Online Writing Center, Darton State College 1
Citing Nonperiodical Print Sources in MLA
This document includes some sample Works Cited page entries. The MLA Manual for Writers of
Research Papers, 7th ed. is the definitive authority for all possible citation variants. Websites,
such as Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab (OWL), are also helpful.
A “nonperiodical” publication is one that is not published at regular intervals. Books, for
example, are considered nonperiodical publications.
Each entry consists of several elements in this order:
1. Name of author, editor, compiler, or translator (followed by a period)
2. Title of the work (italicized) (followed by a period)
3. Edition used (followed by a period)
4. Number(s) of the volume(s) used (followed by a period)
5. City of publication (followed by a colon)
6. Name of the publisher (followed by a comma)
7. Year of publication (followed by a period)
8. Medium of publication (Print, in case of print sources and Web in case of Internet
sources) (followed by a period)
9. Supplementary bibliographical information and annotation (when available)
Examples of actual sources with variations in the citation components:
I. Book by a Single Author:
author’s
name
title of book
in italics
city of
publication
Franke, Damon. Modernist Heresies: British Literary History, 1883-1924. Columbus:
Ohio State UP, 2008. Print.
publisher
publication
year
medium of
publication
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II. An Anthology or Compilation:
This is an anthology or compilation
because it has an editor (ed.) not an
author.
Shell, Marc, ed. American Babel: Literature of the United States from Abnaki to Zuni.
Cambridge: Harvard UP, 2002. Print.
III. A Book by Two or More Authors:
Names of authors after the first name are in the
regular first-name/last name order.
Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams. The Craft of Research.
2nd ed. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2003. Print.
IV. A Book by a Cooperate Author:
Urban Lead Institute. Cities Post-9/11. Washington: Urban Land Inst., 2002. Print.
In-text citation:
V. A Work in an Anthology:
Allende, Isabel. “Toad’s Mouth.” Trans. Margaret Sayers Peden. A Hammock beneath the
Lines after the
first are hanging
indented.
Mangoes: Stories from Latin America. Ed. Thomas Colchie. New York: Plume,
1992. 83-88. Print.
VI. Article in a Reference Book:
“Ginsburg, Ruth Bader.” Who’s Who in America. 62nd ed. 2008. Print.
Begin the citation with the
term you searched and put it
in quotation marks.
VII.
An Introduction, a Preface, a Foreword, or an Afterword:
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Borges, Jorge Luis. Foreword. Selected Poems, 1923-1967. By Borges. Ed. Normal
Thomas Di Giovanny. New York: Delta-Dell, 1973. xv-xvi. Print.
VIII.
A Book Published in a Second or Subsequent Edition:
Baker, Nancy L., and Nancy Huling. A Research Guide for Undergraduate Students:
English and American Literature. 6th ed. New York: MLA, 2006. Print.
First editions need not be indicated with an
edition number.
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Work Cited
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 7th ed. New York: MLA, 2009. Print.