How to Cite a Book in MLA

Paste the ISBN from the back cover or copyright page and the book is looked up in Open Library and Google Books. This page follows MLA 9th edition, 9th edition (2021).

MLA format for a book

MLA 9th edition

Works Cited entry

Kahneman, Daniel. Thinking, Fast and Slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011.

In-text citation

(Kahneman 20)

Style: MLA 9th edition

Or enter it yourself:

Check the details

4 required fields are empty: the citation will be incomplete until you fill them in.

Author (required)

For an edited book with no author, leave this empty and fill Editor.

Missing: most styles need this.

Editor
Date published (required)

Missing: most styles need this.

Missing: most styles need this.

Missing: most styles need this.

Cite a specific place (optional)

Preview: MLA 9th edition

Works Cited (0)

Your citations appear here, formatted in MLA 9th edition. They are saved in this browser only: nothing is sent to us, and no account is needed.

    Where to find the details

    • The copyright page (the back of the title page) lists the publisher, the year and the edition.
    • Use the year of the edition you read, not the first edition.

    Required in most styles: author, date published, book title, publisher.

    Cite a book in another style

    Other sources

    Questions

    What do I need to cite a book in MLA?

    At minimum: author, date published, book title, publisher. The copyright page (the back of the title page) lists the publisher, the year and the edition. Use the year of the edition you read, not the first edition.

    What does a book look like in MLA?

    Works Cited entry: Kahneman, Daniel. Thinking, Fast and Slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011. In-text citation: (Kahneman 20)

    Is this free?

    Yes. No account and no limit. Your bibliography is saved in this browser only, and you can export it to Word, BibTeX, RIS or CSL-JSON.

    Citations are formatted by citeproc-js by Frank Bennett (CPAL-1.0, or AGPL-1.0), the engine behind Zotero and Mendeley, running the official Citation Style Language styles (10,863 styles, commit 2e93558) and locales (commit a89adec), used under CC BY-SA 3.0. AGLC4 citations use the LexIntellect AGLC4 engine, checked against the Guide's worked examples. Always check a citation against the manual or your institution's guide before you submit.