MLA Citation Guide

MLA Citation Guide

Everything you need to format Works Cited pages, in-text citations, image captions, and more.

MLA Handbook, 9th Edition

Works Cited Page Format

Your Works Cited page follows the same formatting as the rest of your paper. Here is a visual guide.

1" margin 1" margin 1" margin 1" margin
Works Cited
Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. Anchor Books, 1994.
Orwell, George. "Politics and the English Language." Horizon, vol. 13, no. 76, 1946, pp. 252-65.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Edited by J. Paul Hunter, 2nd ed., W. W. Norton, 2012.

Formatting Rules

  • Title: "Works Cited" centered at the top — not bolded, not italicized, not underlined, not in quotes
  • Margins: 1 inch on all sides (same as your paper)
  • Spacing: Double-space everything, including between entries. No extra space between entries.
  • Hanging indent: First line flush left; subsequent lines indented 0.5 inches
  • Alphabetical: Arrange entries alphabetically by the first word (usually the author's last name). Ignore "A," "An," and "The" at the start of titles when alphabetizing.
  • Font: Use a legible font (Times New Roman 12pt is standard)
  • Header: Your last name and page number in the upper-right corner, continuing from the paper
  • URLs: Omit "https://" but keep "www." when present. Include "https://doi.org/" before DOI numbers.
Tip: In Google Docs or Word, set the hanging indent by highlighting your entry, going to Format > Paragraph, and setting "Special" to "Hanging" at 0.5".

The Nine Core Elements (Container Model)

MLA 9 uses a flexible template. Include whichever elements are available for your source:

  1. Author.
  2. "Title of Source."
  3. Title of Container,
  4. Contributor (edited by, translated by),
  5. Version,
  6. Number (vol. and/or no.),
  7. Publisher,
  8. Publication Date,
  9. Location (pp., URL, DOI).
A container is the larger work that holds your source. A journal article's container is the journal. A webpage's container is the website. Some sources have nested containers (e.g., a journal article found on JSTOR).

Italics vs. Quotation Marks

One of the most important MLA rules: longer, self-contained works are italicized. Shorter works that are part of a larger whole go in "quotation marks." This applies everywhere — in your text, in-text citations, Works Cited entries, and captions.

Italicized — Long / Self-Contained
Books & novels The Great Gatsby
Plays Hamlet
Long poems (book-length) The Odyssey
Films & TV series The Office
Music albums Abbey Road
Newspapers & magazines New York Times
Journals (the publication) PMLA
Websites (the whole site) Purdue OWL
Works of art Starry Night
Podcasts (the series) Serial
Video games The Last of Us
Databases JSTOR
"Quotation Marks" — Short / Part of a Whole
Book chapters "The Sieve and the Sand"
Short stories "The Lottery"
Short poems "The Road Not Taken"
TV episodes "Ozymandias"
Songs "Bohemian Rhapsody"
Newspaper articles "Fear of Eating"
Journal articles "Conflicting Nationalisms"
Webpages (single page) "MLA Style Guide"
Essays "Self-Reliance"
Podcast episodes "The Alibi"
Encyclopedia entries "Romanticism"
Social media posts "We're going back..."
Simple test: Can you buy or find the work on its own (a book, a film, an album)? Italicize it. Is it part of something bigger (a chapter in a book, an episode of a show, a song on an album)? Put it in quotation marks.
This rule also applies in your in-text citations when you use a title instead of an author name: (The Great Gatsby 42) vs. ("Fear of Eating" A1).

Works Cited Entries by Type

Click any type below for the format template and examples. Each shows which core elements are used.

