MLA is the style of the Modern Language Association, used mainly in English, literature, languages and other humanities. It cites sources with the author and page number in the text and a Works Cited list at the end.

How do I cite in the text in MLA?

Give the author's last name and the page number in parentheses with no comma, such as (Patel 45). If you name the author in your sentence, put only the page number in parentheses.

What is a container in MLA?

A container is the larger work that holds the source you are citing, such as the journal that contains an article, the website that contains a page or the anthology that contains an essay. MLA lets you nest containers when needed.

Do I include URLs in MLA 9?

Include the URL or DOI as the location for online sources. MLA recommends leaving out the https:// part of a web address, and using a DOI if one is available.

What is the difference between Works Cited and a bibliography?

A Works Cited list includes only the sources you cited in your paper. A bibliography can include sources you consulted but did not cite. MLA papers usually use a Works Cited list.

MLA 9 Referencing: Examples and Format Rules

MLA style is the standard for English, literature, languages, cultural studies and many other humanities courses. Compared with APA, it puts less emphasis on dates and more on the author, title and page, and it gives you a flexible template that works for almost any kind of source.

This guide explains the MLA 9 method, with examples of in-text citations and Works Cited entries for common sources. The examples use invented sources to show the format, so replace them with your own details.

The MLA idea: core elements

Instead of a different format for every source type, MLA 9 uses one template with nine core elements, in this order, each followed by the punctuation shown:

Author.
Title of source.
Title of container,
Other contributors,
Version,
Number,
Publisher,
Publication date,
Location.

You include the elements that apply and leave out the rest. A book has an author, a title, a publisher and a date. A journal article adds a container (the journal), a volume and issue number and page numbers as the location.

In-text citations

MLA uses the author and page number, with no comma and no "p.".

Parenthetical: Reading skills develop through practice (Patel 45).
Narrative: Patel argues that reading skills develop through practice (45).

Number of authors

Authors	Citation
One	(Patel 45)
Two	(Patel and Lee 45)
Three or more	(Patel et al. 45)
No author	Use a shortened title in quotation marks or italics, such as ("Reading Habits" 12)

Sources without page numbers

If there are no pages, cite the author alone, or use another locator that the source provides, such as a paragraph or a time stamp for audio and video: (Gomez, 00:12:30).

Quoting poetry and long prose

Short quotations of up to four lines of prose go in quotation marks within your text. Longer prose is set off as a block quotation, indented 0.5 inches, without quotation marks, with the citation after the final punctuation. For poetry, mark line breaks with a slash for short quotations: "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, / I took the one less traveled by" (lines 18-19). Always follow your instructor's guidance on line numbers.

Works Cited entries

Book

Author last name, First name. Title of Book. Publisher, Year.

Patel, Rina. Reading in the Digital Age. Harbor Press, 2020.

Journal article

Author last name, First name. "Title of Article." Title of Journal, vol. number, no. number, Year, pp. page-page. DOI or URL.

Lee, Jordan, and Rina Patel. "Practice and Comprehension." Journal of College Learning, vol. 14, no. 2, 2021, pp. 112-29. doi.org/10.0000/example.

Notice that article titles go in quotation marks and the journal title is italicized. In MLA 9, the https:// is left off web addresses.

Page on a website

Author last name, First name (if given). "Title of Page." Title of Website, Publisher (if different from the site title), Day Month Year, URL.

Gomez, Marta. "How Students Read Online." Campus Study Guide, 5 Oct. 2023, www.example.com/read-online.

Many web pages lack an author or a date. Leave out the element if the source does not provide it. If you need an access date, add it at the end as "Accessed 12 Mar. 2025".

Chapter in an edited book

Gomez, Marta. "Learning to Read Closely." Teaching Literature Today, edited by Jordan Lee, Northfield UP, 2019, pp. 22-40.

Film or video

The Reading Room. Directed by Rina Patel, Harbor Films, 2022.

For online video, add the platform as the container and the URL as the location. Our guide to citing a YouTube video covers this.

Source within a source

Use "qtd. in" in the text when you quote someone through another source: (Lee, qtd. in Patel 45). List only the source you read in Works Cited.

Formatting an MLA paper

Margins and font: One-inch margins and a readable 12-point font such as Times New Roman.
Spacing: Double spaced throughout, including the Works Cited page.
Heading: On the first page, put your name, your instructor's name, the course and the date on separate lines at the top left, followed by a centered title. MLA does not require a separate title page unless your instructor does.
Header: Your last name and the page number at the top right of every page.
Works Cited page: Starts on a new page, titled Works Cited and centered, with entries in alphabetical order and a hanging indent of 0.5 inches.

Capitalization and titles

MLA uses title case for titles: capitalize the first and last word and all principal words, and leave articles, short prepositions and conjunctions lowercase unless they begin or end the title. Italicize the titles of standalone works such as books, films and websites, and put the titles of shorter works, such as articles, poems and web pages, in quotation marks.

Containers and nested containers

Sometimes a source sits inside more than one container. An article you read in a database is inside a journal (container 1), which is inside the database (container 2). MLA lets you add the second container after the first, with its own location, such as the database name and a DOI or URL. If you are not sure, follow the pattern your instructor or library guide shows, and be consistent.

Citing tools and other things

Apps, datasets, interviews, lectures and social media each follow the same template: figure out the author, the title, the container and the other elements that apply. If a source has no clear author, start with the title. When you cannot decide, include the elements a reader would need to find the source. For AI-generated content, see our guide to citing AI tools.

Common MLA mistakes

Putting a comma between author and page in the parentheses: (Patel, 45) should be (Patel 45).
Using "p." or "pp." in the in-text citation.
Forgetting the hanging indent or alphabetical order.
Using bibliography instead of Works Cited, or listing sources you did not cite.
Mixing title styles, such as italicizing article titles.
Leaving out the container for articles and web pages.
Including https:// when your instructor wants the shortened form.
Copying citations from a generator without checking them.

For the broader picture of what markers look for, see our guide to common referencing mistakes. Our citation generator can build MLA entries to start from, but check each against the examples here. Literature and language students can have a finished Works Cited list checked with citation formatting help.

Keeping track of sources as you research

Most MLA problems begin during research, not at the end. For every source you read, note the author, title, container, publisher, date and location, including the page numbers or URL, at the moment you find it. A short document or a reference manager works well. Add a line about why the source matters, so you remember where it fits. Doing this saves a long, error-prone hunt through browser history the night before the deadline.

A quick MLA checklist

Does every in-text citation match a Works Cited entry?
Are authors in the right order, with last name first for the first author?
Are titles in the right case, with quotation marks or italics as needed?
Are containers, dates and locations included where they apply?
Is the list alphabetical, double spaced and hanging-indented?
Is the header on every page?

Final thoughts

MLA rewards writers who learn the logic: describe the source with the same core elements, in the same order, and give the reader enough to find it. Once you see a database article or a web page as a source inside a container, the format stops looking arbitrary, and your Works Cited page becomes a few minutes of careful checking.