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Instructions on How to Cite a Book Source

It is important to avoid plagiarism in all kinds of writing. Citation is a way of noting the difference between your original ideas and the ideas of others. Proper citation is required to avoid plagiarism when you are using any sources that were written by other people. Learning how to cite a book source is a basic and necessary skill for any college or high school student who needs to write a paper that refers to outside sources. The following directions use MLA format.

Things You'll Need

  • Book (the one you plan to cite) Microsoft Word or other word processing software
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Instructions

    • 1

      Cite the book in the text of your paper. Both direct quotes and paraphrases require citations. If you are using a direct quotation, make sure the quote is typed in quotation marks. If you are paraphrasing a passage or idea from the book, you do not need to use quotation marks.

    • 2

      At the end of the sentence in which the quote or idea appears, cite the page number of the quote or idea. At the end of the sentence, before the comma, type in parentheses the author's name followed by one space and the page number of the quote. Do this for every quote or idea in your text. If you have multiple quotes from the same author, you can omit the author's name in subsequent citations.

    • 3

      Make an entry in your bibliography for the book you referred to. A bibliography entry for a book should be formatted as such:

      Last name, First name. Title of Book (in italics). Place of publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of publication.

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