how to write an author's name in an essay

How to Write a Book Title in an Essay (MLA, APA etc.)

Formatting your essay correctly ensures that you get full recognition for the hard work you put into it. Wondering what to do? There are two scenarios that lead you to the question of "how to write a book title in an essay":

• You have not been required to use a particular style guide, in which case consistency remains important.
• You have been instructed to use a particular style guide. You now simply need to ensure that you are familiar with its rules.

Regardless of which of these scenarios holds true for you, this guide is here to help.

How to Write a Book Title in an Essay

Many style manuals call on writers use title case and italics to format a book title. Title case rules vary slightly from one style guide to the next, but generally capitalize all important words — nouns, pronouns, verbs, and adverbs. Conjunctions and prepositions are not capitalized unless they are very long (generally more than four letters) or they appear at the beginning or end of a book title.

Writers who are not required to work with a specific style manual can't go wrong if they stick to this style. Some examples would be:

• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• The Gift of Fear and Other Survival Signals That Protect us From Violence by Gavin de Becker
• The Cat With a Feathery Tail and Other Stories by Enid Blyton

If, on the other hand, you're required to use a style guide, it will likely be one of these:

• MLA, commonly used in disciplines relating to literature and social sciences.
• APA, commonly used in psychology and other sciences.
• Chicago, often used in the publishing industry.
• Harvard style, commonly used in philosophy and social sciences.

These are certainly not the only "big players" in the style guide world, but they're ones it's good to be familiar with. There is overlap between these styles, but there are also major differences — so knowing one definitely does not mean you know the others, too.

Guidelines for Writing a Book Title in an Essay

Looking for a short and sharp answer, so you can get on with the rest of your essay? This is it.

This quick guide will help you reference the book title of your choosing in the body of your essay, but what about your Works Cited pages? Each style guide offers different rules, and we'll use the same book as an example to illustrate the differences.

• MLA uses the following format: Author Last Name, First Name. Title of Book . City of Publication, Publisher, Publication Year. Example: Card, Orson Scott. Ender's Game. Tor Books, 1985. (You only have to detail the city of publication if the book was published before 1900, the publisher has offices in many localities, or the publisher is not known in the US.)
• APA uses the following format: Author Last Name, First Name. (Year of Publication). Title of book. Example: Card, Orson Scott. (1985). Ender's game.
• Chicago style uses the following format: Author Last Name, First Name. Book Title: Subtitle . Place of publication: Publisher, Year. Example: Card, Orson Scott. Ender's Game . Tor Books, 1985.
• Harvard uses the following format: Author Last Name, First Initial. (Publication Year). Title . ed. City: Publisher. Example: Card, O. (1985). Ender's Game. Tor Books.

If, after researching, you cannot find relevant information about publication years, publishers, or the city in which a book was published, you may omit it. For a full guide, it is always best to have a physical copy of the latest edition of the style manual you are using. You can, however, get by without this if you need to.

Should you still not know what to do, it will be helpful for you to know that you can "generate" citations for a particular style manual with the help of online tools like Cite Me . These are not always accurate, so if you decide to use one, always check the citation manually.

Why Is Proper Formatting Important?

All of the well-known style manuals ultimately serve the very same set of purposes, although they were each developed for a particular niche. The goals of these style manuals are both explicit and implicit:

• Following a style guide ensures consistency throughout a document, in this case an essay.
• Consistency ensures that reader's understand precisely what the writer is talking about, without exerting any effort on figuring that out. Clarity is especially important in academic writing.
• By using a style guide within a certain discipline, you show that you understand the rules within that discipline. This adds credibility to your voice as a writer. You have done your homework, have ideally bought the style manual, and are part of the "in group".
• Sticking to a certain style guide makes it easier for relevant parties to check your references, which they can then use to perform further research.

Students are increasingly asked to refer to style guides at all levels, including in high school. In this case, formatting your essay correctly, in accordance with the right style manual, serves two additional purposes:

• You'll lose points if you don't do it right, offering you an additional reason to do your research.
• Getting used to these formats prepares you for further education. If you are in high school, it prepares you for college-level writing. If you are an undergraduate student, it prepares you for academic work at the graduate and post-graduate levels.

Can you start an essay with a book title?

Yes, you can start an essay with a book title. This is a valid stylistic choice, but you will always want to consider your introduction carefully.

How do you write a book title in handwriting?

Students sometimes ask whether it is acceptable to underline book titles instead of italicizing them. This practice indeed stems from a time in which most students wrote their essays by hand. Although it has largely fallen out of practice now, you can still underline a book title if you are handwriting your essay.

How do you write a book title and chapter in an essay?

You should mention the chapter title first: "Rat" from Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. Consult the relevant style manual to ensure you get the formatting right.

Can you shorten a book title in an essay?

Yes, you can. Reference the full title the first time you mention it (for example: Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things ). The next time you mention the book, you may simply refer to Furiously Happy .

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How to Write a Book Name in an Essay

Last Updated: February 14, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Noah Taxis and by wikiHow staff writer, Danielle Blinka, MA, MPA . Noah Taxis is an English Teacher based in San Francisco, California. He has taught as a credentialed teacher for over four years: first at Mountain View High School as a 9th- and 11th-grade English Teacher, then at UISA (Ukiah Independent Study Academy) as a Middle School Independent Study Teacher. He is now a high school English teacher at St. Ignatius College Preparatory School in San Francisco. He received an MA in Secondary Education and Teaching from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education. He also received an MA in Comparative and World Literature from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a BA in International Literary & Visual Studies and English from Tufts University. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 64,217 times.

When you’re writing an essay that includes a book title, it can be confusing to write the title correctly. However, it’s really easy once you know the rules. How you write the title will vary a little bit depending on the style your instructor assigns and if you are typing or handwriting the essay. Luckily, it's easy to follow the rules for writing a book name in an essay.

Writing Help

Typing an Essay in MLA or Chicago Style Format

• For example, you would write To Kill a Mockingbird , The Lord of the Rings , or Wuthering Heights .

• If you have the book name in front of you, you can just copy it down as it is printed.
• Articles include a, an, and the.
• Prepositions include at, in, on, of, about, since, from, for, until, during, over, above, under, underneath, below, beneath, near, by, next to, between, among, and opposite.
• Coordinating conjunctions include the FANBOYS, which are for, and, not, but, or, yet, and

• For example, you would write the name of William Faulkner’s novel Absalom, Absalom! with both the comma and the exclamation point in italics.

• If the highlight bar goes away, try again, making sure that you don’t click anywhere on the page after you highlight the book name.

• Alternatively, you can press the italicize icon before you type the title.
• If you’re using Microsoft Word to type your essay, the italicize key may appear if you hover over the highlighted book name.

• If the next word after your title appears italicized when you resume typing, simply highlight it and click the italicize icon to remove the formatting.

• For example, The Lord of the Rings trilogy is sometimes published in one volume. In this case, you could write the name of the first novel as "The Fellowship of the Ring" when citing it in an essay.

Typing an Essay in APA Format

• Capitalize the first letter of the words, not the entire word.
• If the word is a two-part hyphenated word in the title, you should capitalize both words. For example, you would write Blue River: The Trial of a Mayor-Elect .
• If there is a dash or colon in the title, you should capitalize the word after the punctuation, regardless of how long the word is. As above, you would write Blue River: The Trial of a Mayor-Elect .

• For example, you would write Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? with the question mark italicized.

• If the book name is not highlighted, left click and drag your cursor again, making sure that you don’t click again anywhere on the page.

• If you are using Microsoft Word, the italics icon may appear when you hover over the highlighted book title. It’s okay to click this key.

Handwriting an Essay

• For MLA and Chicago style essays, capitalize the first word of the book name and every word other than articles, prepositions, or coordinating conjunctions. For example, write The Lord of the Rings .
• If you’re using APA style, capitalize the first word and all words longer than 4 letters. [9] X Research source This means you would write Public Policy in Local Government .

• If you’re writing on lined paper, it may help to follow along the line of the paper. However, make sure your line is dark enough so that your instructor will see that you properly underlined the book name.

• For example, you would write Judy Blume’s Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by underlining the punctuation marks as well as the words.

Expert Interview

Thanks for reading our article! If you’d like to learn more about academic writing, check out our in-depth interview with Noah Taxis .

• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_general_format.html
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/writing_in_literature/writing_about_literature/formatting.html
• ↑ https://www.grammarly.com/blog/underline-or-italicize-book-titles/
• ↑ https://askus.library.wwu.edu/faq/116757
• ↑ https://libguides.up.edu/apa/books_ebooks
• ↑ https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/italics-quotations/italics

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Writing A Book Title In Your Essay – The Right Way

Table of contents

• 1 APA Style: How to Write Book Titles in Essays
• 2 APA Style Essay: Writing The Name of The Author
• 3 MLA Style Essay: Citing a Book Title
• 4 Chicago Style Essay: Writing the Book Title
• 5 Writing Various Types of Titles
• 6 Should We Underline or Italicize Book Titles?

When you are writing an academic essay , the book title and author’s name should be written in italics. However, if the book title is part of a larger work (such as a journal article), it should be underlined instead. So, you’re wondering how to write a book title in an essay?

Writing an essay with a book title can be tricky, particularly because each style guide has its own formatting rules for including titles in the main text. Whether you are using MLA, APA, Chicago, or Harvard referencing styles, you will need to consider how to properly format the book title. For more complicated literature-based assignments, seeking assistance from an admission essay writing service may be wise, as they specialize in writing essays that incorporate academic sources.

In this article, we will explore how to write both titles in an essay properly so that you avoid any mistakes!

APA Style: How to Write Book Titles in Essays

When writing an essay, you must follow the style guide provided by your professor. Some teachers may require you to use APA style and others MLA style. There are some rules on how to quote a book title in an essay. You should use italics and quotation marks when writing book titles in essays. For example: “ The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II. “

When writing a book title in APA Style , you should be aware of these rules:

Write the book title in italics and place it after the author’s name, which is presented in reverse order (last name first).

Use quotation marks around the headline of a chapter or article.

Capitalize proper names that are not common nouns (names of people, places, organizations), but do not capitalize words such as “and,” “or,” “to,” or “and/or.”

Do not capitalize prepositions that appear at the beginning of titles if they are followed by an article (e.g., “A,” “An”), but do capitalize prepositions at the beginning of titles if they are not followed by articles (“Of”).

The first word of the headline should be capitalized, as well as any other words after a colon or hyphen. For example, “The Elements of Style: Grammar for Everyone”  or “Theories of Personality: Critical Perspectives.”

Capitalize proper names and words derived from them (e.g., the names of people, places, organizations), except proper nouns used generically (e.g., ‘a bed’).

APA Style Essay: Writing The Name of The Author

You should always use the full name and surname of the author in your APA essay because this will give proper credit to the writer. If you do not mention the author’s full name, people may not know who wrote what and will think you copied it from somewhere else. This will cause lots of problems for you and your reputation as well.

Make sure that all authors’ names appear in the same format in each entry. For example, if one person’s surname is Smith and another’s is Jones, both have first names starting with “J.” It may seem like they are being cited as different people when they’re actually written differently from each other on separate pages in your paper.

To write an APA essay without any issues, there are certain rules that you need to follow while writing an author’s name in APA essay:

• Use only one author’s name in your paper unless there are multiple authors
• If there are multiple authors, then use both their last names followed by the initials of their first names
• Only use initials of first names when there are three or more authors; otherwise, use full names with their last names

Example: Johnson, M.C., Carlson, M., Smith, J. N., & Hanover, L. E.

MLA Style Essay: Citing a Book Title

Now let’s discuss how to mention a book in an essay. The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7th edition, published by the Modern Language Association (2014), contains detailed rules about how to cite a book title in an essay.

The following guidelines will instruct you on how to refer to a book in an essay in MLA style :

• List your sources at the end of your paper, before the works cited page or bibliography.
• Use italics for titles of books, magazines, and newspapers, but not for articles within those publications, which should be placed in quotation marks.
• Include all relevant book information under two categories: “title” and “author.” In the former category, include the work’s title and its subtitle if there is one; do this even if neither appears on your title page (see below). In the latter category, include only primary authors who have written or edited an entire book; if there are multiple contributors, you should cite them separately under each.

