URL:
Author first name:
Author last name:
Article title:
Website name:
Date published:
Publisher:
Only if different than website name
Date Accessed:
An extensive MLA style guide with hundreds of citation examples
Citations are necessary parts of literary work that give you credibility and credibility to the authors you use.
Core MLA
Class Content
Social Media
Everything Else MLA
For the APA citation guide, go to our APA citation generator.
All MLA works cited entries should be written in 12pt Times New Roman font and use a hanging indentation style. Hanging indentation means every line after the first line is indented. When clicking the “copy” button, BibBible automatically copies your generated citation with all the proper style rules, including the hanging indentation.
For websites, writing the date that you accessed the material is optional.
In MLA, your page number citation format should use "p." for a single page and "pp." for a page range.
Always remove the https:// or http:// from URls in MLA format and place a period at the end.
www.bibbible.com/.
The name of the author is the first thing in the citation, but if there is no author, skip the author and move to the next component. A period is always used after a name but remember a source can have multiple authors.
If there is one author, place the last name first, place a comma, and then write the first name with a period at the end.
Last name, First name.
Jones, Mark.
If the source has two authors, separate the names with an "and", then write the second author's name with the first name first.
Author 1 last name, First name, and Author 2 first name Last name.
Rodger, John, and Ben Johnson.
If the source has more than two authors, only use the name of the first author, but insert phrase “et al.”
Author 1 last name, First name, et al.
Johnson, Ben, et al.
How to cite a website in MLA format.
Only cite a publisher if different from the website name. If you are citing an article from CNN, both the name of the website and the publisher are CNN, so you would not include a publisher in your citation. Writing the date accessed at the end of the citation is optional in the newest MLA manual.
Generate an MLA website citation now.
Author Last Name, First Name. "Title of the Individual Webpage." Name of the Website, Publisher (if different that website name), Date Published, DOI or URL. Date accessed (optional).
Marner, Aaron. "Iowa State football's Breece Hall sets NCAA record for most consecutive games with a rushing touchdown." Des Moines Register, 26 Nov. 2021, www.desmoinesregister.com/story/sports/college/iowa-state/cyclone-insider/2021/11/26/breece-hall-iowa-state-football-breaks-long-standing-college-touchdown-record-rushing/8770257002/. Accessed 19 Jan. 2022.
Author 1 last name, First name, and Author 2 first name Last name. "Title of the Individual Webpage." Name of the Website, Date Published, URL.
Korn, Jennifer, and Clare Duffy. “Microsoft to acquire Activision Blizzard in $68.7 billion deal.” CNN, 18 Jan. 2022, us.cnn.com/2022/01/18/tech/microsoft-activision-blizzard-acquisition/index.html.
Author 1 Last Name, First Name, et al. "Title of the Individual Webpage." Name of the Website, Date Published, URL.
Wallace, Gregory, et al. “International airlines suspend some US flights over 5G uncertainty.” CNN, 19 Jan. 2022, us.cnn.com/2022/01/18/business/airline-cancellations-5g/index.html.
If there is no author mentioned, you can simply skip it.
"Title of the Individual Webpage." Name of the Website, Date Published, URL.
When citing entire websites in MLA, don't include a page title. The author should go first, but if there is no author, the name of the website goes first.
Author Last Name, First Name. Name of the Website. Publisher, Date Published, URL.
Name of the Website. Publisher, Date Published, URL.
BibBible. www.bibbible.com.
How to cite a book in MLA format.
Books are one of the most common sources that you will use and can be found either in print or online. If your book has a version number or an edition, this must be included, and you can see examples in our MLA book guide. BibBible will automatically cite a book for you by finding all the information that you need based on just the title.
Author Last Name, First Name. Book Title. Publisher, Year Published.
Henley, Patricia. The Hummingbird House. McMurray, 1999.
Author 1 Last Name, First Name, and Author 2 first name Last name. Book Title. Publisher, Year Published.
Gillispie, Paula, and Neal Learner. The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Peer Tutoring. Allyn and Bacon, 2000.
To make a citation for a book with three or more authors, write the first author's name as normal, then add et al.
Author Last Name, First Name, et al. Book Title. Publisher, Year Published.
