How to Cite a Book
Updated June 2026
Book citations need four things: author, year, title, publisher (plus edition when it isn't the first). All four live on one page — the copyright page, on the back of the title page.
Faster still: every book has an ISBN on that same page (and the back cover barcode). Paste it into the generator and the citation is built from the book's registry record.
One book, five styles
The visible differences: APA uses initials and sentence case; MLA spells out first names with Title Case; Chicago reads like prose; Harvard adds edn for editions; IEEE puts initials first and numbers the entry.
Martin, R. C. (2008). Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship. Prentice Hall.
Martin, Robert C. Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship. Prentice Hall, 2008.
Martin, Robert C. Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship. Prentice Hall, 2008.
Martin, R. C. (2008) Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship. Prentice Hall.
R. C. Martin, Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship. Prentice Hall, 2008.
Reading the copyright page
Author(s): as printed on the title page. Year: the copyright year (©) of your edition — not the latest printing year in the long number row. Title and subtitle: from the title page; subtitles follow a colon. Edition: "2nd ed." or "Revised ed." if stated — first editions go unmarked. Publisher: the company name; current styles drop the city.
Common variations
Edited books: editors take the author slot with (Ed.)/(Eds.) in APA, "edited by" phrasing in MLA and Chicago. A chapter in an edited book: cite the chapter author first, then the book and its editors, with the chapter's page range — see How to Cite a Book in APA for the full pattern. eBooks: cite like print; add a DOI/URL if from a database. Translations: add the translator and the original publication year.
In-text citations for books
Books are where page numbers matter most. APA: (Dweck, 2006, p. 23) for quotes. MLA: (Dweck 23). Chicago notes-bibliography: a footnote with the page. Harvard: (Dweck, 2006, p. 23). Long books with no stable pagination (some eBooks) cite by chapter or section instead.
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Go Premium — $5/monthFrequently asked questions
- Which year do I use if the book has many printings?
- The copyright year of your edition (the © year), not the printing year. A 2008 book in its 15th printing is still cited as 2008.
- Where's the ISBN, and does it go in the citation?
- Copyright page and back cover. It never appears in the citation itself — but it's the fastest input for the generator, which pulls the book's full record from it.
- How do I cite an audiobook?
- Like the book, with the narrator as a contributor and the audio publisher: APA adds (A. Narrator, Narr.) and the platform; MLA lists the narrator after the title. Use Manual Entry for the extra fields.
- Kindle edition — anything special?
- Modern styles treat eBooks like print. Avoid Kindle 'location' numbers in citations; use chapters or the percentage only if your instructor allows.