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Citing (A How-to Guide): MLA 9th Edition

DePaul University Libraries guide to creating citations in MLA, APA, and more.

MLA Style Overview

Core Elements

Each entry in the list of works cited is composed of facts common to most works -- the MLA core elements. The elements are assembled in a specific order. -- MLA Style Center, Works Cited: A Quick Guide

Containers

The concept of containers is crucial to MLA style. When the source being documented forms part of a larger whole, the larger whole can be thought of as a container that holds the source. -- MLA Style Center, Works Cited: A Quick Guide

In-Text Citations

MLA format follows the author-page method of in-text citation. This means that the author's last name and the page number(s) from which the quotation or paraphrase is taken must appear in the text, and a complete reference should appear on your Works Cited page. The author's name may appear either in the sentence itself or in parentheses following the quotation or paraphrase, but the page number(s) should always appear in the parentheses, not in the text of your sentence. -- Purdue Owl, MLA In-Text Citations: The Basics 

Quick Guides

Common MLA 9th Edition In-Text Citation & Works Cited Examples

Resource Type Format In-Text Citation Works Cited

Book

 Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. City of Publication, Publisher, Publication Date. (Koehler 56) Koehler, Wallace. Ethics and Values in Librarianship: A History. Rowman & Littlefield, 2015.
A work in an anthology, reference, or collection Last name, First name. "Title of Essay." Title of Collection, edited by Editor's Name(s), Publisher, Year, Page range of entry. (Echols 130) Echols, S. Michele. "Resurgence of a Bibliotherapist: Exploring the Life and Times of Sadie "Sara" Marie Paterson Delaney." The Legacy of Black Women in Librarianship: When They Dared to be Powerful, edited by Nicole A. Cooke, ALA Neal-Schuman, 2025, pp 130-152.
Article in a scholarly journal Author(s) Last name, First name. "Title of Article." Title of Journal, Volume, Issue, Year, pages. (Knox 2)  Knox, Emily. "Intellectual Freedom and Privacy: A Core Value of Librarianship." Journal of Intellectual Freedom & Privacy, vol. 8, no. 3, 2024, p. 2.
Page on a Website Editor, author, or compiler name. Name of Site. Version number, Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site, date of resource creation, URL, DOI or permalink. Date of access. (American Library Association) "Banned and Challenged Books." American Library Association. https://www.ala.org/bbooks.
Work by two authors Last name, First name, and First name Last name. "Title of Article." Title of Journal, Volume, Issue, Year, pages. (Winberry and Bishop 750) Winberry, Joseph and Bradley Wade Bishop. 

"Documenting Social Justice in Library and Information Science Research: A Literature Review." Journal of Documentation, 77, 3, 2021, pp. 743-754. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-08-2020-0136
Work by three or more authors Last name, First name, et al. "Title of Article." Title of Journal, Volume, Issue, Year, pages. (Jones et al. 92) Jones, Emily P., et al. "Analysis of Anti-racism, Equity, Inclusion and Social Justice Initiatives in Library and Information Science Literature." Reference Services Review, 50, 1, 2022, pp. 81-101. https://doi.org/10.1108/rsr-07-2021-0032 

 

Online Resources

Citation Manual