You found a great source, and now your teacher wants it in MLA style. MLA is popular in English and humanities classes, so you will probably meet it often. The good news is that it works like a simple recipe. You gather a few details, put them in a set order, and add the right punctuation. This guide shows you the pattern for four common sources and the in-text rules that go with them.

The Two Parts of Every MLA Citation

Every source you use needs two things. The first is a short citation inside your paper, called a parenthetical citation, such as (Rivera). The second is a full entry on your Works Cited page at the end. The name in your parentheses must match the first word of the full entry, so your reader can find it quickly. If you want more background, see our tutorials on How to cite in MLA format and How to create a reference page.

The Basic Pattern

MLA entries are built from a few core details. These are the author, the title of the source, the container, the publisher, the date, and the location. The container is the bigger thing that holds the source, such as a website that holds a page, or a journal that holds an article. The container's title is written in italics. The title of the smaller source, such as an article or a video, goes in quotation marks, while a stand-alone book is italicized. Most details are separated by commas, and the entry ends with a period.

How to Cite a Website

For a webpage with a named author, write the author's last name first. Put the page title in quotation marks, with every main word capitalized. Then write the website name in italics, followed by the date and the link. Write dates as day, month, and year, and shorten months longer than four letters, such as Sept. or Mar., while May, June, and July stay as they are. If the page has no date, leave it out and add the day you visited at the end, such as Accessed 24 June 2024. Many teachers let you leave off https:// at the start of the link, but check your teacher's rule.

Rivera, Laura. "How to Build a Study Habit." Learning Lab, 12 Mar. 2024, www.example.com/study-habit.

If the page has no author, begin the entry with the page title in quotation marks. If a school or company publishes the site under a different name than the site itself, add that publisher's name after the site name. Always copy the title exactly as it appears on the page. In your paper, the in-text citation will then use a short version of that title.

How to Cite a Book

For a book, write the author's name with the last name first, then the title in italics, the publisher, and the year. Capitalize the main words of the title. Do not add the city, which older versions of MLA required. For two authors, only the first name is flipped, as in the example below. For three or more authors, write the first author followed by et al. If you read an ebook, you can add the word Ebook before the publisher.

Hughes, Tara R., and Neil Patel. The Student's Guide to Focus. Northbridge Press, 2022.

How to Cite a Journal Article

Journal articles have a few more parts. After the author, write the article title in quotation marks. Then write the journal name in italics, followed by the volume (vol.), the issue number (no.), the year, and the page numbers (pp.). If you found the article online, end with the DOI or the link. A DOI is better than a regular link because it does not change over time. For three or more authors, write only the first author and then et al.

Chen, Mei, et al. "Sleep and School Performance in First Year Students." Journal of Student Health, vol. 18, no. 2, 2023, pp. 12-20. https://doi.org/10.1000/example4521.

How to Cite a YouTube Video

For a video, start with the creator if you know the name, and then put the video title in quotation marks. Next, write the site name in italics, such as YouTube. Then write "uploaded by" and the name of the account that posted the video, followed by the date and the link. If you do not know the creator's name, begin with the title instead. Include as much information as the page gives you. In your paper, you can use a time stamp in place of a page number.

Alvarez, Jon. "Five Ways to Remember What You Read." YouTube, uploaded by Study Skills Hub, 5 Sept. 2023, www.youtube.com/watch?v=example123.

In-Text Citations You Will Use Most

MLA uses the author-page style. You write the author's last name and the page number inside parentheses, with no comma between them and no "p." Here are the most common cases.

• Webpage, no page numbers: (Rivera)
• Book with two authors: (Hughes and Patel 14)
• Three or more authors: (Chen et al. 18)
• No author: ("How to Build a Study Habit")
• Video with a time stamp: (Alvarez 2:15)

If you name the author in your own sentence, you only need the page number in the parentheses. You need a citation for both direct quotes and paraphrased ideas. If a source has no page numbers, do not invent them, and use only the author's name. For more help with quotes, see our guide on how to use quotes in an essay.

Rules for Your Works Cited Page

Start your list on a new page at the end of your paper. Write the title Works Cited at the top, centered, with no bold, italics, underline, or quotation marks. Arrange the entries in alphabetical order by the first word of each entry, which is usually the author's last name. Use a hanging indent, which means the first line of each entry sits at the left edge and the lines after it are indented half an inch. Double space the whole list, and only include sources that you actually cited in your paper.

Mistakes to Avoid

The most common mistake is mixing up italics and quotation marks. Remember that bigger containers, like books, journals, and websites, are italicized, while smaller pieces, like articles, pages, and videos, go in quotation marks. Another mistake is using APA habits in an MLA paper, such as putting a comma between the author and the page number or using sentence case in titles. Some students forget the hanging indent or leave sources out of the list. Others copy from a citation generator without checking it, and these tools often make small errors. Finally, never invent a detail, because every part of your entry should come from the real source.

A Quick Checklist

• My entry follows the order: author, title, container, publisher, date, location.
• I used quotation marks for smaller pieces and italics for containers.
• I capitalized the main words in every title.
• My in-text citation matches the first word of my entry.
• I left out the comma and the "p." in my in-text citations.
• My list is alphabetical, double spaced, and has a hanging indent.
• I checked each link or DOI to make sure it works.

Final Thoughts

MLA citation is much easier once you see the pattern behind it. Each source type has one clear order, and the pieces always come in the same places. Keep this page open while you build your list, fill in the details from your real sources, and check each entry against the checklist. When your citations are neat and correct, your reader can trust your work and find your sources with ease.