How to Cite a Book With a Publisher in Many Cities

Citing a book is usually a straightforward process, but once in a while publication information will give you pause. A book published in multiple cities is one such example. All of those cities can make your citation unwieldy. To see how the American Psychological Association (APA) and the Modern Language Association (MLA) have solved this problem, read on.

Follow the normal reference list entry format for a book. The MLA citation format is:

Author's Last Name, First Name. Title. City: Publisher, Year Published. Medium of Publication.

The APA format is:

Author's Last Name, First Initial. (Year Published). Title in italics. City: Publisher.

List only the first city of publication that is listed in the publication information for the book. This is true for both APA and MLA styles. For example, if a book was published in Boston, New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles, your MLA citation will read:

Do not alter your in-text citations. City of publication should not be cited parenthetically in either APA or MLA format, so a book published in many cities should be cited normally within the text.

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