How to Cite a Short Story in a Textbook

While citing books is straightforward, citing short stories that are part of an anthology or textbook can be more difficult. But if your anthology has a cover page -- as most will -- finding the information you need to properly compose your story citation shouldn't give you much trouble. The most important thing to remember when citing a short story is punctuation: the name of the short story should appear in quotation marks, while the name of the textbook should appear in italics.

Step 1

List the author of the short story. Write the author's last name, then a comma, then the author's first name and a period.

Step 2

Type the name of the short story one space after the period and put it in quotation marks. Include a period after the short story's name but before the closing quotation mark.

Step 3

Write the name of the textbook in italics one space after the quotation mark. Insert a period after the textbook name.

Step 4

Type "Ed." one space after the period and then insert the textbook editor's name. The editor's first name should be listed first, followed by his last name and then a period. If the editor's name isn't listed on the cover of your textbook, you should be able to find it on the cover page, which is usually the second or third page of the textbook.

Step 5

Locate where the textbook was published, the publisher and the year it was published on the cover page of the textbook. List the place of publication one space after the previous period, followed by a colon. List the publisher one space after the colon, followed by a comma, the year the textbook was published and a period.

Step 6

List the page range of the short story within the textbook one space after the period, followed by a period.

Step 7

Type the medium of publication one space after the period. If it's a print textbook you are using, type "Print." If it's an electronic textbook you are using, type "Electronic."

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