How to cite a journal article in MLA format.
If the journal was found online, include the name of the website and the DOI or URL, but the DOI is always preferred. Use "vol." for volume, "no." for issue, "p." for single page, and "pp." for page range. Don't forget that for journal articles a citation is often given to you on the same page where the article is found!
Author last name, author first name. "Article Title." Journal Name, Volume, Issue, Year Published, Page Numbers.
Misner, Charles. "Wormhole Initial Conditions." American Physical Society, vol. 118, no. 4, 1960, p. 1110.
McKinely, P.K. "A survey of wormhole routing techniques in direct networks." IEEE, vol. 26, no. 2, 1993, pp. 62-76.
Author last name, author first name. "Article Title." Journal Name, Volume, Issue, Year Published, Page Numbers. Website name, URL or DOI.
Sulem, Craig. "Numerical Simulation of Gravity Waves." ScienceDirect, vol. 108, no. 1, 1993, pp. 73-79, 82-83. ScienceDirect, https://doi.org/10.1006/jcph.1993.1164.
Generate an MLA scholarly journal citation now.
How to cite social media items in MLA format.
You will notice that each of the social media MLA citations are similar, but with a few minor differences. In general, be sure to credit the original person who posted the content, whether it is a username or the person's name. Specific information about the post must be included, like a title, a description, or the entire content of the post. If there are any social media platform citations that we are missing, but you'd like to see, please let us know and we will add it right away.
How to cite TikToks in MLA format.
@username. "TikTok description." TikTok App, Date posted, URL (if available).
@kathleenbus. "BREAD BALLS." TikTok App, 4 Apr. 2021, vm.tiktok.com/TTPdrnLkVX/.
How to cite Tweets in MLA format.
@username. "Entire tweet." Twitter, Date & time posted, URL.
@Forbes. "Elon Musk Sells $1.1 Billion In Tesla Stock—But Docs Reveal He Planned To Regardless Of Twitter Poll." Twitter, 10 Nov. 2021 5:45 p.m., mobile.twitter.com/Forbes/status/1458596736767827969?cxt=HHwWgoC52aGA_b0oAAAA.
How to cite Facebook posts in MLA format.
Author last name, first name. "Title of post (or other important info)." Facebook, Date & time posted, URL.
How to cite Instagram posts in MLA format.
Username. "Title of post." Instagram App, Date & time posted, URL.
How to cite LinkedIn posts in MLA format.
Author last name, first name. "Title or description of post." LinkedIn, Date & time posted (if available), URL.
Dunlap, Jake. "How do I get access to more people in my account when my main contact will not let me talk to anyone?." LinkedIn, 2020, www.linkedin.com/posts/jakedunlap_sales-accountmanagement-activity-6622211504513048576-py8z/.
How to cite internet comments in MLA format.
Username. Comment on "Title of article or content." Name of website, Date & time commented, URL.
boulder89984. Comment on "The only 5th down in NFL history." YouTube, 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=QozUK9ZicjA&lc=UgycBGoRm-J1kRqHRZ94AaABAg.
How to cite a YouTube video in MLA format.
Most online videos that are cited are YouTube videos, but videos can come from everywhere. For a YouTube video citation in MLA format, the trickiest part is whether to credit the uploader account, the name of the content creator, or both. In MLA, credit them both if they are different, but if they are the same, then don't include the creator's name in the beginning.
Creator Last Name, First Name. “Title of Video.” Website, uploaded by username, Date, URL.
Newsom, Joanna. “Sapokanikan (Official Video)." YouTube, uploaded by Drag City, 10 Aug. 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=ky9Ro9pP2gc.
“Title of Video.” Website, uploaded by username, Date, URL.
Generate an MLA online video citation now.
How to cite all class content in MLA format.
We decided to add this section about making citations for class content because when we were in school, we found ourselves trying to cite things like a class syllabus all the time! It was difficult to try to find out what to do, so we made sure to include as many of these items as possible, but if we missed any please let us know and we can add them.
How to cite a textbook PDF in MLA format.
Author last name, First name. "Title of chapter." Edition (if applicable), Publisher, Year published. Name of Book. PDF file.
Author last name, First name. Name of Book. Edition (if applicable), Publisher, Year published. PDF file.
