MLA 8 Format Rules: Works Cited, in-Text Citations and Layout

MLA 8 format builds every Works Cited entry from a fixed list of core elements in a set order, and cites sources in the text with the author's surname and a page number. The eighth edition of the MLA Handbook appeared in 2016.

The ninth edition replaced it in 2021, but many courses and older assignments still refer to MLA 8, and the core rules carry over. This guide covers the MLA 8 rules and flags where MLA 9 differs.

The MLA 8 Core Elements

MLA 8 replaced separate formats for each source type with one template. You fill in whichever elements apply and skip the rest.

A source can sit inside a second container, such as a journal article inside a database. Repeat elements 3 to 9 for the second container after the first container's location.

Works Cited Page Layout Rules

• Start the list on a new page titled Works Cited, centered, in plain text.
• Double space the whole list, with no extra space between entries.
• Use a hanging indent of half an inch.
• Alphabetize by the first element, usually the author's surname, ignoring "A", "An" and "The" in titles.
• For several works by one author, give the name in the first entry and three hyphens followed by a full stop in the following entries, ordered by title.

Element Punctuation Rules

• Follow the author and the title of source with full stops.
• Separate the container elements with commas.
• End the entry with a full stop.
• Use "pp." for a page range and "p." for a single page in the Works Cited, but never in the in-text citation.
• Abbreviate month names in the Works Cited, except May, June and July: Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec.
• Write dates as day, month, year: 14 Mar. 2017.
• Shorten university presses to UP, as in Harbor UP.

MLA 8 dropped the city of publication for books and made URLs part of the location element for online sources.

Title Formatting Rules

In-Text Citation Format

When you name the author in your sentence, put only the page in brackets: Okafor argues that silence "carries the weight of the unsaid" (37).

Quotations in MLA 8

How you set a quotation depends on its length. The rules are the same in MLA 8 and MLA 9.

• Prose up to four lines: run it into your sentence in double quotation marks, with the citation after the closing quotation mark and before the full stop.
• Prose over four lines: set it as a block, indented half an inch from the left margin, without quotation marks. The citation follows the final punctuation.
• Poetry up to three lines: run it in, marking line breaks with a slash and a space on each side.
• Poetry over three lines: set it as a block, keeping the original line breaks.

For poems and plays, cite line numbers or act, scene and line instead of pages once your reader knows the numbering, for example (lines 5–8) at first use and (9–12) after that.

Author Name Formatting

• One author: Surname, First name. as in Okafor, Grace.
• Two authors: invert only the first, joined by "and": Okafor, Grace, and Ana Ruiz.
• Three or more: first author followed by et al.: Okafor, Grace, et al.
• Corporate author: give the organization, unless it is also the publisher, in which case start with the title.
• Editors or translators as the focus: add a label: Ruiz, Ana, editor.

Complete MLA 8 Examples

These examples are illustrative. MLA 8 wrote DOIs with a "doi:" prefix and recommended omitting http:// and https:// from URLs.

MLA 8 Paper Layout

• 1-inch margins on all sides and a readable 12-point font such as Times New Roman.
• Double spacing throughout, with paragraphs indented half an inch.
• No title page unless your instructor asks for one.
• Top left of page one: your name, instructor, course and date, each on its own line.
• Title centered below the heading, in plain text with no bold, underline or quotation marks.
• Header at the top right of every page: your surname and the page number.

Formatting Errors: Before and After

What Changed in MLA 9

MLA 9 kept the core elements, the in-text format and the Works Cited layout. Its main changes are fuller guidance and a few refinements.

• More detailed advice on each element and on many more source types.
• New chapters on inclusive language, notes and annotated bibliographies.
• Guidance favoring DOIs written as https://doi.org/ links.
• Clearer rules for simplifying publisher names and handling missing information.

If your course has moved to MLA 9, little in an MLA 8 paper needs to change. The free Bibloq citation generator produces current MLA entries you can compare against.

Optional Elements

MLA 8 lets you add optional elements where they help the reader: the date you accessed an undated web page, the city for a book published before 1900, or the original publication date of a republished work.

How Bibloq Helps with MLA Formatting

Send your essay and say whether your course uses MLA 8 or MLA 9. An editor formats the heading, header, title, in-text citations and Works Cited, and checks that every citation matches an entry.

Need a full essay? A writer in your subject prepares a custom paper in MLA, for study and reference. Free revisions within the scope of your original request are included.