MLA Format Guide (9th Edition)

MLA format is the style most English and humanities classes use. This guide covers the current 9th edition (2021): how to lay out your paper, how to cite sources in your text, and how to build a Works Cited page.

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Updated 21 October 2026 · EssayWriting.com editorial team

Key takeaways

MLA 9 (2021) is the current edition of the MLA Handbook.
MLA papers need no title page: use a four-line heading on the first page.
In-text citations give author and page with no comma: (Morrison 45).

MLA paper format: the layout rules

MLA keeps page layout simple. Unless your instructor says otherwise, set up your essay like this:

Element	MLA 9 rule
Margins	1 inch on all sides
Font	A readable font such as Times New Roman, 12 point
Spacing	Double-spaced throughout, including quotations and the Works Cited page
Heading	Top left of page 1, on separate lines: your name, instructor's name, course, date (for example 21 October 2026)
Title	Centred, in title case, no bold, italics or underline (unless it contains a title of another work)
Page header	Your last name and the page number, top right, half an inch from the top
Paragraphs	First line indented half an inch
Title page	Not required unless your instructor asks for one

MLA in-text citations

MLA uses author and page number in parentheses, with no comma between them: (Morrison 45). If you name the author in your sentence, give only the page: Morrison argues that memory is selective (45).

Two authors: (Smith and Lee 112)
Three or more authors: (Garcia et al. 23)
No author: use a shortened title, for example ("Climate Report" 4)
No page numbers (most websites): give the author only, or a paragraph or section number if the source numbers them.
Two works by the same author: add a short title, (Morrison, Beloved 45)

Put the citation at the end of the sentence, before the full stop. For quotations of more than four lines, use a block quote indented half an inch, with the citation after the final punctuation.

How the Works Cited page works

MLA 9 builds every entry from the same core elements, in this order, using whichever apply:

Author.
Title of source.
Title of container,
Other contributors,
Version,
Number,
Publisher,
Publication date,
Location.

A "container" is the larger work that holds your source: a journal holds an article, a website holds a page, a book holds a chapter. Start the Works Cited on a new page titled Works Cited (centred, plain text), list entries alphabetically by author surname, and use a hanging indent of half an inch.

MLA citation examples

Book
Author Last, First. Title of Book. Publisher, Year.

Journal article from a database
Author Last, First. "Title of Article." Journal Name, vol. 12, no. 3, Year, pp. 45-67. Database Name, https://doi.org/xxxx.

Web page
Author Last, First. "Title of Page." Website Name, Day Month Year, URL.

Chapter in an edited book
Author Last, First. "Chapter Title." Book Title, edited by First Last, Publisher, Year, pp. 10-25.

Abbreviate months longer than four letters in Works Cited entries (Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec.). Use "pp." for a page range and "p." for a single page. DOIs are preferred over URLs when a source has one. An access date is optional in MLA 9 but useful for pages that change or have no publication date.

Common MLA mistakes to check before you submit

Putting a comma between author and page: (Morrison, 45) is wrong; (Morrison 45) is right.
Forgetting the hanging indent on the Works Cited page.
Titling the list "Bibliography" or "References". In MLA it is Works Cited.
Italicising article titles. Short works go in quotation marks; long works (books, journals, websites) are italicised.
Including sources you read but did not cite. Works Cited lists only sources cited in the essay.
Single spacing the Works Cited page.

MLA vs APA at a glance

MLA uses author-page citations and a Works Cited list; APA uses author-date citations and a References list. For a full side-by-side table see APA vs MLA: the key differences, and for APA itself read our APA format guide.

Related guides

MLA worked examples by source type

All sources in these worked examples are fictional and were created to illustrate the format. Replace them with your real sources.

Book

Lopez, Maria. The Quiet Coast. 2nd ed., Harbor Press, 2021.

In-text: (Lopez 34)

Chapter in an edited book

Okoro, James. "Tides and Trade." Coastal Histories, edited by Anna Berg, Northfield UP, 2019, pp. 45-62.

In-text: (Okoro 50)

Journal article with DOI

Shah, Priya, and Daniel Kim. "Sleep and Memory in First-Year Students." Journal of Student Health, vol. 18, no. 2, 2023, pp. 101-18, https://doi.org/10.1234/jsh.2023.018.

In-text: (Shah and Kim 105)

Newspaper article online

Reyes, Tom. "City Expands Night Bus Routes." The Daily Ledger, 4 Mar. 2024, www.dailyledger.example/night-buses.

In-text: (Reyes)

Web page, no author

"Healthy Sleep Habits." Sleep Facts Network, 10 June 2023, www.sleepfacts.example/habits.

In-text: ("Healthy Sleep Habits")

Online video

Study Lab. "How to Read a Scientific Paper." YouTube, 12 Jan. 2022, www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxxx.

In-text: (Study Lab 00:03:15)

Report by an organisation

National Education Agency. Annual Literacy Report 2023. 2023.

In-text: (National Education Agency 12)

Dissertation

Ahmed, Sara. Harbour Towns and Migration, 1850-1900. 2020. Northfield U, PhD dissertation.

In-text: (Ahmed 88)

How to build any MLA reference, step by step

Find the author and invert the first author's name (Surname, First).
Add the title: quotation marks for short works, italics for long works.
Name the container (journal, website, book) in italics.
Add other contributors, version, volume and issue if relevant.
Add publisher (if different from the container), date and location (pages, DOI or URL).
Finish with a full stop and check punctuation between elements.

Sample MLA reference list

Here are the worked examples above assembled into a list the way they would appear at the end of an essay (alphabetical order).