MLA Format Citation Generator — Free MLA 9 Format Guide

Paste a DOI, ISBN, URL or title

Need a reference in MLA format? Our free MLA format generator builds MLA 9th edition works cited entries for any source. Paste a URL, ISBN, or DOI, or type the details, and copy a properly formatted reference.

MLA format looks intimidating because there are so many little rules. The MLA format generator applies them all — italics for containers, quotation marks for shorter titles, sentence-final period placement — so you don't have to memorize them.

MLA format for a website

An MLA format citation for a website lists the author, page title in quotation marks, website name in italics, publication date, and URL. Use title case for the website name and the page title (capitalize the principal words). End the entry with a period.

  • Author Last, First. "Page Title." Website Name, Publication Date, URL.

MLA format for a book

An MLA format citation for a book lists the author, book title in italics, publisher, and year. If it is not the first edition, include the edition after the title, abbreviated ("2nd ed.", "3rd ed.", etc.).

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

MLA format for a journal article

An MLA format citation for a journal article lists the author, article title in quotation marks, journal name in italics, volume, issue number, year, and pages. If the article has a DOI, include https://doi.org/... at the end.

  • Author Last, First. "Article Title." Journal Name, vol. X, no. Y, Year, pp. pages.

MLA paper formatting rules

MLA formats the document as well as the citations, and these rules apply to every page regardless of what you cite.

  • Double-space everything, including the works cited page and any block quotations
  • One-inch margins with a legible 12-point font such as Times New Roman
  • First-page header at the top left: your name, instructor, course, and date
  • Running head in the top right of every page: your last name and the page number
  • A centred title in plain text — no bold, no italics, no underlining, no quotation marks

Where MLA format is most often lost

As with APA, MLA marks tend to go on the mechanics rather than the entries, and the same handful of slips recur across whole classes.

  • Adding a comma between the name and the page in a citation — MLA writes (Smith 12)
  • Formatting the title with bold, italics, or quotation marks; MLA titles are plain text
  • Single-spacing the works cited page while double-spacing the body
  • Leaving https:// on a URL, which MLA convention drops
  • Adding a separate title page that was never asked for, in place of the first-page header

Frequently asked questions

Does MLA format use sentence case or title case?

MLA uses title case for titles of works (capitalize all principal words). This differs from APA, which uses sentence case.

What goes in the MLA header on the first page?

Your name, your instructor's name, the course, and the date, each on its own double-spaced line at the top left, followed by a centred title.

Does MLA need a separate title page?

Not normally. MLA uses a first-page header instead, and a separate title page is only added when your instructor asks for one.

What is the running head in MLA format?

Your last name and the page number in the top right corner of every page — Smith 3 — half an inch from the top.

Is the MLA format generator free?

Yes. MLA references and in-text citations are free with no account required.