How to Cite a Textbook in MLA for a Paper

eHow
July 2, 2011

The Modern Language Association (MLA) is the standard citation guide for liberal arts and the humanities. The MLA format for citing most print materials is fairly uniform with a few variations for certain circumstances. Textbooks with one author are cited like other books, but textbooks with multiple authors, editions of textbooks and anthologies all follow special guidelines. Most of the information included in a citation can be found on the copyright page near the front of the book.

Step 1
Cite a textbook with one author by listing the author’s name (last name, first name), title of the book in italics, place of publication, publisher, year of publication and medium of publication. Textbooks with one author are cited as follows: Prasad, Pushkala. Crafting Qualitative Research. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2005. Print.

Step 2
Cite a textbook with multiple authors just as you would a textbook with one author, but with the second author’s name included. The first author is listed (last name, first name) followed by the second author’s name. If there are more than two authors, use the Latin phrase “et al.” meaning “and others.” List the authors in the order they appear on the cover or title page, not in alphabetical order. A textbook with more than one author is cited as follows: Middleton, Kent R., and William E. Lee. The Law of Public Communications. Boston: Pearson, 2008. Print.

Step 3
Cite a subsequent edition of a book just as you would any textbook, but indicate the edition after the title. A textbook in a later edition is cited as follows: Fink, Conrad C. Writing Opinion for Impact. 2nd ed. Ames, IA: Blackwell, 2004. Print.

Step 4
Cite an anthology or collection of essays as you would any textbook, but list the editors rather than an author with the proper indication. An anthology is cited as follows: McQuail, Denis, ed. McQuail’s Reader in Mass Communication Theory. London: Sage, 2002. Print. Citing a single chapter or essay in an anthology is a bit more involved. The citation includes the same information as any textbook, but lists the chapter title, collection title, author(s), editor(s) and page range of the entry. A work in an anthology is cited as follows: Dayan, Daniel, and Elihu Katz. “Defining Media Events.” McQuail’s Reader in Mass Communication Theory. Ed. Denis McQuail. London: Sage, 2002. 90-98. Print.

Tips
As with all MLA citations, indent the second and all subsequent lines of the citation.

The place of publication is the first one listed on the title page. The year of publication is the first as well. If the city is well known, like New York, London or Boston, no state is needed. If the city is not widely recognized, like Ames, Iowa, abbreviate the state.

In all citation formats except for single works in an anthology, the abbreviation “ed.” for editor is made plural when there are multiple editors, “eds.” For a single work in an anthology, “Ed.” before the editor is sufficient for a single editor or more than one.

References
Purdue Online Writing Lab: MLA Works Cited Page: Books