Foreword and Introduction Citation Generator
Cite a foreword, introduction, preface or afterword that someone other than the author wrote. Enter the writer of the part, the book and its author, the publisher and year, and get the MLA 9 entry, the Chicago 18 notes, and the APA 7 reference and in-text citation that name the writer the way APA expects. Free, no sign-up.
Foreword and book details
One per line, as First Last or Last, First.
If the same person wrote both, enter the name in both boxes — the tool then drops the by.
Sentence case: capitalize only the first word, the first word after a colon and proper nouns. MLA and Chicago get title case automatically.
Adds (Original work published 1984) and the 1984/2000 form to the APA citation.
The first and last page of the foreword or introduction, as printed: 33-54 or xi-xxxvii.
Goes into the in-text citations and the Chicago notes.
Use this when a book has several introductions, so each entry says which one you mean.
Used in the shortened note when no writer is given.
Your citations
Enter the book's title to see your citations.
How to Use the Foreword and Introduction Citation Generator
- 1. Pick the part. Foreword, introduction, preface or afterword. The label is written into the entry for you.
- 2. Name the writer and the author. Enter who wrote the part, then who wrote the book. If they are the same person, enter the name in both boxes and the tool drops the by.
- 3. Describe the edition you hold. Title, publisher and year, plus a translator, an editor or an edition number if the copy has one. Forewords change between editions, so the edition matters.
- 4. Add pages. The pages of the part go into the MLA entry. The page you quote goes into the in-text citations and the Chicago notes. Front matter is often numbered in Roman numerals, such as xi–xxxvii, and that is fine.
- 5. Copy the style you need. Each entry copies with its italics intact.
Do You Cite the Foreword or the Book?
The three styles answer differently, and the difference shapes the whole entry.
| Style | What the reference list holds | Where the writer appears |
|---|---|---|
| APA 7 | The book, under its own author | In your sentence, and as foreword by Surname in the in-text citation |
| MLA 9 | The part, under its writer (or the book, with the writer optional) | First in the entry, and in text |
| Chicago 18 | The part, under its writer | First in the note and the bibliography entry |
APA treats a foreword in an authored book as part of the book. APA Style's advice is to cite the whole book and name the writer in your text, rather than list the foreword as if it were a chapter in an edited book, which would suggest the book was edited. A writer credited on the cover with with goes in the reference in parentheses. When you quote the foreword itself, the in-text citation adds the writer: (Kübler-Ross, 1969/2014, foreword by Byock, p. xv). MLA and Chicago give the part its own entry, beginning with the person who wrote it. Chicago prints the name of the part in plain type — no italics, no quotation marks — and MLA does the same with its label.
Foreword and Introduction Citation Examples
Bernard Knox's introduction to Robert Fagles's translation of Sophocles's The Three Theban Plays, the example the MLA Style Center uses. The quoted page, 35, comes from its in-text example.
An introduction to a translated book
APA reference list (the book):
Sophocles. (2000). The three Theban plays (R. Fagles, Trans.). Penguin Books.
APA in-text:
(Sophocles, 2000, introduction by Knox, p. 35)
MLA Works Cited:
Knox, Bernard. Introduction. The Three Theban Plays, by Sophocles, translated by Robert Fagles, Penguin Books, 2000, pp. 33-54.
MLA in-text:
(Knox 35)
MLA, the book itself:
Sophocles. The Three Theban Plays. Translated by Robert Fagles, introduction by Bernard Knox, Penguin Books, 2000.
Chicago footnote:
Bernard Knox, introduction to The Three Theban Plays, by Sophocles, trans. Robert Fagles (Penguin Books, 2000), 35.
Chicago shortened note:
Knox, introduction, 35.
Chicago bibliography:
Knox, Bernard. Introduction to The Three Theban Plays, by Sophocles. Translated by Robert Fagles. Penguin Books, 2000.
Oliver Sacks's foreword to the second edition of Susan Schaller's A Man without Words, the Chicago-style example the University of Portland's library guide gives. The foreword's own page range is not shown here, so the MLA entry leaves it out; add it from your copy.
A foreword to a later edition
APA reference list:
Schaller, S. (2012). A man without words (2nd ed.). University of California Press.
APA in-text:
(Schaller, 2012, foreword by Sacks, p. 10)
MLA Works Cited:
Sacks, Oliver. Foreword. A Man without Words, by Susan Schaller, 2nd ed., U of California P, 2012.
Chicago footnote:
Oliver Sacks, foreword to A Man without Words, by Susan Schaller, 2nd ed. (University of California Press, 2012), 10.
