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MLA Citation Guide

MLA Style Rules and Elements

List of MLA core elementsThis page contains general information about the core elements of an MLA citation. The pages for each source type have more specific information about what you will need to fill out your citations.

Fig. 1. Core elements of an MLA citation: (1) Author. (2) Title of source. (3) Title of container, (4) Contributor, (5) Version, (6) Number, (7) Publisher, (8) Publication date, (9) Location. From "Works Cited: A Quick Guide," The MLA Style Center.

Citations for all sources follow the core elements in the order listed by MLA (fig. 1):

Author. Title of source. Supplemental element 1 (only when needed). Title of container, Contributor, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location. Supplemental element 2 (only when needed). 

A container has all of the information about where you found your source - for example, a website or database. Some works are self-contained, meaning that the only container elements used would be the publisher, publication date, and sometimes location. An example of this is a physical printed book. Sometimes you will need two or more containers. A good example is a journal article (your source), which is published in a scholarly journal (first container), and which you are likely to find in a database (second container). 

For some sources, not all of the information listed in the MLA core template will be available. Only include information that is relevant to the source you’re citing, and do not include placeholders such as “n.d.” (no date). When creating your citation, your goal is to give your reader enough information to find the source online or in a library. ​

Definitions of MLA Core Elements

Author

The writer, editor, director, or other creator(s) of a work. This can be one or more people, a government organization, or a company.

Title of Source

The title of the book, article, chapter, movie, podcast, etc., that you used. Shorter works or episodes are in “quotes.” Longer standalone works are in italics. Some sources, such as maps, artifacts, and social media posts, do not have titles. When this is the case, create a short description to use in the Title element (do not put the description in quotes or italics).

Supplemental Element 1

Use this for information relevant to the work that is not relevant to the container. Usually this would be additional contributors or an original publication date.

  • Examples of additional contributors include translator, editor, narrator, and guest director.
  • Original publication dates are used when a date only applies to the title of the source, not to the container. For example, if you view a Supreme Court decision online, you would use the original publication date (when the decision was issued), not the date it was uploaded online.

Title of Container

Only added to the citation if the work you used is part of a larger work (for example, a short story from an anthology, an article from a newspaper, or an episode of a TV show).

Other contributors

Editor(s), translator(s), performer(s), or other people who contributed to the work.

Version

Edition or version of a work, such as the 9th edition of the MLA Handbook, the King James Version of the Bible, or the director’s cut of Blade Runner.

Number

Applies to works in serial format, such as magazine articles or episodes of a TV show. Also applies to multi-volume works, such as encyclopedias.

Publisher

The company, organization, or government entity responsible for publishing or producing the work.

Publication date

The date the work was published, posted, or released.

Location

Where to find the work – for example, the URL or an article’s page numbers in a magazine.

Supplemental element 2

Used for information that applies to the entire work, including its containers. The second supplemental element slot can contain the following information (this is not a complete list –  for more, consult a librarian or see the MLA Handbook, 9th edition, pp. 208-217):

  • Date of access – Include when the source is a website without a publication date, or when you think an online source might have been changed or removed.
  • Medium of publication – Include when the format of a source is important or might be confusing, or when you use a source's supplemental material. Examples: transcript, EPUB, DVD, liner notes, PDF download, lecture. 
  • Government documents – Specifically for documents created by the United States Congress. Include: the number of Congress, the session of Congress, whether the document came from the Senate or House of Representatives, the type of document (bill, resolution, report), and the number of the document. If it was legislation that passed, also include the date. For example:  115th Congress, 2nd session, House Resolution 6147, passed 1 Aug. 2018.

Database as container

If you found your source in a database, you will need to repeat the following two elements at the end of your citation:

  • Title of container – The name of the database. It is italicized.
  • Location – If a DOI is given, use that for the location, in this format: https://doi.org/12345/abc12345. If no DOI is available, use the article’s URL (web address) instead.
    • A DOI is a digital object identifier – a unique ID for a digital item, like a VIN for a car. It is usually a string of numbers and sometimes letters.

