How to Cite a Journal Article in MLA 9th Edition

Journal articles are central to academic research in the humanities, and citing them correctly in MLA format is a skill every student and scholar needs. Whether you are referencing a single-author essay from a print literary journal, an online article with a DOI, or a research paper accessed through a library database like JSTOR, the MLA Handbook (9th ed.) provides a consistent framework through its core elements system. This guide walks through each element as it applies to journal articles, with worked examples for every common scenario, special cases, frequent mistakes, and a quick-reference table.

If you want to skip the manual formatting, you can use the AllCitations MLA 9 generator to build a correctly formatted entry in seconds. But understanding the underlying rules is essential for catching errors with DOIs, database sources, and multi-author works that automated tools sometimes handle inconsistently.

The MLA Core Elements for Journal Articles

For a journal article, the core elements map onto the following pattern:

Author. "Title of Article." Title of Journal, vol. #, no. #, Date, pp. #-#. Location.

Key principles:

• Author appears in last-name-first format. For two authors, the second name appears in first-name-last-name format, joined by "and." For three or more, use the first author followed by "et al." (MLA Handbook, p. 22).
• Title of the article (the source) goes in quotation marks and is written in title case. The article is a short work within a larger container, so it gets quotation marks rather than italics.
• Title of the journal (the container) is italicized and written in title case. Use the full official title of the journal as it appears on the publication.
• Volume and issue are included after the journal title, abbreviated as "vol." and "no." respectively. Include both whenever they are available.
• Date follows MLA's day-month-year format for specific dates. For journals that use seasonal dates, write the season and year (e.g., Spring 2024). Months longer than four letters are abbreviated.
• Page range uses "pp." followed by the first and last page numbers separated by a hyphen. MLA allows you to abbreviate the second number when it shares leading digits with the first (e.g., pp. 217-35 instead of pp. 217-235).
• Location is the DOI (preferred) or URL for articles accessed online. For print-only articles, no location element is needed.

For a comparison of how journal article citations differ in APA, see our guide on How to Cite a Journal Article in APA 7.

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Worked Examples

Below are eight worked examples covering the most common journal article citation scenarios in MLA 9. Each example includes both the works-cited entry and the corresponding in-text citations.

1. Article with One Author (Print)

The most straightforward case: a single-author article in a print journal.

Works-cited entry:

Felski, Rita. "Context Stinks!" New Literary History, vol. 42, no. 4, Autumn 2011, pp. 573-91.

In-text citations:

• Parenthetical: (Felski 580)
• Narrative: Felski argues that the concept of context has become an uncritical default in literary studies (580).

MLA in-text citations include the author's last name and the page number, with no comma between them.

2. Article with Two Authors

When an article has two authors, list both names. The first author appears in last-name-first format; the second appears in first-name-last-name format, joined by "and."

Works-cited entry:

Nguyen, Patricia L., and Roberto J. Castellano. "Social Media Use and Self-Esteem among Emerging Adults." Developmental Psychology, vol. 59, no. 1, Jan. 2023, pp. 88-101. DOI.org, doi.org/10.1037/dev0001472.

In-text citations:

• Parenthetical: (Nguyen and Castellano 93)
• Narrative: Nguyen and Castellano found that passive social media consumption was negatively associated with self-esteem (93).

3. Article with Three or More Authors

For three or more authors, list only the first author followed by "et al." in both the works-cited entry and in-text citations.

Works-cited entry:

Whitfield, Karen D., et al. "The Role of Sleep Quality in Academic Performance among College Students." Health Psychology, vol. 41, no. 5, May 2022, pp. 334-46. DOI.org, doi.org/10.1037/hea0001198.

In-text citations:

• Parenthetical: (Whitfield et al. 340)
• Narrative: Whitfield et al. report that consistent sleep schedules were a stronger predictor of GPA than total sleep duration (340).

4. Article with a DOI

Most journal articles published in recent years have a Digital Object Identifier (DOI). In MLA 9, when a DOI is available, include it as the location element. The DOI serves as a permanent link to the article and is more stable than a database URL.

Works-cited entry:

Ellison, Marcus A. "Implicit Bias in Hiring Decisions: An Experimental Audit Study." Journal of Organizational Behavior, vol. 41, no. 7, Sept. 2020, pp. 615-32. DOI.org, doi.org/10.1002/job.2460.

In-text citations:

• Parenthetical: (Ellison 620)
• Narrative: Ellison found significant disparities in callback rates linked to applicant names (620).

Note that the DOI is preceded by the container name DOI.org and is formatted without the "https://" prefix, consistent with MLA 9 URL conventions.

5. Article from a Library Database

When you access a journal article through a database like JSTOR, EBSCOhost, or ProQuest, the database functions as a second container. Include the database name (italicized) and the URL or DOI provided by the database.

Works-cited entry:

Morrison, Toni. "Unspeakable Things Unspoken: The Afro-American Presence in American Literature." Michigan Quarterly Review, vol. 28, no. 1, Winter 1989, pp. 1-34. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20025204.

In-text citations:

• Parenthetical: (Morrison 12)
• Narrative: Morrison examines the ways that African American literary traditions have been marginalized in canonical criticism (12).

The database name (JSTOR) is the second container, italicized, followed by the stable URL the database provides.

