PERRLA/Guides/MLA 9/Advance online publication

How to Cite an Advance Online Publication in MLA 9

An advance online publication (MLA calls it an early-access article) is a journal article posted online before it's placed in an issue. In MLA 9, the Works Cited entry gives the author's last name and first name, the article title in quotation marks, the journal name in italics, the date it went online written day, month, year, and the DOI as a link. There's no volume, issue, or page range yet, and no label like Early View. The in-text citation is the author's last name, plus a page only if the version you read has page numbers: (Hutchinson and Murphy).

The format

Last Name, First Name, and First Name Last Name. "Title of the Article." Journal Name, Day Mon. Year, https://doi.org/xxxx.

PERRLA MLA Experts · Updated October 27, 2026
Checked against the MLA Handbook, 9th edition. Every example is formatted by PERRLA's reference engine.

First, the easy way: PERRLA

Paste the article's DOI into PERRLA's reference search. When the DOI record has no volume, issue, or pages, PERRLA sets the reference up as an Advance online publication and fills in the authors, the title, the journal, and the DOI. The search brings in the year only, so add the month and day the article went online, which you'll find on the article page (look for Published online, First published, or Early View). Before you turn in your paper, look the article up again: if it has been placed in an issue, PERRLA brings in the volume, issue, year, and pages. Add the issue's month yourself.

Adding one by hand? Choose Journal, then Journal article, then the kind Advance online publication. Fill in the authors, the Article Title, the Journal Name, the date it went online in Publication Year, and the DOI. PERRLA hides the volume, issue, and page fields for this kind, since the article doesn't have them yet, and handles the title case, the quotation marks, and the italics.

Not using PERRLA yet? Here is how to build the same works cited entry by hand.

The parts of the works cited entry

1. Author

Start with the first author's last name, a comma, and their first name as the article prints it. Two authors: invert only the first, then write and and the second author's name in normal order.

Hutchinson, Joy, and Patrick Murphy.

Three or more authors: give the first author, a comma, and et al.

Decaro, Roberta, et al.

2. Article title

Put the article title in quotation marks and capitalize it in title case, even when the journal prints it in sentence case. Abbreviations like EMS and PTSD stay in capitals. The period goes inside the closing quotation mark.

"Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Professionals: Unpacking Anxiety, Burnout, Depression, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and Social Support Perceptions."

3. Journal name

The journal is the container, so its name goes in italics and title case, followed by a comma. No vol. or no. comes after it, because the article hasn't been given a volume or issue yet.

Psychological Services,

4. Date it went online

Give the date the article was published online, written day, month, year. Abbreviate months longer than four letters (Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec.).

15 Oct. 2026,

Don't write forthcoming. That word is for an article a journal has accepted but hasn't published yet. An early-access article is published: it just isn't in an issue. And skip the journal's label for it, like Early View, Online First, or Ahead of Print. MLA uses no label at all.

5. DOI

End with the DOI as a full https://doi.org/ link, followed by a period. The DOI usually stays the same when the article moves into an issue, so the link keeps working.

https://doi.org/10.1037/ser0001094.

MLA's own early-access example also names the website where the publisher posted the article, like Sage Journals, as a second container: its name in italics, then a comma and the DOI. The examples on this page end with the DOI, the same way our journal article examples do.

Examples

An early-access article with two authors

A study of anxiety, burnout, and PTSD among EMS professionals, posted online in Psychological Services on October 15, 2026. When we checked on October 27, 2026, PubMed and the DOI record listed it as published online with no volume, issue, or pages.

  • In-text citation(Hutchinson and Murphy)
  • Narrative citationHutchinson and Murphy report that …

A Wiley Early View article with seven authors

A qualitative study of nurse attrition, posted to the Journal of Advanced Nursing's Early View on October 16, 2026. Early View is Wiley's name for an early-access article, and the label stays out of the entry. With three or more authors, MLA names the first one and adds et al.

  • In-text citation(Decaro et al.)
  • Narrative citationDecaro et al. found that …

After the article moves into an issue

This Journal of Advanced Nursing review went online on December 23, 2025, and was then placed in volume 82, issue 7 (July 2026), pages 7183–7199. Now it gets a regular journal article entry: vol., no., the issue's date in place of the online date, and pp. The final page numbers can go in your in-text citations too.

  • In-text citation(Zacharjasz and Anbari 7190)
  • Narrative citationAs Zacharjasz and Anbari explain, … (7190).

In-text citations

An early-access article is cited in the text like any journal article: the author's last name, and a page number only if the version you read has one. MLA in-text citations never include the year.

