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MLA Citation Generator

Build Works Cited entries in MLA 9th edition, including multiple authors, et al. handling and access dates for online sources.

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MLA citation

Works-cited entry and parenthetical citation built from the MLA core elements: author, title, container, contributors, version, number, publisher, date, location.

Authors
Authors
Given name(s)Family nameGroupRemove

Tick "Group" for an organisation (put its full name in the family-name box). Leave empty when no author is known.

Enter the source details

Fill in at least a title or an author; the citation updates as you type.

What this tool does and does not do

MLA 9 keeps the core-element system of MLA 8; entries for these source types are the same in both. Two authors are named in full, three or more become "et al."; containers are italic, article and page titles are in quotation marks; DOIs are given as https://doi.org links and access dates only when you enter one. In-text citations take a page number, not a year. Titles are used as typed (MLA expects title case).

About MLA Citation

Works Cited entries in MLA 9th edition, which replaced the old type-by-type templates with one container model: the same handful of elements assembled in the same order, whatever the source happens to be. Free, with no sign-up and no cap on entries. Each reference is formatted in the page from your own details.

How to use MLA Citation

  1. Enter the source detailsWho made it, what it is called, and the container it appeared inside — a journal, a website, an anthology.
  2. Add the container informationVolume, issue, publisher, date and location, as applicable to what you have.
  3. Copy the entry and the in-text formMLA in-text citations are author and page, so both are produced together.

The container model, briefly

Rather than a separate template per source type, MLA 9 asks for the work and then the container it sits in: an article inside a journal, an episode inside a series, a chapter inside a book. Containers can nest — an article inside a journal inside a database — and each takes the same ordered elements. Once the model clicks, formatting an unfamiliar source type stops being a lookup.

What it does not do

  • Follows the published 9th edition; departmental variations take precedence.
  • Deeply nested containers and unusual media can need judgement the fields here do not capture.

MLA Citation: questions people ask

When do I use et al. in MLA?
With three or more. Both the Works Cited entry and the in-text citation name only the first author and append et al. Exactly two authors are both named, joined by "and".
Do I need an access date for a website?
It is optional in MLA 9 and recommended where the source has no publication date or is likely to change. For a dated, stable page it adds nothing.
Can it create an MLA citation from a PDF file?
No. PDFs are not read and nothing is looked up online, so you type the author, title and other details in yourself. For a journal article saved as a PDF, pick Journal article and copy the details from its first page; if you have a BibTeX or RIS export instead, the Citation Generator can format a whole list at once.

Questions about ToolsVerse itself — privacy, cost, what happens to your files — are answered in the frequently asked questions.

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