Skip to Main Content
 

Writing and Citing: MLA 9th Edition: Articles

MLA 9th Edition

Basic Rules

Basic rules for citing Academic Journals in MLA: 

  • Citations must be double spaced and have a hanging indent

  • AUTHOR: Alphabetized by the first listed author's last name

    • If same author wrote multiple sources, list in chronological order, oldest first

  • TITLE: Place title of article in quotation marks and use headline style capitalization (capital letter on each main word)

    •  “Lunar Dreams: Space Travel, Nostalgia, and Retrofuturism in A Space Exodus and The Lebanese Rocket Society.” 

  • JOURNAL: Write journal titles in full, exactly as they are presented and italicize. Use headline style of capitalization 

  • VOLUME, ISSUE, and PAGES: Abbreviate as vol. no. and date of publication, and after comma add the range of pages the article covers (first-last).

  • DATABASE: Italicize the title of the database 

  • LINK or DOI: Use DOI number when accessible. If no DOI number then use permanent link

  • Always include the page range of article 

Journal Articles

Note: Academic Journals are usually retrieved from an online database. Some libraries have print journals (not SCF.) The only difference between print articles and articles found online is that online articles include a DOI link or number (found in the database's record for the article.) If there is no DOI,  use the journals URL or permalink. It is important to cite databases (e.g. Academic Search Complete, JSTOR, Virtual Reference Library) and others, as containers. Therefore, the database title has to be italicized before the DOI or URL. Access date is not necessary. 

Article without DOI:

Author Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article: Subtitle." Journal Title, volume, issue number,

Publication date, pp-pp. Title of Database, URL or permalink.

Example:

Muller, Nat. “Lunar Dreams: Space Travel, Nostalgia, and Retrofuturism in A Space Exodus and

The Lebanese Rocket Society.” Science Fiction Studies, vol. 48, no. 1, Mar. 2021,

pp. 122-136. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx.

 

Article with DOI: 

Author Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article: Subtitle." Journal Title, volume, issue number,

Publication date, pp-pp. Title of Database, DOI Number.

Example:

Bockelman, Brian. “Buenos Aires Bohème: Argentina and the Transatlantic Bohemian

             Renaissance, 1890-1910.” Modernism/Modernity, vol. 23, no. 1, Jan. 2016,

             pp. 37–63. EBSCOhost, doi.org/10.1353/mod.2016.0011.

 

Basic Format, One Author:

Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article: Subtitle if Any." Name of Journal,

Volume Number, Issue Number, Publication date, pp. First Page

Number- Last Page Number if Given, DOI or URL (no https://).

2 Authors:

Author's Last Name, First Name and Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article: Subtitle

if Any." Name of Journal, vol. Volume Number, no.  Issue Number, Date of Publication,

pp. First Page Number- Last Page Number if Given, DOI or URL (no https://).

Three or More Authors:

Author's Last Name, First Name, et al. "Title of Article: Subtitle if Any." Name of Journal, vol. Volume

Number, no. Issue Number, Date of Publication, pp. First Page Number- Last Page

Number if Given, DOI or URL (no https://).

Basic Format, No Author:

Note: Some databases are great resources for reference information. Many times, these kinds of articles will not have a specific author. When a work is published without an author’s name, begin the works-cited-list entry with the title of the work in quotation marks.

"Title of Article." Title of Source, Date, PP Page numbers(if any); Database, Link or URL. 

Example: 

“Python (Snake).” Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, Jan. 2018, p. 1; EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=shib&db=funk&AN=

py158700&site=ehost-live.

Corporate/Organization as Author:

Note: For works created by a corporate author—an institution, a government body, or another kind of organization—list that entity as the author:

Example: 

United States, Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention. "Controlling Mosquitoes at Home." Zika Virus, 

5 May 2016, www.cdc.gov/zika/prevention/controlling-mosquitoes-at-home.html.

No Date:

Note: Some of these entries will also lack a date of publication. Just leave the date out of the citation. You can add the word Accessed, followed by the Day Month (Shortened) Year the work was accessed/viewed if the item is subject to possible changes or as required by your instructor. 

Example: 

Accessed 6 Aug 2021.

One Author:

(Author Page Number(s)).

Parenthetical: This was clear to all (Duhigg p. 48).

Signal Phrase: Duhigg said in their writing...(4) 

Two Authors:

(Author Last Name and Author Last Name Page Number(s)).

(Weber and Kelley 347-348).

 Three or More Authors:

(First authors last name et al. Page Number(s)).

(Stevens et al. 52).

Newspaper Articles

Note: When citing a newspaper article, it is preferred that the whole date of publication be used (Month, date, year). At the end, use the URL for the homepage of the newspaper, since the full URLs for news articles tend to change frequently.

Basic Format:

Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Title of ​Newspaper, date, Page numbers/section.

Title of Database, URL (no http://)

Sandomir, Richard. "Eloise Greenfield, 92, Whose Books Illuminated The Lives of

Black People." New York Times, 27 Aug. 2021, p. B10(L). Gale General OneFile,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/A673347889/ITOF?u=lincclin_mcc&sid=bookmark

-ITOF&xid=c156a064. 

No Author: 

Note: If the author's name is not listed, begin the citation with the title of the newspaper article. For newspaper articles in print, no need to put the URL at the end.

 

"Title of Article." Title of Newspaper, Date, Page/Section Numbers. 

Example:

"Gateway to the West." San Diego Chronicles, 9 May 2021, pp B3-6. 

One Author: 

(Payne 57A-58A)

Two Authors: 

(Guide and Parker 45)

Three or More Authors:

(Feutre et al. 3) 

No Author:

For an article with no author cite the title or an abbreviation of the title. Any in text citation needs to match up with what is listed as the entry on the Work Cited page. 

"The show was the first of its kind in Atlanta..." ("Stories from the ATL" B32). 

No Page Numbers:

Often times newspapers or other media are online only and have no page numbers. In this case cite the author or title of the article but no page number. 

Example: 

"The wind was a high of 15 degrees NW" (Hooper).

Faith made note that "According to the office of the president..." 

DOIs

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

A DOI, is a number given to some electronic content such as journal articles. This unique identifier links the article to the web. Therefore, it is very important to use a DOI when available instead of a URL because while URLs often change, the DOI will stay permanent.