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How to Cite Edited Books in MLA

The Modern Language Association (MLA) style, adopted by schools and over 1,100 scholarly publications, offers a simple and concise format for documenting sources. Students studying disciplines in the humanities, such as literature, will need to know MLA style when writing papers. A common source for students, an edited book contains a collection of articles or chapters written by different authors. Cite an edited book in MLA style by following the latest MLA guidelines, which detail which information to include in the citation and how to format it.

Instructions

    • 1

      Cite a book with only an editor using the following format: Editor's Last name (followed by a comma), First name (followed, without a comma, by) Middle name or Initial, ed. Title of Book. City of publication: Publisher, year of publication. Publication medium.

    • 2

      Reference a book with an editor and author in this format: Author's Last name (followed by a comma), First name (followed, without a comma, by) Middle name/Initial. Ed. Editor's First and Last name. City of Publication: Publisher, year of publication. Publication medium.

    • 3

      Exclude degrees and titles such as "Dr." and "Ph.D." from the editor's and author's names, but include suffixes. For example: Brown, Patrick Lee, Jr., ed.

    • 4

      Follow the latest MLA guidelines, which require you to italicize rather than underline the book's title. You must also state the publication medium at the end of the citation, which tells readers whether you used a hard copy of the book or an online version.

    • 5

      Shorten the publisher's name by omitting abbreviations such "Inc." and "Co." Also omit words such as "Publishers," "Books" and "Press." Cite university presses using "U" and "P." For example: U of Florida P for University of Florida Press. List only the surname of a publisher (Norton for W.W. Norton).

    • 6

      Refer to this sample citation for a book with only an editor: Johnson, Paul W., ed. The Family Encyclopedia. Knoxville: U of Tennessee P, 2009. Print.

      For a book with an editor and author: Ford, Ford Madox. The Good Soldier. Ed. Martin Stannard. New York: Norton, 1995. Print.

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