MLA 9 Citation Basics: Containers, Core Elements, and Works Cited

What MLA 9 asks of writers

MLA style, published by the Modern Language Association, is most often used in literature, languages, cultural studies, and other humanities courses. The ninth edition is the current version that most instructors refer to. Its approach is flexible: instead of a different template for every kind of source, MLA gives you a single set of questions and lets you apply them to books, articles, web pages, videos, and anything else you need to cite. The result is a Works Cited list at the end of your paper and brief in-text citations within it.

The philosophy behind this is that a citation should help a reader find the source and understand how you used it. If a detail does not help with that, MLA often allows you to leave it out. Because there is some judgment involved, two careful writers may produce slightly different entries for the same source. When your instructor has a preference, follow it, and check the current handbook for any point you are unsure of.

The core elements

MLA organizes entry information into a series of core elements, listed in a fixed order: author, title of source, title of container, other contributors, version, number, publisher, publication date, and location. Each element is followed by a punctuation mark, usually a comma or a period, and you include only the elements that apply. A generic pattern looks like Author Surname, First Name. Title of Source. Title of Container, Publisher, Date, Location.

The author comes first, with surname before given name for the first author. The title of a source that stands alone, such as a book or film, is usually italicized. A source that sits inside something larger, such as an article inside a journal or a page inside a website, has its title in quotation marks, and the larger work is the container. The container title is italicized. Dates follow the day-month-year pattern when a full date is available, with month abbreviations in many cases. Check the handbook for which months are abbreviated.

The location element is where a reader finds the source: page range for print, a link for the web, and sometimes a physical place or a database name. For web addresses, MLA generally recommends a clean form of the link without the leading protocol; verify the current guidance before finalizing.

Understanding containers

The container concept is the most distinctive part of MLA. A container is a larger whole that holds the source you are citing. A short story can sit inside an anthology. An episode sits inside a series. A journal article sits inside an issue, which sits inside a journal. Sometimes there are two levels, such as an article in a journal that you accessed through a database. In that case, MLA lets you add a second container after the first, carrying its own title and location.

When you are not sure whether something is a container, ask whether the source was published as part of a bigger collection. If yes, that collection is a container. If you read a chapter online in a retailer's reader app, the app is not a meaningful container, but a database such as a university library platform often is. A generator can prompt you for these layers, but you must still decide which layer is the real one for your source.

Using containers well makes entries long, and that is fine. Resist the urge to trim them in ways that make the source harder to find.

In-text citations: author and page

In-text citations in MLA are short and focus on the author and a location in the source. A typical form is the author surname plus a page number in parentheses, with no comma between them. If you name the author in your sentence, only the page number appears in the parentheses. The sentence end punctuation follows the closing parenthesis.

When a source has no page numbers, such as many web pages, you can omit the locator or use another reliable division, like a section heading or timestamp for audio and video. When a work has two authors, both surnames are given; with three or more, the first author is followed by et al. Verify the exact format in the handbook. If you cite two works by the same author, add a shortened title to tell them apart.

If a source has no author, use a shortened version of the title in the in-text citation, and make sure that the first words of the title match the beginning of the Works Cited entry so readers can find it. The match between in-text cue and the first element of a Works Cited entry is the central rule of MLA parenthetical citation.

Formatting the Works Cited list

The Works Cited list begins on a new page, with the heading centered. Entries are alphabetized by the first element, usually the author surname, and use a hanging indent. The entire list is typically double spaced, without extra space between entries. Titles ignore articles such as A, An, and The when you alphabetize.

If you cite multiple works by one author, the author name is given in full in the first entry and replaced by three hyphens in following entries, then the works are alphabetized by title. Some instructors prefer repeating the name; follow your own course guidance. Include only works you actually cite. A list of everything you read is a bibliography, which is a different thing.

A few reminders will save you trouble. Proofread each entry against the source itself. Use title capitalization for titles, capitalizing principal words. Include the publisher where one is meaningful, and leave it out for periodicals and some websites where it adds nothing. And keep the citation generator output as a draft: it speeds up assembly, but the manual and your instructor settle any disagreement.

Frequently asked questions