MLA 9th edition
Free MLA citation generator
Build a correct MLA 9 Works Cited entry and its in-text citation for any source. Pick a source type, fill in what you have, and copy the result — hanging indent and italics included. It runs in your browser and nothing you type is uploaded.
How to cite a source in MLA 9
MLA 9 uses a single template of nine “core elements.” You supply whatever the source has; you skip what it doesn’t.
The MLA 9 core template
Author. “Title of Source.” Title of Container, Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location (URL or page range).
Example — a web page
Lee, Jordan, and Sam Rivera. “The Ethics of Ambiguity, Revisited.” The Atlantic, 14 Mar. 2024, www.theatlantic.com/culture/ethics-ambiguity.
The in-text citation
MLA in-text citations name the author and a page number in parentheses: (Lee and Rivera 42). With no page number — as on most web pages — use just the author’s last name: (Lee and Rivera).
MLA FAQ
What is MLA 9?
MLA 9 is the 9th edition of the Modern Language Association style, used mostly in English and the humanities. It formats sources on a “Works Cited” page and points to them in the text with the author’s name and a page number.
How do I write an MLA in-text citation with no page number?
When a source has no page numbers (most websites), give just the author’s last name in parentheses: (Rivera). If you already name the author in your sentence, you don’t need the parenthetical at all.
What if there’s no author?
Start the entry with the title instead, and use a short version of the title in the in-text citation. The generator above handles this automatically when you leave the author field blank.
How do I format the Works Cited page?
Alphabetize entries by the first word, use a half-inch hanging indent on each entry, and double-space throughout. The “Copy formatted” button on the web tool preserves the hanging indent when you paste into Google Docs or Word.
More citation guides
- ✓APA citation generator — author–date in-text and a References entry.
- ✓Chicago citation generator — full and short footnotes plus a bibliography entry.
- ✓IEEE citation generator — bracketed numbers in text and a numbered reference list.
- ✓The full web tool — all four styles, plus the bibliography builder and paste-a-link auto-cite.