To cite a book, start with the author's name in last name, first name format, followed by the title of the work in italics, followed by the publisher and publication date.
Author Last, First Name. Title of Work: Capital Letters for Words in the Subtitle. Publisher Name, Year of publication.
Kaukua, Jari. Self-Awareness in Islamic Philosophy: Avicenna and Beyond. Cambridge University Press, 2015.
Lebo, Kate. The Book of Difficult Fruit. Picador, 2021.
Von Glahn, Denise. Libby Larsen: Composing an American Life. University of Illinois Press, 2017.
For two authors, the name order changes after the first author. Use commas and the word "and" to separate authors.
Kim, Seung-kyung and Carole R. McCann. Feminist Theory Reader: Local and Global Perspectives. Routledge, 2003.
For more than two authors, include only the first author's name in Last Name, First Name format, followed by a comma and "et al."
Eyadat, Zaid, et al. Islam, State, and Modernity: Mohammed al-Jabri and the Future of the Arab World. Palgrave Macmillan, 2018.
A typical Works Cited page citation for an eBook closely resembles the citation for a book and includes these elements, with the addition of "eBook ed." if the original book was published in print:
Author Last, First Name. Title of Work: Capital Letters for Words in the Subtitle. eBook ed., Publisher Name, Year of publication.
Yoon, Hyaesin. Prosthetic Memories: Postcolonial Feminisms in a More-Than-Human World. eBook ed., Duke University Press, 2025.
For an audiobook, you may optionally list the narrator if they are noteworthy or relevant and list the format (audiobook) after the publisher. Note that the publisher of the audiobook might be different than the publisher of the printed book or eBook:
Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid's Tale. Narrated by Clare Danes et al., Audible, 2017. Audiobook.
There are two types of books that are considered editions: A book that has been published more than once in different editions and a book that has been prepared or edited by someone other than the original author.
For a book with an edition number, cite the book like any other book, but add the edition number after the title in the form "#rd ed.":
Saponaro, Margaret Zanorsky and G. Edward Evans. Collection Management Basics. 7th ed., Libraries Unlimited, 2019.
For a book that has been prepared by an editor, cite the book like any other book, but add the editor after the title with the label "edited by":
Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre, edited by Margaret Smith, Oxford UP, 1998.
There are two ways to cite a translated book: To emphasize the original author or to emphasize the translator. Emphasize the author of the book by citing it like any other work and add the translator details after the title of the work, using "Translated by."
Tsuji, Nobuo. History of Art in Japan. Translated by Nicole Coolidge Rousmaniere, Columbia University Press, 2019.
To emphasize the translator, cite the work with the translator listed as the author, followed by "translator." The original author of the work then comes after the title and before the publisher and publication date.
Rousmaniere, Nicole Coolidge, translator. History of Art in Japan. By Tsuji Nobuo, Columbia University Press, 2019.
Sometimes, books are republished due to popularity and without becoming a new edition. This often happens with popular works of fiction. A typical Works Cited page citation for a republished book that is not a new edition includes these elements:
Author Last, First Name. Original publication year. Title of Work: Capital Letters for Words in the Subtitle. Publisher Name, Year of republication.
Erdrich, Louise. Love Medicine. 1984. Perennial-Harper, 1993.
Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. 1958. Anchor Books, 1994.