PERRLA/Guides/MLA 9/Anthology

How to Cite an Anthology in MLA 9

An MLA 9 Works Cited entry for a whole anthology starts with the editors: the first editor's last name and first name, any others in normal order, then a comma and the word editor or editors. Then come the anthology's title in italics and title case, the edition, the publisher, the year, and the DOI if it has one. The in-text citation is the editors' last names, plus a page when you quote: (Davis and Schaefer). Citing one poem, story, or essay inside it? Start that entry with the piece's author instead.

The format

Last Name, First Name, and First Name Last Name, editors. Title of the Anthology. Edition, Publisher, Year.

PERRLA MLA Experts · Updated October 27, 2026
Checked against the MLA Handbook, 9th edition. Every example is formatted by PERRLA's reference engine.

First, the easy way: PERRLA

In PERRLA, choose Anthology, then An anthology and All or part of an anthology. Add each editor with the role Editor, in the order the title page lists them, then fill in the Anthology Title, the Publication Year, the Edition, the publisher, and the DOI or URL. PERRLA puts the editors up front with editor or editors, shortens three or more to the first editor and et al., and handles the italics, the title case, and the ampersand in the title.

Collecting one writer's work? Add the writer with the role Author too, and PERRLA starts with the writer and moves the editor after Edited by. For a translated collection, choose Foreign language or translated anthology and add the translator.

Citing one piece inside it? Choose An entry in an anthology instead.

Not using PERRLA yet? Here is how to build the same works cited entry by hand.

The parts of the works cited entry

1. Editors

An anthology collects work by many writers, so the people who chose and arranged it go in the author spot. Write the first editor's last name, a comma, and their first name. A second editor follows in normal order after and. Then a comma and editor or editors, spelled out, and a period.

Davis, Cortney, and Judy Schaefer, editors.

Three or more editors: the first editor, a comma, et al., and editors: Donaldson, E. Talbot, et al., editors. No editor named at all? Start the entry with the title.

2. Title

Write the title in italics and title case, followed by a period. MLA changes an ampersand in a title to and, even when the cover uses one.

Between the Heartbeats: Poetry and Prose by Nurses.

3. Edition

For any edition after the first, write the edition after the title, with ed., then a comma. It starts with a capital because it follows the title's period.

6th ed.,

4. Publisher

Give the publisher with no city. Leave off business words like Company and Inc., change an ampersand to and, and shorten a university press: University Press becomes UP, and University of Iowa Press becomes U of Iowa P.

U of Iowa P,

5. Year

Use the anthology's own copyright year, not the years its pieces first appeared, followed by a period, or a comma if a DOI follows.

2022,

Check the copyright page. The sixth edition of The Curriculum Studies Reader came out in November 2021, but Routledge gives its copyright as 2022, so 2022 is the year.

6. DOI or URL

End with the anthology's DOI as a full https://doi.org/ link and a period, when it has one. Many print anthologies have none; end after the year.

https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003230625.

7. A reader of one writer's work

A collection of one writer's work, like The Erik Erikson Reader, usually goes under the writer when you're quoting the writer. The editor moves after the title, with Edited by.

Erikson, Erik H. The Erik Erikson Reader. Edited by Robert Coles,

If your paper is about the editor's choices, like what Coles selected and why, put the editor first instead, as with any anthology.

Examples

An anthology with two editors

A collection of poems and stories written by nurses, edited by Cortney Davis and Judy Schaefer and published by the University of Iowa Press. Every piece in it has its own author, so citing the whole book credits the two editors.

  • In-text citation(Davis and Schaefer)
  • Narrative citationDavis and Schaefer gather …

An anthology with an edition and a DOI

The sixth edition of The Curriculum Studies Reader, a collection of classic and current curriculum writing edited by David J. Flinders and Stephen J. Thornton. It came out in November 2021 with a 2022 copyright, so it's cited as 2022.

  • In-text citation(Flinders and Thornton)
  • Narrative citationFlinders and Thornton collect …

A reader of one writer's work

The Erik Erikson Reader gathers the psychologist's writing from across his career, selected and edited by Robert Coles. When you quote Erikson, the entry goes under Erikson, and Coles follows the title as editor.

  • In-text citation(Erikson 192)
  • Narrative citationAs Erikson puts it, … (192).

In-text citations

An MLA 9 in-text citation for a whole anthology uses the first name in its Works Cited entry: the editors, or the writer for a one-writer reader.

