How to Write a Reference Page for a Book

Whenever you write an essay or paper and use information for your own purposes, you must always cite where you got it from. There are three basic styles of referencing for books you use, depending on the type of paper you are writing. If you are writing a history, literature or art history paper, professors prefer you to use the humanities style of referencing, found in the Chicago-Style Manual. For science papers, the American Psychological Association (APA) is the preferred way of referencing, while the Modern Language Association (MLA) is most often used to write references in English or liberal arts papers.

Things You'll Need

  • Book
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Instructions

  1. Modern Language Association

    • 1

      Locate the name of the author on the book you used. Begin the reference page by listing the last name of the author first, followed by the first name. Complete the information by adding a period before moving on to the title. Example: Smith, John.

    • 2

      Write the name of the book, and finish with a period. Enclose the entire title in quotation marks. Example: "Mythology: A to Z."

    • 3

      Find the name of the book publisher and where the book was published on the inside page, where the copyright is located. Write the name of the publishing location, followed by a colon, name of the publishing house, then comma, and year it was published followed with a period. Example: New York: Green Press, 2007.

    American Psychological Association

    • 4

      Find the name of the author, and place it on the reference page last name first, followed by the first name and end the information with a period.

    • 5

      Place the publishing date in parentheses directly after the period next to the author name.

    • 6

      List the name of the book, and finish the title with a period.

    • 7

      Locate the publishing information from the inside page of the book, and list publishing place, followed by a colon, and then the name of the publishing house.

    Chicago Manual Style

    • 8

      List the last name of the book's author on the reference page, followed by the first name and finish off with a period.

    • 9

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

    • 10

      Locate the publishing city or state on the inside of the books information, and list on the reference sheet, followed by a colon and then the publishing house. Add a comma, and write the publishing year. Finish with a period.

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