How to Write a Bibliography of a Book With Three Authors
Citing sources is essential to creating documents that obtain factual information without plagiarism. One of the best ways to ensure that you are giving credit to your sources is with a bibliography. MLA, or Modern Language Association, and APA, American Psychological Association, are two of the most commonly used bibliography formats. When referencing a book in MLA style, you can cite up to three authors by slightly altering the one-author format. When using APA style you may cite up to seven authors.
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Instructions
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MLA Style
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1
List authors in the order they appear on the title page of the book.
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2
Write the last name of the first author followed by a comma and a space.
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3
Write the first name of the first author followed by a comma and a space.
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4
Write the first then the last name of the second author followed by a comma, a space and the word "and".
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5
Write the first and the last name of the third author followed by a period and a space.
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6
Write the book title underlined followed by a period and a space.
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7
Write the city of publication followed by a colon and a space.
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8
Write the name of the publisher followed by a comma, space and copyright date. End with a period.
APA Style
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9
List authors in the order they appear on the title page.
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10
Write the first author's last name followed by a comma and then the author's first initial followed by a period. If the author has a middle initial, write the first initial then a period followed by the second initial, followed by a period. End with a comma and a space.
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11
Repeat for the second author, following the last comma with an ampersand followed by a space.
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12
Write the last name of the third author, followed by a comma and first initial (middle initial if applicable). Follow with a space, the publication date in parentheses, a period and another space.
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13
Write the title of the book in italics. Separate any subtitle from the main title with a colon. Follow with a space.
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14
Write the city and state of publication. Abbreviate the state by using the two letter postal abbreviation without periods. Follow with a colon and a space.
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15
Write the name of the publisher. End with a period.
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1
Tips & Warnings
While MLA and APA are the most commonly used bibliography formats, there are other styles that can be used when writing a bibliography. The style can vary according to the type of document you are writing so be sure to follow the style guide for your particular work.
