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, pp.-pp. Title of Second Container, 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, pp.-pp.. Title of Database, 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, pp.-pp. Title of Second Container, 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, pp.-pp. Title of Second Container, 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, pp.-pp.

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