MLA Citation Generator

What Is an MLA Citation Generator?

An MLA citation generator turns the details of a source into a citation formatted in MLA style. The 9th edition of the MLA Handbook builds every entry from the same set of core elements: author, title of source, title of container, other contributors, version, number, publisher, publication date, and location. Which elements apply, and whether a title is in quotation marks or italics, depends on the kind of source.

A source cited in an MLA paper appears in two places:

• A Works Cited entry, the full record in the alphabetical list at the end of the paper
• An in-text citation, the author and page number in parentheses that points the reader to that entry

Our MLA citation generator creates both. Writers Per Hour built it as a free tool alongside its essay writing service, and it does not ask a language model to “write” a citation: every entry is assembled from fixed MLA 9 rules, so the same source details always produce the same result, with nothing guessed and nothing made up.

It runs in your browser on desktop, tablet, or mobile, with nothing to install and no account to create.

How to Use Our MLA Citation Generator

1. Choose the source type. Website, book, journal article, and AI response are one click away; book chapter, report, and video are under More. The type decides which fields you see and how MLA styles the title.
2. Paste a URL, DOI, or ISBN, search by title, or upload a PDF or BibTeX file. The generator recognizes the identifier and looks up the details that are available, using Crossref for DOIs and journal articles, Open Library for books, and public page metadata for websites. From a PDF or a .bib file it reads the source details it can find and opens them for you to check before the citation is saved. If you prefer, enter the details yourself in the side panel.
3. Review the source details. Check the author, title, container, publisher, date, and location against the source itself, and correct anything that is missing or wrong. Nothing is invented for you.
4. Add the page you are citing. If you quote or paraphrase a specific page, enter it once and the in-text citation includes it, for example (Smith 12). The page range of an article or chapter stays in the Works Cited entry.
5. Copy your citations. Copy the Works Cited entry, the parenthetical citation, or the narrative citation. Italics and quotation marks are kept exactly where MLA puts them.

What Sources Can You Cite?

The generator supports seven source types that appear most often in student papers:

• Website
• Journal article
• Book
• Book chapter
• Report
• Video
• AI response

For each one it applies the MLA container system: a web page sits in its website, an article in its journal, a chapter in its book, a video in its platform. The container is italicized, and the title of the part inside it goes in quotation marks.

Create Works Cited and In-Text Citations

MLA in-text citations are shorter than most students expect: the author’s last name and the page number, with no comma and no year. The generator produces both forms for every source:

• Parenthetical citation. The author and page appear in parentheses at the end of the sentence.
• Narrative citation. The author’s name is part of the sentence, and only the page goes in parentheses.

When a source has no author, the in-text citation uses a shortened title instead, in quotation marks or italics to match the entry. When it has no page numbers, the name stands alone.

MLA Rules Handled by the Generator

The generator takes care of the details that cost points most often:

• Author names. One author inverted (Mantel, Hilary), two joined with and, three or more shortened to the first author and et al.
• Organizations as authors. A group named as the author, and left out of the author position when it is also the publisher.
• No author. The entry starts with the title, and the in-text citation uses a shortened title.
• No date. The date is simply omitted. MLA does not use n.d.
• Dates. Written as day, abbreviated month, year: 23 Sept. 2024.
• Volume, issue, and pages. Printed as vol., no., and p. or pp., with an en dash in a page range.
• Editions and editors. 2nd ed., edited by, and editor or editors in the author position.
• DOIs and URLs. A DOI is printed as https://doi.org/…; a URL is printed without https://, as the MLA Style Center writes them.

Titles keep the capitalization you entered or that was found. MLA uses title case, so check that your titles follow it before you submit.

How to Cite AI Responses in MLA

MLA does not treat ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or any other tool as an author. Instead, the Works Cited entry describes what you asked and where the answer came from, following the MLA Style Center’s guidance on citing generative AI:

• Title of source. A short description of your prompt, in quotation marks, followed by the word prompt.
• Container. The name of the tool, in italics.
• Version. The model or version you used, when the tool names one.
• Publisher. The company that makes the tool.
• Date. The day the response was generated.
• Location. A shareable link to the response, or the tool’s general address.

The in-text citation uses the first words of the prompt description. Your instructor may also ask you to explain how you used AI, and to verify anything the tool produced.

Build and Manage Your Works Cited List

Add every finished citation to My Works Cited and the Writers Per Hour generator keeps the list for your whole paper. You can:

• Add new entries as you research
• See every saved entry in alphabetical order, as it will appear on the page
• Edit source details, and the old entry is replaced only after you save
• Copy a single entry or the complete Works Cited list
• Delete one entry or clear the whole list

Your entries are stored only in this browser and are kept separately from the APA generator’s list, so opening one tool never changes the other. They stay after you reload the page in the same browser. They don’t sync to other devices, and clearing your browser data removes them, so copy or export your list when you’re done.

Export Your Works Cited List to Google Docs

When your list is complete, export it to a new Google Doc and keep writing there. The document is headed Works Cited, the entries are in alphabetical order, and the page is double-spaced with a hanging indent, as MLA asks. Google Drive access is requested only when you choose to export, and only for the files this export creates. Each export makes a new document and gives you a direct link to it. Signing in with Google is optional: you can create citations and build your list without a Google account, and if you decline access, your list stays in your browser.

Why Use the Writers Per Hour MLA Citation Generator?

• Rule-based formatting. Entries follow MLA 9th edition rules, not a language model’s guess.
• Free, no account required. Start citing right away.
• Fast lookup. Find source details with a URL, DOI, or ISBN, or read them from a PDF or BibTeX file and check them before you save.
• Manual entry when needed. A side panel that adapts to your source type and saves drafts.
• Three outputs per source. Works Cited entry, parenthetical citation, and narrative citation, with the page you cite.
• AI response citations. Cite generative AI the way the MLA Style Center describes it.
• A full Works Cited list in one place. Manage, copy, and export all your entries.
• Privacy. We use the identifier only to find available source details. Nothing is saved by the lookup service.

Always Review Your Source Details

Automatically found details can be incomplete or wrong, and some websites provide very little metadata. Before you submit, check the author, title, container, publisher, date, and location against the original source. The Writers Per Hour generator formats citations in MLA only. It doesn’t check plagiarism, write papers, or confirm the facts inside your sources.