MLA format is the standard citation style for English literature, languages, film, and most humanities disciplines. If your professor requires MLA and you need to know exactly how to cite every type of source you might use, this guide gives you copy-ready examples for every format — from journal articles and books to websites, videos, and social media posts.
All examples follow MLA 9th edition (2021), the current standard. Key differences from the 8th edition are noted where relevant.
MLA Citation: Two Parts That Must Always Match
Like all academic citation systems, MLA has two linked components:
- In-text citation — a brief parenthetical reference in the body of your paper
- Works Cited entry — a full citation on the Works Cited page at the end
Every source cited in the text must appear in Works Cited. Every entry in Works Cited must be cited at least once in the text. Works Cited is not a bibliography of everything you read — only sources you actually used.
MLA In-Text Citations: The Author-Page Format
MLA uses the author-page format. The author’s last name and the page number appear in parentheses, with no comma between them. The citation goes before the closing punctuation of the sentence.
One Author
Parenthetical: (Smith 45)
Author named in sentence: Smith argues that… (45).
Direct quote: Smith argues that «the tension is unresolvable» (45).
Two Authors
(Smith and Jones 78)
Smith and Jones argue that… (78).
Three or More Authors
Use the first author’s name followed by «et al.»:
(Brown et al. 112)
No Page Number (Websites, Some E-books)
Omit the page reference entirely — use only the author name:
(Johnson)
If the source has numbered paragraphs, use «par.»: (Johnson, par. 4)
If it has sections, use the section name: (Johnson, «Introduction»)
No Author
Use a shortened version of the title. Italicise book and website titles; put article titles in quotation marks:
Book or website: (Merriam-Webster’s 45)
Article: («MLA Format Guide» 3)
Two Works by the Same Author
Add a shortened title to distinguish them:
(Smith, «Article Title» 45)
(Smith, Book Title 112)
Two Authors with the Same Last Name
Add a first initial:
(J. Smith 45) and (M. Smith 23)
Entire Work (No Specific Page)
Just the author name in parentheses, or name them in the sentence with no parenthetical:
(Morrison)
As Morrison demonstrates throughout Beloved…
Indirect Source (Quoting a Quote)
If Smith quotes Jones and you want to use Jones’s words from Smith’s text:
(qtd. in Smith 45)
«Qtd. in» stands for «quoted in.» In Works Cited, include only Smith — the source you actually read.
Direct Quotes in MLA
Short quote (four lines or fewer): Enclose in quotation marks within the text. Citation goes before the closing punctuation.
Clarke argues that «close reading remains the essential skill» (52).
Long quote (more than four lines of prose, more than three lines of poetry): Use a block quotation. Indent the entire quotation one inch from the left margin. Do not use quotation marks. Place the citation after the final punctuation — the opposite of short quotes. Introduce with a complete sentence ending in a colon:
Clarke summarises the problem as follows:
The difficulty with digital archives is not access but interpretation. Scholars can now retrieve texts that were previously inaccessible, but the critical frameworks for reading those texts have not kept pace with the volume of newly available material. (Clarke 89)
Poetry: Reproduce line breaks with a forward slash (/) for short quotes: «I heard a Fly buzz / when I died» (Dickinson 3-4). For longer poetry quotes, use a block quotation as above.
MLA Works Cited: The Container System
MLA 9th edition uses a flexible «container» system. Every source lives inside a container — a journal is the container for an article; a website is the container for a web page; an anthology is the container for a poem. Some sources have two containers (e.g., an article in a journal accessed through a database).
The nine core elements, in order, are: Author. Title of Source. Title of Container, Other Contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication Date, Location.
Not every element applies to every source — omit elements that don’t exist for your source. Each element is followed by a comma except the last, which ends with a period.
How to Cite a Journal Article in MLA
Format: Last, First. «Title of Article.» Journal Name, vol. #, no. #, Year, pp. ##–##.
One author:
Clarke, Emily. «Close Reading in the Digital Age.» New Literary History, vol. 54, no. 1, 2023, pp. 34–58.
Two authors:
Smith, Karen, and Robert Park. «Rhetoric and Academic Prose.» College English, vol. 85, no. 3, 2023, pp. 201–218.
Three or more authors:
Brown, Tom, et al. «Contextual Factors in Academic Writing.» Journal of Writing Research, vol. 15, no. 2, 2024, pp. 89–115.
Article accessed through a database (two containers):
Clarke, Emily. «Close Reading in the Digital Age.» New Literary History, vol. 54, no. 1, 2023, pp. 34–58. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/example.
