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Updated . Example details checked against A List Apart, alistapart.com/article/writeliving (also the Purdue OWL MLA example).
The MLA format
Pattern
Last name, First name. “Title of the Page.” Name of the Website, Day Month Year, URL.
- Author. Last name first. Two authors: “Last, First, and First Last.” Three or more: the first author and “et al.”
- Title of the page in quotation marks, in title case, because it is part of a larger whole.
- Website name in italics. Add the publisher after it only when it is different from both the website name and the author.
- Date as day, abbreviated month, year: 16 Aug. 2002. MLA spells out May, June and July.
- URL without http:// or https://. If the page gives a DOI or a permalink, use that instead.
A real example
Works Cited entry
Bernstein, Mark. “10 Tips on Writing the Living Web.” A List Apart, 16 Aug. 2002, alistapart.com/article/writeliving/.
In-text citation
(Bernstein)
When details are missing
- No author: start with the title of the page. If an organization wrote it and also runs the site, start with the title too, and do not repeat the organization. See a web page with no author.
- No date: leave the date out and add when you read it at the end: “Accessed 3 Nov. 2026.” MLA makes the access date optional but recommends it for an undated page.
- No page numbers: web pages have none, so the in-text citation is the name alone. Use paragraph numbers only if the page numbers its paragraphs: (Bernstein, par. 4).
The same page with no date, read on November 3, 2026
Works Cited entry
Bernstein, Mark. “10 Tips on Writing the Living Web.” A List Apart, alistapart.com/article/writeliving/. Accessed 3 Nov. 2026.
In-text citation
(Bernstein)
Common mistakes
- The page title in italics. Italics are for the whole website. A page or article on it goes in quotation marks.
- Keeping https://. MLA 9 recommends leaving off the protocol. Some instructors want clickable links; if yours does, keep it everywhere.
- A US-style date. “August 16, 2002” becomes 16 Aug. 2002 in Works Cited.
- A page number for a web page. If the page has no numbers, the citation is (Bernstein). Do not count screens or printed pages.
Or let Format do it.
Paste the page's link and Format reads its title, author and date where the page publishes them; check them, and fill in what the page leaves out. Format writes the Works Cited entry and the in-text citation in MLA 9, exactly as shown above, and builds the Works Cited page when you export to Word or PDF. MLA and APA are free.
Questions
Do I need an access date in MLA?
Only when the page shows no date of its own, or when it is likely to change. MLA 9 makes the access date optional and suggests it in those cases.
Should the URL be a link?
MLA 9 has no rule about live links. Leave off https:// as MLA recommends, unless your instructor wants links that can be clicked.
What if the website and the publisher have the same name?
Give the name once, as the website. MLA leaves out a publisher whose name is essentially the same as the website’s.
More citation guides
The same source in other styles
Similar sources in MLA
- Web page with no author in MLA 9
- YouTube video in MLA 9
- Newspaper or magazine article in MLA 9
- Social media post in MLA 9
Every source kind is on the MLA page, and every style is on How to cite.