Single Author
Gleick, James. Chaos: Making a New Science. Penguin, 1987.
Gleick, James. Chaos: Making a New Science. Penguin, 1987.
Two Authors
Gillespie, Paula, and Neal Lerner. The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Peer Tutoring. Allyn and Bacon, 2000.
First author: Last, First. Second author: First Last (normal order). Connected by "and."
Three or More Authors
Wysocki, Anne Frances, et al. Writing New Media: Theory and Applications for Expanding the Teaching of Composition. Utah State UP, 2004.
List only the first author followed by "et al." (Latin for "and others").
Edited Book
Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Edited by Margaret Smith, Oxford UP, 1998.
Chapter in an Edited Collection
Harris, Muriel. "Talk to Me: Engaging Reluctant Writers." A Tutor's Guide: Helping Writers One to One, edited by Ben Rafoth, Heinemann, 2000, pp. 24-34.
Translated Book
Foucault, Michel. Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason. Translated by Richard Howard, Vintage-Random House, 1988.
Multiple Works by Same Author
Orwell, George. 1984. Signet Classics, 1949.
---. Animal Farm. Signet Classics, 1945.
After the first entry, replace the author's name with three hyphens (---). Alphabetize by title.
Print Journal
Bagchi, Alaknanda. "Conflicting Nationalisms: The Voice of the Subaltern in Mahasweta Devi's Bashai Tudu." Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature, vol. 15, no. 1, 1996, pp. 41-50.
Bagchi, Alaknanda. "Conflicting Nationalisms...." Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature, vol. 15, no. 1, 1996, pp. 41-50.
Online Journal with DOI
Alonso, Alvaro, and Julio A. Camargo. "Toxicity of Nitrite to Three Species of Freshwater Invertebrates." Environmental Toxicology, vol. 21, no. 1, 3 Feb. 2006, pp. 90-94. Wiley Online Library, https://doi.org/10.1002/tox.20155.
When a journal article has a DOI, always use it. The database (Wiley, JSTOR) is a second container.
Print Newspaper
Brubaker, Bill. "New Health Center Targets County's Uninsured Patients." Washington Post, 24 May 2007, p. LZ01.
Online Newspaper
Krugman, Paul. "Fear of Eating." New York Times, 21 May 2007, www.nytimes.com/2007/05/21/opinion/21krugman.html.
No Author
"New Health Center Opens Downtown." Chicago Tribune, 14 Mar. 2023, p. A4.
When there is no author, begin with the article title in quotation marks.
Poniewozik, James. "TV Makes a Too-Close Call." Time, 20 Nov. 2000, pp. 70-71.
Buchman, Dana. "A Special Education." Good Housekeeping, Mar. 2006, pp. 143-48.
Magazines use the same format as newspapers but are usually monthly or weekly. Include the day only for weekly publications.
Individual Webpage
Lundman, Susan. "How to Make Vegetarian Chili." eHow, www.ehow.com/how_10727_make-vegetarian-chili.html. Accessed 6 July 2015.
Webpage with No Author
"MLA Formatting and Style Guide." Purdue OWL, Purdue U Writing Lab, owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/. Accessed 10 Apr. 2026.
Entire Website
The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, owl.purdue.edu/owl/.
Tip: Include an access date ("Accessed 10 Apr. 2026") for pages that have no publication date or are frequently updated.
Film
Speed Racer. Directed by Lana Wachowski and Lilly Wachowski, performances by Emile Hirsch and Susan Sarandon, Warner Brothers, 2008.
TV Episode (Streaming)
"94 Meetings." Parks and Recreation, season 2, episode 21, NBC, 29 Apr. 2010. Netflix, www.netflix.com/watch/70152031.
Entire Series
Daniels, Greg, and Michael Schur, creators. Parks and Recreation. Deedle-Dee Productions and Universal Media Studios, 2015.
Viewed in Person (Museum)
Goya, Francisco. The Family of Charles IV. 1800, Museo del Prado, Madrid.
Viewed on Museum Website
Goya, Francisco. The Family of Charles IV. 1800. Museo del Prado, www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/the-family-of-charles-iv/f47898fc.
Note the punctuation difference: viewed in person uses a comma after the date (1800, Museo). Viewed online uses a period (1800. Museo) because the website is a second container.
Artwork on a Non-Museum Website
Bearden, Romare. The Train. 1975. MOMA, www.moma.org/collection/works/65232.
Photograph
Cameron, Julia Margaret. Alfred, Lord Tennyson. 1866, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.
Song from Streaming (Spotify, Apple Music)
Morris, Rae. "Skin." Cold, Atlantic Records, 2014. Spotify, open.spotify.com/track/0OPES3Tw5r86O6fudK8gxi.
Song from Physical Album
Nirvana. "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Nevermind, Geffen, 1991.
X (Twitter)
@NASA. "We're going back to the Moon with Artemis to prepare for Mars." X, 12 Aug. 2024, 9:30 a.m., x.com/NASA/status/1234567890.
Instagram
Hamilton Videos [hamilton.vods]. Video of King George in Hamilton. Instagram, 5 July 2020, www.instagram.com/p/CCPEUJLDz0l.
YouTube
"MLA Style: In-Text Citations (8th Ed., 2016)." YouTube, uploaded by Purdue OWL, 5 May 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=1234567.
Signed Entry
Botterill, Steven N. "Angela Da Foligno, Saint." Medieval Italy: An Encyclopedia, edited by Christopher Kleinhenz et al., vol. 1, Routledge, 2004, pp. 35-36.
Wikipedia
"Pendragon." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Dec. 2016, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pendragon.
Note: Many teachers do not accept Wikipedia as a source. Always check with your teacher before citing it.
Personal Interview
Smith, Jane. Personal interview. 19 May 2024.
Published Interview
Gaitskill, Mary. Interview by Charles Bock. Mississippi Review, vol. 27, no. 3, 1999, pp. 129-50.
Stein, Bob. "Reading and Writing in the Digital Era." Discovering Digital Dimensions, Computers and Writing Conference, 23 May 2003, Union Club Hotel, West Lafayette, IN. Keynote Address.
End with a descriptive label: Keynote Address, Lecture, Reading, etc.
Congressional Report
United States, Congress, House, Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Al-Qaeda: The Many Faces of an Islamist Extremist Threat. Government Printing Office, 2006.
Court Decision
United States, Supreme Court. Brown v. Board of Education. 17 May 1954. Legal Information Institute, Cornell U Law School, www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/347/483.

