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MLA citation generator

Build Works Cited entries and in-text citations in MLA 9th edition, the style from the MLA Handbook (2021).

Source type
Authors

MLA 9 citation

“Untitled.”

In-text citation

  • Parenthetical: ()
  • Narrative: In … (page)

Works Cited (0)

Saved sources appear here, sorted alphabetically and formatted in the style you pick. They're stored only in this browser.

MLA 9 rules at a glance

MLA is standard in English, literature, languages, film and many humanities courses, and in most US high schools.

  • MLA uses "core elements" in order: Author. Title of source. Container, Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location.
  • First author inverted (Murphy, Richard); two authors joined with "and"; three or more: first author followed by "et al."
  • Title case for all titles. Italicise standalone works (books, websites); put parts of a larger work (articles, web pages) in quotation marks.
  • Months longer than four letters are abbreviated: Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec.
  • Drop "https://" from URLs; use a DOI when available. Add "Accessed" plus the date for web pages that may change or have no date.
  • Works Cited: alphabetical, double-spaced, 0.5-inch hanging indent. In-text: (Author page) with no comma, e.g. (Dweck 7).

MLA 9 examples

Journal article

Beland, Louis-Philippe, and Richard Murphy. “Ill Communication: Technology, Distraction & Student Performance.” Labour Economics, vol. 41, 2016, pp. 61–76, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2016.04.004.

Book

Dweck, Carol S. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Random House, 2006.

Web page

“Adolescent and Young Adult Health.” World Health Organization, 12 Mar. 2024, www.who.int/…. Accessed 27 Sept. 2026.

In-text

(Beland and Murphy 64) · (Dweck 7) · (“Adolescent”)

Other styles: APA Citation Generator · Chicago Citation Generator · Harvard Referencing Generator.

Questions students ask

Is MLA 9 different from MLA 8?

Only slightly. MLA 9 keeps the core-elements template and adds more guidance and examples (for example on inclusive language and citing sources with no author), but the basic format is the same.

When do I include an access date in MLA?

It is optional but recommended for web sources with no publication date or content that may change.

What if there is no page number?

Just use the author: (Murphy). For long online sources you can use paragraph or section numbers if the source numbers them.