MLA format checker online (9th edition)

Paste your literature essay or humanities paper to catch MLA 9 citation, number and punctuation problems. Each mark shows the rule from the MLA Handbook and the corrected text.

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MLA Style · 9th edition (2021)

In Toni Morrison's Beloved, memory works as a haunting rather than a record. Sethe describes "rememory" as something that stays in place long after the event (Morrison, 43)¹. Critics such as Rody argue that the novel turns history into a ghost story (Rody 1995, p. 97)². The novel's 19th-century³ setting matters, because the characters' pasts are literally unfinished. Morrison uses 3⁴ narrators, shifting perspectives and fragmented⁵ chronology to make the reader piece events together. As Rushdy & ⁶Smith note, the book "revises the slave narrative from within" (Rushdy & Smith⁷ 12). Its a novel that asks what it costs to remember.

94 words · 7 sentences · 23 MLA rules checked

3errors

3warnings

1notes

1
Comma between author and page
“(Morrison, 43)” → “(Morrison 43)”
MLA puts no punctuation between author and page: (Morrison 45).
2
Author–date citation in MLA
“(Rody 1995, p. 97)” → “(Rody 97)”
MLA in-text citations give author and page only, with no year and no comma: (Morrison 45).
3
Century written in numerals
“19th-century”
Chicago and MLA spell out centuries: the nineteenth century.
4
Numeral that fits in one or two words
“3” → “three”
MLA spells out numbers that can be written in one or two words (except in citations, dates, and technical data).
5
Missing serial (Oxford) comma
“narrators, shifting perspectives and fragmented” → “narrators, shifting perspectives, and fragmented”
APA, MLA and Chicago all require a comma before the final “and/or” in a series of three or more.
6
Ampersand in running text
“ & ” → “ and ”
Spell out “and” in prose; APA reserves & for parenthetical citations and references.
7
Ampersand in citation
“(Rushdy & Smith” → “(Rushdy and Smith”
MLA and Chicago spell out “and” between authors.

AI style review

A second read by an AI editor briefed on MLA Style: judgment calls the rules can’t make, such as clarity, bias-free wording and citation placement.

MLA in-text rules, briefly

The MLA Handbook (9th ed., 2021) keeps in-text citations as short as possible: the author’s surname and the page, with nothing between them: (Morrison 43). No comma, no “p.”, and no year. If you name the author in your sentence, only the page goes in the parentheses: Morrison describes “rememory” as … (43).

Two authors are joined by “and” (Rushdy and Smith 12); three or more become “et al.” (Gilbert et al. 88). A source without an author is cited by a shortened title in quotation marks or italics. More examples are in the MLA in-text citation guide.

Numbers and dates

MLA spells out numbers that fit in one or two words and centuries (“the nineteenth century”), while page numbers, dates and figures in data-heavy discussions stay numerals. In Works Cited, dates run day–month–year: 12 Mar. 2021.

Works Cited is a separate check

MLA 9 builds every entry from nine core elements in a fixed order. The MLA 9th edition guide steps through them, and the citation checker validates finished entries.

Layout

Double spacing, 1-inch margins, a header with your surname and page number, and the four-line heading block (name, instructor, course, date) are document settings, so set them in your word processor.

What this checker looks for

Every MLA rule the engine applies, grouped as a copy editor would.

Mechanics

Two spaces after punctuation. All four guides now use one space after a full stop or other punctuation.
Space before punctuation. Punctuation attaches to the preceding word in English.
Repeated word. The same word appears twice in a row, usually a typing slip.
Abbreviation missing periods. Write “e.g.” and “i.e.” with periods in US styles.
Hyphen in a number range. Number and page ranges take an en dash (–), not a hyphen.
Double hyphen as a dash. Use a true em dash (—). APA, MLA and Chicago close it up; AP puts a space on each side.
Spaced em dash. APA, MLA and Chicago set the em dash closed, with no spaces.
Ampersand in running text. Spell out “and” in prose; APA reserves & for parenthetical citations and references.

Citations

Malformed “et al.”. “et” is a whole Latin word (no period); “al.” is an abbreviation (period required).
Sentence period before the citation. A parenthetical citation belongs inside the sentence: close the quotation, add the citation, then the period.
“Ibid.” is not used. APA and MLA use short parenthetical citations, never ibid.
Author–date citation in MLA. MLA in-text citations give author and page only, with no year and no comma: (Morrison 45).
Comma between author and page. MLA puts no punctuation between author and page: (Morrison 45).
“p.” in an MLA citation. MLA gives the bare page number: (Morrison 45).
Ampersand in citation. MLA and Chicago spell out “and” between authors.

Bias-free language

Binary pronoun pair. APA 7 endorses singular “they”; MLA and Chicago accept it too.
Outdated or biased term. Current style guides recommend neutral, person-first or specific wording.

Punctuation

Missing serial (Oxford) comma. APA, MLA and Chicago all require a comma before the final “and/or” in a series of three or more.

Numbers

Numeral that fits in one or two words. MLA spells out numbers that can be written in one or two words (except in citations, dates, and technical data).
Century written in numerals. Chicago and MLA spell out centuries: the nineteenth century.

Formality

Contraction. Academic styles expect contractions to be written out (do not, it is).
Informal wording. Colloquial phrases read as conversational in academic prose; choose a precise term.
Second person. Research papers rarely address the reader as “you”; rephrase in third person.

Questions

What does the MLA format checker check?

Author–page citations (no comma, no year, no “p.”), “and” rather than “&”, et al. formatting, citation placement before the period, MLA number rules, spelled-out centuries, serial commas, contractions and second-person address.

Is it updated for MLA 9?

Yes. It follows the MLA Handbook, 9th edition (2021). The in-text rules are the same as MLA 8; MLA 9 added guidance on inclusive language and expanded examples, which the checker reflects.

Why does MLA leave the year out of in-text citations?

Literary scholarship cares where a passage is, not when the edition was printed, so MLA gives author and page: (Morrison 43). The year appears in the Works Cited entry.

Does MLA spell out numbers?

Spell out numbers that can be written in one or two words (three, twenty-one, one hundred) and use numerals for the rest (157), for dates, and in citations. Technical or data-heavy papers may use numerals throughout.

Can it format my Works Cited list?

The citation checker validates Works Cited entries set to MLA: quotation marks around article titles, vol. and no. labels, pp. for page ranges, “and” between two authors, and the date near the end.