Article with DOI:
Thompson, Rachel. «Citation Practices in Undergraduate Writing.» Pedagogy, vol. 23, no. 1, 2023, pp. 12–29. https://doi.org/10.1215/000000000.
How to Cite a Book in MLA
Format: Last, First. Title of Book. Publisher, Year.
Single author:
Johnson, Michael. The Art of Literary Analysis. Oxford UP, 2022.
Two authors:
Smith, Karen, and Michael Johnson. Writing in the Disciplines. 3rd ed., Pearson, 2023.
Three or more authors:
Brown, Tom, et al. The Handbook of Academic Writing. Routledge, 2022.
Edited book:
Hall, Robert, editor. New Approaches to Literary Theory. Cambridge UP, 2023.
Chapter in an edited book:
Clarke, Emily. «Digital Editions and Close Reading.» New Approaches to Literary Theory, edited by Robert Hall, Cambridge UP, 2023, pp. 45–67.
Book with edition:
Modern Language Association. MLA Handbook. 9th ed., Modern Language Association of America, 2021.
Translation:
Kafka, Franz. The Metamorphosis. Translated by Susan Bernofsky, W. W. Norton, 2014.
Publisher abbreviations in MLA 9th edition: Abbreviate common publishers: «Oxford UP» not «Oxford University Press»; «U of Chicago P» not «University of Chicago Press.»
How to Cite a Website in MLA
Format: Last, First. «Title of Page.» Name of Site, Publisher or Sponsor, Day Month Year, URL.
With author and date:
Smith, Jane. «Understanding Unreliable Narrators.» Literary Hub, 15 Jan. 2024, lithub.com/example.
Organisation as author:
Modern Language Association. «MLA Style Introduction.» MLA Style Center, style.mla.org/example.
No author:
«Guide to Literary Analysis.» Purdue OWL, Purdue University, 10 Feb. 2024, owl.purdue.edu/example.
No date:
Smith, Jane. «Title of Page.» Site Name, url.com/example. Accessed 16 Mar. 2026.
Note on access dates: Include an access date only when the source has no publication date or when the content may change over time. Format: Accessed Day Month Year.
How to Cite a YouTube Video or Online Video in MLA
Format: Last, First, or «Channel Name.» «Title of Video.» YouTube, Day Month Year, URL.
Known creator:
Smith, John. «How to Write a Literary Analysis.» YouTube, 20 Feb. 2024, youtube.com/watch?v=example.
Channel name only:
Literature Explained. «Shakespeare’s Tragedies: An Overview.» YouTube, 12 June 2024, youtube.com/watch?v=example.
TED Talk (from TED website):
Brown, Brené. «The Power of Vulnerability.» TED, June 2010, ted.com/talks/example.
Film or documentary on streaming:
The Social Dilemma. Directed by Jeff Orlowski, Exposure Labs, 2020. Netflix, netflix.com/title/81254224.
How to Cite a Podcast in MLA
Podcast episode:
Host Name. «Episode Title.» Podcast Name, episode #, Production Company, Day Month Year, URL.
Example:
Raz, Guy. «The Science of Habit Formation.» How I Built This, episode 412, NPR, 15 Sept. 2023, npr.org/podcasts/example.
How to Cite Social Media in MLA
Tweet / X post:
Last, First [@username]. «Full text of tweet if under 280 characters.» X, Day Month Year, URL.
Smith, John [@johnsmith]. «New study confirms link between sleep quality and academic performance.» X, 5 Mar. 2024, x.com/johnsmith/status/example.
Instagram post:
American Psychological Association [@APAstyle]. «New citation guidelines now available on our website.» Instagram, 20 Jan. 2024, instagram.com/p/example.
How to Cite a Film in MLA
Feature film (cinema release):
Inception. Directed by Christopher Nolan, Warner Bros. Pictures, 2010.
Film — focusing on a specific person’s contribution:
Nolan, Christopher, director. Inception. Warner Bros. Pictures, 2010.
Film on streaming:
Roma. Directed by Alfonso Cuarón, Participant Media, 2018. Netflix, netflix.com/title/80240715.
How to Cite a TV Show in MLA
Whole series:
Breaking Bad. Created by Vince Gilligan, AMC, 2008–2013.
Single episode:
«Ozymandias.» Breaking Bad, directed by Rian Johnson, season 5, episode 14, AMC, 15 Sept. 2013.
How to Cite a Poem in MLA
Poem from an anthology:
Dickinson, Emily. «Because I could not stop for Death.» The Norton Anthology of American Literature, edited by Robert S. Levine, 9th ed., Norton, 2017, pp. 1187–1188.
Poem from a single-author collection:
Hughes, Langston. «Harlem.» The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes, edited by Arnold Rampersad, Knopf, 1994, p. 426.
