MLA Website Citation Generator
Works Cited 0
MLA Website Citation Generator Examples
Review properly structured MLA 9th edition entries for this source type.
How to Use the MLA Website Citation Generator
- Enter the author's name in Last name, First name format (e.g., Garcia, Maria). If no author is listed, leave the field blank — the tool will start the citation with the article title instead.
- Type the title of the specific web page or article exactly as it appears on the site. The generator wraps it in quotation marks automatically.
- Provide the website name (the container), such as CNN, Mayo Clinic, or BBC News. This appears in italics in the final citation.
- Add the publication or last-updated date in Day Month Year format (e.g., 14 Mar. 2025). If the page has no date, skip this field.
- Paste the full URL starting with https://. The generator places it at the end of the citation as the location element.
- Click Generate Citation to create your formatted entry, then copy it into your Works Cited page.
💡 Pro Tips
- Always double-check whether the author listed is a person or an organization — corporate authors follow different formatting rules.
- If you accessed the page on a different date than it was published, add the Access Date to satisfy your instructor's requirements.
How the MLA Website Citation Generator Works
This generator follows the MLA 9th edition core elements model. Every web source is treated as a work inside a container — the website itself. The citation engine maps your input fields to the nine core elements defined in the MLA Handbook.
📐 Citation Structure
Author Last, First name. — Period after the author element"Title of the Web Page.” — In quotation marks, period inside closing markWebsite Name, — Italicized container title, followed by a commaPublisher (if different from site name), — Optional, comma afterPublication Date, — Day Mon. Year format, comma afterURL. — Full web address, period to close the citationAccessed Day Mon. Year. — Only if required by your instructor
Important formatting details:
- If the author is unknown, begin the citation with the title of the page in quotation marks.
- Omit the publisher element when the publisher name matches the website name (e.g., BBC News published by BBC).
- MLA 9 no longer requires “http://” or “https://” to be removed — include the full URL as printed on the page.
- Access dates are optional in MLA 9 unless the source lacks a publication date or your instructor requires them.
MLA Website Citation FAQs and Common Questions
When no author is listed, start the Works Cited entry with the title of the web page in quotation marks. In the in-text citation, use a shortened version of the title in quotation marks followed by the page or paragraph number if available — for example, (“Climate Change Solutions”).
Yes. MLA 9th edition requires a full URL (starting with https://) as the location element of the citation. Place it at the end of the entry followed by a period. Only omit the URL if your instructor explicitly tells you not to include it.
Access dates are optional in MLA 9 unless the web page has no publication date or your instructor specifically asks for one. When included, format it as Accessed 10 Jul. 2026 and place it after the URL.
Use the most recent date shown on the page as the publication date. If the page shows both an original date and a last-updated date, cite the most recent one unless you are specifically referencing the original version.
Include the publisher only when it differs from the name of the website. For example, an article on CNN.com published by CNN does not need a separate publisher element, but an article on a university department's site may list the university as the publisher.
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