46 MLA: Book Citation
For the works cited list entry, you will always need to give the full citation information. The basic elements for books in print consist of:
- Author
- Title and (if available) subtitle
- Publishing information
- Year
You usually find this information on the title page of the book and the back of the title page.
Example:
Note that in our example the subtitle on the book cover says “Teens talk about suicide” while the subtitle on the title page is ”Teens and suicide”. Always go by the information on the title page.
Each style has its own rules about arranging this information, about capitalization, punctuation, abbreviations and so on. For MLA Style, use the following template:
MLA Basic Book Template
Author last name(s), Full Given Names. Title: Subtitle. Publisher, Year.
Works Cited List Entry for the Book
Crook, Marion. Out of the Darkness: Teens and Suicide. Arsenal Pulp P, 2003.
To see an example for a quote from this book, click below
Note: these are the basic elements, but sometimes there will be additional information you need to add, such as editors or edition information; or some elements, such as an author, may not be available. Ask the Writing Center for help with citations!
