PERRLA/Guides/MLA 9/Book in a series

How to Cite a Book in a Series in MLA 9

In MLA 9, a book in a publisher's series is cited like any other book: the author, the title in italics, the edition, the publisher, and the year. The series name is optional. If you add it, it goes at the very end, in plain type: Theories of Psychotherapy Series. For one volume of a multivolume work, add vol. and the number after the edition, or, when the volume has its own title, lead with that title and end with Vol. 4 of APA Handbook of Clinical Psychology. The in-text citation is the name and the page: (Craske 12).

The format

Last Name, First Name. Title of the Book. #th ed., Publisher, Year. Series Name #.

PERRLA MLA Experts ยท 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

A book in a publisher's series is an ordinary book in PERRLA. Choose Book, then Book, e-book, or audiobook, then All or part of a book, and fill in the names, the full title with its subtitle, the edition, the publisher, the year, and the DOI. PERRLA leaves the series name out, which MLA allows, since the series name is optional. Don't type a publisher's series, like Theories of Psychotherapy Series, into Series Title: that field is for a multivolume set, and PERRLA would print the name in italics.

Citing one volume of a multivolume work? Choose the kind Volume in a series. Type the title of the whole work in Series Title, the volume's own title (if it has one) in Volume Title, and the number in Volume Number, then add the editors as Editor contributors. When the volume has a title, PERRLA leads with it and ends the entry with Vol. and the set's title in italics.

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

The parts of the works cited entry

1. Author or editors

Start with whoever is named on the title page of the book or volume you used: the author's last name, a comma, and their first name as the book prints it.

Craske, Michelle G.

An edited volume puts the editors there instead, followed by a comma and editors. Three or more: the first editor, et al., and editors. Large handbooks often name editors-in-chief for the whole set plus an editor for each volume; use the names the volume you cite lists, in its order.

Norcross, John C., et al., editors.

2. Title

Write the title in italics and title case, with any subtitle after a colon, followed by a period.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy.

If the series name is printed as part of the book's own title or subtitle, keep it, because there it's the title.

Public Health: A Very Short Introduction.

For one volume of a multivolume work that has a title of its own, use the volume's title here.

Psychopathology and Health.

3. Edition and volume

Give the edition after the title, then a comma. For one volume of a multivolume work with no title of its own, add vol. and the number after the edition.

2nd ed.,

21st ed., vol. 1,

A book's number in a publisher's series doesn't go here. It goes with the series name at the end.

4. Publisher and year

Give the publisher's name, without business words like Inc. or Company, then a comma and the year from the copyright page. A university press is shortened to UP.

American Psychological Association, 2017

Oxford UP, 2016

5. DOI

If the book has a DOI, add it as a full https://doi.org/ link after the year, then a period. Each volume of a big handbook usually has its own DOI, so use the one for the volume you read.

2017, https://doi.org/10.1037/0000027-000.

6. Series name (optional)

For a book in a publisher's series, MLA lets you add the series name at the very end of the entry, after a period. Write it in plain type, not italics or quotation marks, with the book's number in the series after it if the book has one. Add it when it helps your reader; leave it out otherwise.

American Psychological Association, 2017. Theories of Psychotherapy Series.

7. The set's title (titled volume)

A volume cited by its own title can close with Vol., the number, of, and the title of the whole work. That title is in italics, because a multivolume handbook is a work with a title, not just a label for a group of books.

Vol. 4 of APA Handbook of Clinical Psychology.

Examples

One volume with its own title

Volume 4 of the five-volume APA Handbook of Clinical Psychology, which has its own title, Psychopathology and Health. The volume's title leads, and the handbook's title closes the entry. In PERRLA, this is the kind Volume in a series.

  • In-text citation(Norcross et al.)
  • Narrative citationNorcross et al. bring together …

One volume with no title of its own

Volume 1 of the two-volume 21st edition of Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, the internal medicine reference many nurse practitioner and PA students use. The volumes are numbered but not titled, so the volume number goes after the edition.

  • In-text citation(Loscalzo et al. 215)
  • Narrative citationLoscalzo et al. note that … (215).

A book in a publisher's series

Michelle Craske's Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy is one book in the American Psychological Association's Theories of Psychotherapy Series. The entry is complete without the series name; if you want it, add Theories of Psychotherapy Series. at the end. In PERRLA, this is an ordinary book: the kind All or part of a book.

  • In-text citation(Craske 12)
  • Narrative citationCraske explains that … (12).

