Skip to Main Content

Cite in MLA Style: Works Cited: Articles

General Format

Last name, First name. “Title of Article.” Title of Container, Version, Number, day month year. Title of Second Container, Pages, URL, or DOI.

Notes: 

  • A "container" in MLA Style is the item that holds the source you used. For example, an article is a source and the journal it came from is the container. The database you found it in could be the second container.
  • Date style is: Day Month Year, with the month abbreviated if it's five or more letters long. Include as much of the date as is available. E.g., 5 Oct. 2024.
  • Include the date of access for an online work if a publication date is not provided, if the page content has or may change, or if the web page is no longer accessible.
  • If the resource has no author, then move the title element to the position of the author.
  • Use a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) if available. If no DOI, use a stable URL.  

Article from a Database, with DOI

Last name, First name. “Title of Article.” Title of Journal/Magazine/Newspaper, Volume, Number, Year. Title of Database, Pages, URL, or DOI.

Simmons, William J. "Bad Feminism: On Queer-Feminist Relatability and the Production of Truth in Fleabag." Framework: The Journal of Cinema and Media, vol. 61, no. 1, 2020, pp. 32–46. Project Muse, doi.org/10.13110/framework.61.1.0032.

Online Article, no DOI

Last name, First name and First name Last name. “Title of Article.” Title of Container, version, number, day month year. Title of Second Container, pages, URL, or DOI.

Lozano, Juan A., and Lekean Oyekanmi. “Hundreds Rescued from Flooding as Water Continues Rising in Houston and Rural East Texas.” Los Angles Times, 4 May 2024, www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2024-05-04/hundreds-rescued-from-flooding-in-texas-as-water-continue-rising-in-houston.

Article with No Author

If the author's name is not listed, begin with the title of the article.

"Title of Article." Title of Container [city of newspaper if less well-known publication], version, number, day month year. Title of Second Container, pages, URL, or DOI.

“AI Does Not Jeopardize the Jobs of Marketing Specialists, Not Yet.” CE Noticias Financieras [Miami], English ed., 7 July 2023. Proquest.

Print Article

Last name, First name. “Title of Article.” Title of Container, version, number, day month year, page range.

Peterzell, Jay. "Better Late Than Never." Time, vol. 135, no. 17, 23 Apr. 1990, 20–21.

What Is a DOI?

A Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is an alphanumeric string that provides a persistent link to content online. It is good practice to try to include a DOI for every citation accessed electronically.