Resnick, Robert. Quantum Physics. 2nd ed., Wiley, 1985. PDF file.
How to cite lecture slides in MLA format.
Instructor last name, First name. "Title of PowerPoint." Course title. Semester. University. Lecture.
Subramanian, Shankar. "Time Domain Analysis." ME421: Controls. Fall 2018. Iowa State University. Lecture.
Instructor last name, First name. "Title of PowerPoint." Course title. Semester. University. Name of website, URL. Lecture.
How to cite video lectures in MLA format.
Instructor last name, First name. "Title of lecture." Course title. Semester. University. Video Lecture.
Instructor last name, First name. "Title of lecture." Course title. Semester. University. Name of website, URL. Video Lecture.
Sly, David. "Time value of money." IE 305: Engineering Economics. Fall 2019. Iowa State University. Canvas, canvas.iastate.edu. Video Lecture.
How to cite a class syllabus in MLA format.
Instructor last name, First name. Syllabus for Class Name. Department, University, Semester.
Hayes, Thomas. Syllabus for Calculus 1. Department of Math, Iowa State University, Fall 2021.
How to cite class notes in MLA format.
Author last name, First name. Class notes for Class Name. University, Semester.
Kinney, Jordan. Class notes for ASTRO 301: Introduction to the Solar System. Iowa State University, Spring 2022.
How to cite rubrics in MLA format.
Instructor last name, First name. Rubric for Class Name. University, Semester.
Bates, Stacy. Rubric for ENGL 314: Technical Communication. Iowa State University, Fall 2020.
How to cite a course catalog in MLA format.
"Title of page." Course catalog for University, Date Published, URL.
"Theatre (THTRE)." Course catalog for Iowa State University, catalog.iastate.edu/azcourses/thtre/.
How to cite code (js, python, MATLAB, etc.) in MLA format.
Author of code last name, First name. "Title of file or page." Website Name, Latest publish date, URL. File type (if applicable).
Mugen87. "three.js." GitHub, 22 Jan. 2022, github.com/mrdoob/three.js. JavaScript file.
How to cite code from GitHub in MLA format.
Author username. "Title of file or page." GitHub, Latest publish date, URL. File type (if applicable).
darioush and holiman. "Official Go implementation of the Ethereum protocol." GitHub, 21 Jan. 2022, github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum. git file.
How to cite a court case in MLA format.
Figuring out how to cite court cases in MLA is a nightmare because MLA does not publish actual guidelines for it. In fact, we had to take everything we know about how MLA citations are supposed to work and figure out how a court case citation should look. Remember that depending on which of the courts the case happened in, such as the US Supreme Court, or a US District Court, the citation changes. We have included many of these different formats, but if you are citing a state court case, you will have to research for that specific state.
Name of the Court. Title of Case. Title of Reporter, volume, year, page(s). Database or website name, DOI or URL.
Name of the Court. Title of Case. U.S., volume, year, page(s). Database or website name, DOI or URL.
Miranda v. Arizona is the title of the case. The 384 indicates the volume. U.S. indicates the US supreme court. 436 is the first page number this case shows up in which can be cited as "pp. 436+".
US Supreme Court. Miranda v. Arizona. U.S., vol. 384, 1966, pp. 436+. Justia, supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/384/436/.
Name of the Court. Title of Case. F., volume, year, page(s). Database or website name, DOI or URL.
Name of the Court. Title of Case. F. Supp., volume, year, page(s). Database or website name, DOI or URL.
United States District Court, Western District of New York. New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Cuomo. F. Supp., vol. 990, 2013. pp. 349+. West Law Next Campus Research, -next-westlaw-com.ezproxy.rit.edu/Search/Home.html?rs=IWLN1.0&vr=3.0&sp=003054105-2100&forcecdn=false&bhskip=1. Accessed 12 May. 2018.
Name of the Court. Title of Case. Reporter (depends on the state), volume, year, page(s). Database or website name, DOI or URL.
In the example above, most of the information needed for an MLA court case citation is included. The 347 is the volume "vol. 347". The "U.S." means that this case was argued in the US Supreme Court. The 483 is the first page number that this case shows up at and can be cited as "pp. 483+". The "1954" is the year the case was decided and should be used in the citation.
