MLA Citation Checker
Paste your MLA 9 Works Cited list and get each likely formatting slip flagged: a first author who is not inverted, an ampersand where MLA wants “and”, a source title in sentence case, a DOI on the old dx.doi.org host, a missing final period, entries out of A–Z order, and repeated sources. Every finding links to the MLA Style Center page for the rule. Free, no sign-up, and nothing leaves your browser.
What this checker looks for
- The first author inverted to Last name, First name — keeping the full given name (MLA does not abbreviate to initials).
- The word “and” (not &) before the final author.
- Source titles in Title Case rather than sentence case.
- DOIs as a clean https://doi.org/10.xxxx link.
- A terminal period (unless the entry ends in a DOI or URL).
- Alphabetical order of the list and duplicate entries.
Every finding is advisory and links to the relevant MLA guideline. The checker is deterministic — it never uploads your text, never uses AI, and never auto-rewrites your references. It targets MLA 9 Works Cited entries only (in-text citations and other styles are not checked yet).
How to Use the MLA Citation Checker
- Paste your Works Cited list. Put one entry per line, or separate wrapped entries with a blank line. The checker joins wrapped lines into one entry.
- Read the list-level findings first. Entries out of A–Z order and repeated sources affect the whole list, so they appear above the individual entries.
- Work through each flagged entry. A finding says what looks wrong, offers a corrected fragment to copy when it can, and links to the MLA Style Center. High confidence means the pattern is almost always an error; Worth a look means it often is.
- Paste the list again after editing. Entries that now pass drop out of the results.
The MLA 9 Rules the Checker Applies
The checks follow the MLA Handbook (9th ed., 2021) and the MLA Style Center. MLA is close to the opposite of APA on three points, which is why APA and MLA lists need separate checkers:
| Element | MLA 9 form | Flagged when |
|---|---|---|
| First author | Smith, John — surname first, full given name | the entry opens with a given name, as in John Smith |
| Two authors | Adams, Rachel, and Anna Doe | an ampersand (&) joins the last two authors |
| Source title | Title Case: The Effects of Sleep on Memory | every principal word after the first is lowercase |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.xxxx/yyyy | the link uses dx.doi.org or http:// |
| Ending | every entry ends with a period | the entry ends with no punctuation and no link |
| List order | A–Z by the first author’s surname | an entry sorts before the one above it |
| Duplicates | each source listed once | two entries share author, year and the start of the title |
Rules from the MLA Handbook, 9th ed. Authors keep their full first names and there is no (year) after the author; the publication date comes later in the entry.
For three or more authors MLA gives the first author followed by et al. (Smith, John, et al.). The checker does not test this, so check it by hand. Group authors such as “United Nations” or “World Health Organization” are recognized by their institutional words and left alone.
Worked Example
Choose Try a sample to load three invented entries. The checker reports 6 likely issues to review across 3 entries, and one entry passes:
- The list: the entries run Smith, Brown, Adams, so entries 2 and 3 are each flagged as out of A–Z order. It is one problem — the list is reversed.
- Entry 1 begins John Smith (the fix is Smith, John) and its title, “The effects of sleep on memory,” is in sentence case; MLA writes “The Effects of Sleep on Memory.”
- Entry 3 uses & where MLA wants Adams, Rachel, and Anna Doe, and ends without a period.
- Entry 2 — Brown, Karen L. The Grammar of Rivers. Academic Press, 2021. — passes untouched.
What a Plain-Text Check Cannot See
- Formatting. Italics for container and book titles and the half-inch hanging indent do not survive pasting. Add the indent with the Hanging Indent Formatter.
- Whether the details are true. A wrong volume, a mistyped DOI or a source that does not exist all pass.
- Periods after links. MLA ends every entry with a period, even after a DOI or URL. The checker flags a missing period only when the entry does not end in a link, so look at those endings yourself.
- The rest of MLA. It does not test the et al. rule, container order, date formats, abbreviations such as vol. and no., or in-text citations.
Which Citation Checker Do You Need?
Each checker tests one style, so use the one your assignment names. If you are not sure which style a list uses, run it through the Citation Style Identifier first.
| Your style | Use | Reference list is called |
|---|---|---|
| APA 7 | APA Citation Checker | References |
| MLA 9 | This page | Works Cited |
| Chicago 18 | Chicago Citation Checker | Bibliography |
| Harvard | Harvard Citation Checker | Reference list |
| IEEE, Vancouver, AMA | IEEE, Vancouver or AMA checker | Numbered references |
Frequently Asked Questions
- What does an MLA citation checker check?
- This one reads each pasted Works Cited entry for a first author who is not inverted, an ampersand where MLA uses “and”, a source title in sentence case, a DOI on an outdated host or an http:// link, and a missing final period. It also checks the list for entries out of A–Z order and for repeated sources. Each finding links to the MLA Style Center page for its rule.
- Does a clean result mean my Works Cited is correct?
- No. A clean result means none of the checked patterns was found. The checker cannot see italics or indentation, cannot confirm that a source exists, and does not test every MLA rule. Use it as a first pass and compare a few entries with the MLA Handbook or the MLA Style Center.
- How do you cite two authors in MLA 9?
- Invert the first author only and join the two with “and”: Adams, Rachel, and Anna Doe. With three or more authors, give the first author followed by et al.: Smith, John, et al. An ampersand is an APA habit and does not belong in a Works Cited entry.
- How should titles be capitalized in MLA?
- In Title Case: capitalize the first and last words and every principal word — nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and subordinating conjunctions. Articles, prepositions and coordinating conjunctions stay lowercase unless they open or close the title. The checker flags a title only when all its longer principal words start lowercase.
- How do you format a DOI in an MLA entry?
- MLA 9 prefers a DOI to a URL and writes it as a link: https://doi.org/10.1000/xyz123. Avoid the old dx.doi.org host and an http:// start. The entry still ends with a period. The checker flags the outdated forms and offers the https://doi.org version to copy.
- In what order does a Works Cited list go?
- Alphabetical by the first author’s surname, or by the first main word of the title for an entry with no author, ignoring A, An and The. Several works by one author are alphabetized by title, and the author’s name is replaced by three hyphens after the first. The checker compares each entry’s sort word with the one above it.
- Is my Works Cited list uploaded anywhere?
- No. The checker runs entirely in your browser; nothing you paste is sent to a server or stored.