  • Two editors: both last names joined by and: (Davis and Schaefer)
  • Three or more editors: the first editor and et al.
  • A page: when you quote the editors' introduction or a specific page, add the page with no comma: (Flinders and Thornton 3)
  • A reader of one writer: the writer and the page: (Erikson 192)
  • Name in your sentence: give the page alone at the end: Erikson writes that … (192).

Quoting one poem, story, or essay by another writer? Don't cite the anthology for it. Give that piece its own entry under its author, and cite the author: (Whitman 43).

Common mistakes

  • Davis, Cortney, and Judy Schaefer. Between the Heartbeats.Davis, Cortney, and Judy Schaefer, editors. Between the Heartbeats.Without editors, your reader would think Davis and Schaefer wrote every piece in the book.
  • Davis, C., & Schaefer, J. (Eds.). (1995).Davis, Cortney, and Judy Schaefer, editors.That's APA. MLA spells out first names, joins the editors with and, writes editors in full, and puts the year at the end.
  • Davis, Cortney, and Judy Schaefer, eds.Davis, Cortney, and Judy Schaefer, editors.MLA 9 spells out editor and editors in the Works Cited list.
  • Between the Heartbeats: Poetry & Prose by NursesBetween the Heartbeats: Poetry and Prose by NursesMLA changes an ampersand in a title, or in a publisher's name, to and.
  • University of Iowa Press, 1995.U of Iowa P, 1995.MLA shortens University to U and Press to P in a university press's name.
  • (Coles and Testa 43) for a line of Whitman's poem in their anthology(Whitman 43)When you quote one writer's piece, cite that piece under its author, with its own Works Cited entry.

Quick checklist

  • Editors first, with editor or editors spelled out
  • Three or more editors: the first, et al., editors
  • Title in italics and title case, ampersand changed to and
  • Edition after the title, if any
  • Publisher with no city, University Press shortened to UP
  • The anthology's own copyright year, then the DOI if any
  • One piece by another writer? Cite the piece, not the anthology

Questions students ask

What's the difference between an anthology and an edited book?

An anthology collects existing creative or classic work, like poems, stories, or famous essays, and many of its pieces were published before. An edited book is usually new chapters written for it. MLA cites both the same way when you cite the whole book: the editors, editors, the title, the publisher, and the year.

How do I cite one poem, story, or essay in an anthology in MLA?

Start with the piece's author and title in quotation marks, then the anthology title in italics, edited by and the editors, the publisher, the year, and pp. and the pages. The in-text citation is that author's name and the page: (Whitman 43).

How do I cite several pieces from the same anthology?

Give each piece its own entry. MLA also lets you list the anthology once and point each piece to it with a short cross-reference: the piece's author and title, then the editors' last names and the pages, like Davis and Schaefer, pp. 10–12. Pick one approach and use it for the whole list.

Does a reader of one writer's work go under the writer or the editor?

Under the writer when you're quoting the writer's work, with the editor after Edited by: Erikson, Erik H. The Erik Erikson Reader. Edited by Robert Coles,. Under the editor only when your paper is about the editor's work on the collection.

How do I cite a translated anthology?

Add translated by and the translator's name after the editors, separated by a comma: edited by …, translated by …,. If the editors start the entry, the translator goes right after the title, with a capital T. List contributors in the order the title page gives them.

Do I include page numbers for a whole anthology?

Not in the Works Cited entry. A page range belongs only to a piece inside the anthology. In the text, add a page when you quote the editors or point to a specific page.

Rules checked against the MLA Handbook (9th ed.), chapter 5 (the core elements, the contributor labels editor and edited by, and publishers) and chapter 6 (in-text citations), and the MLA Style Center's posts on ampersands in titles and in publishers' names, Press and UP in publishers' names, business words in publishers' names, capitalized labels before contributors, the order of other contributors, and citing several works from one collection (cross-references and one-writer collections). Example sources are the ones verified for the APA 7 page: the University of Iowa Press and Routledge book pages, the cover and Library of Congress cataloging of Between the Heartbeats (LCCN 95030297), the Routledge book's Crossref DOI record, and the Internet Archive record of The Erik Erikson Reader (LCCN 99041168; Erikson, Erik H., with Robert Coles as editor; W. W. Norton, 2000).

PERRLA puts the editors up front with editors spelled out and builds the rest of the anthology entry in MLA order.

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