PaperCitation

Citation generator · MLA 9

MLA citation generator

Search by title, DOI, ISBN or web address, or type the details in, and get an MLA 9 Works Cited entry with its in-text citation.

  • Works Cited entry and in-text citation
  • Containers handled for articles, chapters and websites
  • Tells you what's missing before you copy
  • Free, no signup, no ads

What are you citing?
Papers and books
Web and media

Your citation

Start with a title, or search above. Your citation appears here as you type.

What the generator does

Choose the kind of source, then search by title, DOI, ISBN or web address. The details are read from Crossref, DataCite, OpenAlex, PubMed, Open Library and Google Books, or from the page itself. If nothing matches, type them in. The form asks only for what MLA needs for that kind of source and says what is missing before you copy.

You get a Works Cited entry and an in-text citation. Add several sources to your list to export them together as a .docx, BibTeX or RIS file. The list stays in your browser.

How MLA works

MLA is common in literature, languages and other humanities courses. In your text you give the author’s last name and a page number: (Morrison 45). The full details go in a list headed Works Cited at the end.

Unlike most styles, MLA does not use a separate pattern for each type of source. It asks the same questions of every source: who made it, what it is called, what larger work it sits in, who published it, when, and where to find it. Those answers are assembled in a fixed order, which is why one pattern covers books, articles, websites and videos.

What to check after you generate

  • Page numbers. The in-text citation needs the page you used. Add it.
  • Which date. For web sources, the record’s date may be when it was posted online, not when it was first published. Use the one your instructor expects.
  • Capitalization. MLA writes titles in title case. Titles from databases sometimes arrive in capitals or all lowercase. Fix them before you paste.
  • The container. For a web page, check that the website name, not the web address, is shown.

Questions people ask

What is a container in MLA?

The larger work that holds the source you are citing. A short story in an anthology is the source and the anthology is the container. An article on a news site has the site as its container, and a journal article has the journal. MLA builds each entry from the same template of core elements, and the container's title is one of them.

Should I use the DOI or the URL?

For a source you read online, MLA's order of preference for the location is a DOI, then a permalink, then a URL. A DOI is written as a link starting with https://doi.org/. Generated entries use the DOI when the record has one.

Does the in-text citation include a page number?

The generator can't know which page you are citing, so add it yourself: (Morrison 45), with no comma between the name and the number. If the source has three or more authors, MLA names only the first author followed by “et al.”

How should the Works Cited page look?

Start each entry at the left margin and indent any further lines half an inch. MLA calls this a hanging indent and still prefers it. Your word processor can set it for the whole list. Entries go in alphabetical order, under the heading Works Cited (or Work Cited if there is only one source).

Can I check a list I already wrote?

Yes. Paste it into the bibliography checker, choose MLA 9, and each entry is looked up and compared with the published record.

Last reviewed . Style rules on this page are paraphrased from the official sources listed here.

Official sources

We paraphrase official guidance and link to it. When in doubt, follow the source and your instructor.