How to Cite a Book with Multiple Authors: In-Text & Bibliography

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Different format guidelines and examples for MLA, APA, & Chicago citation styles
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If you're writing a research paper, you'll likely use books that have several authors. Generally, all authors listed on the title page should be included in your full reference. However, this can take up a lot of space, both in your list of references and when you cite the book in the text of your paper. Citation guides allow you to shorten long lists of authors in some instances, but the format differs depending on whether you're using the Modern Language Association (MLA), American Psychological Association (APA), or Chicago style.

Method 1
Method 1 of 3:

MLA

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  1. When a book has 2 authors, list them in your Works Cited in the same order they appear on the book's title page. Type the first author's last name first, followed by a comma, then their first name. Place a comma after the first name, type the word "and," then type the second author's first name, followed by their last name. Place a period at the end of the second author's name. [1]
    • Example: Locksley, Rebecca and Marian Pendragon.
  2. " if the book has 3 or more authors. When a book has 3 or more authors, only the first author's name is included in your Works Cited entry, followed by the phrase "et al.," which means "and others." Type the first author's last name first, followed by a comma, then their first name. Place a comma after their first name, then add the phrase "et al." [2]
    • Example: Locksley, Rebecca, et al. [3]
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  3. Type the title of the book in title case, capitalizing all nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, and verbs. Place a period at the end of the title. If the book has a subtitle, use a colon at the end of the title instead of the usual period, then type the subtitle in title case with a period at the end. [4]
    • Example: Locksley, Rebecca, et al. Fantasy Elements in British Folklore.
  4. Type the name of the publisher of the book followed by a comma. Add the year the book was published after the comma, then place a period at the end of your entry. [5]
    • Example: Locksley, Rebecca, et al. Fantasy Elements in British Folklore. Oxford University Press, 2020. [6]

    MLA Works Cited Format

    LastName, FirstName, et al. Title of the Book in Title Case. Publisher, Year.

  5. MLA uses parenthetical citations at the end of any sentence in which you paraphrase or quote from a source. The basic parenthetical includes the author's name and the page number where the material used can be found. If the book has 2 authors, include both of their last names with "and" in between them. For 3 or more authors, use the last name of the first author followed by "et al." [7]
    • For example, you might write: "Despite the lack of historical evidence for Robin Hood, many people believe that he was a real person (Locksley and Pendragon 42)."
    • If you mention the authors in the text of your paper, you don't have to repeat their names in the parenthetical. However, you still need a parenthetical with the page number. For example, you might write "According to Locksley et al., magical acts and fantasy creatures in folklore represented the unknown (77)."
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Method 2
Method 2 of 3:

APA

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  1. List the authors' names in the order they appear on the title page. Write the last name first, followed by a comma, then the first initial. If the middle name or initial is provided for an author, include that as well. Place a comma after the period following the initial to separate the names of authors and add an ampersand (&) before the final name. [8]
    • Example: Barton, C. J., Nightingale, F. E., Mahoney, R. A., & Sanger, E. M.
  2. Type a single space after the period following the final author's initial. Then, type the year the book was published in parentheses. Place a period after the closing parenthesis. [9]
    • Example: Barton, C. J., Nightingale, F. E., Mahoney, R. A., & Sanger, E. M. (2020).
  3. After the year, type the title of the book using sentence case, capitalizing only the first word and any proper nouns. Place a period at the end of the title unless the book has a subtitle. If the book has a subtitle, place a colon at the end of the title and then type the subtitle in sentence case with a period at the end. [10]
    • Example: Barton, C. J., Nightingale, F. E., Mahoney, R. A., & Sanger, E. M. (2020). Nurses who helped shape history .
  4. The 7th edition of the APA style guide, released in October of 2019, no longer includes the location of the publisher. Instead, all you need is the name of the publisher with a period at the end. [11]
    • Example: Barton, C. J., Nightingale, F. E., Mahoney, R. A., & Sanger, E. M. (2020). Nurses who helped shape history . Johns Hopkins University Press.

    APA Reference List Format

    LastName, FirstInitial. MiddleInitial., LastName, FirstInitial. MiddleInitial., LastName, FirstInitial. MiddleInitial., LastName, FirstInitial. MiddleInitial., & LastName, FirstInitial. MiddleInitial. (Year). Title of book in sentence case . Publisher.

