In MLA, list author, “article title,” journal, volume(issue), year, page range, then DOI or URL; add the database name if you used one.
Why This Matters For Accurate MLA Citations
Peer-reviewed sources carry weight in papers, but the citation has to be clean. MLA 9 follows a flexible template of core elements you fill in as they appear on your source. This guide walks through the pieces, the order, and the small details that trip writers up, so your Works Cited page pairs neatly with your in-text pointers and your reader can trace each claim without friction.
Core MLA Pieces For A Journal Article
You’ll pull what you need from the article’s first page, the PDF header or footer, and the database record. For most scholarly articles, you’ll record: author name or names; article title; journal title; volume; issue; year; page span; DOI or stable URL; and the database name if you found it in a subscription platform. If there’s an advance online date, an article number, or a special issue note, capture that too and fit it into the container pattern.
Common MLA Works-Cited Patterns For Peer-Reviewed Sources
| Source Type | What To Record | Model Works Cited Entry |
|---|---|---|
| Standard article with DOI | Author; “article title”; journal; vol.; no.; year; pages; DOI | Nguyen, Lan. “Adaptive Swarms In Logistics.” Systems Research, vol. 31, no. 2, 2024, pp. 115–134. https://doi.org/10.1080/1234.56789. |
| Article from a database | Author; “title”; journal; vol.; no.; year; pages; database; DOI or stable URL | Morel, Claire, and Noah Ortiz. “Cold Storage Costs.” Journal of Supply Networks, vol. 18, no. 1, 2023, pp. 33–52. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.5555/jsn.18.1.33. |
| Three or more authors | First author + “et al.”; rest as usual | Akande, Tolu, et al. “Battery Health Under Load.” Energy Science Letters, vol. 9, no. 4, 2022, pp. 201–220. https://doi.org/10.2211/esl.94201. |
| Article number, no pages | Author; “title”; journal; vol.; no.; year; article or e-number; DOI | Park, Mira. “Photon Counters On Chip.” Optics Today, vol. 57, no. 6, 2025, article e00612. https://doi.org/10.1007/ot.57.e00612. |
| Ahead of print | Author; “title”; journal; online date or note; DOI | Silva, Bruno. “River Flow Models With AI.” Hydrology Notes, online first, 2025. https://doi.org/10.7777/hn.2025.901. |
| Article in a special issue | Author; “title”; special issue details; journal; vol.; no.; year; pages; DOI | Chen, Lili. “Hiring Tests And Fairness.” Special issue of Workplace Analytics, edited by Omar Reyes, vol. 6, no. 3, 2024, pp. 41–66. https://doi.org/10.6600/wa.6.3.41. |
When you need the official wording of the core elements, skim the MLA Style Center’s “Citations by Format”. For periodicals and sample layouts, the Purdue OWL page on periodicals offers clear patterns that match the current handbook.
How To Cite Peer Reviewed Articles In MLA: Core Steps
Step 1: Collect Exact Wording From The Article
Copy the author names as printed. Keep the order, accents, and initials. For two authors, join names with “and.” For three or more, list the first author followed by “et al.” Keep suffixes like “Jr.” and “III” where shown. Do not invert a group author; write the organization exactly as the journal lists it.
Step 2: Record The Article Title Correctly
Take the title from the PDF or the HTML header. Put it in quotation marks using headline-style capitalization. Keep any colon subtitle after the main title. Retain math symbols, Greek letters, and hyphenation as the journal shows them. If the title includes branded terms, keep the styling that appears in the article, not the database.
Step 3: Add The Journal Title, Volume, And Issue
Italicize the journal title. Then add “vol. x, no. y” with a comma after the issue. If the journal lists only a volume, skip the issue. If a supplement appears, include it after the issue label. Keep apostrophes, diacritics, and spacing exactly as the journal prints them, since lookup and indexing rely on that string.
Step 4: Supply Year And Page Range Or Article Number
Place the year after the issue. For paginated issues, add the page span with an en dash. If the journal shortens ranges, mirror that style. For journals that publish by article number, replace pages with “article” or “e” plus the number. When an online first note appears, include that note in place of pages.
Step 5: Prefer The DOI Over A Long URL
Use a DOI when available, formatted as “https://doi.org/xxxxx.” If no DOI exists, use a stable URL from the publisher or database. Trim tracking codes and campus proxy strings. Pick a link that works off campus and does not require a personal login to resolve.
Step 6: Add The Database As A Second Container When Used
When you found the article through a subscription platform, add the database name in italics as a second container, followed by the DOI or stable URL. If you accessed a publisher site directly, you can omit a database name. Keep platform labels short; use the brand the site shows on item pages.
Step 7: Match MLA Punctuation Exactly
Place commas after “vol.” and “no.” Place periods after the journal container and at the end of the entry. Put commas inside the closing quotation marks of titles. Consistent punctuation makes every entry scan the same way and keeps graders from flagging small slips.
Model Entries You Can Trust
Single Author With DOI
Martinez, Elena. “Soil Microbiomes And Drought Recovery.” Plant Ecology, vol. 224, no. 3, 2023, pp. 231–248. https://doi.org/10.1093/plant/peac123.
