How to Reference an Encyclopedia

Proper citation is important, not only because it makes a paper look professional, but it also allows the reader to verify the information presented in a paper or article. It is easy to correctly cite an encyclopedia entry; however, the citation will differ depending on whether the paper is written to conform to American Psychological Association (APA) or Modern Language Association (MLA) format.

Instructions

  1. APA Citation

    • 1

      List the name of the author, last name first, followed by a comma, then the author's first initial and a period. The author cited should be the author of the specific article you are referencing.

    • 2

      List the publication date of the encyclopedia in parentheses and follow with a period.

    • 3

      List the title of the encyclopedia entry, followed by a period.

    • 4

      List the word "In" followed by the title of the encyclopedia. Only the first letter of the encyclopedia title should be capitalized. For example:

      In Benet's reader's encyclopedia

      The encyclopedia title should appear in italics.

    • 5

      List the volume of the encyclopedia, followed by a comma, then the page number(s) of the entry. This information should be enclosed in parentheses and followed by a period. For example:

      (Vol. 9, pp. 35-37).

    • 6

      List the name of the city where the encyclopedia was published, followed by a colon.

    • 7

      List the name of the publisher, followed by a period.

    • 8

      Verify that your full citation appears in the following format and the title of the encyclopedia is italicized:

      Smith, J. (2010). Allusion. In Benet's reader's encyclopedia (Vol. 9, pp. 35-37). New York: Doubleday.

    MLA Citation

    • 9

      List the title of the entry surrounded by quotation marks. Place a period after the quotation marks.

    • 10

      List the title of the encyclopedia in italics, followed by a period.

    • 11

      List the edition of the work in the following format:

      4th ed.

    • 12

      List the year of publication, followed by a period.

    • 13

      List the medium of publication, followed by a period. In the case of an en entry from a traditional printed encyclopedia, the medium of publication should appear as follows:

      Print.

      For an online encyclopedia, the medium of publication should appear as follows:

      Web.

    • 14

      Verify that your full citation appears in the following format, and that the title of the encyclopedia appears in italics:

      "Allusion". Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia. 4th ed. 2010. Print.

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