What if both authors have the same last name? Like John Smith and Jane Smith? MLA says: include their first initials in the in-text citation. So: (J. Smith 12; A. Smith 34).
PPT - MLA Citation Guide PowerPoint Presentation, free download - ID
Wait—that’s if they’re separate works. If they wrote the book together, just use the normal “Smith and Smith.” It’s a happy coincidence.
Fun fact: There is a real book called The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey. (Solo author. No drama.) But the most cited two-author book in MLA style? Likely Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner. They’re both Stephens. It’s chaos. But MLA forgives.
