How to Cite a Newspaper Article: MLA

Discover how to cite newspaper articles in MLA format 9th edition. Suppose you are writing a paper for a school assignment or preparing a presentation. For that reason, publications may be needed for your in-text citations and reference list. First thing you should know, newspaper are cited differently from books or scientific journals.

To cite a newspaper article in MLA style, you should include the author(s), article title in quotation marks, newspaper title in italics, publication date and page numbers. In the newspaper article is published online, give a URL to the webpage instead of the page numbers. You in-text citation should list the author's last name and a page number. Skip the page number when citing an online publication. 

Read on to see formats and examples of MLA newspaper citations for each particular scenario. We will share all crucial details in this gude!

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MLA newspaper citation is taken as a quotation that has the same meaning as any other source. This information can be used as a valid link in your text. But citations may differ in case of MLA journal citation from websites rather than print versions. So you should know how to cite an article in MLA correctly. We provided examples of in-text quotes and Works Cited references listed below.  

To know how to cite an article in MLA format, first, you should understand if it's printed or published online. Websites offer unique information usually published earlier than in printed sources. We have prepared proper citation examples for your reference.

To make in text citation MLA for newspaper, you only should know the author's last name and write it in parenthesis at the end of your sentence. However, if you are using a narrative style and already have mentioned an author in your sentence, there is no need to write their name in parentheses again. Here’s an example you can use as a template.  

To quote an MLA online newspaper, you should use permalink, or URL. Not every web page contains all the needed information for your citation. However, you should collect as many details as possible for both citation and your research notes.

If the author's name is not on the list, start with the title. Don't forget to capitalize it using StudyCrumb's Case Converter. Access date is now optional for the latest (9th) formatting edition. Publication date must include day, month and year.

Print sources' quotation doesn't differ in how to cite a news article in MLA from online one. Just pay attention to the source's pages.

In case you are looking for citing a news article APA, open one more blog dedicated to this kind of citation.

You won't be surprised how to cite newspaper articles in text. First, indicate the author's name and then page number. At the same time, no commas between these sections are needed. If you have already mentioned an author in the sentence, just specify the page number in parentheses.

If publication consists of only one page, don't include its page number.

MLA citation of newspaper articles has some differences from previous cases. Use this format:

If the author's name is not on the list, start with the title. Include the city name after the publication’s name if it’s a local publication. If the source has an edition, also provide its date.

To give a complete guide on how to quote a newspaper article in MLA, we obviously should mention databases. Databases are electronic libraries containing full-text publications such as university libraries. Such databases usually require subscription to access. Basically, it's slightly different among other citation types, especially on the Works Cited page. Except for the sources and authors, there should be some more information.

For an in-text citation newspaper article in MLA, write an author’s name, followed by page number with no commas between. As you can see, this citation format does not differ significantly from other citation types. Here’s an easy format you can use:

Here is an illustrative template of citing a news article MLA from a database:

Pay attention, that accessed data is now optional for the latest (8th) formatting edition.

MLA format for newspapers allows referencing sources with two authors. Enter both authors' last names, then insert a word "and". Later include a page number without a comma between. Mention just a page number if you are using a narrative style.

As for your Works Cited page, you should mention both authors in the beginning. The first name should be reversed. Here’s a general formula:

We're sure you guessed how to cite a news article in MLA with multiple authors. As a rule, in-text citations contain the first author's surname, followed by the abbreviation "et al.” which means “and others”. If you are dealing with a Works Cited entry, just use a general formula for newspaper citation and add “et al.” after the author's name. Here’s an example:

How to cite newspaper articles with no author in MLA? If newspaper articles are published without the author's name, write only the article’s title using quotation marks. For example "Corruption". Do not use the word "Anonymous" instead.

Newspaper citation (MLA format) requires page numbers. Above, it may be noticed that author's surname and page numbers should be specified after the quote. But when citing news items that do not include page numbers (such as web pages), write only the author's name. Besides, you can skip a page number in an in-text citation if the text appears only on 1 page. However, mention the page number in the Works Cited page.

If you need to create an entry for your Works Cited page, write “p.” if there is only one page, and “pp.” if there are multiple pages. Keep in mind that sometimes newspapers use a letter-digit page number format (e.g. “B5”). In this case, you should specify the letter as well.

According to the MLA requirements, you should put an en dash between the page numbers. This rule only applies to consecutive pages. However, if an article is written on non-sequential pages, you should specify just the first page with a plus sign.  

Our blog post reveals examples of how to cite an article in MLA, both online and printed. Citing newspaper articles is essential for writing any type of scientific paper. In case of using information from news, provide sources at the end. Include an actual list of publications with an author's name and publication time on the Works Cited page. We recommend you carefully check spelling and punctuation mark.