US Supreme Court. Brown v. Board of Education. U.S., vol. 347, 1954, pp. 483+. Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/usrep347483/.
Generate an MLA court case citation now.
How to cite a newspaper article in MLA format.
Citing newspapers in MLA is a little tricky when it comes to local newspapers because the citation changes slightly. For a local newspaper, make sure to include the city and state of where they are located, this will help readers figure out which local newspaper you are talking about. Remember to use "p." for single page articles and "pp." for a page range.
Author Last Name, First Name. “Article Title.” Newspaper Name, Date, page number(s).
Author Last Name, First Name. “Article Title.” Newspaper Name, Date, page number(s). Database or URL.
“Article Title.” Newspaper Name, Date, page number(s).
"Hoover Favors Stand in the Pacific." The Washington Observer, 3 Jan 1950, pp. 1+, Google News Archive.
Author Last Name, First Name. “Article Title.” Newspaper Name [city, state], Date, page number(s).
Eller, Donnelle. “MidAmerican proposes adding enough wind, solar generation to meet all of Iowa customers' power needs.” Ames Tribune [Ames, IA], 19 Jan. 2022, p. A2.
Generate an MLA newspaper citation now.
How to cite a patent in MLA format.
Fortunately, MLA did not overcomplicate patent citations like they did for court cases. Patent citations have a few pieces of key information that needs to be included such as the patent number. The patent number is a unique number that will allow a reader to find the exact patent you are referring to. If the patent is just a patent application, you can cite it the same way.
Inventor last name, first name. Title of patent. Patent Number, Agency Issuing the Patent, Date Issued.
Inventor last name, first name. Title of patent. Patent Number, Agency Issuing the Patent, Date Issued. Name of Website, URL.
1st inventor last name, 1st inventor first name, et al. Title of patent. Patent Number, Agency Issuing the Patent, Date Issued.
Bookbinder, Dana, et al. Low diameter optical fiber. US 20180128971 A1, United States Patent and Trademark Office, 10 May 2018.
Generate an MLA patent citation now.
How to cite a TV show in MLA format.
One thing that we have all done in school is write a critical report about a TV show, or a TV show soundtrack, or any other topic related to a TV show. Sometimes you need to only cite specific episodes, but other times the entire series is important, so your citation will change slightly depending on what you need to do. Specific episodes must be easily identified so the season and episode number is required.
“Episode Title.” TV Show Title, contributors, season number, episode number, Network, Date released. Name of website, URL.
“Fly.” Breaking Bad, created by Vince Gilligan, season 3, episode 10, High Bridge Productions, 23 May. 2010. Netflix, www.netflix.com/watch/70152531.
Episode Title.” TV Show Title, Network, network call letters, city of broadcast, Broadcast date.
"The Blessing Way." The X-Files, Fox, WITI, Milwaukee, 19 Jul. 1998.
Show creators. Title of show. Producer, years of show.
Daniels, Greg and Michael Schur, creators. Parks and Recreation. Deedle-Dee Productions and Universal Media Studios, 2009 - 2015.
Generate an MLA TV show citation now.
How to cite a movie in MLA format.
I remember in school I once wrote a five-page paper about The Lord of the Rings Trilogy soundtrack. If you have not seen the movies or heard the soundtrack, I highly recommend it. Making a movie citation in MLA format is not as straightforward as a book citation, but we can get through it. The important thing to remember is that a movie citation changes based on what information is important to you. You can choose to credit the writers, producers, actors, directors, musicians, or anyone else that is relevant to the paper that you are writing.
Title. Contributors, Publisher, Year.
Interstellar. Directed by Christopher Nolan, Paramount Pictures and Warner Brothers, 2014.
Under the Skin. Directed by Jonathan Glazer, performance by Scarlett Johansson, music by Mica Levi, BFI / Film4, 2013.
Generate an MLA movie/film citation now.
How to cite a podcast in MLA format.
If you aren't already using podcasts in your papers or essays, then you better take a second look! Podcasts are an excellent resource for information about any topic, and many of them are fact checked for accuracy. Next time you have a paper to write, consider heading over to Apple Podcasts and making a quick search; maybe you'll find exactly what you are looking for!
