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MLA Style Guide for Citations (9th edition): Contributor

Contributors are people who contributed their expertise to the creation of the work being cited.

The source you are citing may include the important work of other people besides the author. For example, the source may have an editor, translator, or illustrator.

Some common descriptions of other contributors

The MLA Handbook dictates that when crediting other contributors' work in a citation, you should include a description of their role. Below are some common role descriptions:

  • Edited by
  • Translated by
  • Adapted by
  • Performance by
  • Illustrated by
  • Introduction by
  • Narrated by

Example citations

Essay published in a edited book

Eggers, Dave. "The Man at the River." The Best American Essays 2014, edited by Robert Atwan, Houghton, 2014, pp. 150-61.

Chapter in an edited ebook

Baron, Naomi. “Digital Revolution and the Future of American Reading.” A Companion to American Literature, edited by Susan Belasco, Wiley-Blackwell, 2020, pp. 480-495. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=2436424&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Translated book

Krausz, Tamas. Reconstructing Lenin: An Intellectual Biography. Translated by Balint Bethlenfalvy and and Mario Fenyo, Monthly Review Press, 2015.

Movie, with the director as the contributor

Jurassic Park. Directed by Steven Spielberg, Universal Pictures, 11 June 1993.

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