  5. APA in-text citation follows the author-date format. If the book has 2 authors, include both of their last names. In a parenthetical citation at the end of a sentence, place an ampersand between the two last names. However, if you reference their names in the text of your paper, spell out the word "and." Include a page number if you quote directly from the source. [12]
    • For example, you might write: "Many nurses contributed to social justice by refusing to discriminate against patients they treated on the basis of race (Barton & Nightingale 2020)."
    • If you're including the names in the text of your paper, add a parenthetical with the year of publication after the names. For example, you might write: "Barton and Nightingale (2020) discussed the role of nurses in advancing the causes of racial and religious minorities."
  6. " for in-text citation if the book has 3 or more authors. Both in the text and in a parenthetical citation, refer only to the last name of the first author, followed by the phrase "et al.," if the book has 3 or more authors. As with the 2-author in-text citation, include a page number or page range for direct quotes from the source. [13]
    • For example, you might write: "According to Barton et al. (2020), nurses were often at the forefront of social justice campaigns."

    Tip: If you're using "et al." and have two or more sources with exactly the same in-text citation, add the next author's name until the citations are distinct.

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Method 3
Method 3 of 3:

Chicago

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  1. For books with fewer than 4 authors, list all authors' names in both your Bibliography and in the footnotes. For your Bibliography entry, write the last name of the first author first, followed by a comma and their first name. Place a comma after their first name, then continue listing the other authors with their first names first, followed by their last names. Place commas after each name. Add the word "and" before the last author's name, then place a period at the end. [14]
    • Example: Sylvia Colfax and Allison Stevenson.
  2. List the last name first for the first author, followed by a comma and their first name. The rest of the authors are listed with their first names followed by their last names. Separate each author's name with a comma, placing an "and" before the last author's name. If the book has more than 10 authors, list only the first 7 followed by the phrase "et al." [15]
    • Example: Burr, Amanda, Taylor Tompkins, Christopher Calhoun, Erin Breckinridge, and Shelly Hamlin.
  3. Type the title of the book in title case, capitalizing the first word as well as all nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, and verbs. Place a period at the end of the title unless the book has a subtitle. If there's a subtitle, place a colon at the end of the title and then type the subtitle in title case before placing your period at the end. [16]
    • Example: Burr, Amanda, Taylor Tompkins, Christopher Calhoun, Erin Breckinridge, and Shelly Hamlin. A Brief History of American Politics .
  4. Type the location of the publisher followed by a colon, then type the name of the publisher. Place a comma after the name of the publisher, then type the year the book was published. Place a period after the year. [17]
    • Example: Burr, Amanda, Taylor Tompkins, Christopher Calhoun, Erin Breckinridge, and Shelly Hamlin. A Brief History of American Politics . Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020.

    Chicago Bibliography Format

    LastName, FirstName, FirstName LastName, FirstName LastName, FirstName LastName, and FirstName LastName. Title of Book in Title Case . Location: Publisher, Year.

  5. If the book has 2 or 3 authors, continue to include all of their names in your in-text footnotes. However, don't reverse the order of the first author's name — go with their first name followed by their last name. Replace all the periods with commas and place the publication information in parentheses. Place a comma after the closing parenthesis and add the page number where the material cited can be found. [18]
    • Example: Sylvia Colfax and Allison Stevenson, America's Greatest Vice Presidents , (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2020), 142.
  6. " for footnotes if there are more than 4 authors. Type the first author's first name first, followed by their last name. Then type the phrase "et al." with no intervening punctuation. Place a comma after the period, then add the title of the book in italics. Place a comma after the title, then include the publication information in parentheses. Add the last comma after the closing parenthesis, then provide the page number where the material you're citing can be found, followed by a period. [19]
    • Example: Amanda Burr et al., A Brief History of American Politics , (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020), 97.
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      References

      1. ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_works_cited_page_books.html
      2. ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_works_cited_page_books.html
      3. ↑ https://libguides.uwf.edu/c.php?g=840082&p=6013572
      4. ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_works_cited_page_books.html
      5. ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_works_cited_page_books.html
      6. ↑ https://libguides.uwf.edu/c.php?g=840082&p=6013572
      7. ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_in_text_citations_the_basics.html
      8. ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/reference_list_author_authors.html
      9. ↑ https://guides.library.lincoln.ac.uk/c.php?g=110736&p=717935
      1. ↑ https://guides.himmelfarb.gwu.edu/c.php?g=27779&p=170362
      2. ↑ https://nwtc.libguides.com/c.php?g=29261&p=7026224
      3. ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/in_text_citations_author_authors.html
      4. ↑ https://guides.himmelfarb.gwu.edu/APA/book-three-to-five-authors
      5. ↑ https://libguides.tru.ca/chicago/books-2-3authors
      6. ↑ https://library.ulethbridge.ca/chicagostyle/books/multiple
      7. ↑ https://library.ulethbridge.ca/chicagostyle/books/multiple
      8. ↑ https://library.ulethbridge.ca/chicagostyle/books/multiple
      9. ↑ https://library.ulethbridge.ca/chicagostyle/books/multiple
      10. ↑ https://library.ulethbridge.ca/chicagostyle/books/multiple

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