The general format for citing the title of the book in an essay is as follows:

Author’s last name, first initial (Date). Title of Book with Subtitle if there is one. Publisher Name/Location of Publisher; Year Published

Chicago Style Essay: Writing the Book Title

One of the most important things to remember when writing in Chicago style is how to write the title of a book in an essay. To write a good book title in an essay, you should follow these steps:

• Write it at the beginning of your sentence.
• Capitalize it just like any other noun or proper noun.
• Put a comma after the title unless it’s an introductory clause or phrase. For example: “The Firm,” by John Grisham (not “by”) and “The Catcher in the Rye,” by J.D Salinger (not “and”).
• In addition to the book’s name, punctuation marks should also be italicized.

For example: Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince: Children’s Edition

Writing Various Types of Titles

Now that we covered how to write a book title and author in an essay, it’s time to look at some different types of titles. When you write a book title in an essay, several things must be considered. Whether it’s a book, series, chapter title, editor’s name, or author’s name, how you write it depends on where it appears in your paper.

Here are some key rules for writing headings for novels:

•  Use capital letters to write the title of the novel. For example,  The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett .
• Use italics and capital letters to write the name of the author and his/her other works mentioned in a book title—for example,  Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (1813) .

You should use quotation marks when writing headings of short title poems, articles, and stories.

However, before deciding which format to use, it is important to understand the main idea you want to express in your essay. Additionally, you could use essay papers for sale to help you accomplish your goal of writing an essay effectively.

Should We Underline or Italicize Book Titles?

It depends on which style guide you use. The Modern Language Association and Chicago Manual of Style both suggest using italics, while the American Psychological Association suggests using quotation marks with a few exceptions.

The way you write the title of a book in an essay is different depending on the instructions you were given. For example, if you’re writing an essay in APA style, use quotation marks around the book’s name. If you’re writing for MLA or Chicago style , however, italicize the book’s name instead. If you’re writing a handwritten essay instead of using a computer, capitalize and underline the book’s name.

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• APA Style - 7th edition
• Specific Rules for Authors & Titles

APA Style - 7th edition: Specific Rules for Authors & Titles

• Basic Information

Rules for Writing Author and Editor Information

Rules for writing titles.

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There are certain things to keep in mind when writing the author's name according to APA style. Authors may be individual people, multiple people, groups (institutions or organizations), or a combination of people and groups. 

• You must include all the authors up to 20 for individual items. For example, if you are using an article that has 19 authors you must list them all out on your reference page. 
• Use initials for the first and middle names of authors. Use one space between initials.
• All names are inverted (last name, first initial).
• Do not hyphenate a name unless it is hyphenated on the item.
• Separate the author's names with a comma and use the ampersand symbol "&"  before the last author listed.
• Spell out the name of any organization that is listed as an author.
• If there is no author listed, the item title moves in front of the publication date and is used.

An item that you use may have an editor instead of an author or in the case of audiovisual materials a writer or director.

• For editors follow the same rules above and put the abbreviation (Ed.) or (Eds.) behind the name(s). 
• For audiovisual materials follow the same rules as above and put the specialized role (Writer) (Director) behind the name. 

Zhang, Y. H.  (one author)

Arnec, A., & Lavbic, D. (two authors)​

Kent State University (organization as author)

Barr, M. J. (Ed.). (1 editor)

Powell, R. R., & Westbrook, L. (Eds.). (2 editors)

here are certain things to keep in mind when writing a title according to APA style.

• Book titles are italicized and written using sentence case (only the first word of a title, subtitle, or proper noun are capitalized).
• Book chapter titles are written using sentence case and are not italicized.
• Journal titles are italicized and written using title case (all the important words are capitalized).
• Article titles are written using sentence case and are not italicized.
• Webpages and websites are italicized and written using sentence case.

Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (book title, American Psychological Association is a proper noun so it is capitalized)

Student perspective of plagiarism (book chapter title)

Internet plagiarism in higher education: Tendencies, trigging factors and reasons among teacher candidates (article title, Tendencies is the first word of a sub-title so it is capitalized)

Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education (journal title)

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How to write a book title in an essay: essential guidelines for students

Updated 13 Jun 2024

Unlocking the art of seamlessly integrating book titles in essays is a skill every writer should master. Navigating the intricate landscape of various style guides, such as MLA, APA, Harvard, or Chicago, requires a nuanced understanding of formatting rules. Whether you’re a student aiming for precision in academic writing or an aspiring author looking to enhance your literary prowess, this article will guide you through the nuances of how to write a book title in an essay in different citation styles.

Let’s delve into the subtleties and ensure your book details are written and presented with finesse!

General rules

Crafting a polished essay or writing book report involves well-thought-out content and meticulous attention to formatting, especially when writing book title. Understanding the general guidelines across popular citation styles is essential for presenting your literary references coherently. Discover where all styles agree on how to quote books in essays. 

• Following formatting requirements, self-contained and independent books, spanning genres like novels, short stories, a collection of poems, and plays, share a common trait. Are book titles italicized? Yes, they are. Consider the following masterpieces as prime examples:

• Components within a larger work, such as acts, chapters, scenes, songs, or individual poems, are embraced by quotation marks. In this case, the whole book title in an essay remains italicized. Let’s see some examples:

• When the book's name mentioned within the overarching title is typically formatted in italics, it’s advisable to employ italic letters consistently. So, the overarching title that encompasses the specific book's discussion should also be italicized. 
• If the name of book in essay (poem or novel) referenced within the overarching title typically appears within double quotation marks, it’s recommended to enclose it in single quotation marks instead. Besides, ensure the formatting is consistent throughout your text. If the main title is italicized, remember to maintain this style for the entire heading, including the nested title within quotation marks. If it’s challenging, you may pay someone to do my homework to avoid any inconsistencies in your formatting. Let’s see how these two guidelines can be implemented in the following examples:

• Both stand-alone books and subsections within a larger work adhere to title case capitalization, where major words are capitalized. Consider the following examples:

When considering how to write book titles in essays it's essential to note that capitalization rules can vary significantly between style guides, adding a layer of complexity. Therefore, the path you choose for capitalization should align with the specific style requirements, ensuring consistency and adherence to academic standards. Whether following APA, MLA, or another guide, clarity in title presentation is a key element in elevating the overall quality of your handwritten work.

Don't risk a zero grade!

Hire our experts to proofread, polish, and check your work for accuracy. Just $7/page. Zero AI.

How to write a book title in different citation styles: APA, MLA, Chicago, AMA, and CSE 

Navigating the proper formatting of book titles in an essay requires understanding the diverse rules prescribed by various style guides. Whether you’re following the guidelines of the Modern Language Association, American Psychological Association, Chicago Manual of Style, or another specific style, each has unique conventions for presenting the book’s details within your text. In this exploration, we delve into the nuances of formatting an essay body containing book names and emphasize the distinct approaches dictated by different styles.

How to write a book title in an essay in APA style? The rules for indicating the names of books and authors are as follows:

Book titles:

• Italicize all the words and punctuation. Do not underline or place them in quotation marks.
• Capitalize the first word of titles of books in papers, the first word after a colon, and all major words. Avoid capitalizing minor words (e.g., articles, prepositions, conjunctions) unless they are the first word of the name or longer than four letters.
• Always place the book title after the author’s name.

Example: The Great Gatsby .

Author names:

• Write the author’s last name followed by their initials without spaces or periods.
• If multiple authors are indicated in your college papers for sale , separate their names with commas and use an ampersand (&) before the last author’s name.
• If the work has a group or corporate author (e.g., an organization), write the name in full.

Example 1 (single author): Smith, J. A.

Example 2 (multiple authors): Smith, J. A., Johnson, M. R., & Brown, P. S.

Example 3 (group author): American Psychological Association.

Should we italicize or quote book titles according to MLA style? Modern Language Association suggests the following guidelines for academic papers:

• Write the book title in essay in italics. Underlining or placing them in quotation marks is not required.
• Capitalize the first and last words of the title, as well as all major words in between. Do not capitalize minor words unless they are the first or last words of the title or come after a colon.

Example: A Good Man Is Hard to Find.

• Write the author’s full name with the last name first, followed by the first name.
• If there are multiple authors, enumerate them in the order they appear on the title page.
• If the work has a corporate author (e.g., an organization), you can use the organization’s name.

Example 1: Fitzgerald, F. Scott.

Example 2: Smith, John, and Mary Johnson.

Example 3: Modern Language Association.

“Do you italicize authors names in Chicago?” you can ask. Let’s speak about this formatting style. The rules listed in the Chicago essay guide prescribe the following:

• Italicize or underline (older tradition) the titles of larger works, including books. It's more common for readers to see italics in modern Chicago style.
• Capitalize the first and last words of the title, along with all major words in between. Do not capitalize minor words unless they are the first or last words of the title or come after a colon.

Example: Murder on the Orient Express .

• Write the author's full name with the last name first, followed by the first name.
• If there are several writers, indicate them in the order they appear on the title page.

Example 1: Ellison, Ralph.

Example 2: Wood, James, and Mary Jane.

Example 3: University of Chicago Press.

Discover how to quote a book in an essay in AMA. The American Medical Association has specific guidelines for citing and formatting. Here are the rules:

• Use italics for the titles of larger works, including books ─ no need to underline or place them in quotation marks.
• Capitalize only the first word of the title and any proper nouns. Do not capitalize the first letter of subsequent words unless they are proper nouns.

Example: The great Gatsby .

• Write the author's last name followed by their initials without spaces or periods.
• If there are multiple authors, use commas to separate them and apply an ampersand (&) before the last author’s name.
• If the work has a group or corporate author, write the name in full.

Example 1: Fitzgerald FS.

Example 2: Smith JA, Johnson MR, & Brown PS.

Example 3: American Medical Association.

The requirements of the Council of Science Editors are similar to the AMA style. If you find them challenging or need clarifications, you may always send us your “ write an essay for me ” request and get support with your formatting anytime. Let’s see the essential guidelines: 

• Italicize the title of books in essay (here, we mean larger works, not chapters or articles). Do not underline them, and avoid using quotation marks.
• Use capitalizing for only the first word of the title, proper nouns, and the first word after a colon or em dash.

Example: A tale of two cities.

• Write the author's last name followed by a space and their initials, with no commas or periods between the initials.
• If there are multiple authors, use commas to separate them, and use an ampersand (&) before the last author's name.

Example 1: Dickens C.

Example 2: Clark JB, Doe JM, & Anderson KL.

Example 3: Council of Science Editors.

Final thoughts

In conclusion, navigating the intricacies of writing a book title in an essay is an important skill for any writer. By mastering the diverse formatting rules of style guides, you’ll meet academic standards and infuse your work with professionalism. As you embark on your next writing journey, remember that precision matters. 

For personalized assistance and expert guidance in creating argumentative essays, consider EduBirdie as your go-to ally. Elevate your writing experience and achieve excellence with the support of a trusted partner. Take the first step towards impeccable papers ─ choose EduBirdie for your writing success!

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Steven Robinson is an academic writing expert with a degree in English literature. His expertise, patient approach, and support empower students to express ideas clearly. On EduBirdie's blog, he provides valuable writing guides on essays, research papers, and other intriguing topics. Enjoys chess in free time.

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Book Titles in Essays: Formatting Rules and Examples

How do you write the title of a book in an essay?

A short answer: You look at the assignment’s requirements, see the citation style you should use, and go to a corresponding manual to see what rules it prescribes for writing book titles.

That’s when you might hit a snag:

Most rules for the main styles — APA, MLA, and Chicago — seem identical at first glance. It’s easy to miss a preposition or punctuation rule, capitalize a wrong word, or forget about italics. The devil is in the details, and the final grade for your paper depends on them.

Why not gather the formatting rules for all the citation styles in one place so that it’s more comfortable to compare them and spot specifics?

