PERRLA/Guides/MLA 9/Nursing textbook

How to Cite a Nursing Textbook in MLA 9

An MLA 9 Works Cited entry for a nursing textbook gives the first author's last name and first name, then et al. when the book has three or more authors, the title in italics and title case, the edition (12th ed.), the publisher, and the copyright year. The in-text citation is the first author's last name, et al., and the page, with no comma: (Potter et al. 215). An e-textbook adds e-book ed. after the edition.

The format

Last Name, First Name, et al. Title of the Textbook: Subtitle. #th ed., 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

Type your textbook's ISBN (the print ISBN or the e-book ISBN) or its title into PERRLA's reference search. PERRLA checks book catalogs, including the VitalSource catalog for e-textbooks, and fills in the authors, the title, the edition, the publisher, and the year. Before you add it, hold it up against the book's title page and copyright page. Catalogs often give the release year instead of the copyright year, and they can drop a middle initial or mix credentials like RN or PhD into the author names.

Adding one by hand? Choose Book, then Book, e-book, or audiobook, then All or part of a book. Add every author in the order the title page lists them (PERRLA shortens three or more to the first author and et al. for you), then the title, the Edition as a number like 12th, the publisher, and the Publication Year. Read it as an e-textbook in VitalSource or another reader? Type e-book in the Format box, and PERRLA writes e-book ed. after the edition.

Citing a chapter with its own author in an edited textbook? Choose Chapter in edited book and All or part of a book chapter, add the chapter's author as an author and the book's editors as editors, then the chapter title and the Chapter Page Numbers. PERRLA puts the chapter title in quotation marks, writes edited by after the book title, and puts pp. and the page range near the end.

For each citation, pick Page number as the location, or Chapter if your e-textbook doesn't show page numbers.

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

Start with the first author's last name, a comma, and their first name as the title page prints it, with any middle initial. Most nursing textbooks have three or more authors, so add a comma and et al. after the first one. End with a period.

Potter, Patricia A., et al.

Two authors: invert only the first name, then write and and the second author's name in normal order. Leave off credentials like RN, PhD, or FAAN, even though textbook title pages print them.

A name in the title, like Brunner and Suddarth or Lewis, belongs to the book's original authors. Cite the people on the title page of your edition instead.

2. 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.

Lewis's Medical-Surgical Nursing: Assessment and Management of Clinical Problems.

MLA swaps an ampersand in a title for the word and, so Brunner & Suddarth's becomes Brunner and Suddarth's in your Works Cited entry.

3. Edition and e-book

Put the edition right after the title, as a numeral with ed., followed by a comma. It isn't italic and isn't in parentheses. A first edition gets no edition note.

12th ed.,

Read it as an e-textbook in VitalSource, Evolve, Kindle, or another reader? Add e-book ed. after the edition. Don't name the reading app.

13th ed., e-book ed.,

4. Publisher

Give the publisher's name from the title page or copyright page, followed by a comma. Leave out the city and business words like Inc. or Company.

Elsevier,

5. Year

End with the copyright year from the copyright page, followed by a period. Big textbooks often go on sale months before their copyright year, so a store or catalog can show a year too early.

2026.

Elsevier released the 12th edition of Fundamentals of Nursing in February 2025 with a 2026 copyright, so the entry says 2026.

6. Chapter in an edited textbook

When a textbook has editors and each chapter has its own author, cite the chapter. The chapter's author and the chapter title in quotation marks come first. Then the book title in italics, edited by and the editors' names, the publisher, the year, pp. and the chapter's page range, and the chapter's DOI if it has one.

Coke, Lola A. "Behavior Change." Preventive Cardiovascular Nursing: Resilience across the Lifespan for Optimal Cardiovascular Wellness, edited by Sandra B. Dunbar and Lynne T. Braun, Springer, 2024, pp. 291–310.

An authored textbook with a list of chapter contributors in the front, like Brunner and Suddarth's, is not an edited book. Cite the whole book.

Examples

A nursing textbook with five authors

The 12th edition of Fundamentals of Nursing, the Potter and Perry text used in many first-semester courses. It has five authors, so MLA names Patricia A. Potter and adds et al. Its copyright year is 2026, though it went on sale in February 2025.

  • In-text citation(Potter et al. 215)
  • Narrative citationPotter et al. explain that … (215).

An e-textbook with a subtitle and next year's copyright

The 13th edition of Lewis's Medical-Surgical Nursing, read as a VitalSource e-book. It went on sale in January 2026 with a 2027 copyright, so it's cited as 2027, and e-book ed. follows the edition. This reader shows no page numbers, so the in-text citation gives the chapter.

  • In-text citation(Harding et al., ch. 12)
  • Narrative citationAs Harding et al. explain in chapter 12, …

A textbook with chapter contributors (cite the whole book)

The 16th edition of Brunner & Suddarth's Textbook of Medical-Surgical Nursing names four authors on its title page and lists chapter contributors in the front matter. That makes it an authored book: write one entry for the whole book and give the page in your citation. The ampersand in the title becomes and, and the copyright year is 2026, though it was released in October 2025.

