How to Cite a Short Story in an Anthology
The Modern Languages Association’s (MLA) and the Chicago Manual of Style are two of the most common references for citation style in the humanities. Each style has its own citation specifications for different types of sources. However, the guidelines for citing a short story in an anthology are only slightly different from citing a regular book. Mainly, you just need to add the anthology editor’s information.
MLA Style
Step 1
List the last name of the author of the short story and the page number of the anthology the citation refers to in parentheses after your quote or reference to the short story.
(James 655)
Step 2
Write the last name of the author of the short story, followed by his first name, on a separate works cited page. Type the title of the short story in quotation marks, the title of the anthology, the editor’s name, the location of publication, the publisher, the year of publication, the page numbers you referred to and the medium of publication.
James, Henry. “The Real Thing.” The Norton Introduction to Literature: Eighth Edition. Ed. Jerome Beaty et al. New York: Norton, 2002. 655-673. Print.
Step 3
Italicize the title of the anthology and indent the second and subsequent lines of the citation.
Chicago Style
Step 1
Create a superscript number at the end of your reference to the short story in the anthology. For your first citation, use 1, for the second use 2, and so on. This number will correspond with either a footnote or end note.
Step 2
Create a footnote or endnote, as your professor or teacher requires. Some word processing programs create footnotes for you. A footnote belongs at the bottom of the page, while an endnote belongs in a separate attached page. In either case, list the number of the citation, followed by the author’s full name, the title of the short story, the title of the anthology, the editor of the anthology, the place of publication, the publisher, the date of publication and the page number the citation refers to.
Henry James, “The Real Thing,” in The Norton Introduction to Literature: Eighth Edition, ed. Jerome Beaty (New York: Norton, 2002), 667.
Step 3
Write the author’s last name, followed by the first name, on a separate bibliography page. Type the title of the short story in quotation marks, the title of the anthology, the editor of the anthology, the page numbers you referred to, the place of publication, the publisher and the date of publication.
James, Henry. “The Real Thing.” In The Norton Introduction to Literature: Eighth Edition, edited by Jerome Beaty et al., 655-673. New York: Norton, 2002.
Step 4
Italicize the title of the anthology.
Both the MLA and the Chicago Manual of Style update their guidelines every couple of years. These MLA guidelines are based on the 7th edition of the “MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.” The Chicago guidelines reflect the 16th edition of “The Chicago Manual of Style.”
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References
Warnings
- Both the MLA and the Chicago Manual of Style update their guidelines every couple of years. These MLA guidelines are based on the 7th edition of the “MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.” The Chicago guidelines reflect the 16th edition of “The Chicago Manual of Style.”
Writer Bio
Nadine Smith has been writing since 2010. She teaches college writing and ESL courses and has several years experience tutoring all ages in English, ESL and literature. Nadine holds a Master of Arts in English language and literature from McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, where she led seminars as a teaching assistant.
