Formatting Details

• For the first (or only) author, first include the author's last name, followed by a comma, followed by the author's first name.  [Example]

• If the author's name has already been listed on the Works Cited page, do not list it again.  Instead, use "---" for all works other than the first.  List all the works by an author alphabetically by title.  [Example]

• For two or three authors, list the authors in the order in which they appear on the title page.  Do not reverse the names of authors other than the first.  Follow each author's name with a comma and precede the last author with "and."  [Example]

• For four or more authors, either list all the authors as with two or three authors, or cite only the first author listed on the title page, followed by ", et. al."  [Example]

• If the book is a corporate or institutional publication, give the name of the corporation or institution as the author. [Example]

• If there is no author, but an editor or editors instead, list the editor(s), followed by "ed." or "eds."  [Example]
• If the work is anonymous, start the citation with the title (and alphabetize it based on the title.)  [Example]

• Italicize or underline the title of the book. [Example]
• If there is a title within the title, do not italicize or underline the shorter title.  If the shorter title is usually within quotation marks, retain the quotation marks.  [Example]  [Example]
• If you underline, do not underline the period that follows, unless it is placed within quotation marks.  
• Click here for notes on capitalization.

• If the book has both author(s) and editor(s), include the name of the editor(s), preceded by "Ed." or "Eds."  [Example]
• If the book is a translation, write "Trans." followed by the name of the translator. [Example]

• For an edition other than the first, include the number of the edition followed by "ed." [Example]
• Use a digit for the edition number, as in "5th. ed." or "3rd. ed." or "10th ed."
• If this book is a republished edition, include the original year of publication in YYYY format. [Example]

• If you use only one volume of a series, include "Vol. n of" and the name of the series.  Also include the number of volumes in the series, followed by "vols."  [Example]
• If the book is a multivolume work, include the number of volumes, followed by "vols." [Example]
• If the book is part of a series, include the series name, "Ser." and the series number.  [Example]

• Include the city of publication.  [Example]
• If the city is not well-known or could be confused with another city, follow the city name with a comma, a space, and the state.  Use the postal state abbreviations (two capital letters, no periods.)  [Example]
• If the place of publication is not given (and you cannot find it after a serious attempt), write "n.p." here.
• The publication place is usually found on the title page of the book.  If there are several listed, give only the first city. 

• Include the publisher's name.  [Example]
• Shorten the publisher's name to only the last name (e.g., Knopf for Alfred Knopf).  If the name includes more than one person, use only the last name of the first person.   [Example]
• Abbreviate University Press as "UP" (without periods).  [Example]
• If the book was published by an imprint of a company, give the name of the imprint, followed by a hyphen (-) and the publisher's name.  [Example]
• If the publisher is not given, write "n.p." here.
• The publisher is usually found on the title page of the book.  

• Include the four-digit year of publication. If a range is given, use the range with a hyphen between years. [Example]
• If the date of publication is not given, write "n.d." here.
• The publication date is usually found on the back the title page of the book.