PERRLA/Guides/MLA 9/E-book or Kindle book

How to Cite an E-book or Kindle Book in MLA 9

MLA 9 cites an e-book like a print book, with one addition: write e-book ed. after the title (and after the edition, if there is one) to show you read it in a reading app or on an e-reader. Then give the publisher and the year: Gawande, Atul. Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End. E-book ed., Metropolitan Books, 2014. In text, use the page if the e-book shows stable page numbers, or the chapter if it doesn't, (Gawande, ch. 7), never a Kindle location.

The format

Last Name, First Name. Title of the Book: Subtitle. 2nd ed., e-book ed., Publisher, Year.

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

Type the e-book's ISBN or its title into PERRLA's reference search. E-books have their own ISBN, usually on the copyright screen near the front or on the seller's product page, and PERRLA's search finds those too. PERRLA fills in the author, the title, the edition, the publisher, and the year. Give the result a quick look against the e-book's copyright screen, then type e-book in the Format box, because the search doesn't add it for you.

Adding one by hand? Choose Book, then Book, e-book, or audiobook, then All or part of a book. Type e-book in the Format box, and PERRLA writes e-book ed. in the right spot, after any edition. A free online book with a web address, like an OpenStax text, needs no format: add its URL instead. For a quote, pick Page number if the e-book shows page numbers, or Chapter if it doesn't.

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

Same as print: the first author's last name, a comma, and their first name as the book prints it. Three or more authors: the first author, a comma, and et al. An organization that wrote the book is the author.

Gawande, Atul.

2. Title

The title in italics and title case, with a colon before the subtitle, followed by a period. No format label goes inside or after the title.

Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End.

3. Edition and e-book label

MLA calls this the version. For a book you read in a reading app or on an e-reader, write e-book ed. and a comma. If the book also has a numbered edition, the edition comes first. When the label starts the sentence, capitalize it.

E-book ed.,

11th ed., e-book ed.,

MLA's own e-book example uses e-book ed., and it fits any app or e-reader. Never put a store here, like Amazon, Apple Books, or VitalSource. A free online book with a URL, like an OpenStax textbook, skips the label: the URL already tells the reader where it lives.

4. Publisher and year

Give the publisher, not the store or the device, then a comma and the year. Amazon, Apple Books, Google Play, VitalSource, your course site, and your library are where you got the book, not who published it.

Metropolitan Books, 2014.

When the organization that wrote the book also published it, start the entry with the title and name the organization once, as the publisher.

5. DOI or URL

A book you read online, rather than in an app, ends with its DOI as a full https://doi.org/ link, or with its URL if it has no DOI. Leave off the https:// at the start of a URL. End with a period.

2024, openstax.org/books/fundamentals-nursing/pages/1-introduction.

An e-book in a reading app has no URL to give, so its entry ends with the year.

Examples

A Kindle book

Atul Gawande's book on aging, dying, and medicine, read on a Kindle. The e-book ed. label goes after the title, the publisher and year close the entry, and the quote is cited by chapter: chapter 7, Hard Conversations.

  • In-text citation(Gawande, ch. 7)
  • Narrative citationAs Gawande explains in chapter 7, …

An e-textbook with an edition

Polit and Beck's nursing research text, read as an e-textbook through a school's e-book platform. The edition comes first, then e-book ed. Many e-textbook platforms show the print page numbers, and when yours does, the quote gets a page.

  • In-text citation(Polit and Beck 52)
  • Narrative citationPolit and Beck explain that … (52).

A free online textbook with a URL

OpenStax's Fundamentals of Nursing, a free textbook anyone can read on the web. It has a stable URL, so the URL ends the entry and no e-book label is needed. With three authors, MLA names the first and adds et al. The web version has no page numbers, so the in-text citation is the name alone.

  • In-text citation(Bowen et al.)
  • Narrative citationBowen et al. note that …

An e-book with a DOI

The Institute of Medicine's Crossing the Quality Chasm, a landmark report on health care quality published as a book and downloaded as a PDF from the National Academies Press website. The PDF keeps the print page numbers, and the DOI ends the entry.

  • In-text citation(Institute 41)
  • Narrative citationThe Institute of Medicine argues that … (41).

In-text citations

An MLA 9 in-text citation for an e-book works like one for a print book: the author's last name and the location, with no comma before a page number. The hard part is the location, because e-books don't always have stable pages.

