Republished Book Citation Generator

Your citations

Enter the book's title to see your citations.

How to Use the Republished Book Citation Generator

1. 1. Choose the edition you read. A print or ebook edition from a publisher, or a free online edition such as Project Gutenberg.
2. 2. Enter the book as your copy shows it. Author, title, and the publisher and year of your edition — or the website, its release date and the URL. Add a translator or editor if your edition names one.
3. 3. Add the original date. Take it from the copyright page ("First published 1813") or a library catalogue. The first publisher is optional; Chicago and MLA's online form use it.
4. 4. Copy your citations. APA, MLA and Chicago each place the two dates differently, and Chicago offers two equivalent bibliography forms — pick one and use it throughout.

Original Date and Republication Date in Each Style

Cite the edition you actually read — its pages, wording and editor's notes are what you quote — and add the original date so readers can place the work in time. A 2003 date alone makes Pride and Prejudice look like a recent novel.

APA 7 puts the year of your edition in the date and closes the reference with (Original work published 1813), with no period after it; both years appear in every in-text citation, earlier first. MLA 9 treats the original year as an optional element right after the title; for a Project Gutenberg book, the MLA Style Center gives the original publisher and year first and the website, its date and URL after them. Chicago 18 (§14.16) records the history in the note — (Random House, 1952; repr., Vintage Books, 1995) is its own example — and as Reprint in the bibliography, or ends the bibliography entry with First published 1813.

Republished Book Citation Examples

Pride and Prejudice, first published by Thomas Egerton in 1813, read in the 2003 Penguin Books edition:

The same novel read on Project Gutenberg, which released it as eBook #1342 on June 1, 1998:

APA's own republished-book example, which the generator reproduces exactly:

Common Mistakes

• Using only the original date. Page numbers come from your edition, so its year is the main date. 1813 alone sends readers looking for a two-century-old printing.
• Using only the reprint date in APA. (Austen, 2003) hides the original; APA wants (Austen, 1813/2003).
• Calling a reprint a first edition. MLA's original year is an optional element, not an edition statement.
• Treating a revised edition as a reprint. A 2nd edition with new chapters is cited as that edition, not as a republication.
• Guessing the original year. Use the copyright page or a catalogue. If you cannot confirm it, leave it out.
• Citing a translation without the translator. Name the translator of the version you read; the Translated Book Citation Generator handles books first published in another language.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I cite a classic novel in APA 7?

Cite the edition you read, with its year as the date, and add the original year at the end: Austen, J. (2003). Pride and prejudice. Penguin Books. (Original work published 1813) — with no period after the parenthesis. In the text, give both years, earlier first: (Austen, 1813/2003).

Where does the original publication date go in MLA?

MLA 9 lets you add it right after the title, as an optional element: Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. 1813. Penguin Books, 2003. Include it when the date matters to your argument. The in-text citation stays author and page: (Austen 45).

What does repr. mean in a Chicago citation?

It stands for reprint. In a Chicago note, the original publisher and year come first and the edition you used follows repr.: (T. Egerton, 1813; repr., Penguin Books, 2003). The bibliography spells it out: T. Egerton, 1813. Reprint, Penguin Books, 2003.

How do I cite a Project Gutenberg book?

Cite it as an online edition. APA: the author, the year Project Gutenberg released it, the title, Project Gutenberg, the URL and (Original work published 1813). MLA: the original publisher and year, then Project Gutenberg, the release date and the URL, as the MLA Style Center's own example does.

Is a reprint the same as a new edition?

No. A reprint or republication reissues the same text, sometimes with a new introduction or notes. A new edition revises the text and carries an edition statement such as 2nd ed. Cite a new edition as that edition, without the original-work date.

What if I don't know when the book was first published?

Look at the copyright page — publishers print "First published" there — or search a library catalogue such as WorldCat. If you still cannot confirm the year, cite your edition alone rather than guessing.