We’ve got you covered:

In this article, our essay writers share the guidelines for citing book titles in five styles. You’ll see how to write a book title in an essay and how to introduce authors. For the sake of clarity, examples are also here.

What is the title of a book in an essay?

You have several options for formatting a book title in your essay.

First, you can mention it in the essay’s body if you are quoting or paraphrasing information from the book. Also, when compiling a bibliography of the resources you used for research, you’ll need book titles for the reference list.

A book’s title and the details of its author are also essential components in the structure of book review . You’ll mention it in the introduction before summarizing a book’s plot, characters, and themes.

How to put book title in essay:

• Use italics
• Don’t underline or use quotation marks, please
• Don’t capitalize minor words like prepositions and conjunctions of three or fewer letters ( a, of, to, the, etc.) unless they are the first or last word in a book’s title

How to write a book title and author in an essay?

Details to consider:

• Is it an in-text mention or part of a reference list?
• Are you writing about an entire book or one of its chapters?
• Does the book have one or several authors?
• Does the book have a subtitle?
• Is it an independent publication or a collection of essays, series, or short stories? Are you introducing a poem in your essay?

The answers to these questions will give you a clear understanding of how to write a book title and author in an essay. The formatting rules will depend on the above factors and the citation style you should follow. (We’ve covered the two main styles —  APA and MLA — in our essay writing book , available on Amazon.)

There are also some general rules to remember, regardless of the style. Let’s move to them and explore the principles of citing book titles inside and out.

How to Introduce a Book in an Essay: General Rules

Here’s what all the styles agree on in terms of how to introduce a book in an essay:

1 — Italicize the titles of self-contained books. If you mention a novel, a movie, a stand-alone poem, a play, a database, or a website, there’s no need to use quotation marks. For example: 

• Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
• Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet
• If by Rudyard Kipling

2 — The titles of parts within a book should go in quotation marks: chapter titles, titles of poems inside a collection, acts or scenes in a play, and so on. For example:

• The Great Gatsby’s “Chapter 5: The Meeting” 
• “The Mirror of Erised” from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

3 — Capitalize both stand-alone book titles and the parts within a complete work. For example:

• The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger by Stephen King
• “Sometimes They Come Back” from Stephen King’s Night Shift

4 — When the title of a book goes within another title (like in cases with monographs about novels or poems), you should also use italics for independent works and single quotation marks for short stories and parts of books.

For example, this is how to write the title of a journal article containing the book’s title:

• “The Unbearable Weight of Authenticity: Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God and a Theory of Touristic Reading.”

And this is how you’d write a journal article title containing the title of a short story:

• “Individualism in O’Connor’s ‘A Good Man is Hard to Find.'”

When to use a capital letter is the trickiest part of writing book titles in essays. The rules vary between style guides and their editions, which can appear confusing and make it more challenging for students to align with the requirements and ensure consistency.

Below, we’ll explore how to put book title in essay according to five different citation styles: APA, MLA, Chicago, CSE, and AMA.

How to Write the Title of a Book in an Essay: Citation Styles

While most students use APA and MLA citation styles in their academic papers, some institutions also assign alternatives like AMA or CSE. We’ve chosen the five most widespread styles for this guide so that you can have all the rules in one place and see the tiny differences between them for more precise writing.

Here, you’ll find the book title writing guidelines for these styles:

• APA (the American Psychological Association)
• MLA (the Modern Language Association)
• Chicago, aka CMOS (the Chicago Manual of Style)
• CSE (the Council of Science Editors)
• AMA (the American Medical Association)

We also recommend using an AI essay checker to revise your papers and reference lists once your drafts are ready. Whatever style you use to cite sources, this will help ensure that your text doesn’t look AI-generated. (Believe us, your teachers won’t appreciate it.)

APA is the documentation style that the American Psychological Association uses for citing sources. Originated in 1929, this form of writing is standard for social sciences like psychology, communications, sociology, and anthropology. Sometimes, it also relates to engineering, nursing, education, and other corresponding fields.

APA addresses manuscripts for journals and the academic papers students write in college. It’s the most popular and common citation style for the essays your teachers will assign during a course.

The latest version is APA Style’s 7th edition, released in 2020.

When it comes to formatting the title of a book in an essay, APA style’s requirements are easy to remember. Take a look:

MLA is a citation style created by the Modern Language Association and is mainly used in humanities like linguistics, literature, philosophy, and cultural and media studies. It’s the second most used style (after APA), with the most recent manual released in 2021 (the 9th edition).

The manual focuses on the formatting rules for in-text citations, which most users find challenging. It also has expanded guidelines on research papers, grammar mechanics, and inclusive language.

Here’s how to write a book title in an essay, according to MLA:

The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) is more common for published works than college papers. Many see it as the top one for writers, editors, and publishers to follow when formatting content. Unlike APA or MLA, Chicago style provides two methods for documenting sources:

• Author-date , recommended for works in the physical, natural, and social sciences. It requires using parenthetical citations in the text, with a corresponding entry on the reference page.
• Notes-bibliography , recommended for works in humanities and some social sciences. It requires using numbered footnotes in the text, with a corresponding shortened citation at the bottom of the page and a fuller citation on the reference page.

The author-date system is similar to APA style and, thus, more common for college essays. When in-text, you mention the author, the date, and the page number (if applicable) in parentheses after the quotation. Like this:

• Enlightenment thinkers, such as Kant, believed in the “universal, eternal, and … immutable qualities of all of humanity” (Harvey 1990, 12).

We can almost hear you asking:

“Can you write my essay in this format?”

Yes, we can. Whenever necessary, ask our academic expert for help with your written assignments. When asking your question, provide detailed requirements, including the citation style you need, so that they know what formatting rules to follow.

Below, let’s explore how to put a book title in an essay in CMOS:

Previously known as CBE (the Council of Biology Editors), this style provided formatting guidelines for the editors of biology journals. Today, we know it as CSE (the Council of Science Editors), and it includes many scientific fields in the life sciences, the physical sciences, and mathematics.

As with CMOS, CSE style recommends two systems for documenting sources:

• Citation-sequence , listing sources on a reference page according to the order of their appearance in the document.
• Name-year , which is similar to the author-date system used in Chicago and APA.

The complete guide is available in Scientific Style and Format: The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers (8th ed.) by the Council of Science Editors. Below, we’ll explore how to write a book title in an essay according to this citation style.

AMA stands for the American Medical Association, so it’s a standard citation style in medicine. While it’s less popular than APA or MLA, we’ve decided to include it in this guide anyway, given that medical students might find it helpful.

Is AMA citation the same as APA?

Not quite. While sharing some nuances, the core difference between these two citation styles is that AMA doesn’t use an author-date system in the text. Instead, we use a superscript numbering system here. Like this:

• “Smith² argues that….”

Also, unlike APA, AMA style doesn’t organize the reference list alphabetically, but numerically, based upon the order of the sources’ appearances in the text.

How to write the title of a book in an essay when you use AMA style:

How to Format a Book Title in an Essay

Long story short, most citation styles agree on using the same format for book titles in essays: capitalized, italicized, and with no underlining or quotation mark (unless you write about a book’s chapter or a shorter work like an article, an essay, or a poem within a more extensive work).

Speaking of underlined titles:

When googling information on how to write a book title in an essay, you can find questions from people wondering if they need to underline titles in papers. It’s an old-time practice from when essays were written by hand: You can’t italicize when handwriting, so you underline a title to distinguish it.

Check any book review sample online, and you’ll see that underlining isn’t a common practice anymore.

How to format a book title in an essay in your reference list:

So, How Do You Write the Title of a Book in an Essay?

Now that you’ve read our detailed guide on how to write a book title in an essay, let’s recap:

• Read the guidelines from your teacher before writing: What citation style do you need to follow?
• Check the manual for your assigned style (APA, MLA, or any other) to ensure that you format the book titles and author names correctly.
• Most citation styles (except for CSE) tell you to italicize and capitalize book titles in essays. Nevertheless, proofread carefully to avoid mistakes with the formatting of prepositions, punctuation, and subtitles.

Are you looking for a title for your next paper? Get help from our essay title generator : Give it several keywords on your topic, and get relevant and creative titles that hook your readers.

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• Knowledge Base
• MLA titles: Formatting and capitalization rules

MLA Titles | How to Format & Capitalize Source Titles

Published on April 2, 2019 by Courtney Gahan . Revised on March 5, 2024.

In MLA style , source titles appear either in italics or in quotation marks:

• Italicize the title of a self-contained whole (e.g. a book, film, journal, or website).
• Use  quotation marks around the title if it is part of a larger work (e.g. a chapter of a book, an article in a journal, or a page on a website).

All major words in a title are capitalized . The same format is used in the Works Cited list and in the text itself.

When you use the Scribbr MLA Citation Generator , the correct formatting and capitalization are automatically applied to titles.

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Table of contents

Capitalization in mla titles, punctuation in mla titles, titles within titles, exceptions to mla title formatting, sources with no title, abbreviating titles, titles in foreign languages, frequently asked questions about mla titles.

In all titles and subtitles, capitalize the first and last words, as well as any other principal words.

What to capitalize

What not to capitalize

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Use the same punctuation as appears in the source title. However, if there is a subtitle, separate it from the main title with a colon and a space, even if different (or no) punctuation is used in the source.

Example of a work with a subtitle

The exception is when the title ends in a question mark, exclamation point or dash, in which case you keep the original punctuation:

Sometimes a title contains another title—for example, the title of an article about a novel might contain that novel’s title.

For titles within titles, in general, maintain the same formatting as you would if the title stood on its own.

Titles and names that fall into the following categories are not italicized or enclosed in quotation marks:

• Scripture (e.g. the Bible, the Koran, the Gospel)
• Laws, acts and related documents (e.g. the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution , the Paris Agreement)
• Musical compositions identified by form, number and key (e.g. Beethoven’s Symphony no. 5 in C minor, op. 67)
• Conferences, seminars, workshops and courses (e.g. MLA Annual Convention)

Sections of a work

Words that indicate a particular section of a work are not italicized or placed within quotation marks. They are also not capitalized when mentioned in the text.

Examples of such sections include:

• introduction
• list of works cited
• bibliography

Introductions, prefaces, forewords and afterwords

Descriptive terms such as “introduction”, “preface”, “foreword” and “afterword” are capitalized if mentioned in an MLA in-text citation or in the Works Cited list, but not when mentioned in the text itself.

Example of descriptive term capitalization

In-text citation: (Brontë, Preface )

In text: In her preface to the work, added in a later edition, Brontë debates the morality of creating characters such as those featured in Wuthering Heights .

If there is a unique title for the introduction, preface, foreword or afterword, include that title in quotation marks instead of the generic section name when referencing the source in the Works Cited list or an in-text citation.

For sources with no title, a brief description of the source acts as the title.

Example of a source reference with no title

Follow these rules for capitalization:

• Capitalize the first word
• Capitalize proper nouns
• Ignore other MLA rules for capitalization

There are some exceptions to this general format: descriptions including titles of other works, such as comments on articles or reviews of movies; untitled short messages, like tweets; email messages; and untitled poems.

Exceptions to general format for sources with no title

If you need to mention the name of a work in the text itself, state the full title, but omit the subtitle.

If you need to refer to the work multiple times, you may shorten the title to something familiar or obvious to the reader. For example, Huckleberry Finn for The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn . If in doubt, prefer the noun phrase.

If the standalone abbreviation may not be clear, you can introduce it in parentheses, following the standard guidelines for abbreviations. For example, The Merchant of Venice ( MV ) . For Shakespeare and the Bible , there are well-established abbreviations you can use.

When you abbreviate a title, make sure you keep the formatting consistent. Even if the abbreviation consists only of letters, as in the MV example, it must be italicized or placed within quotation marks in the same way as it would be when written in full.

Abbreviating very long titles in the Works Cited list

Titles should normally be given in full in the Works Cited list, but if any of your sources has a particularly long title (often the case with older works), you can use an ellipsis to shorten it here. This is only necessary with extremely long titles such as the example below.

