Citing a book title correctly is essential if you are to avoid plagiarism in your essay. It is important to understand that different citation styles have different guidelines on how you should cite a book title. While all of these will vary, they are more similar than they are different. The key is in knowing which citation style your institution uses and mastering it well. This post will guide you on how to write a book title in an essay.
Tips On How To Write A Book Title In An Essay
- Know the citation style
- What’s important when citing a book title in an essay
- In-text citation for books
Know The Citation Style
The first step to citing a book title correctly is knowing the specific guidelines that the citation style you are using has. As mentioned, however, each of the major citation styles does not vary so much when it comes to how you cite a book title.
What’s Important When Citing A Book Title In An Essay?
When citing the title of a book, there are specific items that you need to pay special attention to. Among those items are as follows.
The Name Of The Author
The name of the author is crucial when citing the title of a book in any citation style. You need to identify the name of the author of the book that you want to cite. Once you know the full name of the author, you will list his or her surname first. A comma will then follow the surname, after which you will then write the author’s first name.
Additionally, pay attention to whether the book has one or multiple authors. If a book has multiple authors, you will list their surnames then follow that with a comma and the initials of their first names.
Where the writers are more than five, you will need to add et al. after the fifth author. It would be best if you did this to let the reader know that there are five or more authors who wrote the book.
Title Of The Book
In all citation styles, the title of the book will come after the name of the author. However, how you write this title will narrow down to the specific citation style that you are using and how you are writing it. Some styles will require that you underline the title, write it within quotation marks or underline the title.
Date Of Publication And The Publisher
The date of publication and the publisher is also important in helping the reader trace when the book you used went into publication. The publisher will come before the publication date. In the event that the book also lists the editor, then the name of the editor will come before these two.
In-Text Citation For Books
The in-text citation for books is not a difficult task for many people. For all the citation styles, you will need to write the name of the author(s) and the date of publication in parenthesis. The only difference will come with some citation styles such as APA requiring that you have a comma between the name of the author and the year of publication.
In-text citations need extra keenness when writing. This need for this is because it is easy to miss out on a particular citation, especially if you are writing a long-form essay with many books to cite. It is always a good idea to go through all your in-text citations once your essay is complete.
How To Ensure That You Cite A Book Title Correctly
While it is possible to improve your skill over time, it is never a rare thing for a person to commit a mistake occasionally. However, the following are a few suggestions on how you can ensure that you cite books appropriately.
Ensure that you note down on all the sources that you use in the essay that you write. Follow this up by proofreading your work to ensure that you cite all these cites correctly. Lastly, check your end of text citation to ensure that all the books you used appear in the bibliography.
Final Thoughts
Citing a book title is important to ensure that you present facts in your essay and avoid plagiarism. It is essential to learn the specifics of citing a book using the citation style that your institution recommends for use.Â
An Example Of How To Write A Book Title In An Essay
Do you italicize book titles in the title of an essay?
Yes, you can italicize the book titles unless it is an official paper or letter.
How do you write a book title in an essay MLA?
Book titles to be written in MLA format must be italicized that is if the source of your research is independent. However, if your source is non-independent, use quotations.
How do you write a book title in an essay Chicago style?
Below are simple steps on how to write a book title in Chicago style and avoid common problems:
1. All the first letters of all nouns, adjectives, and verbs in the book name should be capitalized.
2. Avoid capitalizing prepositions, coordinating conjunctions, and articles.
3. The name and punctuations of the book should be titled.