“Episode Title.” Podcast Name from Producer, Date aired, URL or location accessed.
“Audible: Don Katz.” How I Built This from NPR, 31 Oct. 2021, Apple Podcasts.
Host last name, First name. “Episode Title.” Podcast Name from Producer, Date aired, URL or location accessed.
Raz, Guy. “Audible: Don Katz.” How I Built This from NPR, 31 Oct. 2021, Apple Podcasts.
Generate an MLA podcast citation now.
How to cite an interview in MLA format.
Personal interviews are when you interview another person. Published interviews found online or in print are typically with famous or notable people. The citation format can vary based on the form of the interview. "Larger work" can be a book, film, tv show, website etc.
Interviewee last name, first name. Personal interview. Date conducted.
Jones, Thomas. Personal interview. 12 June 2022.
Interviewee last name, first name. "Title of interview." Larger work title, By Interviewer, Year.
Interviewee last name, first name. "Title of interview." Name of journal, volume, issue, year published, page numbers.
Interviewee last name, first name. Interview by Interviewer. Larger work title, Date conducted, URL.
Thatcher, Margaret. Interview by Jonathan Dimbleby. YouTube, 6 Apr. 1987, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sekq4Tf58O8.
How to cite a PDF file in MLA format.
Depending on what kind of work the file is (article, code, video, etc.) the citation will change slightly. If you are citing the entire work, like an album, put the name of the album in italics. If you are citing a specific part of a larger work, like an article on a website, or a song in an album, put the title in quotes.
Last name, First name. "Title of article." Publisher, Year published. Website/Database Name. DOI or URL. File type.
Last name, First name. Title of work. Publisher, Year published. Website/Database Name. DOI or URL. File type.
Kosofsky Sedgwick, Eve. "Touching Feeling: Affect, Pedagogy, Performativity." Duke University Press, 2003. Boston University. www.bu.edu/honoringeve/files/2009/09/paranoid-reading-and-reparative-reading.pdf. PDF file.
Generate an MLA PDF citation now.
As mentioned in a previous section, MLA containers were introduced in the 8th edition and provide a universal framework for all MLA citations. The container is also referred to as the title of the work. Examples of source containers are:
The container is always written in capitalization form, italicized, and is concluded with a comma and the date of publication. In this example, the MLA container is The Productivity Game which is the name of the book.
Williams, Silvia. The Productivity Game, 2011.
Often, only a portion of the work needs to be cited, known as the title of the source. For example, if you cite a chapter of a book, the book title is the container, and the chapter is the source title. Always place the title of the source within quotations and place a period at the end, for example:
Williams, Silvia. “Chapter 6”. The Productivity Game, 2011.
Beyoncé. “Halo”. I am….Sasha Fierce, Columbia Records, 2009.
On occasion, a source can have more than one container. For example, a journal can be placed in the first container. However, it can also be placed in a larger container such as a database, and we need to mention the second container because the content on one container can differ from the content in another container.
Here is an example of an MLA citation with multiple containers:
Author Last Name, First Name. “Title of the Source.” Title of Container, Other Contributors, Version, Numbers, Publisher, Publication Date, Location. Title of the Second Container, Other Contributors, Version, Numbers, Publisher, Publication Date, Location.
People with a significant role in making the source, i.e., album, book, research, etc. need to be credited along with the main contributors. The dedicated part of the citation will begin with that role and will be followed by a "by." First, when you add the names of the contributors after the period, you will need to capitalize the first letter of their role. Secondly, if you add the names of the contributors after a comma, the first letter of the role will be in lowercase. For example:
The Incredibles. Directed by Brad Bird, produced by John Walker, Pixar, 2004.
Specifying the versions of the sources is important because most of sources have different versions and content can change between the versions. Example version citation:
Shakespeare. The Tragedy of Othello. Edited by Barbara Mowat and Paul Werstine, version 1.3.1. Luminary Digital Media, 2013.
