How to Cite a Research Paper in MLA
Updated August 2026
Citing a research paper in MLA comes down to one template and a handful of rules. Below: the exact 9th edition format, a real example produced by our citation engine, and the in-text form — or paste your source into the generator and copy the finished citation.
The MLA format
Author Last, First, and First Last. “Title of Article.” Journal Name, vol. X, no. X, Year, pp. xx-xx, DOI or URL.
MLA (9th edition) formats a research paper reference as shown above. A real example, generated by our citation engine:
Rasch, Björn, and Jan Born. "About sleep's role in memory." Physiological Reviews, vol. 93, no. 2, 2013, pp. 681-766, https://doi.org/10.1152/physrev.00032.2012.
In-text(Rasch and Born 681)
Finding the pieces
Or skip the hunt: Find the DOI on the paper's first page and paste it into the generator's DOI tab, and every field is filled from the source's own record — then select MLA on the result.
- Which kind it is — journal article (journal + volume), conference paper (proceedings), preprint (arXiv/bioRxiv), or thesis
- The DOI — first page or landing page; preprints have them too
- The version — preprint, accepted manuscript, or published version of record
- Page range or article number — from the journal listing
MLA's formatting rules at work
- Only the first author's name is inverted; co-authors appear in natural order with full first names
- Titles use Title Case — capitalize all principal words
- Source titles take quotation marks inside a container; standalone works are italicized
- The date sits near the end of the entry, in day-month-year form with abbreviated months
Research Paper-specific pitfalls
- Cite the version you read — pagination and content differ between preprint and published versions
- Conference papers cite the proceedings as the container with the page range
- Theses name the institution: [Doctoral dissertation, University Name] in APA
In-text citations in MLA
MLA cites in the text with author and page: (Alvarez 12) — no comma, no year. Sources without page numbers (most web sources) cite the author alone: (Alvarez). Three or more authors use et al.: (Harris et al. 360).
No author? A shortened title stands in — quoted for articles and pages, italicized for whole works: ("First Words of Title").
Building the Works Cited
Every in-text citation pairs with a full entry on the Works Cited page, alphabetized by author. Add each citation to your bibliography as you generate it, and the Bibliography Builder assembles and exports the finished page to Word with the title, ordering, and indentation MLA requires.
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Go Premium — $5/monthFrequently asked questions
- What's the basic MLA format for a research paper?
- Author Last, First, and First Last. “Title of Article.” Journal Name, vol. X, no. X, Year, pp. xx-xx, DOI or URL. — see the worked example above, generated by the same engine that powers the free citation tool.
- Can I cite the preprint if the journal version exists?
- Best practice is to read and cite the published version of record. If you genuinely used the preprint, cite the preprint — accuracy about what you read beats prestige.
- How do I cite a research paper in MLA in-text?
- Author and page with no comma: (Alvarez 12); author alone when no pages exist: (Alvarez).
- Can I get this citation in other styles too?
- Yes — every result in the generator renders APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and IEEE simultaneously. Generate once, switch styles with one click.