PERRLA/Guides/MLA 9/Book by an organization

How to Cite a Book by an Organization in MLA 9

In MLA 9, a book by an organization starts with the organization's full name as the author, then the title in italics, any edition, the publisher, and the year: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Title. National Academies Press, 2021. If the organization also published the book, skip the author, start with the title, and name the organization only as the publisher. The in-text citation uses whatever starts the entry: (National Academies 25) or (Publication Manual 35).

The format

Name of Organization. Title of the Book. #th ed., Publisher, Year. (Organization is also the publisher? Title of the Book. #th ed., Name of Organization, 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 Book, then Book, e-book, or audiobook, then All or part of a book. Set the contributor's role to Group Author (Organization), not a person, and type the organization's full name the way the title page shows it. The Abbrev. box is for APA; MLA doesn't use it.

Then fill in the title, the year, the edition, and the publisher's Name. If the organization published the book too, type its name as the publisher exactly as you typed it as the author. PERRLA sees that the two match, starts the entry with the title, and names the organization once, as MLA asks. Don't leave the publisher blank: then the entry starts with the organization and has no publisher at all. PERRLA also builds the in-text citation to match the first word of the entry, a short title or a short form of the name.

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

The parts of the works cited entry

1. Organization as author

When an organization wrote the book and someone else published it, the organization is the author. Write its full name as the book shows it, followed by a period. Don't abbreviate it, and don't invert it.

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Check the title page to decide who the author is. If it names people as the book's authors, cite them instead, even if an organization's name is on the cover too.

2. Same organization as publisher

When the organization that wrote the book also published it, MLA names it only once, as the publisher. Skip the author element and start the entry with the title.

Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice. 4th ed., American Nurses Association, 2021.

But if a division or committee of the organization is named as the author, list the division as the author and the parent organization as the publisher.

3. Title

Put the title in italics and title case: capitalize the first and last words and every major word in between. A subtitle follows a colon and starts with a capital letter. End with a period.

The Future of Nursing 2020–2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity.

4. Edition

If the book has an edition other than the first, put it after the title as a numeral with ed., followed by a comma.

7th ed.,

5. Publisher and year

Give the publisher's name, a comma, and the year from the copyright page. Leave out the city and business words like Inc. When the organization is the publisher, spell out its full name here.

National Academies Press, 2021,

A print book ends with the year and a period.

6. DOI or URL

If you read the book online and it has a DOI, end with the DOI as a full https://doi.org/ link, then a period. No DOI? Use the stable URL where you read it, without the https://.

2021, https://doi.org/10.17226/25982.

Examples

An organization that wrote and published its own book

The Publication Manual itself. The American Psychological Association wrote it and published it, so the entry starts with the title, and the association appears once, as the publisher. The in-text citation uses a short form of the title, because that's what starts the entry.

  • In-text citation(Publication Manual 35)
  • Narrative citationAccording to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, … (35).

A nursing organization's book with an edition

The American Nurses Association's Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice, 4th edition, published by ANA in 2021. ANA is the author and the publisher, so the entry starts with the title, and the print book ends with the year. ANA has since published a 5th edition. If that's the one you used, take the year from its copyright page.

  • In-text citation(Nursing 12)
  • Narrative citationNursing: Scope and Standards of Practice describes … (12).

An organization's book released by a different publisher

The landmark report on the future of the nursing workforce. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine is the author, as the National Academies' own suggested citation gives it, and the National Academies Press is named as the publisher, so both appear. In parentheses, MLA shortens the long name to its first noun phrase: National Academies.

  • In-text citation(National Academies 25)
  • Narrative citationThe National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recommends … (25).

In-text citations

An MLA 9 in-text citation starts with whatever starts the Works Cited entry, plus the page, with no comma between them. For a book by an organization, that's either the organization's name or the title.

  • Organization as author: the name, shortened in parentheses to its first noun phrase if it's long: (National Academies 25)
  • Organization in your sentence: give the full name in your sentence and the page alone at the end: The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recommends … (25).
  • Title first, because the organization also published it: a short form of the title in italics, the first noun and any words before it: (Publication Manual 35), (Nursing 12)
  • Title in your sentence: name the full title and give the page alone at the end: According to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, … (35).

Don't cite the organization when the entry starts with the title, like (American Psychological Association 35). Your reader looks for the first word of the entry, and the entry starts with Publication Manual. Once you've spelled out a name in your own sentences, you can use a familiar short form like NIH there, as long as you use it the same way throughout.

Common mistakes

  • American Nurses Association. Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice. 4th ed., American Nurses Association, 2021.Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice. 4th ed., American Nurses Association, 2021.When the author and the publisher are the same organization, MLA names it once, as the publisher, and starts the entry with the title.
  • (American Psychological Association 35)(Publication Manual 35)The entry starts with the title, so the in-text citation has to start with the title too.
  • American Nurses Association. (2021). Nursing: Scope and standards of practice (4th ed.).Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice. 4th ed., American Nurses Association, 2021.That's APA. MLA starts with the title when the group is also the publisher, uses title case, and puts the year at the end.
  • NASEM. The Future of Nursing 2020–2030.National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The Future of Nursing 2020–2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity.The Works Cited entry always spells out the organization's full name, and keeps the full title with its subtitle.
  • National Academies Press, Washington, DC, 2021.National Academies Press, 2021.MLA 9 leaves the city of publication out for most books.

Quick checklist

  • Organization's full name as the author, never an abbreviation
  • Same organization published it? Start with the title
  • Title in italics and title case
  • Edition after the title, then the publisher and year
  • DOI as a https://doi.org/ link when you read it online
  • In-text citation starts with the first word of the entry

Questions students ask

Who is the author when a book is written by an organization?

The organization is, unless it also published the book. Write its full name in the author spot, just as you'd write a person's name, but without inverting it. If the title page names people as the book's authors, cite them instead.

What if the organization is both the author and the publisher?

Skip the author and start the entry with the title. Name the organization once, as the publisher. Your in-text citation then uses a short form of the title, like (Publication Manual 35).

Can I abbreviate the organization's name in MLA?

Not in the Works Cited entry, which always spells out the full name. In parentheses, shorten a long name to its first noun phrase, like (National Academies 25). In your own sentences, you can use a familiar short form like NIH after you've given the full name once.

What if the book is by a government agency?

A book by a government agency follows the same idea: the agency is the author unless it also published the work. MLA has a few extra rules for government names, so see our government report guide.

What if a committee or division of the organization wrote the book?

List the committee or division as the author and the parent organization as the publisher. The names aren't the same, so nothing gets repeated, and the entry starts with the committee's name.

How is MLA different from APA for a book by an organization?

When the organization is also the publisher, APA keeps it as the author and drops the publisher. MLA does the opposite: it drops the author, starts with the title, and keeps the organization as the publisher. MLA also puts the year at the end and uses page numbers, not years, in the text.

Rules checked against the MLA Handbook (9th ed.), chapter 5 (the core elements, including an organization as author and publisher) and chapter 6 (in-text citations), and the MLA Style Center's posts on citing the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook (an organization as author and publisher), a division of an organization as author, and shortening corporate authors' names. Example sources are the ones verified for the APA 7 page, re-checked Oct 27, 2026: the APA manual and Future of Nursing DOIs at Crossref and the American Nurses Association's own page for the 4th edition.

PERRLA starts the entry with the right element, the organization or the title, and builds the in-text citation to match.

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