In the Works Cited list, if you are listing a work with a title in a language other than English, you can add the translated title in square brackets.

Example of a reference with a translated title

If you are using the foreign-language title in the text itself, you can also include the translation in parenthesis. For example, O Alquimista ( The Alchemist ) .

You don’t need to include a translation in your reference list or in the text if you expect your readers to be familiar with the original language. For example, you wouldn’t translate the title of a  French novel you were writing about in the context of a French degree.

Non-Latin script languages

For works in a language that does not use the Latin alphabet, such as Arabic, Chinese, Greek, Hebrew, Japanese, or Russian, be consistent with how you mention the source titles and also quotations from within them.

For example, if you choose to write a Russian title in the Cyrillic form, do that throughout the document. If you choose to use the Romanized form, stick with that. Do not alternate between the two.

Yes. MLA style uses title case, which means that all principal words (nouns, pronouns , verbs, adjectives , adverbs , and some conjunctions ) are capitalized.

This applies to titles of sources as well as the title of, and subheadings in, your paper. Use MLA capitalization style even when the original source title uses different capitalization .

In MLA style , book titles appear in italics, with all major words capitalized. If there is a subtitle, separate it from the main title with a colon and a space (even if no colon appears in the source). For example:

The format is the same in the Works Cited list and in the text itself. However, when you mention the book title in the text, you don’t have to include the subtitle.

The title of a part of a book—such as a chapter, or a short story or poem in a collection—is not italicized, but instead placed in quotation marks.

When a book’s chapters are written by different authors, you should cite the specific chapter you are referring to.

When all the chapters are written by the same author (or group of authors), you should usually cite the entire book, but some styles include exceptions to this.

• In APA Style , single-author books should always be cited as a whole, even if you only quote or paraphrase from one chapter.
• In MLA Style , if a single-author book is a collection of stand-alone works (e.g. short stories ), you should cite the individual work.
• In Chicago Style , you may choose to cite a single chapter of a single-author book if you feel it is more appropriate than citing the whole book.

The title of an article is not italicized in MLA style , but placed in quotation marks. This applies to articles from journals , newspapers , websites , or any other publication. Use italics for the title of the source where the article was published. For example:

Use the same formatting in the Works Cited entry and when referring to the article in the text itself.

The MLA Handbook is currently in its 9th edition , published in 2021.

This quick guide to MLA style  explains the latest guidelines for citing sources and formatting papers according to MLA.

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How to Write Book Titles in Essays: APA, MLA, Chicago Styles

It’s your practical and up-to-point guide on how to write a book title in an essay. You’ll get the formatting rules and examples for citing book and author names in academic papers.

We’ve covered the top three citation styles: APA, Chicago, and MLA.

How to Write the Title of a Book in an Essay

First, remember the general rules of citing book names in academic works.

Here’s how to cite books in essays :

• Use capitalization. Every word of a book’s name goes in the title case, except prepositions, articles, and coordinating conjunctions.
• Use italics for longer and independent works. Use double quotations for shorter ones (poems, articles, book chapters, or play acts and scenes).
• Use single quotations for a book’s title within another title. (When citing monographs about literary works, for example.) 

While capitalization rules depend on the citation style, some general tips have a place to be. Please, no capitalization for:

• Articles: a, the (unless the book title begins with it)
• Coordinating conjunctions and prepositions: of, and, or, but, for, to, nor, in, so (unless the book title begins or ends with it)

Subordinating conjunctions (although, unless, because, if) go in capital letters.

How to Write a Book Title in an Essay: APA

APA (American Psychological Association) is the most popular style for citing academic works. It’s common for the social sciences like Education, Psychology, Sociology, and others. The current edition: 7th (2019).

Book titles in APA stand for:

• Italics. (If a book name includes any punctuation, italicize it too.)
• Capitalization. (Capitalize all words longer than four letters , regardless of the part of speech. Also, use capital letters for two-part words and those coming after a dash or a colon.)
• Double quotations instead of italics. (When citing a short work like an article or a poem; when citing a book chapter or when the book is a part of an anthology.)

For example: 

The Lord of the Rings but “The Fellowship of the Ring” (The latter is part of the trilogy.)

Related: How to Cite a Movie in APA Format

How to Write the Name of a Book in an Essay: Chicago

The Chicago Manual of Style is a guide by the University of Chicago. It’s common for fields like History, Fine Arts, and Business. The current edition: 17th (2017).

How to format book titles in Chicago:

• Italicize longer and independent works; put shorter ones in double quotations.
• Use italics for punctuation within a title.
• Capitalize all words except articles (a, the) and ALL prepositions or conjunctions (regardless of length).

For example:

In George Orwell’s 1984 , the author presents a dystopian society characterized by pervasive government surveillance and the suppression of individual freedom. The harrowing events in “Chapter 2,” where Winston Smith begins to rebel against the Party by starting a forbidden diary, mark a pivotal moment in the novel’s exploration of resistance against totalitarianism.

The style resembles the MLA format, but it’s flexible, allowing you to “break the rules if necessary.”

How to Write a Book Title in an Essay: MLA

MLA format stands for the Modern Language Association. It’s common for humanities like Literature, Culture, Linguistics, etc. The current edition: 8th (2016). 

How to format books in MLA:

• Italicize all words, including punctuation and those of two parts or going after colons and hyphens.
• Capitalize all words except articles (a, the) , prepositions, and short conjunctions within a book title.
• Use double quotations instead of italics when writing a book chapter or a part of a book series.

In Little Women , Beth March dies in Chapter 40, “The Valley of the Shadow.”

Formatting Book Author Names in Papers

Use the author’s full name (first and last) to format it in your essay for proper credit.

If a book has two authors, use both last names and initials. For works with three or more authors, use the last name of the first one and add “et all.”

No need to italicize author names in papers.

Why Properly Cite Book Titles in Essays

The short answer:

You won’t get a high grade for an essay. Formatting blunders count as mistakes.

The longer answer:

• You prove writing skills and an understanding of the rules in academia.
• Your papers maintain consistency. It’s critical to stick to criteria to prevent confusion. The consistent format for book headings also serves to better scannability and readability.
• You learn to cite different types of references for your future projects.

Do you italicize book titles?

Yes, you put book titles in italics. Please italicize long and stand-alone works: books, movies, webpages, reports, or music albums. Shorter works’ titles (articles, essays, poems, songs, or book chapters) come in quotations. (1)

Do you underline book titles?

Underlining book titles is an outdated practice. Some still use it in handwritten essays, but it’s not a must-follow rule. Neither APA nor MLA (or Chicago) mentions underlining book names in academic papers.

How to use book title capitalization in texts?

Capitalize every word in a book’s title. Exceptions are articles (a, the), prepositions, and short (three or fewer letters) conjunctions in mid-titles.

Are books italicized in all formatting styles?

Yes, book titles come in italics in all styles: APA, MLA, and Chicago. When citing book chapters or a book as a part of a series, use quotation marks instead.

How to write a book author in an essay?

Use the author’s full name when citing their book in your papers. For works with several authors, mention their last names and initials. Unlike book titles, author names come in standard formatting with no italics.

References:

• https://english.csuci.edu/resources/essay-writing-essentials.htm
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• Essay writing
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"Author." MLA Handbook. 8th ed. , MLA, 2016, pp. 21-25.

"Title." MLA Handbook. 8th ed. , MLA, 2016, pp. 25-29.

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Home / Guides / Citation Guides / MLA Format / How to Cite Multiple Authors and Author Types in MLA

How to Cite Multiple Authors and Author Types in MLA

In this guide, you will learn how to format author names when creating an entry on a works cited page , according to guidelines in the 9th edition of the MLA Handbook (the Modern Language Association is not affiliated with this guide).

Real examples are included below to help you easily understand what to do with the various author situations you’ll find when citing sources.

Are you looking for author formatting in relation to in-text citations? Review the EasyBib MLA in-text citation guide.

What is an Author?

When creating a citation, the “author” is the individual credited with creating the source you are using. Usually, this is the individual(s) or organization who wrote the source. Sometimes, the “author” element could also be the work’s editor, translator, or performer ( MLA Handbook 107).

Here are general guidelines on formatting an author’s name:

• The author’s name is always the first thing listed in a works cited entry, unless there is no author.
• Entries on your works cited page should be listed in alphabetical order according to the author’s last name.
• The first (or only) author’s name is listed as Last Name, First Name.

Crystal, David. The Story of English in 100 Words . St. Martin’s Press, 2013.

Hunter, David J., et al. “Covid-19 and the Stiff Upper Lip – The Pandemic Response in the United Kingdom: NEJM.” New England Journal of Medicine , 17 Mar. 2020, www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2005755.

The “Works Cited: A Quick Guide” page from the official Modern Language Association Style Center calls each element of a works cited entry a “core element.” These elements (e.g., author, title, publisher, etc.) are the most common facts listed for most sources. They are assembled in a set order, starting with the author.

How to Format Author Names in MLA 9

It’s important that you must first correctly cite the last name of the author(s) whose work you’re referencing. To correctly cite the author, always begin the citation with the author’s last name, a comma, and the rest of the name as it appears on the source. Place a period after the author’s name. If your source has more than two authors, you’ll also need to know when to use et al. in MLA . Below are examples for citing one or more authors.

How to Cite One Author

List the author’s last name, add a comma, then add the author’s first name or initials ( Handbook 111). Use the author’s name as it appears on the source.

Patterson, James.

Rowling, J.K.

King, Laurie R.

How to Cite Two Authors

Place the authors in the order in which they appear on the source ( Handbook 111). Note that only the lead author’s name is listed last name first; all additional authors are listed by their first name, middle initial if applicable, and then last name:

Shields, David, and Caleb Powell.

How to Cite Three or More Authors

List the first author’s last name, first name, and then middle initial if applicable. Follow it with a comma, and then add “et al.” in place of the additional authors’ names ( Handbook 112):

Beck, Isabel L., et al.

How to Cite Works by Individuals Other Than the Author

In cases where the person responsible for creating a work is someone other than the author, such as an editor, producer, performer, or artist, always include the individual’s role after the name ( Handbook 147):

Kansaker, Tej Ratna, and Mark Turin, editors.

When citing works of entertainment, such as film or television, include the name and role of the person on whom you’ve focused ( Handbook 147):

Byrne, Rose, performer.

*Note: If you are writing about a film or television show that does not focus on an individual’s role, omit the author’s name and start the citation with the title. Contributors can be listed separately following the title if necessary. 

How to Cite Translated Works

When your focus is on the translated text rather than the original, use the translator as the author ( Handbook 147). Include the name of the original creator after the title, preceded by the word “By”:

Rojas, Carlos, translator. The Four Books. By Yan Lianke.

How to Cite Using Pseudonyms in MLA 9

If an author has published a work under a different, lesser-known name, there are a few different ways you can list the author in your citation (Handbook 115-117). You can list the author only under their more well-known name; you can list the author’s more well-known name in square brackets; or you can use the author’s more well-known name in the author field, followed by a “ published by ” note and their pseudonym in square brackets.

King, Stephen.

[King, Stephen].

King, Stephen [ published as  Richard Bachman].

Alternatively, you can choose to use the author’s lesser-known name in the author field (be it their given name or a pseudonym), and include the author’s more well-known name in square brackets before the period.

Clemens, Samuel [Mark Twain].

Bachman, Richard [Stephen King].

Related guides:

• Citing no authors or an organization author
• In-text citations

Notes on Titles and Suffixes

Some authors will also have additional information tied to their names. It could either be a title (e.g., Sir, Saint, President, etc.), a degree (e.g., MLIS, PhD, etc.), or a suffix (e.g., Jr., III, etc.).

According to the official Handbook, leave out titles and degrees from the works cited list (49).

For suffixes, include them. Add a comma after the full author’s name, then add the suffix. No comma is needed before the suffix if it is numerical.

• King, Martin Luther, Jr.
• Eaton, Maxwell III

Works Cited

MLA Handbook . 9th ed., Modern Language Association of America, 2021.