Chicago shortened note:
Sacks, foreword, 10.
Chicago bibliography:
Sacks, Oliver. Foreword to A Man without Words, by Susan Schaller. 2nd ed. University of California Press, 2012.
APA's own case: Elisabeth Kübler-Ross's On Death & Dying, reissued for its fiftieth anniversary with a foreword by Ira Byock, who is credited on the cover. Tick the credited with box and add the first year of publication.
APA, writer credited on the cover
Reference list:
Kübler-Ross, E. (with Byock, I.). (2014). On death & dying (50th anniversary ed.). Scribner. (Original work published 1969)
In-text:
(Kübler-Ross, 1969/2014, foreword by Byock, p. xv)
Barry Sears's afterword to Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, from the University of Lethbridge's MLA guide.
An afterword
MLA Works Cited:
Sears, Barry. Afterword. The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair, Signet, 2001, pp. 343-47.
MLA in-text:
(Sears 344)
Chicago footnote:
Barry Sears, afterword to The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair (Signet, 2001), 344.
When the same person wrote the preface and the book, MLA keeps the entry but names only the surname after by, and Chicago drops the by. Illustrative data:
A preface by the book's own author
MLA Works Cited:
Morrison, Toni. Preface. Beloved, by Morrison, Vintage, 2004, pp. xi-xviii.
Chicago bibliography:
Morrison, Toni. Preface to Beloved. Vintage, 2004.
Citing the Book When You Quote the Book
Cite the part only when you quote or discuss the part. If you quote the novel or the play and merely used an edition with someone's introduction, cite the book. MLA says the writers of front and back matter are not usually essential to identifying a work and can be omitted from an entry; if the writer's name vouches for the edition, name the writer under other contributors, as in the last MLA line of each example. In APA, the entry is the book either way.
Forewords, Prefaces, Introductions and Afterwords
- Foreword. Usually written by someone other than the author, to introduce the book and vouch for it.
- Preface. Usually the author's own note on why and how the book was written. If the author wrote it, cite the book.
- Introduction. Can be the author's or an editor's or critic's; check who signed it.
- Afterword. A closing essay, often added to a later edition.
- An edited collection. If the introduction is by the editor of a collection, use the Book Chapter Citation Generator or Anthology Citation Generator instead.
Common Mistakes
- Listing the foreword as a chapter in an authored book in APA. The reference is the book; the writer goes in your sentence.
- Italicizing or quoting the word Foreword. It is a label, in plain type, in MLA and Chicago.
- Giving the page range of the whole book. MLA wants the pages of the part.
- Citing the first edition's foreword from a later edition. Cite the copy in your hands; a new edition may have a new foreword.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How do I cite a foreword in APA 7?
- Cite the book, not the foreword, and name the foreword's writer in your sentence. If the writer is credited on the cover with a with, add them in parentheses after the author: Kübler-Ross, E. (with Byock, I.). (2014). On death & dying (50th anniversary ed.). Scribner. (Original work published 1969). When you quote the foreword, add its writer to the in-text citation: (Kübler-Ross, 1969/2014, foreword by Byock, p. xv).
- How do I cite a foreword in MLA 9?
- Start with the writer of the foreword, then the label Foreword, then the book and its author after by, then the publisher, year and the foreword's own page numbers: Sears, Barry. Afterword. The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair, Signet, 2001, pp. 343-47. In text, use the writer's surname and the page: (Sears 344).
- How do I cite an introduction in Chicago style?
- Lead with the introduction's writer and name the part in plain type: Paul Shepard, introduction to Nature and Madness (University of Georgia Press, 1998), 35. The bibliography entry inverts the name and, in Chicago 18, no longer needs the introduction's page range. When the writer is not the book's author, the author follows the title after by.
- What if the author wrote their own preface or introduction?
- Then you are citing the book. Cite it as an ordinary book and give the page. If you want to point to the preface in MLA or Chicago, the entry may name the part, and after by MLA gives only the surname.
- Do I put the foreword writer in the Works Cited if I only quote the book?
- No, not usually. MLA says the writers of front and back matter are not usually essential to identifying a work, so you can leave them out. Name the writer under other contributors only when the name helps the reader judge the edition, such as a respected translator or scholar.
- How do I cite Roman-numeral pages?
- Give them as printed, in lower case: pp. xi-xxxvii in an MLA entry, p. xv in an APA citation, and plain xv in an MLA citation or a Chicago note. Do not convert them to Arabic numbers.