A series name that's part of the title

Virginia Berridge's book in Oxford's Very Short Introductions. Here the series name is printed as the book's subtitle, so it stays in the title.

  • In-text citation(Berridge 30)
  • Narrative citationBerridge points out that … (30).

In-text citations

An MLA 9 in-text citation for a book in a series is the author's or editor's last name and the page, with no comma. The series name never appears in the text citation.

  • One author: (Craske 12)
  • Three or more editors: the first editor and et al., with no editors label: (Loscalzo et al. 215)
  • One volume of a multivolume work: the page alone, because your Works Cited entry already names the volume.
  • The whole multivolume set: the volume, a colon, a space, and the page: (Schneiderman et al. 2: 45)
  • Name in your sentence: put only the page in parentheses at the end: Craske explains that … (12).

If you cite two books by the same author, add a short version of the title: (Craske, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy 12).

Common mistakes

  • Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. 2nd ed., Theories of Psychotherapy Series, American Psychological Association, 2017.Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. 2nd ed., American Psychological Association, 2017. Theories of Psychotherapy Series.A publisher's series name isn't italic and doesn't go in the middle of the entry. If you include it, it goes at the end, in plain type.
  • Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine. Vol. 1, 21st ed., McGraw Hill, 2022.Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine. 21st ed., vol. 1, McGraw Hill, 2022.MLA puts the edition before the volume number, so vol. comes second and stays lowercase.
  • 21st ed., Volume 1,21st ed., vol. 1,MLA abbreviates volume to vol. in the Works Cited entry.
  • APA Handbook of Clinical Psychology: Vol. 4. Psychopathology and Health.Psychopathology and Health. … Vol. 4 of APA Handbook of Clinical Psychology.That's the APA pattern. In MLA, a volume with its own title is cited by that title, and the set's title can follow at the end.
  • Oxford University Press, 2016.Oxford UP, 2016.MLA shortens University Press to UP in publishers' names.
  • (Craske, 2017, p. 12)(Craske 12)That's APA. An MLA in-text citation is the name and the page, with no year, comma, or p.

Quick checklist

  • Author, or editors with editors after the names
  • Title in italics; keep a series name that's part of the title
  • Edition, then vol. and the number for one volume
  • Publisher (UP for a university press) and year, then the DOI
  • Series name optional, at the end, not italic
  • In text: name and page, never the series

Questions students ask

Do I include the series name in MLA 9?

You can, but you don't have to. MLA treats a publisher's series name as optional. If it helps your reader, add it at the very end of the entry, in plain type, with the book's number in the series if it has one: Theories of Psychotherapy Series.

Is a book series the same as a multivolume work?

No. A series is a group of separate books a publisher issues under one name, each with its own author and title. A multivolume work is one work split into numbered volumes, like a handbook or encyclopedia. A series name goes at the end in plain type; a multivolume work's title is italic, and the volume number goes after the edition.

How do I cite one volume of a multivolume book in MLA 9?

Cite the volume you used. If it has no title of its own, add vol. and the number after the edition: 21st ed., vol. 1, McGraw Hill, 2022. If it has its own title, lead with that title and, if you like, end with Vol. and the number of the whole work: Vol. 4 of APA Handbook of Clinical Psychology.

Where does the series number go?

Right after the series name at the end of the entry, as a numeral with no comma or label between them. Most series books have no number, and then the name stands alone.

Does the volume number go in my in-text citation?

Only when your Works Cited entry covers the whole set. Then write the volume, a colon, a space, and the page: (Schneiderman et al. 2: 45). If the entry names one volume, the page alone is enough: (Loscalzo et al. 215).

What about a series name that's in the book's title?

Keep it. Oxford's Very Short Introductions print the series name as each book's subtitle, so it's part of the title: Public Health: A Very Short Introduction. Don't add it again at the end.

Rules checked against the MLA Handbook (9th ed.), chapter 5 (the core elements, with version before number, and the supplemental elements, sections 5.105–5.119, including 5.117 on one volume of a multivolume work) and chapter 6 (in-text citations), and the MLA Style Center's posts on citing a commentator (Vol. 1 of The Divine Comedy), a volume republished in a multivolume work (series name in plain type at the end), essays in multivolume works (a series name and number in the optional slot), and trilogy titles. Example sources are the ones verified for the APA 7 page: Crossref records for each DOI (every author's and editor's full name), the CiNii catalog record for Harrison's, and a library catalog record for Craske's place in the Theories of Psychotherapy Series.

PERRLA builds the Works Cited entry for a series book or a single volume, with the volume's own title where it belongs.

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