“Works Cited: A Quick Guide”. The MLA Style Center , Modern Language Association, 2020, style.mla.org/works-cited-a-quick-guide/. Accessed 26 Mar 2020.

“How Do I Cite A Source That Has No Author?” The MLA Style Center , Modern Language Association, 2017, style.mla.org/source-with-no-author/. Accessed 26 Mar 2020.

Published April 14, 2016. Updated May 18, 2021.

Written and edited by Michele Kirschenbaum and Elise Barbeau. Michele Kirschenbaum is a school library media specialist and the in-house librarian at EasyBib.com. Elise Barbeau is the Citation Specialist at Chegg. She has worked in digital marketing, libraries, and publishing.

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To cite a book in MLA style, you need to have basic information including the authors, publication year, book title, and publisher. The templates for in-text citations and works cited list entries for a book written by multiple authors, along with examples, are given below:

In-text citation template and example:

For citations in prose, use the first name and surname of the first author followed by “and others” or “and colleagues.” In subsequent citations, use only the surname of the first author followed by “and others” or “and colleagues.” In parenthetical citations, always use only the surname of the first author followed by “et al.”

Citation in prose:

First mention: Ludivine Allegue and colleagues . . . or Ludivine Allegue and others . . .

Subsequent occurrences: Allegue and colleagues . . . or Allegue and others . . .

Parenthetical:

. . . (Allegue et al.)

Works cited list entry template and example:

The title of the book is set in italics and title case.

Surname, F. M. Title of the Book . Publisher, Publication Date.

Allegue, Ludivine, et al., Practice-as-Research in Performance and Screen . Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.

Use only the first author’s name in surname–first name order in the entry, followed by “et al.”

To cite a book with multiple editors (or authors) in MLA style, you need to have basic information including the authors or the editors, publication year, book title, and publisher. The templates for in-text citations and works cited list entries of a book with multiple editors (or authors), along with examples, are given below:

For citations in prose, use the first name and surname of the first editor or the author followed by “and others” or “and colleagues.” In subsequent citations, use only the surname of the first editor or the author followed by “and others” or “and colleagues.” In parenthetical citations, always use only the surname of the first editor or the author followed by “et al.”

First mention: Annette Arlander and colleagues . . . or Annette Arlander and others . . .

Subsequent occurrences: Arlander and colleagues . . . or Arlander and others . . .

. . . ( Arlander et al.)

Works-cited-list entry template and example:

Arlander, Annette, et al., editors. Performance as Research: Knowledge, Methods, Impact . Routledge, 2017.

Use only the first editor’s or author’s name in surname–first name order in the entry, followed by “et al.” For a book with multiple editors, use the word “editors” after “et al.”

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• Writing Tips

A Quick Guide to Author Names in MLA Referencing

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• 15th October 2020

The MLA Handbook is widely used in academic writing. And in this post, we’re going to look at how to write author names in MLA referencing . This will include both using names in the main text of your essay and in the Works Cited list, plus a few important variations.

Author Names in the Text in MLA

The first time you name someone in your work, MLA style suggests using their full name exactly as it appears in the work you’re discussing. After that, as long as its clear who you’re referring to, you can just use the surname:

The most famous modern pessimist was Arthur Schopenhauer . Born in Danzig on 22 February 1788, Schopenhauer was noted for his…

But there are two key exceptions! One is for individuals so famous that they’re identifiable by a surname alone. For instance, if you wanted to mention William Shakespeare in your writing, you could simply say “Shakespeare” since most readers will instantly know who you mean.

The other key exception is parenthetical citations. In this case, you only need to give the author’s surname in brackets, along with a page number:

This thought experiment was dubbed “Twin Earth” (Putnam 701).

And if a source has three or more authors, you should only give the first author’s name, followed by “et al.” (a Latin phrase meaning “and others”):

Harold Garfinkel et al. document this process in detail (133–38).

The process is documented in detail (Garfinkel et al. 133–38).

This helps to keep the main text in your essay clear and concise.

Author Names in the Works Cited List

When compiling your Works Cited list , you will need to include the names of the author(s) for every source you’ve cited in your work.

The main thing to remember when doing this is to give the names of the first author for each source surname first . This is so you can list sources alphabetically by author surname. For instance:

Garfinkel, Harold, et al. “The Work of a Discovering Science Construed with Materials from the Optically Discovered Pulsar.” Philosophy of the Social Sciences , vol. 11, no. 2, June 1981, pp. 131–58.

Putnam, Hilary. “Meaning and Reference.” The Journal of Philosophy , vol. 70, no. 19, Nov. 1973, pp. 699–711.

As shown above, you should use “et al.” for sources with three or more authors here, too. This ensures that the name you give in the Works Cited list matches the one you have used in the citations.

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Pseudonyms in MLA

If an author is best known for writing under a pseudonym (i.e., a pen name), you should use the pseudonym when discussing them. If a pseudonym is formatted like a regular name, you can use it in the same way (i.e., give it in full on the first use, then just use the surname subsequently):

Lewis Carroll is most famous for writing Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. However, Carroll also wrote a range of literary…

But non-traditional pseudonyms (e.g., Film Crit Hulk) should be given in the same form as shown in the source. For instance:

In his blog, Film Crit Hulk explains…

In addition, in the Works Cited list, you can give the author’s real name. You can see examples of entries for two pseudonymous works below:

Carroll, Lewis (Charles Dodgson). Alice in Wonderland . Wordsworth Editions, 2018.

Film Crit Hulk. “What We Talk About When We Talk About Female Filmmaking.” HULK BLOG! , 16 Mar. 2018, https://filmcrithulk.blog/2018/03/16/what-we-talk-about-when-we-talk-about-female-filmmaking/.

Finally, if an author has published work under a pseudonym and their own name, or two versions of their name, include a “see also” note:

Bachman, Richard (see also King, Stephen). The Long Walk . Signet Books, 1979.

King, Stephen (see also Bachman, Richard). The Dead Zone . Viking Press, 1979.

The key is to make sure your pseudonyms are clear! This applies both in the main text of your essay and in the Works Cited list, as shown above.

Titles and Suffixes

MLA style suggests leaving out titles and suffixes in names (e.g., you’d write “Samuel Johnson” rather than “Dr. Samuel Johnson” ). This applies both for the main text of your work and entries in the Works Cited list.

The one exception to this guideline is when a suffix is required to identify the person you mean. So, for example, if you were writing about country music dynasties, you would keep the “Jr” in Hank Williams Jr and the “III” in Hank Williams III to differentiate them from the original Hank Williams .

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Hopefully, this has explained how to write author names in MLA referencing. But if you’d like any help with a document, our MLA experts are ready to proofread your work. Try our free trial service today to find out more.

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How to Write a Book Title and Author in an Essay?

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So, you’re writing an essay, and you’re referencing a book. But how on earth do you write and cite the title and the author’s name correctly?

Do you use quotation marks? Italics? Punctuation? And what about capitalization?

The answer is a little more complicated than you might think. It all depends on the style of essay you’re writing, but once you’ve familiarized yourself with the rules for each one, it’s easy to mention and cite any book title and author’s name correctly, so you can get top marks from your instructor, each and every time.

Table of Contents

The Correct Way to Write a Book’s Title And Author in an Essay

In this post, we’ll look at the three most common essay formats used in the US and learn how to properly display book titles and author names in each one.

The Most Popular Essay Formats

The three most commonly used essay formats found in schools, universities, and higher education institutions across America are known as APA, MLA, and Chicago style.

The format your professor assigns will depend on the subject matter, the department, the purpose of the essay, and the instructor’s individual preferences.

APA stands for the American Psychological Association. This is the go-to format for scientific essays, including many social and behavioural sciences.

MLA stands for Modern Language Association and is the most frequently used format in humanities and liberal arts subjects, such as literature and history.

Chicago format, also known as Turabian after its creator, Kate L. Turabian, is commonly used in the publishing world and also in subjects such as anthropology, history, and selected social sciences.

Why is Using The Correct Format so Important?

The short answer is that you’ll receive a lower grade if you don’t.

But of course, there are many good reasons why proper formatting is important when writing papers and essays.

1. Consistency

Formats like APA, MLA, and Chicago provide a strict set of criteria to stick to throughout an essay, ensuring consistency.

Consistency avoids confusion for the reader and helps them to quickly and easily identify what the writer is trying to say.

2. References And Research

Sticking with one style or format makes it easier for readers to check citations and conduct further research into the chosen topic.

3. Demonstrating Understanding

In academic settings, adhering to a particular style guide, such as APA, MLA, or Chicago, demonstrates your understanding of the rules and principles of written material within that field.

This shows that you don’t just understand the subject; you also know how to write about it.

4. Preparation For Future Studies

Suppose you’re a high school student or a college undergrad, familiarizing yourself with the basic principles of essay formatting. In that case, it is a great way to prepare yourself for your future academic pursuits, especially if you plan to progress onto a graduate or postgraduate program.

How to Write a Book’s Title in The Main Body of an APA Style Essay?

Here are the key rules to remember when writing book titles in the main body of an APA-style essay:

• Use quotation marks (not italics) on either side of the book’s title (with the exception of the holy texts like the Bible and reference works like dictionaries and almanacs).
• The first word of the title should be capitalized.
• All words and terms containing more than four letters or symbols should be capitalized.
• Any two-part words containing a hyphen should be capitalized.
• Words placed directly after a colon or dash should also be capitalized.

For example, “Slaughterhouse-Five”

How to Write a Book’s Title in The Main Body of an MLA or Chicago Style Essay?

MLA and Chicago-style essays use similar rules when it comes to mentioning book titles in the main body of an essay. Here are the key things to remember when using either of these formats:

• The book’s title should be displayed in italics (not quotation marks), with the exception of holy texts like the Bible.
• If the title contains punctuation, this should be italicized, too.
• All verbs, nouns, and adjectives should be capitalized.
• If you’re referring to a chapter or mentioning a book alongside the series it belongs to, use quotation marks, not italics.

For example,

O ne Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, or “A Clash of Kings” from A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin

1. Avoid Capitalizing Minor Words

Unless they appear as the first word in a title, the following words should be displayed in lowercase.

• Prepositions , such as on, in, at, and from.
• Articles , such as the, a, and an.
• Coordinating conjunctions , such as so, and, yet, but, and for.

This might sound a little complex at first, but it’s pretty simple and intuitive once you get the hang of it.

99% of the time, the book’s title as it is displayed on the front cover is correct for both MLA and Chicago-style essays.

How to Write a Book’s Title in The Main Body of a Handwritten Essay?

Handwritten essays used to be the norm, but these days, they’re most definitely the exception.

Still, there may be some instances where you’re asked to handwrite an essay rather than type it, in which case, you should follow the rules below.

1. Capitalization

The capitalization rules for writing book titles in the main body of a handwritten essay are the same as with typed essays.

So, if you’re handwriting an APA-style essay, make sure to capitalize the first letter of the first word in the title and do the same for every word containing more than four letters.

And when handwriting an MLA or Chicago-style essay, capitalize the first letter of the first word of the title and do the same for every word except for articles, prepositions, or coordinating conjunctions.

2. Underlining

No matter the format, book titles should always be underlined when handwriting an essay

• Underline the complete title, including any words that come after a colon or dash
• Underline any punctuation that appears in the book’s title
• Avoid underlining each word separately; always use one continuous line
• Make your line as straight as possible by using a ruler or following the line on the paper

How to Cite a Book And its Author in a References or Works Cited Page?

So, now you know how to write the title of a book mentioned in the body of an essay.

But what do you do when you need to cite a book and its author in your references or works cited page?

To keep it simple, I’ll use Lucy Maud Montgomery’s 1908 classic children’s novel , Anne of Green Gables, as an example for each essay style.

1. Book Citations in APA Style

Here’s the proper format for citing authors and their book titles in APA:

Last Name, First Names. (Year the book was published). Book title .

For example, Montgomery, Lucy Maud. (1908). Anne of Green Gables.

