The nine core elements
Author. Title of source. Title of container, other contributors, version, number, publisher, publication date, location. Skip any element that does not apply. End each block with a period; separate inner elements with commas.
MLA 9th edition · 2021
MLA.
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MLA 9th edition · 2021 in one column.
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Required fields
- Author — Last, First
- Title in quotation marks
- Container (italic)
- Publication year
- URL
- Accessed date
Example output
Yeh, Robert W., et al. "Parachute Use to Prevent Death and Major Trauma When Jumping from Aircraft: Randomized Controlled Trial." *BMJ*, vol. 363, 2018, p. k5094. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.k5094.
Edition guide
Get the rules right.
MLA 9 was published by the Modern Language Association in April 2021. The biggest shift from MLA 8 is the formal nine-element container model that handles every source type — web pages, journal articles, tweets, podcasts — with one consistent shape.
Quick rules
- 01Title case for source titles, italics for containers.
- 02Two authors joined with and. Three or more become et al.
- 03DOI preferred over URL when both are available.
- 04Accessed date for any unstable web source.
- 05No publisher needed for journals, magazines, newspapers, or sites named after the publisher.
- 06Use sentence case only when the original source uses it.
Multiple authors
Two authors are joined with a comma and the word and. Three or more authors are reduced to the first name followed by et al. The first author still inverts to Last, First — co-authors stay in natural order.
Container titles
Italicise the container — the larger work that holds the source. A journal article sits inside a journal; a TV episode sits inside a series; a tweet sits inside X. When a source sits inside two containers, both are listed.
Locations and URLs
URLs are listed without the https:// prefix only when style guides prohibit clickable links; most modern usage keeps them clickable. DOIs are preferred when available. Page ranges use pp. with no spaces inside the range itself.
Accessed date
MLA 9 keeps accessed dates as optional but strongly recommends them for any web source whose content might change. Format the accessed date as day month year with no commas, for example 12 May 2026.