Skills on AI

Citation Style Mla

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Use when asked to cite sources, format in-text citations, or build a reference list in MLA (Modern Language Association) citation style, 9th edition, used in literature, languages, the humanities, and cultural studies; author-page rather than author-date like [[citation-style-apa]], with a Works Cited list rather than numbered references.

MLA (Modern Language Association) citation style, 9th edition is the style commonly required in literature, languages, the humanities, and cultural studies. Family: Author-page.

Input required

  • The sources to cite, with author, title, date, publisher or journal, volume, issue, pages, and DOI or URL.
  • The edition, institution, or journal whose rules apply.

Questions to ask first

  1. Which edition or institutional variant must the work follow?
  2. Is the output in-text citations, reference-list entries, or both?
  3. What type is each source (book, article, web page, report, legal authority)?
  4. Is any information missing, such as the date, pages, or DOI?

In-text citations

  • Parenthetical: (Smith 45), with no comma and no p..
  • If the author is named in the sentence, give only the page: Smith argues this (45).
  • Three or more authors: (Smith et al. 45).
  • No page for unpaginated sources: give the author alone.

Reference format

Titled Works Cited, alphabetical by author surname, hanging indent. Titles in title case; article titles in quotation marks and container titles (journal, website, book) in italics. Each entry is built from the same core elements: author, title of source, title of container, other contributors, version, number, publisher, publication date, location.

Example pattern

The names, title, and numbers below are placeholders showing the pattern, not a real source.

Smith, Jane A., and Kim Lee. "Title of the Article in Title Case." *Journal Name*, vol. 12, no. 3, 2020, pp. 45–67.

Ground rules

  • Use only the details the user supplied or that can be checked. Never invent authors, dates, DOIs, page numbers, or sources.
  • If a detail is missing, leave a clear placeholder and say so.
  • Apply one style consistently throughout the document.
  • When the user's institution or journal differs from this guide, follow theirs.

Self-check before answering

  • Does every in-text citation have a matching reference entry, and the reverse?
  • Are the ordering, capitalization, punctuation, and italics consistent with this style?
  • Were any details guessed? Remove or flag them.

Common pitfalls

  • Adding a comma or p. in the in-text citation — MLA is (Smith 45).
  • Forgetting the container — a poem in an anthology, or an article in a journal, needs the larger work named too.
  • Including https:// — MLA drops the protocol from URLs; DOIs are given as links.
  • Using APA's sentence case — MLA keeps title case.

Learn more

View citation-style-mla/SKILL.md on GitHub