2. Book Citations in MLA Style

Here’s the proper format for citing authors and their book titles in MLA:

Last Name, First Names. Book title . City of Publication, Publisher, Year the book was published.

Note: You only need to include the city of publication if the book was published before 1900 or if the publisher is not based in the US.

For example, Montgomery, Lucy Maud. Anne of Green Gables. L.C. Page & Co., 1908.

3. Book Citations in Chicago Style

Here’s the proper format for citing authors and their book titles in Chicago style:

Last Name, First Names. Book Title: Subtitle . City of publication: Publisher, Year the book was published.

Note: Just like with MLA style, you only need to include the city of publication if the book was published before 1900 or if the publisher is not based in the US.

For example, Montgomery, Lucy Maud. Anne of Green Gables . L.C. Page & Co., 1908.

4. Book Citations in a Hand Written Essay

If you’re handwriting an essay, you’ll no doubt be handwriting your references or works cited page, too.

In this case, you should still follow the appropriate formatting rules above in relation to the chosen essay style.

But where a title appears in italics in a printed essay, in a handwritten essay, it should be neatly underlined instead.

Missing Information

If you’ve searched high and low for a book’s publisher, publication date, or the city in which it was published, but you still can’t find the information, it’s generally acceptable to leave it out.

Essay writing is a skill that takes practice, and at first, the rules and principles of the different formats can seem complex. This is especially true when you’re writing about books and their authors or citing other people’s work.

But hopefully, this post has helped explain the structures used in each of the most commonly used formats so that next time you write an essay, you can be confident that you’re doing it right.

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Q. How do I refer to a book by title in-text in APA format?

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Answered By: Gabe Gossett Last Updated: Jun 22, 2023     Views: 643707

The basic format for an in-text citation is: Title of the Book (Author Last Name, year).

One author: Where the Wild Things Are (Sendak, 1963) is a depiction of a child coping with his anger towards his mom.

Two authors (cite both names every time): Brabant and Mooney (1986) have used the comic strip to examine evidence of sex role stereotyping. OR The comic strip has been used to examine evidence of sex role stereotyping (Brabant & Mooney, 1986).

Three or more authors (cite the first author plus et al.): Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy (Clare et al., 2016) depicts a young man's experience at the Shadowhunter Academy, a place where being a former vampire is looked down upon.OR Clare et al. (2016) have crafted a unique story about a young man's journey to find himself.

No author: Cite the first few words of the reference entry (usually the title) and the year. Use double quotation marks around the title of an article or chapter, and italicize the title of a periodical, book, brochure, or report. Examples: From the book Study Guide (2000) ... or ("Reading," 1999).

Note: Titles of periodicals, books, brochures, or reports should be in italics and use normal title capitalization rules.

If you are citing multiple sources by multiple authors in-text, you can list all of them by the author's last name and year of publication within the same set of parentheses, separated by semicolons.

Example: (Adams, 1999; Jones & James, 2000; Miller, 1999)

For more information on how to cite books in-text and as a reference entry, see the APA Publication Manual (7th edition) Section 10.2 on pages 321-325 .

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Comments (13)

• This was very useful for me! I was having a really hard time finding information on how to mention an article title AND the author in text in APA so this was very helpful!!! by Ryan Waddell on Jun 27, 2019
• If I just mention that I used a book to teach a topic do I have to include it in the reference list? by Franw on Oct 17, 2019
• @Franw, if it is a source that informs your paper in any way, or if your reader would have reason to look it up, then you should include a full reference list entry for the book. by Gabe [Research & Writing Studio] on Oct 18, 2019
• Maybe I'm misunderstanding the question, but I think the OP is asking how to refer to a book title, not how to cite one. I believe APA uses quotation marks around book titles and MLA uses italics. by AB on Dec 12, 2019
• @AB: The first sentence has been tweaked to clarify title of book usage, reflecting the examples given. For APA style you should use italics for book titles. It would be quotation marks. by Gabe [Research & Writing Studio] on Dec 12, 2019
• Hi, can any one help me with in-text-citation of this, how can i cite it in the text Panel, I. L. (2002). Digital transformation: A framework for ICT literacy. Educational Testing Service, 1-53. by Milad on Aug 20, 2021
• @Milad: In that case it would be (Panel, 2002). If you are quoting, or otherwise choosing to include page numbers, put a comma after the year, then p. and the page number(s). by Gabe Gossett on Aug 20, 2021
• Hey, I'm a little bit curious, what if I'm mentioning a book and paraphrasing it but still want to give credit. Would I put the information into parenthesis instead? Like: Paraphrased info. ("Title in Italics" Author, year) by Kai on Sep 14, 2023
• @Kai: Apologies for not seeing your question sooner! (Our academic year has not started yet). If I am understanding your question correctly, what I suggest is referring to the book title in the narrative of your writing, rather than in the in-text citation. I do not see an examples of using a book title in an in-text citation except for rare circumstances including citing a classic religious text or using the title when there is no author information because it is the start of your reference list entry. Basically, APA's in-text convention is supposed to make it easy for your reader to locate the source being cited in the reference list. So the first part of the in-text citation, usually authors, comes first to locate it alphabetically. Putting the book title first when you have an author name can throw that off. by Gabe Gossett on Sep 21, 2023
• Perhaps this is along the lines of the response to Kai - Can you reference a book title as a common point of social understanding to demonstrate a common concept? Is official citing required if you use widely known titles such as "Where's Waldo" and "Who Moved My Cheese?" to make a point of illustration? by Chez Renee on Sep 30, 2023
• @Chez: Aside from some classical religious texts, if it is a published book, I'd try to make sure that it is appropriately cited for APA style. That said, I think I understand where it gets tricky with things like Where's Waldo, since that is a series of books and stating "Where's Waldo" is a cultural reference many people would understand, though you can't reasonably cite the entire series. I don't believe that APA gives guidance for this particular issue. If it is being referred to in order to back up a claim, it would help to cite a particular book. If not, then it might work to use a statement such as, "Hanford's Where's Waldo series . . ." by Gabe Gossett on Oct 02, 2023
• How to cite a dissertation thesis in apa form? by Elizabeth on Feb 05, 2024
• @Elizabeth: For citing a dissertation or thesis you can check out our page answering that here https://askus.library.wwu.edu/faq/153308 by Gabe Gossett on Feb 05, 2024

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When to Use an Author Name in the Body of a Sentence and When to Keep It in the Parenthetical Citation

4 comments :

Hello,could you please help me out? In an annotated bibliography, when writing the summary or analysis and the author of the paper has been properly credited and cited in every possible way is it acceptable to interchange between his given name and the word "author" when there is a continued focus on one individual's work?

Good Morning, Armida. Before I answer your question, please remember that each writing situation has different requirements and expectations held by the reader. What is appropriate in one course might be not as appropriate in the next course. Always scrutinize the instructions you've been given and make sure you check with your reader, faculty member, or assessor. That being said, in Walden annotated bibliography assignments we recommend that writers omit citations altogether. You can read an extended explanation on our AB webpage, but since you've just written the reference entry information in the lines above the annotation, there is no room for confusion in the reader. To answer your question directly, in my opinion, you are welcome to use the term "author" as a stand in for the author's given name. You can learn much more about this question on the Walden University Writing Center's web page on Formatting Annotated Bibliographies. Have a great day!

Hey thank you for your incite, will keep your advice in mind, have a great Fourth of July and be safe everyone!!

We're glad you enjoyed the post, Armida Silver, and hope you had a great Fourth of July as well!

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How to introduce multiple authors of a research paper in content?

I want to introduce the findings of a case study in my report, but it has four authors and I would like name them in when introducing it.

What would be the best way to do this, or is the below perfectly acceptable?

Andria A, Paul S, Derek B and Howard C provide an interesting insight in their case study...

• 1 First one, et al. (2014) provide an interesting insight in their case study... –  enthu Commented Nov 8, 2014 at 18:28
• 1 Or First one et al. [APDH14] –  yo' Commented Nov 8, 2014 at 18:30
• 4 More accurately: "Andria \emph{et al.}~\cite{APDH14}" –  JeffE Commented Nov 8, 2014 at 20:19
• 2 Even better, \textcite{APDH14} will just take care of everything according to the file style. –  user9646 Commented Nov 9, 2014 at 19:57
• 3 @JeffE I'm pretty sure a specific markup language's code for something is pretty situational form of "more accurately". –  Fomite Commented Nov 9, 2015 at 3:29

4 Answers 4

How to handle this depends on your field. If your field has a notion of first author, then "[name of first author] et al." is appropriate. In fields like math that use alphabetical ordering, I'd strongly recommend naming all the authors, since "et al." could be read as diminishing the credit later authors get. I would not be happy if my name disappeared into an "et al."

The sentence "[last name of author 1], [last name of author 2], [last name of author 3] and [last name of author 4] provide an interesting insight in their case study..." sounds fine to me. (I.e., the same sentence as in the question, except that I assume "Andria A, Paul S, Derek B and Howard C" are just stand-ins for the actual names, and not actually a proposal for how to format the names.)

• Sorry, but I think that "Andria A, Paul S, Derek B and Howard C provide..." is actually not that great, and I would certainly suggest it be reworded if I were editing a paper in which it appeared. –  GeneMachine Commented Nov 8, 2014 at 20:56
• 2 "Provide an interesting insight" isn't how I'd phrase things, but I don't see anything wrong with it. Aside from that, is your objection to the list of names? First names and initials sound funny, but I'm assuming they are just a placeholder for real names (not that anyone is proposing actually referring to people that way). –  Anonymous Mathematician Commented Nov 8, 2014 at 21:27
• 1 Having a long list of names (especially with initials, as you propose) is unusual, unwieldy, and inelegant - in my opinion. –  GeneMachine Commented Nov 9, 2014 at 1:38
• Don't know why you are being down voted. In math it would be frowned upon to put et al for any paper that was 4 authors or less. In other fields et al will be acceptable. –  WetlabStudent Commented Nov 9, 2015 at 5:56

This is completely dependent on your citation style. Two examples:

For APA, if there are only two authors, cite both each time; if there are between three and five, cite them all the first time then cite as "First et al., 2014" in subsequent citations; if there are six or more, use "et al." every time.

For IEEE, use of "et al." begins at three authors, and you use "et al.".

As you can see there are wild variations. Check which style you're supposed to use, and check how multiple authors should be cited with that style. As a general rule of thumb, maybe use "et al." when there are too many authors.

As another user pointed out it's also dependent on your field, and it's even possible that author names shouldn't be cited in every reference (just a numeric reference like [42]) -- I just checked a math journal at random and this was like that.

PS: If you're writing something in LaTeX and are using biblatex, I want to advertise the commands \textcite , \parencite and \footcite . They are able to automate most of this (for example with the APA style, they correctly detect which citation is the first).

• 3 I don't read this as a question about citation style, but rather about how to name/talk about authors independently of the formal reference to the bibliography. I.e., even if your citation style is "Smith et al. 2014", you could write something like "Smith, Chen, and Jones discovered that blah blah blah (Smith et al. 2014)", where only the latter part is the citation of the specific paper as specified by the citation style. –  Anonymous Mathematician Commented Nov 9, 2014 at 21:01
• @AnonymousMathematician Without other guidelines, the citation style is as good as anything else to go by. Besides, the citation is supposed to be able to be used as a subject, as far as I'm aware, so that you could write "(Smith et al., 2014) discovered that blablabla". –  user9646 Commented Nov 10, 2014 at 7:32

For more than two authors, it's generally the norm to say something like "As Andria, et al . (2014) discuss, ..."

• 5 it's not good style to start a sentence with name(s) of author(s) — What is this I don't even –  JeffE Commented Nov 8, 2014 at 20:20

The question is not about citation, as with a works cited page, but whether or not it is appropriate to introduce all authors when first stating the title of the work. ie "In such and such article by author A, B, C, and D...." I believe the question is: Must all authors A-D be noted or is it acceptable with less? In this case I'd say yes it is just fine as is.

