Published on
February 26, 2021
by
Jack Caulfield.
Revised on
August 23, 2022.
To cite a book, you need a brief in-text citation and a corresponding reference listing the author’s name, the title, the year of publication, and the publisher. The order and format of information depends on the citation style you’re using. The most common styles are APA, MLA, and Chicago style.
Use the interactive example generator to explore the format of book citations in MLA and APA.
If the book is an edited collection of works by different authors (e.g. essays or stories), you should cite the relevant chapter, followed by details of the whole book.
Continue reading: How to Cite a Book | APA, MLA, & Chicago Examples
Published on
February 11, 2021
by
Jack Caulfield.
Revised on
June 16, 2022.
APA Style doesn’t provide a special format for citing government documents. Instead, you should determine what kind of source you’re dealing with—usually a report or a web page—and use the appropriate format.
To cite a government web page that doesn’t list an individual author, use the following format, listing the name of the government organization in the author position. If the name listed in the author position is the same as the website name (as in the example here), only list it once.
| APA format |
Organization Name. (Year, Month Day). Page title. Site Name. URL |
| APA reference entry |
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (2021, January 29). Protecting workers: Guidance on mitigating and preventing the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace. https://www.osha.gov/coronavirus/safework |
| APA in-text citation |
(Occupational Safety and Health Organization, 2021) |
Continue reading: How to cite a government website or report in APA Style
Published on
February 11, 2021
by
Jack Caulfield.
Revised on
June 16, 2022.
To cite federal laws (also commonly referred to as statutes or acts) in APA Style, include the name of the law, “U.S.C.” (short for United States Code), the title and section of the code where the law appears, the year, and optionally the URL.
The year included is when the law was published in the source consulted, not when it was passed, amended, or supplemented.
| APA format |
Name of Law, Title number U.S.C. § Section number (Year). URL |
| APA reference entry |
Anti-Smuggling Act, 19 U.S.C. § 1701 (1935). https://www.loc.gov/item/uscode1958-004019005/ |
| APA in-text citation |
(Anti-Smuggling Act, 1935) |
Continue reading: How to cite a law in APA Style
Published on
February 4, 2021
by
Jack Caulfield.
Revised on
June 16, 2022.
Legal citations (e.g. court cases, laws) in APA Style look somewhat different from other APA citations. They generally don’t list authors, and abbreviations are used to make them more concise.
Citations for court cases refer to reporters, the publications in which cases are documented. To cite a court case or decision, list the name of the case, the volume and abbreviated name of the reporter, the page number, the name of the court, the year, and optionally the URL.
The case name is italicized in the in-text citation, but not in the reference list. In the reference, specify only a single page number—the page where the coverage of that case begins—instead of a full page range.
| APA format |
Name v. Name, Volume number Reporter Page number (Court Year). URL |
| APA reference entry |
Thorne v. Deas, 4 Johns. 84 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1809). https://www.casebriefs.com/blog/law/torts/torts-keyed-to-dobbs/contract-and-duty/thorne-v-deas/ |
| APA in-text citation |
(Thorne v. Deas, 1809) |
Format variations for specific levels of court are explained in the sections below.
Continue reading: How to cite a court case in APA Style
Published on
February 1, 2021
by
Jack Caulfield.
Revised on
June 16, 2022.
To cite a print magazine article in APA Style, list the author’s name, the publication date, the article title, the magazine name, the volume and issue numbers if available, and the page range of the article.
| APA format |
Last name, Initials. (Year, Month Day). Article title. Magazine Name, Volume(Issue), page range. |
| APA reference entry |
Mogelson, L. (2021, January 25). The storm. The New Yorker, 5–12. |
| APA in-text citation |
(Mogelson, 2021) |
Generate accurate APA citations with Scribbr
The same format is used for a magazine found in a database, since APA recommends against including database information in your reference entries.
Continue reading: How to cite a magazine article in APA Style
Published on
January 26, 2021
by
Jack Caulfield.
Revised on
June 16, 2022.
To cite the Constitution of the United States in MLA style, include information about where you accessed it in the Works Cited entry. In the in-text citation, use article/amendment and section numbers instead of page numbers.
The example below shows how to cite an online version of the constitution.
| MLA format |
Page Title. Website Name, Publisher, Day Month Year, URL. or URL. |
| MLA Works Cited entry |
The Constitution of the United States: A Transcription. National Archives, U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, 4 May 2020, www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript. |
| MLA in-text citation |
(“Constitution of the United States,” art. 1, sec. 4) |
Continue reading: How to cite the Constitution in MLA
Published on
January 22, 2021
by
Jack Caulfield.
Revised on
June 16, 2022.
The works of Shakespeare, like many plays, have consistently numbered acts, scenes, and lines. These numbers should be used in your MLA in-text citations, separated by periods, instead of page numbers.
The Works Cited entry follows the format for a book, but varies depending on whether you cite from a standalone edition or a collection. The example below is for a standalone edition of Hamlet.
If you cite multiple Shakespeare plays in your paper, replace the author’s name with an abbreviation of the play title in your in-text citation.
| MLA format |
Shakespeare, William. Play Title. Edited by Editor first name Last name, Publisher, Year. |
| MLA Works Cited entry |
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Edited by G. R. Hibbard, Oxford UP, 2008. |
| MLA in-text citation |
(Shakespeare 5.2.201–204) or (Ham. 1.2.321–324) |
Continue reading: How to cite Shakespeare in MLA
Published on
January 21, 2021
by
Jack Caulfield.
Revised on
June 16, 2022.
MLA in-text citations of the Bible differ from other book citations in that they list the book, chapter, and verse rather than the page number.
In the Works Cited entry, it’s important to list the version of the Bible you used, not just “The Bible.” Include a URL if you accessed an online version of the Bible.
Continue reading: How to cite the Bible in MLA
Published on
January 15, 2021
by
Jack Caulfield.
Revised on
June 16, 2022.
To cite a TED Talk from the TED website in MLA, list the name of the speaker, the talk title, the site name TED, the month and year, and the URL.
In an in-text citation, you can use a timestamp to highlight a specific quote where necessary.
| MLA format |
Speaker last name, First name. “Talk Title.” TED, Month Year, URL. |
| MLA Works Cited entry |
Jacobs, A. J. “The Life Cycle of a Cup of Coffee.” TED, Jan. 2021, www.ted.com/talks/a_j_jacobs_the_life_cycle_of_a_cup_of_coffee. |
| MLA in-text citation |
(Jacobs 3:15) |
Continue reading: How to cite a TED Talk in MLA
Published on
January 14, 2021
by
Jack Caulfield.
Revised on
June 16, 2022.
MLA doesn’t treat PDFs as their own source type. When you want to cite a PDF, you should determine what type of source it contains (e.g. a book or journal article) and cite it in the appropriate format.
If you feel it’s relevant, you may mention in your reference that the source was accessed as a PDF by adding “PDF file.” Note that you can write “PDF download” instead if you link to a page where the PDF can be downloaded (rather than directly to the PDF).
If you’re unsure about the source type, look for clues in the PDF (e.g. the name of the larger publication it comes from), or ask the instructor who provided you with it. This article gives examples of citations for several source types you might encounter in PDF form.
Continue reading: How to cite a PDF in MLA
