Short stories can be a great addition to your works cited or reference list. However, how to create short story citations isn’t something you can easily find online. Learn how to cite a short story using MLA, APA, and Chicago style. See examples for creating short story citations for books, websites, and periodicals in text and in your bibliography.
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How to Cite a Short Story in MLA
Short story or essay citations in MLA come from a variety of sources. You might find a short story in your textbook, or it could be part of an anthology. You might also see them in newspapers and even on a website. Learn the ins and outs for all your short story citation needs in MLA. With the MLA container system, it’s easy peasy!
Cite a Short Story in a Book MLA
MLA essay citations come in all shapes and sizes, but a common one is citing a short story from a book. These short stories all have the same author and are part of a large collection like “The Collected Autobiographies of Maya Angelou.” Since these short stories are all by Maya Angelou, she’s your listed author; then, you follow the core elements and viola!
MLA Short Story Book Citation Reference List Format
Author’s Last, First Name. “Short Story Title.” Title of Collection, Publisher, Year, pp. xx-xx.
MLA In-Text Short Story Book Citation Format
(Author Page Number)
How to Cite a Story in a Textbook in MLA
Any short stories you pulled out of textbooks need a citation in your works cited. Many times, textbooks have multiple authors or editors. Therefore, you include the author of the short story and include the editor as a contributor after the title.
MLA Short Story Textbook Citation Format
Author’s Last, First Name. “Short Story Title.” Title of Collection, edited by Editor’s Name, Edition, Publisher, Year, pp. xx-xx.
MLA Short Story Textbook Citation Example
Steele, Gary. “The Things They Carried.” Literature: Drama, Fiction, and Poetry, edited by Daniel Gall, 9th ed., McGraw Hill, pp. 698-708.
(Steele 700)
How to Cite a Collection of Short Stories MLA
Citations of a collection of short stories follow the same format as a textbook. Therefore, you include the author of the story and the editor as a contributor.
MLA Short Story Collection Citation Example
Updike, John. “Borges and I.” The World’s Greatest Short Stories, edited by James Daley, Dover Publications, pp. 236-42.
(Updike 237)
How to Cite a Short Story in a Newspaper or Magazine MLA
Do you need to create a short story citation for a magazine in MLA? Newspapers and magazines aren’t the first place you might think of to find a short story, but they have them. Therefore, you need to know how to cite them. Citing a short story in a newspaper is very similar to citing an article.
Magazine or Newspaper Short Story MLA Citation Format
Author’s Last, First Name. “Title of Story.” Title of Newspaper or Magazine, Day Month Year, Pages.
MLA Short Story Magazine Example
Dillard, Barry. “A Christmas Disaster.” Good Housekeeping, Mar. 2020, pp. 143-48.
(Dillard 145)
MLA Short Story Online Magazine Citation Example
When you have an online magazine, you include the URL and accessed date in MLA.
Dillard, Barry. “A Christmas Disaster.” Good Housekeeping, Mar. 2020, www.goodhousekeeping.com/article/lifewriting/achirstmasdisaster. Accessed 10 Oct. 2020.
(Dillard)
How to Cite a Short Story From a Website MLA
Websites make finding good and original short stories for your language arts paper easy. Keep walking on easy street by checking out how to create short story website citations in MLA.
MLA Short Story Website Format
Author’s Last, First Name. “Title of Short Story.” Website, Day Month Year, URL.
MLA Short Story Website Citation Example
Sunday, Sharon. “Walking in My Shoes.” American Literature, 25 Sept. 2014, www.americanliterature.com/shortstories/walkinginmyshoes.
(Sunday)
Citing a Short Story in APA
The American Psychological Association designed APA for science and technical papers; however, if you need to create a citation for a short story in APA, don’t sweat it. APA 7 offers a comprehensive guide of every type of citation, including citing short stories. Learn how to create a short story citation for books, textbooks, anthologies, periodicals, and websites through examples.
Cite a Short Story in a Book or Anthology APA
To cite a short story in a book, you follow the format of citing an article or chapter in a book. Therefore, you include the author of the short story and the editor of the book or anthology.
APA Short Story Book Citation Reference List Format
Author, A. (Year). Short story title. In A. Editor (Ed.). Title of book or anthology (pp. xx-xx). Publisher.
APA In-Text Citation Format
(Author, Year)
APA Short Story Book or Anthology Citation Example
Sunday, S. (2020). A walk through the brain. In A. Barry (Ed.). Psychological foundations: Stories of the brain (pp. 66-70). Newman.
(Sunday, 2020)
How to Cite a Story in a Textbook in APA
Looking to cite an essay from your science textbook? Then you’ve come to the right place. Short stories in textbooks in APA follow the same format as a collection, but you add the edition.
APA Short Story Textbook Citation Example
Graham, G. (2020). Falling down the rabbit hole. In E. Zalta (Ed.), Science: Exploration of the psychic (9th ed.). MacGraw Hill.
(Graham, 2020)
How to Cite a Short Story in a Periodical APA
Journals and magazines are chock-full of essays you can use in your APA research paper. Therefore, don’t be left in the dark by not knowing how to cite an essay in a periodical. Much like MLA, APA short story periodical citations follow the basic format for any periodical.
