Citing Books
Important Notes:
These web-based guidelines have been designed and developed as a service to JCC students, faculty, and staff. Address comments and suggestions regarding this site to Joanna Chrzanowski.
These citations represent only the most frequently used sources. THEY ARE NOT INTENDED TO BE COMPLETE! For complete documentation style, see MLA Handbook, the most recent addition. For more comprehensive examples, the English Department recommends you use The Concise Wadsworth Handbook, or another recent edition of a handbook.
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Updated 2007
Note: Follow all punctuation marks, quotes, spacing, and underlining exactly as shown in the examples throughout the guide!
There is a PERIOD after every book title.
No Author
Natural Resources of the North Country. Potsdam: SUNY, 2003.
One Author
Blake, Jeffrey. {Author's name} The African American Church Community in Rochester, New York, 1900-1940. {Title of the book underlined} Oshkosh, NY: {City of publication and state abbreviation if city not well known} U. of Rochester, {Publisher} 2004. {Year}
Two or Three Authors
Miller, Reginald, and Susan Ross. {Second author's name not reversed} The Right to Write: Teaching Composition in Two-Year Colleges. Los Angeles: Newton, 2004.
Four or More Authors
Kowalski, Joanna, et al. Twentieth Century Polish Literature. New York: Routledge, 2002.
Author and Editor
Means, Robert. The Art of the Sioux. Ed. Patrick Dickins. New York: Penguin, 2001.
Edited Book
Eddy, Olivia, ed. The Cider House Rules and Other Works by John Irving. New York: Penguin, 2005.
Edition Other than First
Perkins, Rosemary. Muted Echoes: The Plight of Communications in a Postmodern Age. 2nd ed. Boston: Harcourt, 2003.
Article or Chapter in Anthology or Collected Work
Johnson, Elizabeth. {Author} "Emma Flower Taylor: North Country Philanthropist." {Title of the article or chapter in quotes} Discovering Fact and Fiction in North Country Legends. {Title of the anthology underlined} Ed. Carol Jawitz. {Editor's name} Oxford:{City of publication} Oxford UP, {Publisher} 2002. {Year} 215-295. {Inclusive page numbers of article cited}
Unsigned Article in General Reference Book
"Snorkeling." {Title of article in quotes} The New Encyclopedia Britannica. {Name of reference book underlined} 12th ed. {Edition number} 2004. {Year}
Signed Article in Specialty Reference Book
Valentine, Marie. "Nursing Minds and Bodies: Caring for Quadraplegic Adults." Encyclopedia of Bioethics. Eds. Deborah Brown and Jeff Green. 6 vols. Chicago: Free, 2003.
Government Publication
United States. {Name of the government, federal, state or local} Dept. of Defense. {Name of the agency} Guide to Cleaning Your M16. {Title of the publication underlined} Washington: {City of publication} GPO, {Publisher} 2003. {Year}