How to Cite a Kindle eBook

Last Updated: February 2, 2020 References

Just like the printed versions, e-books need to be cited as well whenever a part of it is used in a scholarly paper. There are three main ways of citing sources: MLA style, APA style, and Chicago Style. Use the method required by your paper to cite an e-book correctly. With a little time and attention to detail, you can easily cite an e-book for your paper or article.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

MLA Style

1
Start off with the author's name. The first thing you want to cite when using MLA citation is an author's name. You should start with the author's last name, then add the first name. After this, you should place a period.^{[1]
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- For example, say you are citing the book Mrs. Dalloway. Your citation would begin, "Woof, Virginia."
- In the event there are two authors, you would list the authors in alphabetical order. For example, "Baker, James and Valenti, Howard." If there are more than two authors, you would list the first author listed followed by the abbreviation "et al." For example, "Baker, James, et al."^{[2]
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2
Add the title of the book. From here, you would add the title of the book. The title of the book should be written in italics and followed by a period.^{[3]
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- So far, your citation would read, "Woolf, Virginia. Mrs. Dalloway."
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3
List publication information. You now need the publication details of the book. It can usually be found on the first few "pages" of the book near the inside cover. It may also be listed in the general information on the site where you purchased or borrowed the book. You should list the publishing house, followed by a colon, then give the publication date, followed by a period.^{[4]
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- Your citation should now read, "Woolf, Virginia. Mrs. Dalloway. Houghton Mifflin Hartcourt Publishing: 1953."
4
Clarify this is an electronic source. In MLA citations, you usually clarify the type of source. You should specify the type of e-reader you're using, and list the file type followed by a period. For example, say you're using a Kindle. Your source would read, "Woolf, Virginia. Mrs. Dalloway. Houghton Mifflin Hartcourt Publishing: 1953, New York City. Kindle file."

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

APA Style

1
Write down the author's last name and first name. To start an APA citation, begin with the author's first name and last name. Then, add a period. For example, say you're citing Mrs. Dalloway. You would begin your citation with, "Woolf, Virginia."
2
Add the year of publication in parenthesis. In APA citations, the year of publication comes next. It should be in parentheses and the parentheses should be followed by a period. For example, "Woolf, Virginia. (1953)."
3
Write the name of the book in italics. From here, you'll add the name of the book. This should be in italics and followed by a period. For example, "Woolf, Virginia. (1953). Mrs. Dalloway."^{[5]
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Add information about where the book was published. Now, you'll need to add information regarding where the book was published. This can also be found on the first few "pages." It may also be listed in the general information on the site where you purchased or borrowed the book. You would add the city where it was published, followed by a comma. You would then add the abbreviation for the state of publication. Add a colon and list the publisher.^{[6]
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- For example, "Woolf, Virginia. (1953). Mrs. Dalloway. New York City, NY: Houghton Mifflin Hartcourt Publishing."
5
Cite a book from a library database. How you cite an e-book depends on where you obtained the e-book in APA style. If you found the e-book on an online library or database, you would either list the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) or the URL for that database.^{[7]
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- You can find a book's DOI when checking the book out from a digital library. It's a long string of numbers broken up with dashes and periods listed with other details about the book, always labeled as the DOI. Add this number to the end of your citation. For example, "Woolf, Virginia. (1953). Mrs. Dalloway. New York City, NY: Houghton Mifflin Hartcourt Publishing. doi: 1234/5678/9101.1234"
- Not all ebooks have a DOI number listed. If you cannot find the DOI number, simply write "Retrieved from" and add the URL of the online library where you obtained the source. For example, "Woolf, Virginia. (1953). Mrs. Dalloway. New York City, NY: Houghton Mifflin Hartcourt Publishing. Retrieved from www.onlinelibrary.org."
6
Cite a book bought or obtained for free online. You may have purchased your book online, or received it from a free database. In this case, you would write "Retrieved from" at the end your citation. Then, include the website where you purchased the book or where you downloaded it for free.^{[8]
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- For example, "Woolf, Virginia. (1953). Mrs. Dalloway. New York City, NY: Houghton Mifflin Hartcourt Publishing. Retrieved from www.amazon.com".

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Chicago Style

1
List the author's name. With a Chicago Style citation, start off with the author's name. You will list the last name, followed by a comma, then the first name. Then, add a period. For example, "Woolf, Virginia."^{[9]
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2
State the title of the book. From here, state the title of the book. Make sure the title is in parenthesis, and follow the title with a period. For example, "Woolf, Virginia. Mrs. Dalloway."^{[10]
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3
Add publication details. From here, you'll have to add publication details. You can find this information on the site where you purchased or borrowed the book, and it may also appear on the first few "pages" you scroll through on your screen. You should add the city, followed by a colon. Then, add the publisher, followed by a comma, and the year published.^{[11]
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- Your source would now read, "Woolf, Virginia. Mrs. Dalloway. New York City: Houghton Mifflin Hartcourt Publishing, 1953."
4
Cite an e-book from a library database. As with APA citation, how you cite an e-book in Chicago Style depends on where you accessed the book. When working from an online database, you should either list the URL of the database or the DOI. Remember, the DOI is the series of numbers, dashes, and periods that identify a book in an online library.^{[12]
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- If you're using a DOI, your citation may look something like, "Woolf, Virginia. Mrs. Dalloway. New York City: Houghton Mifflin Hartcourt Publishing, 1953, doi: 123.3456/2355/2345".
- If there is not a doi included, you can simply include the URL of the online library where you checked out the book. For example, "Woolf, Virginia. Mrs. Dalloway. New York City: Houghton Mifflin Hartcourt Publishing, www.onlinelibrary.com".
5
Cite a book you found on the web. If you bought a book online, or read it for free, you simply need to add the URL where you bought or read the book to the end of your citation. For example, "Woolf, Virginia. Mrs. Dalloway. New York City: Houghton Mifflin Hartcourt Publishing, amazon.com."^{[13]
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Community Q&A

Question

How do you find where a book was published?

Community Answer

The place of publication should be written somewhere on the book's inside cover.