  • The e-book shows page numbers: use them. Many Kindle books and e-textbooks show the print edition's pages: (Polit and Beck 52).
  • No page numbers, but numbered chapters: give the chapter, with a comma after the name: (Gawande, ch. 7).
  • Numbered paragraphs: if the e-book prints paragraph numbers, write par. and the number after a comma. Only use numbers the source prints. Don't count paragraphs yourself.
  • Nothing numbered at all: give the name alone: (Bowen et al.).
  • Never a Kindle location: not (Gawande, loc. 2841). Locations change with the device and the font size, so no reader can find the passage.

For an organization as author, MLA shortens the name in parentheses to its shortest noun phrase, and PERRLA does it for you: (Institute 41). Name it in your sentence and you can write the full name, with just the page in parentheses: The Institute of Medicine argues that … (41).

Common mistakes

  • (Gawande, loc. 2841)(Gawande, ch. 7)Kindle location numbers aren't the same across devices or font sizes. Use a page number if the book shows one, or the chapter.
  • Gawande, Atul. Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End. Kindle ed., Amazon, 2014.Gawande, Atul. Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End. E-book ed., Metropolitan Books, 2014.Amazon sold the book, but Metropolitan Books published it. Name the publisher, not the store, and use e-book ed., the label in MLA's own e-book example.
  • Polit, Denise F., and Cheryl Tatano Beck. Nursing Research: Generating and Assessing Evidence for Nursing Practice. E-book ed., 11th ed., Wolters Kluwer, 2021.Polit, Denise F., and Cheryl Tatano Beck. Nursing Research: Generating and Assessing Evidence for Nursing Practice. 11th ed., e-book ed., Wolters Kluwer, 2021.The numbered edition comes first, then the e-book label, in lowercase.
  • Bowen, Christy, et al. Fundamentals of Nursing. E-book ed., OpenStax, 2024, https://openstax.org/books/fundamentals-nursing/pages/1-introduction.Bowen, Christy, et al. Fundamentals of Nursing. OpenStax, 2024, openstax.org/books/fundamentals-nursing/pages/1-introduction.A book you read on the open web is cited by its URL, with no e-book label. MLA also drops the https:// from the URL.
  • Gawande, Atul. Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End. E-book ed., Metropolitan Books, 2014. Libby, Springfield Public Library.Gawande, Atul. Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End. E-book ed., Metropolitan Books, 2014.Don't name the library, app, or course site you borrowed the e-book through. They give access to the book but didn't publish it.

Quick checklist

  • Same core entry as the print book
  • E-book ed. after the title, or after the edition
  • The publisher, not Amazon, Apple, VitalSource, or the library
  • Free online book: its DOI or URL, with no e-book label
  • No https:// at the start of a URL
  • Quotes cite a page or a chapter, never a Kindle location

Questions students ask

How do I cite a Kindle book in MLA 9?

Cite it like the print book and add e-book ed. after the title: Gawande, Atul. Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End. E-book ed., Metropolitan Books, 2014. Name the publisher, not Amazon, and don't add an Amazon link.

Can I use Kindle location numbers in an MLA citation?

No. MLA says to avoid numbering that belongs to one device, because locations change with the screen and font size. Use the page numbers if your Kindle shows them, or the chapter, like (Gawande, ch. 7).

Do I write e-book or Kindle edition?

Write e-book ed. That's the label in MLA's current e-book example, and it works for any app or e-reader. Some older MLA Style Center posts show Kindle ed., so your instructor may accept it. If you know the file format changes the content, you can add the format, like EPUB, at the very end of the entry.

Do I include the library or database I got the e-book from?

Not the library, the borrowing app, or your course site. They give you access to the book but didn't publish it. Cite the e-book with its publisher and year.

What about a free online book like OpenStax?

Cite it like a book and end with its URL, leaving off the https://. It doesn't need the e-book label, because the URL tells the reader where to find it.

What if my e-book has no page numbers at all?

Use the chapter number, (Gawande, ch. 7), or numbered paragraphs if the book prints them. If nothing is numbered, give the author's name alone. Don't track down a print copy's page numbers for an e-book you didn't read in print.

Rules checked against the MLA Handbook (9th ed.), chapter 5 (the core elements, including version) and chapter 6 (in-text citations, sections 6.3–6.30), and the MLA Style Center's posts on citing an e-book, e-books accessed through a course site, libraries and e-books, citing the digital or print edition, page numbers with screen readers, corporate authors, and works with no page numbers. Example sources verified against the publishers' pages, OpenStax, Open Library, Library of Congress records, and the DOI at Crossref.

PERRLA builds the e-book entry from its ISBN: add e-book in Format, and the rest is done for you.

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