Two Authors In A Database
Kim, Jae-Min, and Priya S. Rao. “Supply Chains Under Shock.” Journal of Operations Research, vol. 71, no. 2, 2024, pp. 145–167. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.1080/jor.71.2.145.
Three Or More Authors
Lopez, Ana, et al. “Oceans, Warming, And Fish Migration.” Marine Biology Letters, vol. 19, no. 4, 2022, pp. 55–78. https://doi.org/10.5678/mbl.19.4.55.
Article Number Instead Of Pages
Bowen, Reed. “Quantum Sensing With Cold Atoms.” Physical Review A, vol. 109, no. 1, 2024, article e014006. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.109.014006.
Ahead Of Print
Chaudhry, Nabila. “Urban Heat Islands And Equity.” City Science Quarterly, online first, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad1d2f.
Special Issue
Ahmed, Rafi. “Gender Gaps In Tech Hiring.” Special issue of Labor Studies, edited by Dana Choi, vol. 12, no. 1, 2024, pp. 9–34. https://doi.org/10.2222/ls.12.1.9.
In-Text Citations That Match
Your reader needs a short pointer that lines up with the first item in the Works Cited entry. Use the author’s last name and the page number, with no comma between them. For a source with no pages, use the last name alone, or add a paragraph or section tag supplied by the journal. If you name the author in your sentence, place only the page number in parentheses.
Quick Rules
- One author: (Martinez 241).
- Two authors: (Kim and Rao 160).
- Three or more: (Lopez et al. 60).
- No page numbers: (Bowen).
- Multiple items by one author in the same year: add a short title—(Martinez, “Soil Microbiomes” 238).
Avoid The Classic Pitfalls
Tiny slips can cost points. These are the ones teachers circle: swapping the order of volume and issue; dropping the journal’s diacritics or capitalization; pasting a long, unstable link; forgetting the database as a second container when the platform matters for retrieval; using “and others” instead of “et al.”; leaving a hanging indent off the Works Cited page. A calm pass at the end catches most of those.
How To Read A Database Record Fast
Most library platforms show a tidy panel with all the fields you need. Check author names, year, journal title, volume, issue, pages, DOI, and a permanent link. If something is missing on the detail page, open the PDF—publishers often print the DOI at the top or bottom of the first page. When two records disagree, trust the PDF over the abstract page.
What To Do When Data Is Missing
If the issue number is absent, cite the volume alone. If a page range is missing because the journal uses article numbers, record the article number. If the author field reads “Editorial Board,” treat that as the author name unless the piece is unsigned. If a journal uses season names instead of months, keep the wording the journal uses and maintain the sequence the masthead shows.
Formatting The Works Cited Page
Start the page on a new sheet. Center “Works Cited” at the top. Use double spacing throughout. Apply a hanging indent of half an inch to each entry. Alphabetize by the author’s last name; if there’s no author, alphabetize by the article title, ignoring “A,” “An,” and “The.” Check that every in-text pointer has a matching entry and that every entry has at least one pointer.
Punctuation And Capitalization Pointers
Place periods after each container element. Use commas to separate volume and issue and to set off the year. Capitalize major words in article titles; keep minor words like short prepositions lowercased unless they start the title or subtitle. Keep journal titles exactly as printed and italicize them. Match hyphenation and spacing in compound terms the way the journal prints them.
When You Should Include A URL
MLA favors DOIs because they are permanent. Still, not every article has one. Use a stable URL if offered by the publisher or the database. Drop long tracking codes. If the link requires a campus proxy string, replace it with the journal’s public page or the DOI link. A short, stable path makes life easier for your reader and for long-term access.
When Page Numbers Do Not Exist
Open-access journals that publish article numbers are common. MLA allows “article” or “e” numbers after the volume and issue. For in-text citations, point to a section tag or figure number only if the journal supplies one. Do not invent a page count from a PDF counter. If a journal uses only a month and an article ID, cite those exactly.
Paraphrase Or Quote?
Citations work with both. When you paraphrase, include the same author-page format if pages exist. When you quote, add the page. If a quotation spans more than four lines in your draft, use the block format and keep the parenthetical after the closing punctuation. Keep punctuation inside quotation marks unless the journal’s title styling demands an exception.
Two Clean Checklists
| Task | Checkpoints | Why It Helps |
|---|---|---|
| Build the entry | Author; “title”; journal; vol.; no.; year; pages or article no.; DOI or URL; database if used | Matches MLA core elements in order and keeps retrieval simple |
| Polish in-text | Author-page; “et al.” for 3+; short title only when needed | Lines up with the first element of the Works Cited entry |
| Layout pass | Double spacing; hanging indents; clean punctuation | Improves scanability and avoids grading dings |
| Link hygiene | DOI first; stable URL if no DOI; no tracking strings | Keeps links working off campus and over time |
Short Template You Can Copy
Author Last Name, First Name, and Second Author First Last, or et al. “Article Title: Subtitle.” Journal Title, vol. x, no. y, year, pp. xx–xx, Database Name if used, DOI or URL.
Closing Tips For A Smooth Write-Up
Work from the article PDF while drafting your entry, not a casual citation tool. Double-check names with accents. Watch the punctuation around titles. Scan your Works Cited page top to bottom for hanging indents and consistent spacing. Cross-check every in-text pointer against the first word of its entry. That last sweep takes minutes and saves headaches.