APA Periodical Short Story Format
Author, A., & Author, B. (Date). Short story title. Title of Periodical, volume(issue), pages. URL
APA Short Story Periodical Citation Example
Johnson, A., & Smith, A. (2019). My brain simplified. Psychology Reviewed, 2(5), 216-22. https://psychologyreviewed.com/johnson/smith/my_brain_simplied
(Johnson & Smith, 2019)
Cite a Short Story From a Website APA
Short story citations for a website in APA aren’t hard. And, the web is a great resource for all types of information if you know where to look. For an essay website citation, it’s important to follow the format for websites. Therefore, you include the author of the essay, website, date, and URL.
APA Short Story Website Format
Author, A. (Year, Month Day). Title of the essay. Website. URL
APA Essay Website Example
Roberts, R. (2020, September 10). The horror of anxiety. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/essays/thehorrorofanxiety.html
(Roberts, 2020)
How to Cite a Short Story in Chicago/Turabian
Short story citations in Chicago/Turabian style aren’t typically used outside of college. And of the two, Turabian is more common for students to use. However, both Chicago and Turabian offer two different types of citations.
- Author-date citations are useful for science subjects.
- Notes-biblio is geared more toward humanities and language subjects.
Since you might use either in your work, explore how to create essay citations for short stories in books, textbooks, periodicals, and websites in Chicago.
How to Cite a Textbook or Collection Short Story Chicago/Turabian
Short story book citations in Chicago author-date style look similar to the APA style. However, Chicago notes-biblio includes notes at the paper’s foot or on a separate page as notes. Now, see both in action through examples.
Chicago Author-Date Short Story Book Reference List Example
Thoreau, Henry. 2020. “Walking.” In The American Essay, edited by Jennifer Steele, 166-95. Minneapolis: MacGraw.
Chicago Author-Date Book In-Text Example
(Thoreau 2020, 175)
Chicago Notes-Biblio Short Story Book Bibliography Example
Thoreau, Henry. “Walking.” In The American Essay, edited by Jennifer Steele, 166-95. Minneapolis: MacGraw, 2020.
Chicago Notes B In-Text Example
1. Henry Thoreau, “Walking,” in The American Essay, ed. Jennifer Steele (Minneapolis: MacGraw, 2020), 166-95.
Cite a Short Story in a Newspaper or Magazine Chicago/Turabian
Now, it’s time to look at creating an essay citation for a newspaper or magazine in Chicago. For these, you’re going to include the author, title, and the periodical name, among other important publication information. To get a clear understanding of this citation, check out these examples.
Chicago Author-Date Short Story Magazine Reference List Example
LaSalle, Kelly. 2020. “An Essay About Reading.” New Yorker, September 6, 2020.
Chicago Author-Date In-Text Magazine Example
(LaSalle 2020, 56)
Chicago Notes-Biblio Story Magazine Bibliography Example
LaSalle, Kelly. “An Essay About Reading.” New Yorker, September 6, 2020.
Chicago Notes In-Text Magazine Example
1. Kelly LaSalle, “A Story about Reading,” New Yorker, September 6, 2020, 56.
How to Cite a Short Story on a Website Chicago/Turabian
Chicago/Turabian short story citations don’t end at periodicals. You’ll find short stories on websites too that you need to create citations for. Rather than break out into a sweat, follow this simple Chicago style short story citation guide for websites.
Chicago Author-Date Short Story Website Reference List Example
Bowman, Dale. 2020. “A Walk Through My Life.” American Literature. Last modified October 9, 2020. https://www.american literature.com/essay/awalkthroughmylife.
Chicago Author-Date In-Text Website Example
(Bowman 2020)
Chicago Notes-Biblio Story Website Bibliography Example
Bowman, Dale. “A Walk Through My Life.” American Literature. Last modified October 9, 2020. https://www.american literature.com/essay/awalkthroughmylife/.
Chicago Notes In-Text Website Example
1. Dale Bowman, “A Walk Through My Life,” American Literature, last modified October 9, 2020, https://www.american literature.com/essay/awalkthroughmylife/.
Creating Citations for Short Stories
Knowing how to create citations for short stories in MLA, APA, and Chicago styles aren’t hard once you know the right format. Most citations for short stories follow the format for a chapter in a book. Regardless of the style, remember to follow the guidelines given to you by your teacher.
FAQ How to Cite a Short Story From Any Source
How do you cite a short story in MLA?
To create a short story citation in MLA, you need to include the author, title of the story, title of the book, editor, publication date, publisher, and possibly the URL. The format for an MLA short story citation follows the core elements system for creating MLA citations. Therefore, the author and title go in the first two elements followed by the containers.
How do you cite a short story title?
The way you cite a short story title depends on the format you are using. MLA, APA, and Chicago use a unique format for creating short story citations. However, you include elements like author, date, short story title, location title, publisher, and URL. For example, a short story in a book in MLA looks like:
Angelou, Maya. "A Song Flung Up to Heaven." The Collected Autobiographies of Maya Angelou, Random House, 2004, pp. 214-264.
How do you cite a short story without page numbers?
To cite a short story without page numbers in any style, you leave the page numbers off the reference list and in-text citation. If the work includes paragraph numbers, you can use this information instead in MLA and APA for your in-text citations.
How do you cite the title of a story in an essay?
To cite the title of a story in an essay, you need to include the author and page number in MLA or the author and date in APA. In a Chicago essay, you make an in-text citation using the author and date or endnotes/ footnotes, depending on whether you are using author-date or notes-biblio style.
How do you cite a short story in APA format?
To cite a short story in APA format, you follow the citation method for a chapter in a book. Therefore, you include the author, date, title of the short story, editor, book title, publisher, pages. To cite a website short story in APA, you follow the format for a website including the author, date, title of the story, website, and URL. There is no period after the URL in APA.