In-Text Citations

In-text citations point readers to the full entry on your Works Cited page. Place them in parentheses before the period.

Basic Format: Author + Page (No Comma)

MLA uses no comma between the author's name and the page number.

The party's ideology depended on controlling the past as well as the present (Orwell 22).
Romantic poetry was marked by a "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (Wordsworth 263).
Key Rule: The period goes after the parenthetical citation, not before it: ...the end" (Author 44).

Author Named in Your Sentence

If you name the author in your sentence, only put the page number in parentheses.

Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by a "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (263).
Orwell creates a world in which "Big Brother is watching you" (3).

Successive Citations from the Same Author

After you introduce the author by name, you can cite subsequent quotes with just the page number as long as it is clear you are still discussing the same source.

Orwell presents a society in which language is systematically controlled (4). The citizens accept the paradoxical slogans: "War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength" (7). The protagonist's rebellion begins with the simple act of writing in a diary (8).

Once the author is established in context, page numbers alone are sufficient until you switch sources.

Two Authors

(Best and Marcus 9)

Three or More Authors

(Franck et al. 327)
Use "et al." (and others) after the first author's name.

No Author

When a source has no named author, use a shortened version of the title in your citation. Italicize book/website titles; put article titles in quotes.

The study found significant increases in test scores ("Impact of Tutoring" 14).
Global temperatures have risen dramatically (Climate Change Report 42).
The shortened title should match the first word(s) of the Works Cited entry so the reader can find it.

Multiple Works by the Same Author

If your Works Cited has multiple works by one author, include a shortened title to distinguish them.

(Murray, Write to Learn 6)
(Lightenor, "Too Soon" 38)

Indirect Sources (qtd. in)

When quoting someone who was quoted in another source, use "qtd. in."