6. Online-Only Journal Article

Some journals publish exclusively online and may not assign volume or issue numbers. Include whatever publication information is available.

Works-cited entry:

Torres, Rosa A., and Ji-Young Kim. "Open-Access Publishing and Citation Equity in the Social Sciences." PLoS ONE, vol. 19, no. 2, 14 Feb. 2024. DOI.org, doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0298451.

In-text citations:

• Parenthetical: (Torres and Kim)
• Narrative: Torres and Kim argue that open-access mandates reduce citation disparities between researchers at well-funded and under-resourced institutions.

When no page numbers are available, the in-text citation includes only the author name(s). You may add a paragraph number if the source provides them: (Torres and Kim, par. 14).

7. Article with an Article Number Instead of Page Range

Some online journals assign article numbers rather than page ranges. In MLA 9, include the article number where the page range would normally appear.

Works-cited entry:

Marchetti, Giorgio. "Attention and Working Memory: Two Basic Mechanisms for Constructing Temporal Experiences." Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 10, 2019, article 2239. DOI.org, doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02239.

In-text citations:

• Parenthetical: (Marchetti)
• Narrative: Marchetti argues that temporal experience is constructed through the interaction of attention and working memory.

When citing an article identified by article number rather than page range, in-text citations typically include only the author name.

8. Review Article Published in a Journal

When citing a book review or review essay published in a journal, include the phrase "Review of" followed by the title and author of the reviewed work.

Works-cited entry:

Garner, Dwight. "A New Biography Restores a Forgotten Feminist Voice." Review of Germaine de Stael: A Life, by Francine du Plessix Gray. The New York Times Book Review, 15 Mar. 2020, pp. 12-13.

In-text citations:

• Parenthetical: (Garner 12)
• Narrative: Garner praises the biography for bringing a forgotten voice back into public conversation (12).

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In-Text Citations for Journal Articles

MLA in-text citations for journal articles follow the same pattern as for all other source types: (Author Page). Here are the key rules as they apply to articles:

• One author: (Felski 580)
• Two authors: (Nguyen and Castellano 93)
• Three or more authors: (Whitfield et al. 340)
• No author: Use a shortened version of the article title in quotation marks: ("Implicit Bias" 620)
• No page number: Include only the author name: (Torres and Kim). You may optionally add a paragraph or section number if provided by the source.
• Multiple works by the same author: Include a shortened title to distinguish them: (Morrison, "Unspeakable" 12)
• Indirect source: If citing something quoted in the article, use "qtd. in": (qtd. in Felski 580)

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Special Cases

Articles with Supplemental Materials

When referencing supplemental materials published alongside an article (such as appendices, datasets, or additional figures hosted online), describe the supplemental material in your text and cite the article itself. MLA does not have a special format for supplemental materials - cite the parent article and direct the reader to the supplement in your prose.

Forthcoming Articles

For articles that have been accepted but not yet published, replace the date with "Forthcoming." Omit volume, issue, and page numbers since they have not been assigned:

Okafor, Nkechi B. "Emotion Regulation Strategies in Bilingual Individuals." Cognition and Emotion, Forthcoming.

Once the article is published, update the citation with the full publication details.

Retracted Articles

If you need to cite an article that has been retracted, note the retraction in your text so readers understand the article's status. Cite the article as it originally appeared and mention the retraction in your discussion. MLA does not prescribe a specific format for noting retractions within the works-cited entry, but transparency with your reader is essential.

Articles in Non-English Journals

When citing an article published in a language other than English, use the original-language title. You may include an English translation in square brackets after the original title if it helps your reader:

Morales, Francisco J. "Efectos del bilingualismo en la memoria de trabajo" ["Effects of Bilingualism on Working Memory"]. Revista de Psicologia, vol. 38, no. 2, 2020, pp. 45-62.

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Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Using sentence case for the article title. MLA uses title case for all titles in the works-cited list. Capitalize all major words in both the article title and the journal title. This is a common source of confusion for students who also work in APA format, which uses sentence case for article titles in the reference list.

Including the database URL when a DOI is available. If the article has a DOI, use the DOI as the location element rather than the database URL. DOIs are permanent identifiers, while database URLs can change or require institutional login. Use a database URL only when no DOI is available.

Omitting the database as a second container. When you access an article through a database, the database is a second container and should be included in the entry (italicized) along with the URL the database provides. Many students cite database articles as if they were print sources, omitting the database information entirely.

Forgetting to abbreviate months. MLA abbreviates months longer than four letters: Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec. The months May, June, and July are written in full. A common error is writing out all months fully or abbreviating May, June, or July.

Placing a comma between the author and page number in parenthetical citations. MLA in-text citations do not use a comma: write (Felski 580), not (Felski, 580). This comma-free format is a distinctive MLA convention and a frequent source of errors for students switching from APA or Chicago style.

Confusing volume and issue formatting. In MLA, volume and issue are written out as "vol. 42, no. 4" rather than using the APA-style format of italicized volume with issue in parentheses. Do not use the format 42(4) in MLA.

Omitting "pp." before the page range. MLA works-cited entries for journal articles include "pp." before the page range. This is different from in-text citations, which use just the page number without any prefix.

For guidance on citing books in MLA 9, see our guide on How to Cite a Book in MLA 9.

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Quick-Reference Table

The following table summarizes the key journal article citation variations at a glance:

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