| CITING BOOKS AND OTHER PUBLICATIONS
The Basic Entry: A Book by a Single Author
One of the most common items in students' works-cited lists is the entry for
a book by a single author. Such an entry characteristically has three main
divisions:
Author's name. Title of the book. Publication information.
Here is an example:
Wilson. Frank R. The Hand: How Its Use Shapes the Brain., Language,
and Human Culture. New York: Pantheon, 1998.
A Book by Two or More Authors
To cite a book by two or three authors, give their names in the same order
as on the title page-not necessarily in alphabetical order. Reverse only the
name of the first author, add a comma, and give the other name or names in
normal form (Wellek, Rene, and Austin Warren). Place a period after the last
name. Even if the authors have the same last name, state each name in full
(Durant, Will, and Ariel Durant). If the persons listed on the title page
are editors, translators, or compilers, place a comma (not a period) after
the final name and add the appropriate abbreviation (eds., trans., or comps.
for "editors," "translators," or "compilers").
Eggins, Suzanne, and Diane Slade. Analysing Casual
Conversation. London: Cassell, 1997.
An Article in a Magazine
To cite a magazine published every week or every two weeks, give the
complete date (beginning with the day and abbreviating the month, except for
May, June, and July), followed by a colon and the inclusive page-numbers of
the article. If the article is not printed on consecutive pages, write only
the first page number and a plus sign, leaving no
intervening space. Do not glve the volume and issue numbers even if they are
listed.
Armstrong, Larry, Dori Jones Yang, and Alice Cuneo.
"The Learning Revolution: Technology Is Reshaping
Education--at Home and at School." Business Week
28 Feb.1994: 80-88.
Mehta, Pratap Bhanu. "Exploding Myths." New Republic
6 June 1998: 17-19.
To cite a magazine published every month or every two months, give the month
or months and year. If the article is not printed on consecutive pages,
write only the first page number and a plus sign, leaving no intervening
space. Do not give the volume and issue numbers even if they are listed.
Amelar, Sarah. "Restoration on 42nd Street." Architecture Mar. 1998: 146-
50.
Bender, William H. "How Much Food Will We Need in the
Twenty-First Century?" Environment Mar. 1997: 6-11.
A Work from an Online Service
Two common types of online services are those to which users tend to
subscribe personally (e.g., America Online) and those to which libraries
more typically subscribe (e.g.. ProQuest Direct. Lexis-Nexis, EBSCOhost). If
the service does not supply the URL and the user retrieves the material by
entering a keyword or similar designation, complete the citation by writing
Keyword and the word itself following the name of the service and the date
of access.
"Table Tennis." Compton’s Encyclopedia Online.
Vers. 2.0. 1997. America Online. 4 July 1998.
Keyword: Compton's.
A Work in an Indeterminate Medium
If you cannot determine the medium of a source- for example, if you access
material through a local network and cannot tell whether the work is stored
on the central computer's hard drive (where the contents would be subject to
revision) or on a CD-ROM-use the designation Electronic for the medium. Give
whatever relevant publication information you can, as well as the name of
the network or of its sponsoring organization and the date of access.
Bartlett, John. Familiar Quotations. 9th ed. Boston: Little, 1901.
New York: Columbia U. Academic Information Systems, 1995.
Electronic. ColumbiaNet, Columbia U. 2 July 1998.
***The above citing guidelines and examples are taken from the MLA Handbook
for Writers of Research Papers.
Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 5th ed.
New York: Modern Language Association of America, 1999.
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