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MLA In-Text Citations: The Basics

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Guidelines for referring to the works of others in your text using MLA style are covered throughout the  MLA Handbook  and in chapter 7 of the  MLA Style Manual . Both books provide extensive examples, so it's a good idea to consult them if you want to become even more familiar with MLA guidelines or if you have a particular reference question.

Basic in-text citation rules

In MLA Style, referring to the works of others in your text is done using parenthetical citations . This method involves providing relevant source information in parentheses whenever a sentence uses a quotation or paraphrase. Usually, the simplest way to do this is to put all of the source information in parentheses at the end of the sentence (i.e., just before the period). However, as the examples below will illustrate, there are situations where it makes sense to put the parenthetical elsewhere in the sentence, or even to leave information out.

General Guidelines

• The source information required in a parenthetical citation depends (1) upon the source medium (e.g. print, web, DVD) and (2) upon the source’s entry on the Works Cited page.
• Any source information that you provide in-text must correspond to the source information on the Works Cited page. More specifically, whatever signal word or phrase you provide to your readers in the text must be the first thing that appears on the left-hand margin of the corresponding entry on the Works Cited page.

In-text citations: Author-page style

MLA format follows the author-page method of in-text citation. This means that the author's last name and the page number(s) from which the quotation or paraphrase is taken must appear in the text, and a complete reference should appear on your Works Cited page. The author's name may appear either in the sentence itself or in parentheses following the quotation or paraphrase, but the page number(s) should always appear in the parentheses, not in the text of your sentence. For example:

Both citations in the examples above, (263) and (Wordsworth 263), tell readers that the information in the sentence can be located on page 263 of a work by an author named Wordsworth. If readers want more information about this source, they can turn to the Works Cited page, where, under the name of Wordsworth, they would find the following information:

Wordsworth, William. Lyrical Ballads . Oxford UP, 1967.

In-text citations for print sources with known author

For print sources like books, magazines, scholarly journal articles, and newspapers, provide a signal word or phrase (usually the author’s last name) and a page number. If you provide the signal word/phrase in the sentence, you do not need to include it in the parenthetical citation.

These examples must correspond to an entry that begins with Burke, which will be the first thing that appears on the left-hand margin of an entry on the Works Cited page:

Burke, Kenneth. Language as Symbolic Action: Essays on Life, Literature, and Method . University of California Press, 1966.

In-text citations for print sources by a corporate author

When a source has a corporate author, it is acceptable to use the name of the corporation followed by the page number for the in-text citation. You should also use abbreviations (e.g., nat'l for national) where appropriate, so as to avoid interrupting the flow of reading with overly long parenthetical citations.

In-text citations for sources with non-standard labeling systems

If a source uses a labeling or numbering system other than page numbers, such as a script or poetry, precede the citation with said label. When citing a poem, for instance, the parenthetical would begin with the word “line”, and then the line number or range. For example, the examination of William Blake’s poem “The Tyger” would be cited as such:

The speaker makes an ardent call for the exploration of the connection between the violence of nature and the divinity of creation. “In what distant deeps or skies. / Burnt the fire of thine eyes," they ask in reference to the tiger as they attempt to reconcile their intimidation with their relationship to creationism (lines 5-6).

Longer labels, such as chapters (ch.) and scenes (sc.), should be abbreviated.

In-text citations for print sources with no known author

When a source has no known author, use a shortened title of the work instead of an author name, following these guidelines.

Place the title in quotation marks if it's a short work (such as an article) or italicize it if it's a longer work (e.g. plays, books, television shows, entire Web sites) and provide a page number if it is available.

Titles longer than a standard noun phrase should be shortened into a noun phrase by excluding articles. For example, To the Lighthouse would be shortened to Lighthouse .

If the title cannot be easily shortened into a noun phrase, the title should be cut after the first clause, phrase, or punctuation:

In this example, since the reader does not know the author of the article, an abbreviated title appears in the parenthetical citation, and the full title of the article appears first at the left-hand margin of its respective entry on the Works Cited page. Thus, the writer includes the title in quotation marks as the signal phrase in the parenthetical citation in order to lead the reader directly to the source on the Works Cited page. The Works Cited entry appears as follows:

"The Impact of Global Warming in North America." Global Warming: Early Signs . 1999. www.climatehotmap.org/. Accessed 23 Mar. 2009.

If the title of the work begins with a quotation mark, such as a title that refers to another work, that quote or quoted title can be used as the shortened title. The single quotation marks must be included in the parenthetical, rather than the double quotation.

Parenthetical citations and Works Cited pages, used in conjunction, allow readers to know which sources you consulted in writing your essay, so that they can either verify your interpretation of the sources or use them in their own scholarly work.

Author-page citation for classic and literary works with multiple editions

Page numbers are always required, but additional citation information can help literary scholars, who may have a different edition of a classic work, like Marx and Engels's  The Communist Manifesto . In such cases, give the page number of your edition (making sure the edition is listed in your Works Cited page, of course) followed by a semicolon, and then the appropriate abbreviations for volume (vol.), book (bk.), part (pt.), chapter (ch.), section (sec.), or paragraph (par.). For example:

Author-page citation for works in an anthology, periodical, or collection

When you cite a work that appears inside a larger source (for instance, an article in a periodical or an essay in a collection), cite the author of the  internal source (i.e., the article or essay). For example, to cite Albert Einstein's article "A Brief Outline of the Theory of Relativity," which was published in  Nature  in 1921, you might write something like this:

See also our page on documenting periodicals in the Works Cited .

Citing authors with same last names

Sometimes more information is necessary to identify the source from which a quotation is taken. For instance, if two or more authors have the same last name, provide both authors' first initials (or even the authors' full name if different authors share initials) in your citation. For example:

Citing a work by multiple authors

For a source with two authors, list the authors’ last names in the text or in the parenthetical citation:

Corresponding Works Cited entry:

Best, David, and Sharon Marcus. “Surface Reading: An Introduction.” Representations , vol. 108, no. 1, Fall 2009, pp. 1-21. JSTOR, doi:10.1525/rep.2009.108.1.1

For a source with three or more authors, list only the first author’s last name, and replace the additional names with et al.

Franck, Caroline, et al. “Agricultural Subsidies and the American Obesity Epidemic.” American Journal of Preventative Medicine , vol. 45, no. 3, Sept. 2013, pp. 327-333.

Citing multiple works by the same author

If you cite more than one work by an author, include a shortened title for the particular work from which you are quoting to distinguish it from the others. Put short titles of books in italics and short titles of articles in quotation marks.

Citing two articles by the same author :

Citing two books by the same author :

Additionally, if the author's name is not mentioned in the sentence, format your citation with the author's name followed by a comma, followed by a shortened title of the work, and, when appropriate, the page number(s):

Citing multivolume works

If you cite from different volumes of a multivolume work, always include the volume number followed by a colon. Put a space after the colon, then provide the page number(s). (If you only cite from one volume, provide only the page number in parentheses.)

Citing the Bible

In your first parenthetical citation, you want to make clear which Bible you're using (and underline or italicize the title), as each version varies in its translation, followed by book (do not italicize or underline), chapter, and verse. For example:

If future references employ the same edition of the Bible you’re using, list only the book, chapter, and verse in the parenthetical citation:

John of Patmos echoes this passage when describing his vision (Rev. 4.6-8).

Citing indirect sources

Sometimes you may have to use an indirect source. An indirect source is a source cited within another source. For such indirect quotations, use "qtd. in" to indicate the source you actually consulted. For example:

Note that, in most cases, a responsible researcher will attempt to find the original source, rather than citing an indirect source.

Citing transcripts, plays, or screenplays

Sources that take the form of a dialogue involving two or more participants have special guidelines for their quotation and citation. Each line of dialogue should begin with the speaker's name written in all capitals and indented half an inch. A period follows the name (e.g., JAMES.) . After the period, write the dialogue. Each successive line after the first should receive an additional indentation. When another person begins speaking, start a new line with that person's name indented only half an inch. Repeat this pattern each time the speaker changes. You can include stage directions in the quote if they appear in the original source.

Conclude with a parenthetical that explains where to find the excerpt in the source. Usually, the author and title of the source can be given in a signal phrase before quoting the excerpt, so the concluding parenthetical will often just contain location information like page numbers or act/scene indicators.

Here is an example from O'Neill's  The Iceman Cometh.

WILLIE. (Pleadingly) Give me a drink, Rocky. Harry said it was all right. God, I need a drink.

ROCKY. Den grab it. It's right under your nose.

WILLIE. (Avidly) Thanks. (He takes the bottle with both twitching hands and tilts it to his lips and gulps down the whiskey in big swallows.) (1.1)

Citing non-print or sources from the Internet

With more and more scholarly work published on the Internet, you may have to cite sources you found in digital environments. While many sources on the Internet should not be used for scholarly work (reference the OWL's  Evaluating Sources of Information  resource), some Web sources are perfectly acceptable for research. When creating in-text citations for electronic, film, or Internet sources, remember that your citation must reference the source on your Works Cited page.

Sometimes writers are confused with how to craft parenthetical citations for electronic sources because of the absence of page numbers. However, these sorts of entries often do not require a page number in the parenthetical citation. For electronic and Internet sources, follow the following guidelines:

• Include in the text the first item that appears in the Work Cited entry that corresponds to the citation (e.g. author name, article name, website name, film name).
• Do not provide paragraph numbers or page numbers based on your Web browser’s print preview function.
• Unless you must list the Web site name in the signal phrase in order to get the reader to the appropriate entry, do not include URLs in-text. Only provide partial URLs such as when the name of the site includes, for example, a domain name, like  CNN.com  or  Forbes.com,  as opposed to writing out http://www.cnn.com or http://www.forbes.com.

Miscellaneous non-print sources

Two types of non-print sources you may encounter are films and lectures/presentations:

In the two examples above “Herzog” (a film’s director) and “Yates” (a presentor) lead the reader to the first item in each citation’s respective entry on the Works Cited page:

Herzog, Werner, dir. Fitzcarraldo . Perf. Klaus Kinski. Filmverlag der Autoren, 1982.

Yates, Jane. "Invention in Rhetoric and Composition." Gaps Addressed: Future Work in Rhetoric and Composition, CCCC, Palmer House Hilton, 2002. Address.

Electronic sources

Electronic sources may include web pages and online news or magazine articles:

In the first example (an online magazine article), the writer has chosen not to include the author name in-text; however, two entries from the same author appear in the Works Cited. Thus, the writer includes both the author’s last name and the article title in the parenthetical citation in order to lead the reader to the appropriate entry on the Works Cited page (see below).

In the second example (a web page), a parenthetical citation is not necessary because the page does not list an author, and the title of the article, “MLA Formatting and Style Guide,” is used as a signal phrase within the sentence. If the title of the article was not named in the sentence, an abbreviated version would appear in a parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence. Both corresponding Works Cited entries are as follows:

Taylor, Rumsey. "Fitzcarraldo." Slant , 13 Jun. 2003, www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/fitzcarraldo/. Accessed 29 Sep. 2009. 

"MLA Formatting and Style Guide." The Purdue OWL , 2 Aug. 2016, owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/. Accessed 2 April 2018.

Multiple citations

To cite multiple sources in the same parenthetical reference, separate the citations by a semi-colon:

Time-based media sources

When creating in-text citations for media that has a runtime, such as a movie or podcast, include the range of hours, minutes and seconds you plan to reference. For example: (00:02:15-00:02:35).

When a citation is not needed

Common sense and ethics should determine your need for documenting sources. You do not need to give sources for familiar proverbs, well-known quotations, or common knowledge (For example, it is expected that U.S. citizens know that George Washington was the first President.). Remember that citing sources is a rhetorical task, and, as such, can vary based on your audience. If you’re writing for an expert audience of a scholarly journal, for example, you may need to deal with expectations of what constitutes “common knowledge” that differ from common norms.

Other Sources

The MLA Handbook describes how to cite many different kinds of authors and content creators. However, you may occasionally encounter a source or author category that the handbook does not describe, making the best way to proceed can be unclear.

