Mrs. Adams
MLA 9 Documentation
Learn how Works Cited entries and in-text citations work together so readers can follow your research trail from your writing back to the original source.
The reader should be able to move from a borrowed idea in your writing to the correct source, and then locate the exact passage when a locator is available.
Document quotations, paraphrases, summaries, data, and ideas that are not your own.
Record available publication facts. Do not guess at missing authors, dates, or page numbers.
Give only enough information to lead readers unambiguously to the matching entry.
Prefer a DOI, permalink, or stable URL when documenting an online source.
MLA uses the same ordered elements for many kinds of sources. Select an element to learn what belongs there.
The person or organization primarily responsible for creating the source. The first author’s name is normally inverted: last name, first name.
If no author is identified, begin the entry with the title. Do not write “Anonymous” unless the work is actually credited that way.
A container is the larger work or platform that holds the source. Some sources sit inside two containers.
An article is contained within a website.
An article is in a journal, and the journal is accessed through a database.
Select the source type. Use each model as a pattern, then include only the elements your actual source provides.
Author. “Title of Page.” Website Name, publisher if different from the site name, publication date, URL.
Lopez, Marisol. “How Urban Gardens Strengthen Neighborhoods.” Civic Futures, 12 Mar. 2025, www.civicfutures.org/urban-gardens.
Fictional source created for instruction.
Author(s). “Article Title.” Journal Title, vol. number, no. number, date, page range. DOI.
Patel, Rina, and Marcus Reed. “Sleep Duration and Adolescent Learning.” Journal of Student Health, vol. 18, no. 2, 2024, pp. 114–31. https://doi.org/10.0000/example.
Fictional source and DOI created for instruction.
Author. “Article Title.” Journal, volume and issue, date, pages. Database, DOI or stable URL.
Okafor, Nia. “Public Memory in Digital Spaces.” Media and Society, vol. 12, no. 4, 2024, pp. 201–19. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/000000.
Fictional source and stable URL created for instruction.
Author. Title of Book. Version if relevant, Publisher, year.
Bennett, Simone. Questions That Change Communities. 2nd ed., Harbor Press, 2023.
Fictional source created for instruction.
Organization. Title of Report. Publisher if different from the author, date, URL.
Center for Student Well-Being. School Start Times and Adolescent Health. 2025, www.example.org/start-times-report.
Fictional organization, report, and URL created for instruction.
Creator. “Video Title.” Platform, uploaded by channel if different, date, URL.
Smart Student. “In-Text Citations Made Easy: MLA 9th Edition.” YouTube, 23 Oct. 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhYQ-pU8YWg.
Verify all details against the original video before using the entry.
Missing information changes the entry; it does not give you permission to invent it.
The entries are only part of the job. The page itself follows a consistent format.
Bennett, Simone. Questions That Change Communities. 2nd ed., Harbor Press, 2023.
Lopez, Marisol. “How Urban Gardens Strengthen Neighborhoods.” Civic Futures, 12 Mar. 2025, www.civicfutures.org/urban-gardens.
Patel, Rina, and Marcus Reed. “Sleep Duration and Adolescent Learning.” Journal of Student Health, vol. 18, no. 2, 2024, pp. 114–31.
Featured Citation Video
Smart Student demonstrates how citations change for one author, multiple authors, organizations, missing authors, sources without page numbers, and repeated authors.
Use the shortest information that directs readers to the matching Works Cited entry, plus a locator when the source supplies one.
Structured discussion may strengthen argumentation skills (Garcia 42).
Garcia argues that structured discussion may strengthen argumentation skills (42).
Use the author’s last name and the page number, separated by a space.
No comma. Do not write p., pg., or page.
Include both last names in the order shown in the source, joined by “and.”
The corresponding Works Cited entry must also begin with Patel and Reed.
Use the first author’s last name followed by et al.
Et al. means “and others.” The period belongs after “al.”
Use the organization’s name when it begins the Works Cited entry.
Do not substitute an abbreviation unless it will still lead readers clearly to the entry.
Use a shortened version of the title. Preserve its formatting: quotation marks for a short work, italics for a stand-alone work.
The Works Cited entry must begin with “Growing Together.”
Use the author or title alone when no stable locator exists.
Do not invent page or paragraph numbers from your browser.
A timestamp can direct readers to the relevant moment.
Use the creator or title that begins the Works Cited entry.
Separate distinct sources with a semicolon.
Each source needs its own Works Cited entry.
Add a shortened title so readers know which entry to use.
The title distinguishes this work from Garcia’s other entry.
Do not repeat the author’s name in parentheses.
The sentence already directs readers to Garcia; only the locator remains.
The Works Cited entry begins with Garcia. The sentence already names Elena Garcia and uses information from page 42.
Databases, Google Docs, citation generators, and AI can help collect or arrange citation details—but they can also omit information, misidentify the source type, capitalize incorrectly, or apply the wrong edition.
The official free resource for MLA documentation, sample entries, and questions.
Explore MLA Style →Build and color-code an entry using the nine core elements.
Open the Template →Review Works Cited formats, in-text citations, quotations, and sample papers.
Open Purdue OWL →Guidance is based on the official MLA Works Cited Quick Guide, MLA In-Text Citations Overview, MLA Citations by Format, and Purdue OWL’s MLA Formatting and Style Guide. Featured video created by Smart Student. Unless identified as real, citation examples are fictional and were created for instruction.