How to Format a Book Title in a Paragraph of Text in MLA

College writing often uses MLA format.

Appropriate formatting on reports shows your instructors that you understand and know how to apply the standards of academic English and helps make your papers clear and easy to navigate. Modern Language Association (MLA) format, commonly used in literature studies and the humanities, dictates the standard way to format book titles within pieces of formal writing.

Instructions

1. Type or write the full title of the book.

2. Highlight the title of the book with your cursor and italicize the title of the book using the italicization tool of your word processing program or text editor. If writing by hand, underline the title of the book.

3. Repeat for all other instances of book titles in the essay.

Tips & Warnings

• Format book titles in your foot notes, endnotes or Works Cited page the same way you do in your paper. Use italics if writing on a computer and underlines if writing by hand.

• As of 2009, MLA style does not distinguish between the titles of books and the titles of other long works, such as movies or documentaries. Format the titles of other long works as you would book titles.

• MLA style changes periodically. Stay up to date and use the most recent MLA style guide.

References

• Purdue Online Writing Lab: MLA Overview and Workshop
• Purdue Online Writing Lab: MLA Formatting and Style Guide

Resources

• Purdue Online Writing Lab: MLA Style