear on the title pages, then a comma should come after the last name to appear in the entry and the proper abbreviation (eds., trans., or comps.) should follow the comma. 

If MORE THAN three persons authored the book, only the first name (reversed) should appear, followed by a comma and “et al.”

Ehrenreich, Barbara, and John Ehrenreich, eds. The American Health Empire: Power, Profits, and Politics. New York: Vintage, 1971.

Hall, Stuart. et al. Policing the Crisis.  New York:  Macmillan, 1979.

Edited Books

Rosser, Sue V., ed. Teaching Science and Health From a Feminist Perspective.  New York:  Pergamon Press, 1986.

Smith, Barbara and John Erdenheim, eds.  The American Health Empire: Power, Profits, and Politics.  New York:  Vintage, 1971.

Anonymous Books

If the title page of a book does not include an author or an editor, begin by listing the title.  Do not refer to these books as “anonymous” in your citation.

Encyclopedia of Virginia.  New York: Somerset, 1993. 

A Guide to Our Federal Lands.  Washington: Natl. Geographic Soc., 1984.

Multivolume Works

If you are using two or more volumes of a multivolume work, cite the total number of volumes in the set.

Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Oxford Sherlock Holmes.  Ed.  Owen Dudley Edwards. 9 vols.  New York: Oxford UP, 1993.

Blanco, Richard L., ed. The American Revolution, 175-1783: An Encyclopedia.  2 vols.  Hamden: Garland, 1993.

Published Dissertations

Cite a published dissertation the same way that you would cite a book.  You may also chose to add the dissertation order number at the end of the citation if the work was published by University Microfilms International (UMI).

Valentine, Mary-Blair Truesdell.  An Investigation of Gender-Based Leadership Styles of Male and Female Officers in the United States Army.  Diss.  George Mason U, 1993.  9316566.