MLA 9th edition: the nine core elements
Every MLA Works Cited entry is built from the same nine elements in the same order. Step through them and watch a real entry assemble.
Diekelmann, Susanne, and Jan Born. “The Memory Function of Sleep.” Nature Reviews Neuroscience, vol. 11, no. 2, 2010, pp. 114–26, https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn2762.
Page range (pp.), DOI, permalink or URL without https:// — the place a reader goes to find the source.
A template, not a list of source types
Before 2016, MLA had separate formats for books, articles, websites and so on. MLA 8 replaced them with a single template of core elements, and MLA 9 kept it. The advantage is that you can cite anything, including a TikTok, a museum label or a podcast episode, by asking the same nine questions in order.
Punctuation between elements
Author and title of source end with a period. Elements inside a container are separated by commas, and the entry ends with a period. Titles use title case, with quotation marks for parts and italics for wholes.
Once your list is built, the citation checker in MLA mode catches missing quotation marks, APA-style volume(issue) numbers and ampersands. For the in-text side, see MLA in-text citations.
Questions
What changed in MLA 9 compared with MLA 8?
The core-elements template stayed the same. MLA 9 (2021) added a chapter on inclusive language, fuller guidance on notes, more examples for social media and online sources, and allowed DOIs to be written as https://doi.org/ links.
What are the nine core elements in MLA?
Author, title of source, title of container, contributor, version, number, publisher, publication date and location, always in that order, each followed by the punctuation shown in the MLA Handbook.
What if an element does not apply?
Leave it out and move to the next one. Very few sources have all nine; a journal article typically uses author, title, container, number, date and location.
What is a second container?
A container inside a container, such as a journal article (container 1: the journal) accessed through a database (container 2: JSTOR). Repeat the container elements for the second container after the first.