  • Two authors: both last names joined by and: (Hutchinson and Murphy)
  • Three or more authors: the first author and et al.: (Decaro et al.)
  • Page numbers: most early-access versions don't have final page numbers yet. If the PDF you read numbers its pages, cite the page after the name, with no comma. If it has none, the name alone is enough. Don't count paragraphs to make up a number.
  • Name in your sentence: when nothing is left to put in parentheses, leave them off: Hutchinson and Murphy surveyed 315 EMS professionals.

If you update the entry to the issue version, update the pages in your in-text citations to match: (Zacharjasz and Anbari 7190).

Common mistakes

  • Psychological Services, forthcoming, 15 Oct. 2026, https://doi.org/10.1037/ser0001094.Psychological Services, 15 Oct. 2026, https://doi.org/10.1037/ser0001094.Forthcoming is for an article that's been accepted but isn't out yet. An early-access article has been published online, so it gets the date it went online and nothing else.
  • Psychological Services. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/ser0001094Psychological Services, 15 Oct. 2026, https://doi.org/10.1037/ser0001094.Advance online publication is APA's label. MLA adds no label, whatever the journal calls it (Early View, Online First, Epub ahead of print). The date and the DOI tell your reader everything.
  • Hutchinson, J., and P. Murphy.Hutchinson, Joy, and Patrick Murphy.MLA spells out first names as the article prints them. Initials only are APA, or a database record that shortened the names.
  • (Hutchinson and Murphy, 2026)(Hutchinson and Murphy)MLA in-text citations give the author and the page, never the year.
  • Zacharjasz, Arthur, and Allison B. Anbari. "Rural COVID-19 Vaccine Decision-Making: A Qualitative Meta-Synthesis." Journal of Advanced Nursing, 23 Dec. 2025, https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.70451.Zacharjasz, Arthur, and Allison B. Anbari. "Rural COVID-19 Vaccine Decision-Making: A Qualitative Meta-Synthesis." Journal of Advanced Nursing, vol. 82, no. 7, July 2026, pp. 7183–99, https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.70451.Once the article is in an issue, the early-access details are out of date. Use the volume, issue, the issue's date, and the page range.
  • doi:10.1037/ser0001094https://doi.org/10.1037/ser0001094The ninth edition of MLA writes the DOI as a full https://doi.org/ link. The doi: prefix was the older form.

Quick checklist

  • First author inverted, full first name as printed
  • Article title in quotation marks and title case
  • Journal name in italics, with no vol., no., or pp.
  • The date it went online: day, month, year
  • No forthcoming and no Early View or Online First label
  • DOI as a https://doi.org/ link, ending with a period
  • Before you submit, check whether it's now in an issue

Questions students ask

What is an early-access article?

A journal article that has been peer reviewed, edited, and posted on the publisher's site before the journal puts it in an issue. MLA calls it an early-access article. Journals and databases call it many things: advance online publication, Early View, Online First, published ahead of print, or Epub ahead of print.

Which date do I use for an early-access article in MLA?

The date it was published online, as fully as the article page gives it: day, month, and year (15 Oct. 2026). Once the article is in an issue, switch to the issue's date, which can be months later.

Do I write forthcoming for an article published online first?

No. MLA uses forthcoming for an article that's been accepted but not yet published anywhere. An early-access article is already published online, so it gets its online date instead. See our guide to articles in press for when forthcoming is right.

Do I include the words Early View or Online First?

No. MLA's entry for an early-access article has no label. The missing volume and issue, together with the online date, already show that the article hasn't been placed in an issue.

Should I update my entry when the article moves into an issue?

Yes, if it happens before you turn in your paper. Open the DOI link before you submit. If the article now shows a volume, issue, and pages, add them, replace the online date with the issue's date, and update the page numbers in your in-text citations.

Is an early-access article the same as a preprint?

No. A preprint is shared before peer review, on a server like medRxiv or PsyArXiv, and it isn't the journal's version. An early-access article is the journal's own reviewed article, posted early. See our guide to preprints.

Rules checked against the MLA Handbook (9th ed.), chapters 5 and 6 (the core elements and in-text citations), and the MLA Style Center's answers on citing an early-access article and its later issue version, and on citing a forthcoming article (both marked as eighth-edition content). Example sources are the ones verified for the APA 7 page, rechecked on October 27, 2026, against PubMed (PMIDs 42879234, 42888528, and 41432258) and Crossref for full first names, online dates, and issue details.

PERRLA finds an early-access article from its DOI, and a fresh lookup brings in the volume, issue, and pages once it's in an issue.

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