An MLA citation has two parts: a brief in-text reference (usually the author’s last name and a page number) and a full entry on your Works Cited page built from nine core elements. Once you understand those elements and the punctuation that connects them, you can cite virtually any source, from a printed book to a social media post.
The Nine Core Elements
Every MLA Works Cited entry draws from the same set of building blocks, listed in a fixed order. You include whichever elements apply to your source and skip the ones that don’t. Here they are, each followed by its required punctuation mark:
- Author. Last name first, then first name. End with a period.
- “Title of Source.” Put the title in quotation marks if it’s a short work (article, poem, episode). Italicize it instead if it’s a standalone work (book, film, album). End with a period.
- Title of Container, The larger work that holds your source, italicized. Follow with a comma.
- Contributor, Editors, translators, directors, or other key contributors. Follow with a comma.
- Version, Edition or version number. Follow with a comma.
- Number, Volume and issue numbers for journals or season and episode for TV. Follow with a comma.
- Publisher, The organization that produced the work. Follow with a comma.
- Publication Date, Follow with a comma.
- Location. Page numbers for print, a URL or DOI for online sources. End with a period.
No matter which element your entry ends on, the final punctuation mark is always a period. If an element doesn’t apply to your source (a website might not have a version or number, for instance), simply leave it out and move to the next one.
How Containers Work
A container is the larger whole that holds your source. A short story published in an anthology has the anthology as its container. An article on a news website has the website as its container. You list the source’s own title first, then provide the container’s title in the “Title of Container” slot.
Some sources sit inside more than one container. An article might appear in a journal (first container) that you accessed through a database like JSTOR (second container). When that happens, finish the first container’s elements, then start a new sequence of container elements for the database, including its name, URL, or DOI.
Formatting the Works Cited Page
Your Works Cited page should use the same one-inch margins and header (your last name and the page number) as the rest of your paper. Center the title “Works Cited” at the top. List entries in alphabetical order by the first word in each entry, which is usually the author’s last name.
Each entry uses a hanging indent: the first line sits flush with the left margin, and every line after it is indented 0.5 inches. Most word processors let you set this automatically through paragraph formatting so you don’t have to tab each line by hand. Double-space the entire page, both within and between entries.
In-Text Citations
MLA uses an author-page method for in-text citations. Whenever you quote or paraphrase a source, include the author’s last name and the page number where the material appears. You can work the author’s name into your sentence naturally or place it inside the parentheses:
Signal phrase approach: Morrison argues that memory is never purely personal (42).
Parenthetical approach: Memory is never purely personal (Morrison 42).
Notice there’s no comma between the name and the page number, and the period goes after the closing parenthesis.
Special Situations
When a source has two authors, include both last names in the parentheses, connected by “and.” If two different authors in your paper share a last name, add first initials (or full first names if their initials also match) to distinguish them.
For a corporate author, such as an organization or government agency, use the organization’s name in place of a personal name. If the name is long, you can introduce it in a signal phrase to keep the parenthetical citation short.
When a source has no listed author, use a shortened version of the title instead. If you’re citing a work found inside a larger collection, such as an essay in an edited anthology, cite the author of the essay, not the editor of the anthology.
For electronic sources without page numbers, you can often omit the page number entirely. Just make sure whatever appears first in your in-text reference matches the first element of the corresponding Works Cited entry, so readers can locate the full citation easily.
Citing a Book
A basic book citation uses the author, title (italicized), publisher, and year. Here is what that looks like:
Kendi, Ibram X. How to Be an Antiracist. One World, 2019.
If you’re citing a specific edition, add the version element before the publisher: “2nd ed.,” for example. If the book has an editor or translator rather than (or in addition to) an author, that information goes in the contributor slot.
Citing a Website or Online Article
For an article on a website, the article title goes in quotation marks and the website name is the container, italicized. Include the publisher if it differs from the website name, the publication date, and the URL.
Rosner, Helen. “How to Make the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies.” The New Yorker, 19 Dec. 2018, www.newyorker.com/culture/kitchen-notes/how-to-make-the-best-chocolate-chip-cookies.
If you can’t find a publication date on the page, add an access date as a supplemental element at the very end of the entry: “Accessed 10 June 2025.” This is especially common with pages viewed through mobile apps, where dates aren’t always visible.
Citing a Journal Article
Journal articles use more of the core elements than most sources because they have volume numbers, issue numbers, and page ranges. The pattern looks like this:
Park, Sunyoung. “Climate Policy and Public Trust.” Environmental Research Letters, vol. 18, no. 3, 2023, pp. 45–59.
If you accessed the article through a database, add a second container after the page numbers: the database name (italicized), followed by the DOI or URL.
Citing Social Media
Use the name on the account as the author. If the account holder’s real name differs from their handle, you can add the handle in brackets after the name. The platform name serves as the container. Include the date of the post and the URL.
World Wildlife Fund. “Photos.” Facebook, www.facebook.com/worldwildlifefund/. Accessed 14 July 2020.
If a post doesn’t have its own unique URL, link to the creator’s account page instead. On most platforms, you can find a shareable link by tapping the three-dot menu or the upload/share icon on the post.
Putting It All Together
Start by identifying which of the nine core elements your source has. Write them in order, applying the correct punctuation after each one. Then craft your in-text citation so the first word matches the first word of your Works Cited entry. Format your Works Cited page with hanging indents, one-inch margins, and alphabetical order. The system is the same whether you’re citing a 19th-century novel or a tweet posted yesterday: fill in the elements that apply, skip the ones that don’t, and always end with a period.