Publishers' Names

Remove the following words and abbreviations from a publisher's name:

  • Company / Co.
  • Corporation / Corp.
  • Incorporated / Inc. 
  • Limited / Ltd.
  • The, if it begins the publisher's name
    • For example, The Overlook Press becomes Overlook Press in your citation.

Academic Publishers

University is abbreviated as U, and press is abbreviated as P. Examples:

  • The University of Chicago Press becomes U of Chicago P.
  • Oxford University Press becomes Oxford UP.

Months

May, June, and July are not abbreviated. The other nine months are abbreviated as follows – January: Jan. / February: Feb. / March: Mar. / April: Apr. / August: Aug. / September: Sept. / October: Oct. / November: Nov. / December: Dec.

When you use information from an article that is summarizing outside sources, MLA recommends that you cite the article you got the information from and not the ones whose information you are summarizing. 

For example, look at this quote from an article in the Britannica Encyclopedia about a coffee experiment written by Nathan Myhrvold.

Meghan Grim, Niny Rao, and Megan Fuller at Thomas Jefferson University roasted Colombian beans at five different temperatures....To extend the research, Grim, Rao, and Fuller are currently standardizing their process and asking additional questions like, how does roasting temperature affect coffee's many flavor compounds? The researchers are presenting their results at the American Chemical Society's Spring 2020 National Meeting & Exposition in Philadelphia.

To incorporate this information in your essay, you can either paraphrase, use a direct quote, or summarize the information. Here are two examples. If you need more help paraphrasing, quoting, and summarizing you can find more examples in our How to Avoid Plagiarism Guide. 

  1. Paraphrasing
    • Researchers are studying what roasting coffee beans at different temperatures does to the flavor of coffee, the results of which will be presented at the American Chemical Society's 2020 National Meeting & Exposition (Myhryold).
  2. Quoting
    • When it comes to roasting coffee, the Britannica Encyclopedia entry on "coffee roasting" states that roasting coffee beans is a field researchers are looking into and the researchers Rao, Grim, and Fuller are interested in finding out "how does roasting temperature affect coffee's many flavor compounds" (Myhryold).

For both examples above, your citation stays the same and you should cite the Britannica Encyclopedia authors in both instances, not the researchers being quoted.

Works Cited: 

Myhrvold, Nathan. "coffee roasting". Encyclopedia Britannica, 20 Jan. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/topic/coffee-roasting. 

Author

  • One author: Listed as LastName, FirstName. Example: Smith, Jane.
  • Two authors: Listed in the order they appear in the work as Author1LastName, FirstName, and Author2FirstName LastName. Example: Smith, Jane, and John Doe.
  • Three or more authors: Listed as Author1Lastname, FirstName, et al. Example: For a work with the authors Jane Smith, John Doe, and Rita Jones, the author element becomes Smith, Jane, et al.​​​​​​​
    • ​​​​​Et al. is an abbreviation for et alia, a Latin phrase that means "and others." Style manuals and editors use the abbreviation "et al." to save space and ink.
  • Corporation or organization as author: Do not reverse any part of the organization's name. If the organization's name begins with an article (a, an, or the), omit it. Examples: RAND Corporation; Beatles

Title of Source

  • Articles and posts from online magazines, newspapers, and blogs: The title of the source will go in quotation marks. Example: "Art Fraud."
  • Book chapters: Same format as articles - the title goes in quotation marks.
  • Entire books: The title is italicized. Example: The SAGE Handbook of Child Research.

Title of Container

  • Articles: The title of the article's magazine, journal, newspaper, or encyclopedia in italics. Example: Consumer Reports.
  • Book chapters: The title of the entire book in italics. Example: Skateboarding: The Ultimate Guide.
  • Entire books: Omit this element and skip to Other Contributors. (The library database is a container, but it goes at the end of the citation.)

Other Contributors

  • Articles: Typically don't have other contributors.
  • Book chapters: If the author of the chapter is different than the book's editor, use the phrase Edited by FirstName LastName. Example: Edited by Jane Doe.
  • Entire books: If there is an editor or translator in addition to the book's author, use the phrase Edited/Translated by FirstName LastName. Example: Translated by Seamus Heaney.