In these cases, it's typically acceptable to apply the general principles of MLA citation to the new kind of source in a way that's consistent and sensible. A good way to do this is to simply use the standard MLA directions for a type of source that resembles the source you want to cite.

You may also want to investigate whether a third-party organization has provided directions for how to cite this kind of source. For example, Norquest College provides guidelines for citing Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers⁠ —an author category that does not appear in the MLA Handbook . In cases like this, however, it's a good idea to ask your instructor or supervisor whether using third-party citation guidelines might present problems.

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How to Introduce an Author in an Essay: Tips for MLA and APA

How to Introduce an Author in an Essay

When writing an essay, you are required to cite and reference any outside source that has been used. Any information that is not general knowledge should be cited. If you do not cite and reference such information, then your essay will be plagiarized.

Plagiarism is when you copy another author’s text or information to your essay. By doing so, you are assuming ownership of another author’s intellectual property, which is an academic crime.

As such, you must cite the owner of the outside information within your essay to avoid plagiarism.

This brings in the issue of the ways used to introduce an author in an essay. Introducing an author is part of acknowledging that you have borrowed from their work and is part of citations.

When you do not wish to create a standard in-text citation such as (Mathew, 2021) in APA or (Mathew 25) in MLA, you can introduce the authors as part of a statement.

The next section of this article will explore the various ways of introducing an author in an essay.

Need Help with your Homework or Essays?

5 ways to effectively introduce an author in an essay.

You can effectively introduce an author in an essay by mentioning their name and text, use a prefix like ‘according to’, mentioning their stance, referring to their book in the beginning, or reporting the argument then the name.

The choice that you make depends on the context and content of the citation. Let us explore these in detail.

1. Mention Their Name and Book

This is one of the various ways to introduce an author in an essay. In this case, you will have to mention either their surname as you start your sentence.

The author’s name is then followed by the book, article, research, or any formal peer-reviewed text they have written, and then continue stating what they have said.

For example, let us imagine that an author known as Seth McFarlane has written a book or text titled “The Root Causes of Socioeconomic Inequality in the United States.”

If you want to introduce them in your essay, you can say that Seth McFarlane stated in his book “The Root Causes of Socioeconomic Inequality in the United States” that…

You can also use their surname, which is McFarlane. In this case, the statement will look like this: McFarlane stated in his book titled “The Root Causes of Socioeconomic Inequality in the United States” that…

However, once you have introduced the author, there is no need to repeat the same statement elsewhere. You should formally cite them using either APA or MLA format, as discussed in this article.

2. Use “According to” Pretext

This is also a widely accepted method used to introduce an author in an essay. It is commonly used because it links the previous point or information with the author and his argument.

As noted, when writing an essay and you have not conducted primary research/study by yourself, then you will have to use other sources as evidence of your claims. To introduce the source’s author, you can use the phrase “according to…” 

For example, let us imagine our author is still Seth McFarlane and the title of his book or text is still “The Root Causes of Socioeconomic Inequality in the United States.”

To introduce the author, you can say: “According to Seth McFarlane, one of the root causes of socioeconomic inequality in the United States is racial inequality and racism in general.”

From the above example, you have noticed that the text that follows the “according to Seth McFarlane” phrase has to be a factual statement that the author has stated in their book.

It is a form of citation. It should be noted that you do not have to use their full name. You can use their surname.

3. Mention Their Name and What They Said

Mentioning the author’s name and what they said in their book or text is also a viable way of introducing an author in your essay. In this case, you do not have to write the title of their work. You only need to either paraphrase or quote (“…”) what they said.

For example, if you want to back up an argument in which you have stated that socioeconomic inequality is caused by racial inequality and racism in the United States, you introduce an author who corroborates the claim.

You can state that “Seth McFarlane also notes that one of the root causes of socioeconomic inequality in the United States is racial inequality and racism in general”. 

4. Use the phrase “In His Book, (The Author) Argues That…”

This is a good strategy to introduce an author in your essay while still maintaining the continuity or flow of your arguments.

In this case, you do not have to mention the book’s title or text.

You only need to note the author’s name so that the readers can know who authored your source of information.

For example, if you use this method, your statement will look like this: “In his book, Seth McFarlane argues that the root cause of socioeconomic inequality in the United States is racial inequality and racism in general”. 

5. Present the Argument, Then the Author Who Made It

Though this method is not widely used, it can also be applied when you want to introduce an author in your essay. It should be noted that this is not the same as presenting the arguments and then putting a formal APA or MLA in-text citation at the end. 

To introduce the author using this strategy, your statement will look like this: “The root cause of socioeconomic inequality in the United States is racial inequality and racism in general, Seth McFarlane notes”. 

How to Cite Authors in an Essay

If you have not introduced the authors within your text, you should cite them using MLA or APA format to ensure that you acknowledge the source of the information. While other citation formats can be used, MLA and APA are the most common formats in academic essay writing.

How to Cite Authors in MLA

When it comes to citing authors in MLA format, you should include their surname followed by the page number from which you have read the information.

Since this should be an in-text citation, you should put it into brackets at the end of the statement.

It would look like this: The root cause of socioeconomic inequality in the United States is racial inequality and racism in general (McFarlane 23). 

How to Cite Authors in APA

Concerning the APA format, you include the author’s surname followed by the year their book or text was published.

This is also put into brackets. The statement would look like this:

“The root cause of socioeconomic inequality in the United States is racial inequality and racism in general (McFarlane, 2021).

Note that a comma separates the surname and year of publication. This makes the citation complete and gives the year and the author.

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Dos and Don’ts of Introducing an Author in an Essay

When it comes to the Dos, always introduce the author using their surname followed by what they said. While you can use their first and last names to introduce the authors, it is advisable to use their surnames to avoid including unnecessary long names.

Plagiarism-checking tools may also match long names, and your paper will be considered as plagiarized.

When the authors are more than two, do not introduce them all.

Imagine more than seven people have co-authored a book, and you introduce them all.

This would not make sense. You should only include the surname of the first author followed by ‘et al.’

Concerning the don’ts, avoid using the full names of the author(s) when introducing them in an essay.

Secondly, once you have introduced the author(s), don’t introduce them again. Instead, use in-text citations to acknowledge them.

Finally, don’t write the full names of all the authors. Just use ‘et al. to show that there are more authors. Read our guide on how to use references in the introductory paragraphs for more.

Josh Jasen or JJ as we fondly call him, is a senior academic editor at Grade Bees in charge of the writing department. When not managing complex essays and academic writing tasks, Josh is busy advising students on how to pass assignments. In his spare time, he loves playing football or walking with his dog around the park.

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How to Write a Literary Analysis Essay in 8 Quick Steps

A good literary analysis involves more than just summarizing a story or poem. It's about digging deep into the text to understand its themes, characters, and writing techniques. In this article, we'll explore how to do just that. Whether you're a seasoned pro or new to the game, these tips will help you learn how to write a literary analysis essay that'll impress your readers. Let's dive in!

How to Write a Literary Analysis Essay?

Writing a good literary analysis is like taking a closer look at a painting to understand what makes it beautiful. In this section, we'll break down the steps to help you write a literary analysis essay on a book or poem. We'll explore things like characters, themes, and writing style so you can really understand what the author is trying to say. If you’re in a hurry, our experts can write paper for you overnight according to your particular instructions.

Choose Your Original

Select a source that intrigues you or one assigned by your instructor. Opt for a work that resonates with you emotionally or intellectually, as this connection will fuel your evaluation and keep you engaged throughout the process. Whether it's a classic novel, a contemporary poem, or a play, ensure that the content is rich in themes, characters, and stylistic devices to provide ample material for scrutinizing.

Read Carefully and Analyze

Once you've chosen your source, read it attentively, making notes on significant passages, character developments, and recurring themes. Pay close attention to the author's writing style, language choices, and penmanship devices such as imagery, symbolism, and foreshadowing. Analyze how these elements contribute to the overall meaning and impact of the original, and consider how they evoke emotions or convey the author's message to the reader. If you need critical analysis essay examples , here are some compelling samples for your inspiration and motivation.

Formulate a Thesis Statement

After thoroughly analyzing the text, formulate a clear and concise thesis statement that encapsulates your interpretation or claim about the work. Your thesis should assert a specific claim or perspective regarding the work's meaning, theme, or literature elements, providing a roadmap for your composition and guiding your reader's understanding of your assignment's purpose.

Develop Your Argument

With your thesis statement in mind, develop a coherent argument supporting your text interpretation. Draw on evidence from the original, including quotations, plot details, and character interactions, to substantiate your claims and illustrate your examination. Consider how each piece of evidence contributes to your overall argument and use it to build a persuasive case for your interpretation of the material. By the way, you can ask our experts, ‘ do my PowerPoint presentation ,’ and our specialists will address such an assignment, too.

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Outline Your Document

Create a detailed outline that organizes your ideas and evidence logically and sequentially. Divide your paper into an introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion, each addressing a specific aspect of your exploration. Outline the main points you'll discuss in each paragraph and the evidence you'll use to support them, ensuring a clear and structured progression of ideas throughout your document.

Write Your Introduction

Begin with an engaging introduction that provides context for your brainstorming and introduces your thesis statement to the reader. Hook your audience with an intriguing opening line or a thought-provoking question, then provide background information about the document and its author to orient your reader. Finally, present your thesis, outlining the main points you'll address in your speculation and setting the stage for the rest of your work.

Craft Your Body Paragraphs

In the main body, develop each point of your argument in separate paragraphs, providing evidence from the work to support your claims. Start each paragraph with a topic sentence that introduces the main idea or statement of the paragraph, then follow it with evidence from the original, such as quotations or textual survey, to illustrate and substantiate your point. Analyze each piece of evidence in relation to your thesis, explaining how it supports your interpretation of the source and contributes to your overall argument.

Conclude Thoughtfully

Finally, conclude your assignment with a thoughtful conclusion summarizing your arguments and reinforcing your thesis. Review the main points you've discussed in your paper, highlighting your key insights or discoveries about the text. Avoid introducing new information or arguments in your conclusion; reiterate the significance of your research and its broader implications for understanding the manuscript. End your work with a compelling closing statement that leaves a lasting impression on your reader and encourages further reflection on the work's meaning and significance. Shop for an essay for sale if both your schedule and budget are tight.

Is Your Literary Analysis Deadline Too Short?

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What Is a Literary Analysis Essay?

It is a type of academic writing that examines and interprets a work, such as a novel, poem, or play. It aims to delve into the deeper layers of the text to uncover its themes, characters, symbolism, and stylistic devices.

What Is the Purpose of a Literary Analysis Essay?

The purpose of this essay is to critically analyze a piece of literature, providing insights into its meaning, significance, and artistic techniques employed by the author. By dissecting the elements of the text, the paper seeks to understand how they contribute to the overall message or purpose of the work.

How to Start off a Literary Analysis Essay?

To start off such an essay, begin by introducing the work and its author, providing context for the research. Then, craft a thesis statement that presents your interpretation or claim about the source's meaning or significance. Finally, outline the main points you'll address in your document to guide the reader through your composition.

• the how-to section was made more specific;
• added FAQs.
• https://www.bucks.edu/media/bcccmedialibrary/pdf/HOWTOWRITEALITERARYANALYSISESSAY_10.15.07_001.pdf
• https://germanna.edu/sites/default/files/2022-03/Literary%20Analysis.pdf

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How do I reference the author name column from the Author table in my InsertBook function?

( https://i.sstatic.net/EiBqboZP.png )

In the browser, I'm trying to add a new book to my books table but I keep receiving a Value error from django where for example I can't assign "'Virginia Woolf'": "Book.author" must be a "Author" instance. After I enter all the fields to add a new book and then click the Insert button in the browser, I receive the Value error. Below is the structure of my sql table as well as related python scripts for reference:

book_list.html

To resovle the issue I've tried changing the reference in the views.py Insertbook function from saverecord.author=request.POST.get('author') to saverecord.author.name=request.POST.get('author') which shows another error that author is not a column in the books table.

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