  • In-text citation(Hinkle et al. 712)
  • Narrative citationHinkle et al. note that … (712).

A chapter in an edited nursing textbook

In an edited textbook, each chapter has its own author and the people on the cover are editors. Cite the chapter: its author and title come first, then the book, edited by and the editors, and the chapter's pages. This one is from Preventive Cardiovascular Nursing, edited by Sandra B. Dunbar and Lynne T. Braun, which gives every chapter a DOI.

  • In-text citation(Coke 296)
  • Narrative citationAs Coke explains, … (296).

In-text citations

An MLA 9 in-text citation for a textbook gives the first author's last name and the page number, with no comma and no p. between them.

  • Three or more authors: the first author and et al.: (Potter et al. 215)
  • Two authors: both last names joined by and: (Polit and Beck 52)
  • An e-textbook with no page numbers: give the chapter, with a comma after the name: (Harding et al., ch. 12). Never use a Kindle or reader location number.
  • A chapter in an edited textbook: the chapter author, not the editors: (Coke 296)
  • Name in your sentence: give the page alone in parentheses at the end of the sentence: Hinkle et al. note that … (712).

Many e-textbook readers, VitalSource included, can show the print book's page numbers. Use them when you have them, since they let any reader find the passage.

Common mistakes

  • Potter, P. A., Perry, A. G., Stockert, P. A., Hall, A. M., & Ostendorf, W. R. (2026). Fundamentals of nursing (12th ed.). Elsevier.Potter, Patricia A., et al. Fundamentals of Nursing. 12th ed., Elsevier, 2026.That's APA. MLA spells out the first author's first name, shortens three or more authors to et al., uses title case, and puts the year last.
  • Brunner, Lillian Sholtis, and Doris Smith Suddarth.Hinkle, Janice L., et al.The names in the title belong to the book's first authors. Cite the authors on the title page of the edition you used.
  • Fundamentals of Nursing. 12th ed., Elsevier, 2025.Fundamentals of Nursing. 12th ed., Elsevier, 2026.Use the copyright year on the copyright page, not the release date a store or catalog shows.
  • 13th ed., Elsevier, 2027. VitalSource.13th ed., e-book ed., Elsevier, 2027.MLA marks an e-book with e-book ed. after the edition. The reading app isn't the publisher, so it stays out.
  • (Potter et al., p. 215)(Potter et al. 215)An MLA in-text citation puts no comma and no p. before a page number.
  • Harding, Mariann M., RN, PhD, CNE, et al.Harding, Mariann M., et al.Leave credentials out of the author element, even when the title page lists them.

Quick checklist

  • First author from the title page, inverted, with the full first name
  • Three or more authors: first author, et al.
  • Title in italics and title case, with and in place of &
  • Edition as a numeral with ed., then e-book ed. for an e-textbook
  • Publisher with no city, then the copyright year
  • A chapter entry only when the chapter has its own author and the book has editors

Questions students ask

Do I cite the chapter or the whole textbook in MLA?

Check the title page and the first page of the chapter. If the book has editors and the chapter opens with its own author's name, cite the chapter in the edited book. If the title page lists authors, cite the whole book and give the page in your in-text citation, even when a contributors list in the front credits someone for that chapter.

How do I cite a VitalSource or Evolve e-textbook in MLA?

Cite it like the print book and add e-book ed. after the edition: Harding, Mariann M., et al. Lewis's Medical-Surgical Nursing: Assessment and Management of Clinical Problems. 13th ed., e-book ed., Elsevier, 2027. Don't name VitalSource or Evolve, and don't add a link to the reader.

What year do I use for a nursing textbook?

The copyright year on the copyright page, which is the back of the title page. Textbooks are often released the year before their copyright year, so a store listing or an online catalog can show a different year.

My class uses an older edition. Which one do I cite?

The one you read. Page numbers, chapters, and content change between editions, so your entry should match the copy in front of you, with its own edition and its own copyright year.

How do I cite a page when my e-textbook has no page numbers?

Turn on the print page numbers if your reader offers them, and use those. If it doesn't, give the chapter: (Harding et al., ch. 12). A location number changes with the screen and font size, so it doesn't belong in an MLA citation.

Do I list all the authors of my textbook in MLA?

Not when there are three or more. MLA gives the first author named on the title page, inverted, then a comma and et al. With two authors, give both, joined by and.

Rules checked against the MLA Handbook (9th ed.), chapter 5 (the core elements: author, title, contributors, version, publisher, date, and location) and chapter 6 (in-text citations), and the MLA Style Center's posts on citing an e-book, e-books read through a course or library platform, page numbers in e-books, author credentials, ampersands in titles, and business words in publishers' names. Example sources are the ones verified for the APA 7 page: the Elsevier product pages (authors, editions, copyright years 2026 and 2027, release dates), the Wolters Kluwer product page for Brunner & Suddarth's, and Crossref records for the Coke chapter and its book (authors, editors, subtitle, pages, DOI).

PERRLA finds your textbook from its ISBN or title and builds the Works Cited entry with et al., the edition, and the right italics.

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