Volume numbers, issue numbers, series numbers, TV show episode numbers, etc. need to be cited in your citation. Note that numbers such as publication date, page number, and versions numbers are not included in this category because they each have their own unique format. To cite the volume number and issue number, you will have to use short forms, i.e., "vol.” and “no.” For example:
Rampersad, Arnold. The Life of Langston Hughes. 2nd ed. Vol. 2, Oxford UP.
The publisher is responsible for the production of the source and must be credited such. While citing, the publisher is placed before the date of the publication. You will need to cite the name of the publisher for all source types, except for websites because the name of the publisher will be the same as of the website. If there is more than one publisher, simply separate their names with a slash. If the publisher is the University Press, you can use the abbreviated form, UP. For example:
Oxford UP.
When citing the publication dates, you can use the full year, date, month, or just the year. If you are citing a season, you will type the first letter of the season in lowercase. Next, abbreviate the months if longer than four letters. In the case of multiple dates, go for the most recent one. For example:
autumn 2021, not Autumn 2021
This denotes the places where the sources can be found, such as in the form of URL, disc number, page number, and even a physical location. Locations are usually in the form of URLs and page numbers. If the location is the page number, one can just place the short form "p.", but if there is a range of pages, it will be "pp." To cite a location, you can use the DOI or URL.
MLA Citation is a citation style that was created by the Modern Language Association. MLA format is most commonly used by educational institutes and scholars to format papers. The Modern Language Association set a precedent in the academic world when it developed the modern MLA format. MLA has released various editions of its citation guidebook, but the 9th edition is the most recent one and came out in 2021.
Other common citation styles are APA style and Chicago style, but MLA is the most widely used especially for liberal arts, literature, languages, and humanities subjects. Using the same style for citations and formatting makes it easier for all to identify the sources used for a certain paper. This gives your document a more cohesive style and enables you to give credit to the original authors and sources that supported your work. Readers can get to know your references and explore their work. Creating citations can be a time-consuming nuisance, but fortunately many people use online MLA citation generators to make their citations for them. Within seconds, a user can enter the source information and get a citation for their work. Our mission is to make generating citations a more pleasant and faster experience.
Before immediately using a citation generator, it is important to understand MLA style formatting and why citations look the way they do.
The current version of MLA format is the 9th edition which improved the adaptability and is only slightly different from the previous 8th edition, which was introduced in the year 2016. The 8th edition was a breakthrough in citation formatting because it introduced a standard format for all source types and is known as the first universal format. This change reduced the time people spent citing sources and allowed more time for research.
The 8th edition of MLA format introduced the concept of a container; containers give all needed details to locate a specific work contained within a larger body of work. An example of an MLA container is citing a specific blog post on a food blog website. The food blog website is the container for the blog post.
MLA format requires users to add URLs and DOIs to citations. The 9th edition of MLA format removed the HTTPS:// or HTTP:// from links. It is recommended that people use DOIs in case the URL is not available. In the case of a DOI, it is required to add HTTPS:// or HTTP:// before adding the DOI, for example, DOI: https://doi.org/xx.xxxx/xxx.xxxx.xxxx.
Learning a brief history of MLA will give us an idea about how it evolved over time and will help us understand why MLA format is what it is today. The beginning of MLA dates to the 20th century where, in 1951, the MLA Style Sheet was founded. It was soon revised in 1970 where it stood until a period between 1997 and 1999 when MLA format was broken up into the first five editions known as the “MLA Handbook for the Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations”.
Soon after, the 6th edition was released to the public which changed the title slightly to “the MLA Handbook for the Writers of Research Papers”. The 7th edition was introduced in 2009, and the 8th edition, which came out in 2016, implemented the largest changes yet. The 6th, 7th, and 8th editions came out when the world was going through a major shift towards global digitization and thus adapted to URLs and e-books. The version we use today is the 9th edition of the MLA Handbook which is known for being the most flexible and convenient for users. This 9th editions takes into account the latest trends in both research and digitization.
Understanding how the MLA Handbook evolved over time will help understand why sources are cited the way they are.
Leaving out other source details, such as the author, will not create a good impression of your work for the reader and will cause ambiguities.
No, MLA format requires the use of in-text citation.
MLA citation format is the most used and accepted citation format worldwide. Understand the core of MLA format will make you a stronger student and professional. The BibBible citation generator is here to make your MLA citations a little easier.