Ravitch argues that high schools are pressured to act as "social service centers" (qtd. in Weisman 259).
Try to find the original source when possible. Use "qtd. in" only when the original is unavailable.

Web Sources (No Page Numbers)

If a source has no page numbers, use the author's name alone or paragraph numbers if provided.

(Smith)   or   (Smith, par. 4)

Multiple Sources in One Citation

Several studies have confirmed this finding (Burke 3; Dewey 21).
Separate multiple sources with semicolons.

Citing Shakespeare

Shakespeare citations use act, scene, and line numbers instead of page numbers. MLA 9 has specific rules for this.

The Format: Arabic Numerals with Periods

MLA 9th edition requires Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3), not Roman numerals (I, II, III). Separate act, scene, and line with periods.

(act.scene.lines)
CORRECT (MLA 9)
(3.1.56-61)
OUTDATED
(III.i.56-61)
Important: Some teachers may still prefer Roman numerals. Always follow your teacher's instructions, but MLA 9 standard is Arabic numerals.

When to Include the Play Title

Citing one play in your paper: Introduce the play by name the first time, then use just the numbers.

In Shakespeare's Othello, Iago reveals his true nature early: "I am not what I am" (1.1.66). Later, he warns Brabantio with crude imagery (1.1.88-89). His manipulation intensifies in the temptation scene (3.3.155-61).

After establishing the play in your prose, numbers alone are clear.

Citing multiple plays: Include the abbreviated, italicized title in every citation.

Both Hamlet and Macbeth face existential crises, yet they respond differently. Hamlet hesitates: "To be, or not to be, that is the question" (Ham. 3.1.56). Macbeth acts decisively even as he doubts: "Is this a dagger which I see before me" (Mac. 2.1.33).

Do You Include Shakespeare's Name?

No. Shakespeare's name does not go in the parenthetical citation. Since you cite by act.scene.line (not page numbers), and the play title identifies the work, adding the author's name is unnecessary.

CORRECT
(Oth. 1.1.66)
UNNECESSARY
(Shakespeare, Oth. 1.1.66)
Exception: if your paper cites works by multiple authors named Shakespeare (rare!), you would include the first name.

MLA Abbreviations for Shakespeare's Plays

Ado — Much Ado about Nothing
Ant. — Antony and Cleopatra
AYL — As You Like It
Ham. — Hamlet
1H4 — Henry IV, Part 1
H5 — Henry V
JC — Julius Caesar
Lr. — King Lear
Mac. — Macbeth
MM — Measure for Measure
MND — A Midsummer Night's Dream
MV — The Merchant of Venice
Oth. — Othello
R3 — Richard III
Rom. — Romeo and Juliet
Shr. — The Taming of the Shrew
Tmp. — The Tempest
TN — Twelfth Night

Quoting Shakespeare's Verse

1-3 Lines: Inline with Slashes
Hamlet's famous dilemma captures his paralysis: "To be, or not to be, that is the question: / Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer / The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" (3.1.56-58).
Use a slash ( / ) with a space on each side to indicate line breaks when quoting 1-3 lines of verse inline.
4+ Lines: Block Quote

Prospero's speech captures the theme of impermanence:

Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits, and
Are melted into air, into thin air;
And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve. (Tmp. 4.1.148-54)
Block quotes are indented 1 inch from the left margin. No quotation marks. The citation goes after the final period.

Works Cited Entry for Shakespeare

Print Edition
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Edited by Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine, Simon & Schuster, 2012.
Folger Digital Edition
Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. Edited by Barbara Mowat, Paul Werstine, Michael Poston, and Rebecca Niles, Folger Shakespeare Library, www.folger.edu/explore/shakespeares-works/romeo-and-juliet/.
Sources: This guidance comes from the MLA Handbook (9th ed.), Purdue OWL, and the Folger Shakespeare Library. MLA has used Arabic numerals since the 7th edition (2009).

