PERRLA/Guides/MLA 9/Brochure or pamphlet

How to Cite a Brochure or Pamphlet in MLA 9

An MLA 9 Works Cited entry for a brochure or pamphlet gives the author, the title in italics and title case, the organization that produced it as the publisher, the date, and the URL without https://, and can end with the word Brochure or Pamphlet. When the organization that wrote it also published it, as most do, skip the author and start with the title. The in-text citation is the first thing in the entry: (Hand Hygiene) or (National Center).

The format

Author or Office. Title of the Brochure: Subtitle. Publisher, Mon. Year, www.url.com. Brochure.

PERRLA MLA Experts ยท Updated October 29, 2026
Checked against the MLA Handbook, 9th edition. Every example is formatted by PERRLA's reference engine.

First, the easy way: PERRLA

Paste the link to the brochure's PDF into PERRLA's reference search. PERRLA reads the PDF and usually builds it as Gray Literature, with the organization, the title, the date, and the link. A PDF with brochure in its file name usually comes back with Brochure in the Format or Type box, and the MLA entry ends with Brochure.

Then check three things against the brochure. First, the publisher: if the organization that wrote it also published it, its name must be in the publisher Name box as well as the author box. PERRLA sees the match and starts the entry with the title, the way MLA wants. Second, on a government brochure, the most specific office named on it is the author and the department above it is the publisher. Third, the date: use the date printed on the brochure, with the month if it gives one.

Adding one by hand? Choose Pamphlets & Brochures, and under Choose a type, pick Brochure or Pamphlet. PERRLA ends the entry with Brochure or Pamphlet for you. Add the organization as a Group Author (Organization), or each person as an Author. Type the title in Pamphlet or Brochure Title, then fill in the publisher, the Publication Date (leave the day blank if the brochure gives only a month and year), and the URL. For a flyer or a fact sheet, choose Gray Literature (Reports, Briefs, Codes) instead and type Flyer or Fact sheet in Format or Type.

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

If the brochure names the people who wrote it, list the first one: last name, a comma, and the first name. Most brochures are written by an organization instead. Then check who published it.

A different organization as publisher, like a government office inside a larger department, means the office is the author and the department is the publisher.

Office for Civil Rights.

The same organization as publisher means you skip the author element and start with the title. That's why the WHO brochure has no author.

2. Title

A brochure or pamphlet stands on its own, so its title goes in italics, in title case. A subtitle follows a colon, even when the cover prints it on its own line.

Check for Safety: A Home Fall Prevention Checklist for Older Adults.

MLA writes an ampersand (&) in a title as and, adding a comma before it in a list, so the WHO brochure's Why, How & When? becomes Why, How, and When? A title that ends in a question mark takes no extra period.

Hand Hygiene: Why, How, and When?

3. Publisher

Name the organization that produced the brochure, in plain text, followed by a comma. No city or state.

U.S. Department of Education,

When the organization also wrote the brochure, this is the only place its name appears.

Hand Hygiene: Why, How, and When? World Health Organization,

4. Date

Give the date as fully as the brochure gives it. Most show a month and year or a year alone. Abbreviate months longer than four letters (Aug., Sept.).

Aug. 2009,

The WHO brochure says Revised August 2009, so the entry says Aug. 2009. When a pamphlet lists its history, like First published July 2002 and Revised September 2011, use the date of the version you read: Sept. 2011.

5. URL

End with the link to the brochure's PDF, or to the page where readers can get it, without the https://, and a period.

www.cdc.gov/steadi/pdf/steadi-brochure-checkforsafety-508.pdf.

If you picked up a printed brochure that isn't online, end the entry after the date.

6. Brochure or Pamphlet (optional)

MLA lets you name the kind of work at the very end of the entry, capitalized like a sentence and followed by a period. It's not in italics or brackets.

Brochure.

Use the word the publisher uses. The Department of Education calls its guide for college-bound students with disabilities a pamphlet, so its entry ends with Pamphlet.

Examples

A brochure the organization wrote and published

The World Health Organization's hand hygiene brochure, a staple of infection control lessons in nursing school. WHO wrote and published it, so the entry starts with the title and names WHO once, as the publisher. The brochure's Revised August 2009 line gives the date.

  • In-text citation(Hand Hygiene)
  • Narrative citationWHO's brochure Hand Hygiene: Why, How, and When? explains that …

A pamphlet from a government office

The Office for Civil Rights' pamphlet on the rights of students with disabilities as they move from high school to college, cited in special education, counseling, and disability services papers. The office is the author and the U.S. Department of Education is the publisher. The pamphlet was first published in July 2002 and last revised in September 2011, so the entry takes Sept. 2011.

