MLA Citation Formatter (Simple)
How it works
MLA (Modern Language Association) citation format is standard in humanities — literature, language arts, linguistics, cultural studies, and foreign languages. The MLA 9th edition (2021) introduced the "core elements" framework: a flexible system built around eight elements that apply to nearly every source type. The MLA Citation Formatter generates Works Cited entries for books, articles, websites, films, and more.
**The nine core elements (MLA 9th)** Author. Title of Source. Title of Container, Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication Date, Location.
Not every element is present in every source — omit missing elements.
**Books** Last, First. *Book Title: Subtitle*. Publisher, Year. Example: Atwood, Margaret. *The Handmaid's Tale*. McClelland and Stewart, 1985.
**Journal articles (in a database)** Author. "Article Title." *Journal Name*, vol. X, no. X, Month Year, pp. X–X. Database Name, DOI/URL.
**Websites** Author. "Page Title." *Site Name*, Publisher/Sponsor, Date, URL.
**In-text citations** Author's last name and page number in parentheses: (Smith 47). No comma between name and page. If no page numbers: (Smith). If no author: abbreviated title ("Short Title" 47).
**MLA vs. APA key differences** MLA uses page numbers in citations; APA uses year. MLA spells out publisher names; APA abbreviates. MLA uses "Works Cited"; APA uses "References". MLA capitalises all major words in titles; APA capitalises only first word and proper nouns.
Privacy: all formatting runs in the browser. No text is transmitted.
Frequently Asked Questions
- The 'container' concept in MLA 9th is the larger work that holds the source. An article is contained in a journal; a journal is contained in a database. A TV episode is contained in a series; the series may be on Netflix (another container). MLA 9th allows for nested containers when relevant: Author. 'Article.' *Journal*, vol., no., year, pp. Database, URL. The outer container (database) is only included when access through it is essential to locating the source. For print journal articles accessed in physical form, no database container is needed.
- For articles accessed through databases (JSTOR, EBSCOhost, ProQuest): include the database as the second container after the journal information. Format: Author. 'Article Title.' *Journal Name*, vol. X, no. X, Year, pp. X–X. *Database Name*, DOI or URL. Example: Smith, Jane. 'Climate Change Impacts.' *Nature*, vol. 573, no. 7774, 2019, pp. 233–238. *JSTOR*, https://doi.org/10.1038/... If the article has a stable DOI, the database name is optional in MLA 9th.
- Works Cited (MLA): includes ONLY sources you directly cited in your paper — quotations, paraphrases, and summaries that appear with in-text citations. Works Consulted (also called Bibliography): includes both cited sources AND sources you read and used for background but didn't directly cite. MLA style primarily uses Works Cited; Works Consulted is used when instructors explicitly require it. Chicago style uses Bibliography (equivalent to Works Consulted). APA uses References (equivalent to Works Cited — only directly cited sources).
- In MLA, when you have two or more works by the same author: list them alphabetically by title (not chronologically). For the second and subsequent entries, replace the author's name with three em dashes followed by a period (---.). Example: Atwood, Margaret. *The Handmaid's Tale*. 1985. ---. *Oryx and Crake*. 2003. In in-text citations with multiple works by the same author: include a shortened title to distinguish them: (Atwood, *Handmaid's* 47) vs. (Atwood, *Oryx* 123).