Version

  • Articles: Library database articles typically don't have versions.
  • Book chapters: Same as for entire books - see below.
  • Entire books: If the book's publication information includes a version (e.g., "Revised edition" or "3rd edition"), use the phrase X ed. Example: 3rd ed.

Number

  • Articles: Individual issues of magazines, newspapers, and journals typically have a volume number (abbreviated vol.) and an issue number (abbreviated no.). Example: vol. 12, no. 3
    • Some periodicals have only issue numbers without volumes. In this case, omit vol. from your citation.
    • Articles from multi-volume encyclopedias use the same number format as entire books - see below.
  • Book chapters: Same as for entire books - see below.
  • Entire books: Only included if it is a multi-volume work. Use the phrase vol. X. Example: vol. 3

Publisher

  • Articles: Magazines, newspapers, and journals typically do not include publisher information. Encyclopedia articles use the same format as entire books - see below.
  • Book chapters: Same as for entire books - see below.
  • Entire books: Omit "the" if it begins the publisher's name. Abbreviate the words Company (Co.), Corporation (Corp.), Incorporated (Inc.), and Limited (Ltd.). For academic presses, University is abbreviated as U (no period) and Press is abbreviated as P (no period).

Publication date

  • Articles: 
    • If the publication lists an exact date, use the format DD Month Year. Example: 12 June 2019
    • If the exact date is not listed, use the format Month Year or season Year. Examples: Apr. 2015, winter 2017
    • If the article is from a periodical published every other month or every other season, use the format Month-Month Year or season-season Year. Examples: spring-summer 2016, July-Aug. 2011
  • Book chapters: The year the book was published.
  • Entire books: The year the book was published.

Location

  • Articles: 
    • For a single-page article, use the format p. X. Example: p. 22.
    • For articles of two pages or more, use pp. X-X. Example: pp. 37-52.
    • For articles that run on non-consecutive pages (for example, a newspaper article that starts on p. B1 and continues on p. B4), use pp. X+. Example: pp. B1+.
  • Book chapters: Use the same formatting as for articles.
    • Some books use Roman numerals for introductions and prefaces. If this is the case, use the same number formatting as the book. Examples: p. III,  pp. xx-xiv.
  • Entire books: Do not use this element.

Supplemental Element 2

  • Date of access: Do not include this in database citations unless your instructor asks you to. If you do need to include it, format it as Accessed DD Month Year. Example: Accessed 12 Feb. 2020.
  • Medium of publication: Include when you use a source's supplemental material. Examples: Transcript, PDF download. 
  • Government documents: Specifically for documents created by the United States Congress (the Senate and/or the House of Representatives). Include: the number of Congress, the session of Congress, whether the document came from the Senate or House of Representatives, the type of document (bill, resolution, report), and the number of the document. If it was legislation that passed, also include the date. Example: 115th Congress, 2nd session, House Resolution 6147, passed 1 Aug. 2018.

Database as container

Since these sources are all from library databases, you will need to include the following information at the end of the citation:

  • Title of the database in italics. Example: EBSCOhost.
  • URL or DOI of the article.
    • URLs: If a DOI is available, use that instead of the URL (see below). If the article does not have a DOI, use the URL instead. 
      • Don't copy the link from your browser's address bar - it is often a temporary link. Instead, look at the article's record for a link button or a field labeled permalink, document link, or stable link.
      • Don't insert a space or hyphen to create line breaks.
      • Don't use a URL shortener such as Bitly or TinyURL.
      • Omit https:// from the beginning of the URL, unless doing that breaks the link.
    • DOIs are designed to be persistent (unlike URL links, which can go dead if a website is rearranged). If a work has a DOI, always use that instead of the URL.
      • If the DOI is already in link format, you can use it as-is. Example: https://www.doi.org/10.1139/cjp-2018-0821
      • The DOI might be listed on the document in an older format, such as DOI: 10.2514/1.J052201. If so, place the DOI at the end of the URL https://www.doi.org/ (do include the https://). Example: https://www.doi.org/10.2514/1.J052201.