In-text citation for poems: Use line numbers instead of page numbers, introduced by «line» or «lines» the first time:
(Dickinson, lines 1–2)
(Dickinson 5–6) — subsequent citations
How to Cite a Newspaper Article in MLA
Online newspaper:
Brown, Tom. «Study Finds Exercise Improves Classroom Performance.» The New York Times, 10 Dec. 2024, nytimes.com/example.
Print newspaper:
Brown, Tom. «Study Finds Exercise Improves Classroom Performance.» The New York Times, 10 Dec. 2024, p. B4.
How to Cite a Government Document or Report in MLA
United States, Department of Education. The Condition of Education 2024. National Center for Education Statistics, 2024, nces.ed.gov/example.
World Health Organization. Global Health Report 2024. WHO Press, 2024, who.int/example.
How to Cite an Interview in MLA
Published interview:
Morrison, Toni. «The Art of Fiction No. 134.» Interview by Elissa Schappell. The Paris Review, no. 128, Fall 1993, pp. 83–125.
Interview you conducted yourself:
Smith, Jane. Personal interview. 10 Mar. 2026.
MLA Works Cited: Formatting Rules
- Starts on a new page with centered heading «Works Cited» (not bold, not underlined)
- All entries double-spaced — no extra line between entries
- Hanging indent: first line flush left, all subsequent lines indented 0.5 inches
- Alphabetical by first element (usually author’s last name, or title if no author)
- First author inverted (Last, First); all additional authors in normal order (First Last)
- Two authors joined by «and»; three or more use the first author «et al.»
- Titles: italicise containers (books, journals, websites, films); put source titles in quotation marks (articles, chapters, episodes)
- Abbreviate months: Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., May, June, July, Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec.
- Abbreviate publishers when standard (Oxford UP, MIT P, U of Chicago P)
Common MLA Citation Mistakes
- Adding a comma between author and page number — MLA uses (Smith 45), not (Smith, 45). No comma.
- Adding «p.» before the page number in in-text citations — Write (Smith 45), not (Smith p. 45). The «pp.» abbreviation is used only in Works Cited for page ranges.
- Bolding or underlining the paper title — The title on the first page of an MLA paper is in plain title case — no formatting.
- Using a title page — MLA does not use a separate title page. The four-line header appears at the top left of page 1.
- Not inverting only the first author’s name — In Works Cited, only the first author is inverted (Last, First). Additional authors are normal order: Brown, Tom, and Jane Smith.
- Forgetting the hanging indent in Works Cited — Every Works Cited entry must have a hanging indent.
- Including sources not cited in the paper — Works Cited contains only sources you actually used. Everything else belongs in a separate «Works Consulted» list if needed.
- Using «ibid.» — MLA does not use ibid. Repeat the author and page number every time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a page number in every MLA in-text citation?
No — only when the source has page numbers. For websites, social media, and most online sources that don’t have stable page numbers, omit the page reference and use only the author name: (Smith). If the source has numbered paragraphs or sections, you can use «par. 4» or the section heading instead.
How do I cite a website in MLA when there’s no author?
Start the Works Cited entry with the title of the page in quotation marks. In the in-text citation, use a shortened version of the title: («MLA Format Guide») if no page number, or («MLA Format Guide» 3) if there is one. Never use the URL as the citation.
What’s the difference between a Works Cited and a Works Consulted page in MLA?
Works Cited lists only sources you cited in the paper. Works Consulted includes sources you read but didn’t cite. Most MLA papers require only a Works Cited. Check your assignment instructions — if in doubt, use Works Cited and include only sources that appear as in-text citations.
How do I format a block quote in MLA?
For quotations longer than four lines of prose or three lines of poetry: start on a new line, indent the entire quotation one inch from the left margin, do not use quotation marks, maintain double spacing, and place the citation after the final period. Introduce the block quotation with a complete sentence ending in a colon.
Do I need an access date for websites in MLA?
Only when the content has no publication date or is likely to change. For most stable web pages with clear publication dates, the access date is optional. Format: Accessed 16 Mar. 2026.
How do I cite a source with no date in MLA?
Simply omit the date from the Works Cited entry and add an access date at the end: Accessed 16 Mar. 2026. In the in-text citation, use the author name (or title if no author) as usual.
What changed in MLA 9th edition vs. 8th edition?
The 9th edition (2021) added a full chapter on inclusive language, explicitly endorsed the use of section headings in longer papers, clarified table formatting (label and title above the table), simplified URL formatting, and updated publisher abbreviations. The core container system and in-text citation format remained the same as the 8th edition.
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