What should a student know when it comes to putting together his Works Cited page? There are many different categories that need to be formatted (from books to journals and webpages to CDs), and that fact alone can intimidate even the most confident student. Here are the basics when it comes to formatting books for a Works Cited page.
The Basic MLA Format for a Book
MLA Citation Style has been around for a long time and is constantly being refined and improved. Most recently, the formatting style underwent changes to simplify using web sources and also include the medium of the source (be it print, web, film, etc.) in the citation.
Like all citations, the author (or authors) is listed first, followed by other pertinent information:
King, Stephen. Under the Dome. New York: Scribner, 2009. Print.
MLA Format for Books with More Than One Author
Many books have more than one author. In this case, the citation is slightly different. MLA has students list up to four authors in a citation. If there are more than four authors, just the first author's name is listed, followed by the phrase "et. al.," Latin for the phrase "and others." There should be a comma after each complete author's name.
King, Stephen, and Peter Straub. The Talisman. New York: Random House, 1984. Print.
Levinson, Jay Conrad, David E. Perry, and Darren Hardy. Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters 2.0: 1,001 Unconventional Tips, Tricks and Tactics for Landing Your Dream Job. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2009. Print.
Hiassen, Carl, et. al. Naked Came the Manatee. New York: Ballantine, 1998. Print.
In-text citations should match the Works Cited page, meaning that all the authors' last names should be included in the parenthetical reference. For example, King and Straub; Levinson, Perry, and Hardy; or Hiassen, et. al. would be the in-text citations for these books. Please note that the page number would also follow the citation, such as (King and Straub 105).
More Than One Book by the Same Author
MLA Works Cited pages are created to make it simple for readers to skim through the information. That's why the bibliography entries have a hanging indent. But that's also why, if one author has written two or more books, in the student's Works Cited page they are listed this way:
Morrison, Toni. Beloved. 1987. New York: Vintage, 2004.
---. The Bluest Eye. 1970. New York: Plume, 1994.
The three dashes indicate to readers that the author is listed above and has written more than one book that the writer of the paper references. Note also the first date after each book here, which indicates that these books have, no doubt due to reader demands, been reprinted (similar to the next category, books with different editions).
Formatting Books with Different Editions
Some books are updated from time to time, so they undergo multiple editions. Following is how this sort of book is cited:
Modern Language Association. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 7th ed. New York: MLA, 2009. Print.
Note that this book also has a corporate author. Corporate and government authors are also listed before titles.
Books with Editors are Formatted Differently as Well
Some books, particularly anthologies, have an editor and should be formatted as such.
Burack, Sylvia, ed. The Writer's Handbook. Boston: The Writer, 1988. Print.
If a work from an anthology is cited, though, it would appear this way in the Works Cited page:
Jakes, John. "To be a Writer: What Does it Take?" The Writer's Handbook. Ed. Sylvia Burack. Boston: The Writer, 1988. Print.
The MLA Basic Format for a Book in a Works Cited Page
While there are other rules that apply to certain situations, most students will not find a need for more information when it comes to formatting a book in an MLA-style Works Cited page. Once a writer knows and understands the basics, it is fairly simple to put book sources together for an MLA bibliography.
Cynthia Jones-Shoeman - Cynthia (“Cindy”) Jones-Shoeman earned her MA in English from Colorado State University in 2007; her thesis was "Toni ...