Images & Figure Captions

How to properly caption and cite images in papers, slideshows, and presentations.

Figure Captions in Papers

MLA labels images as "Fig." followed by an Arabic numeral. Place the caption directly below the image.

[Image would appear here]
Fig. 1. Mary Cassatt, Mother and Child, 1905, Wichita Art Museum.
In your text, refer to figures as lowercase: "see fig. 1" or "(fig. 1)" — never capitalize "Figure" mid-sentence.

Caption for Artwork from a Website

Captions use note form (first name first, commas between elements) — different from Works Cited form.

Fig. 2. Francisco Goya, The Family of Charles IV, 1800; Museo del Prado, www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/the-family-of-charles-iv/.
Fig. 3. Romare Bearden, The Train, 1975; Museum of Modern Art, www.moma.org/collection/works/65232.
Important: If your caption includes complete source information, you do not need a corresponding Works Cited entry. If your caption is short, include the full entry in Works Cited.

Caption for Photographs

Fig. 4. Dorothea Lange, Migrant Mother, 1936; Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2017762891/.
Fig. 5. Photograph of the Eiffel Tower at sunset; Unsplash, unsplash.com/photos/eiffel-tower-sunset, uploaded by Jean Dupont, 15 Mar. 2023.

Images in Slideshows & Presentations

Follow the same caption format on each slide. Then add a Works Cited slide at the end of your presentation.

The Harlem Renaissance
[Artwork image]
Fig. 1. Aaron Douglas, Aspects of Negro Life: Song of the Towers, 1934; Schomburg Center, NYPL, www.nypl.org/collections.
  • Caption the image on the same slide
  • Include a final Works Cited slide listing all sources
  • For images used only as decoration, a brief credit line is acceptable
  • For images you discuss or analyze, provide full citation information

Caption Format vs. Works Cited Format

Note form (captions) and Works Cited form differ in name order and punctuation:

Caption (Note Form)
Fig. 1. Francisco Goya, The Family of Charles IV, 1800; Museo del Prado.
Works Cited
Goya, Francisco. The Family of Charles IV. 1800, Museo del Prado, Madrid.
Captions: first name first, commas. Works Cited: last name first, periods.

Citing AI-Generated Content

The MLA provides specific guidance for citing text, images, and other content generated by AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and DALL-E.

Key Principle: AI Is Not the Author

Do not list the AI tool as the author. The prompt you used serves as the "title" of the source.

ChatGPT
"Describe the symbolism of the green light in The Great Gatsby" prompt. ChatGPT, model GPT-4o, OpenAI, 8 Mar. 2025, chatgpt.com/share/[URL].
Claude
"Explain the significance of the mockingbird symbol in Harper Lee's novel" prompt. Claude, model Claude 3.5 Sonnet, Anthropic, 7 Apr. 2026, claude.ai.
AI Image Generator
"Create an expressionist-style image of two people on a beach" prompt. DALL-E, version 3, OpenAI, 23 Sept. 2024.

Breaking Down the Format

"Your prompt text here" prompt. ChatGPT, model GPT-4o, OpenAI, 8 Mar. 2025, chatgpt.com/share/[URL].
  • Author: Omit — AI is not treated as an author
  • Title: Your prompt in quotation marks, followed by the word "prompt"
  • Container: The AI tool name, italicized (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini)
  • Version: The model (GPT-4o, Claude 3.5 Sonnet, Gemini Pro)
  • Publisher: The company (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google)
  • Date: The date you generated the content
  • Location: A shareable URL if available, otherwise the tool's general URL

In-Text Citation for AI Content

Use a shortened version of the prompt (the "title") since there is no author:

The AI described the green light as "a beacon of Gatsby's longing for an idealized future" ("Describe the symbolism").
Caution: Always verify any facts or sources an AI claims to cite — AI tools can generate plausible-sounding but nonexistent references. If the AI cites a specific book or article, look it up and cite the original directly. Also: always check your teacher's policy on AI use before citing AI-generated content.

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