  • In-text citation(Office)
  • Narrative citationThe Office for Civil Rights explains that …

A brochure with a subtitle and a parent agency

A home safety checklist brochure from the CDC's STEADI fall prevention program. The brochure credits the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, so the center is the author and the CDC is the publisher. The front panel prints the subtitle on its own line; in the entry it follows a colon. The brochure gives only a year, 2017.

  • In-text citation(National Center)
  • Narrative citationAs the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control advises, …

In-text citations

An MLA 9 in-text citation starts with whatever starts the Works Cited entry. For most brochures that's the title, because the organization wrote and published it.

  • Title first: a short form of the title in italics, its first noun phrase: (Hand Hygiene)
  • An office or center as author: its name, shortened in parentheses to its first few words: (National Center) or (Office). Give the full name in your sentence.
  • Named writers: the first writer's last name, plus et al. for three or more.
  • A page: add it only if the pamphlet has printed page numbers, with no comma and no p.
  • Name or title in your sentence: skip the parentheses when there's no page: The Office for Civil Rights explains that the IEP rules from high school don't apply in college.

A folded brochure usually has no page numbers. Don't count panels to make one up. Once you've spelled out a name like the Office for Civil Rights in your own sentences, you can use a familiar short form, like OCR, there.

Common mistakes

  • World Health Organization. Hand Hygiene: Why, How, and When? World Health Organization, Aug. 2009.Hand Hygiene: Why, How, and When? World Health Organization, Aug. 2009.When the organization wrote and published the brochure, MLA names it once, as the publisher, and starts with the title.
  • World Health Organization. (2009). Hand hygiene: Why, how & when? [Brochure].Hand Hygiene: Why, How, and When? World Health Organization, Aug. 2009, www.who.int/... Brochure.That's APA. MLA puts the title in title case, writes the ampersand as and, puts the date after the publisher, and moves the word Brochure to the end, with no brackets.
  • U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, Students With Disabilities Preparing for Postsecondary Education: Know Your Rights and Responsibilities, Washington, D.C., 2011.Office for Civil Rights. Students with Disabilities Preparing for Postsecondary Education: Know Your Rights and Responsibilities. U.S. Department of Education, Sept. 2011, www.ed.gov/... Pamphlet.Government pamphlets often print their own suggested citation, and it isn't MLA. Use it to find the details, then rebuild the entry: the office as author, the title in italics and title case (with a lowercase with), the department as publisher, and no city.
  • Office for Civil Rights. ... U.S. Department of Education, July 2002.Office for Civil Rights. ... U.S. Department of Education, Sept. 2011.A pamphlet that was revised takes the date of the version you read. The first-published date is history, not the date of your copy.
  • (World Health Organization)(Hand Hygiene)The entry starts with the title, so the in-text citation does too. Your reader looks for the first word of the entry on your Works Cited page.

Quick checklist

  • The office or people who wrote it, or the title when the publisher wrote it
  • Title in italics and title case, with & written as and
  • The publisher, with no city
  • The date as fully as the brochure gives it
  • The URL without https://, ending with a period
  • Brochure. or Pamphlet. at the end, if you want it

Questions students ask

What's the difference between a brochure and a pamphlet in MLA?

Only the word at the end of the entry, and that word is optional. Use the word the publisher uses for its own work. If it doesn't say, a brochure is usually a folded sheet, and a pamphlet is a short, unbound booklet.

How do I cite a brochure with no author?

Start with the title in italics, then the publisher, the date, and the URL. In your text, use a short form of the title in italics. Before you do, look for an organization's name or logo on the back panel. If that organization published the brochure, it still starts with the title; if it's a separate office, the office is the author.

How do I cite a printed brochure I picked up?

The same way, without a URL: the author or title, the publisher, the date, and Brochure. If the same brochure is online, you can add the link so your reader can find it.

Do I include the city where the brochure was published?

No. MLA 9 leaves out the publisher's city, even when the brochure prints an address or its own suggested citation includes one.

How do I cite a fact sheet or a flyer?

Like a brochure, with Fact sheet or Flyer as the word at the end of the entry. Our patient education handout guide shows a fact sheet entry.

Rules checked against the MLA Handbook (9th ed.), chapter 5 (authors, titles, the publisher and date elements, URLs, and optional elements) and chapter 6 (in-text citations), and the MLA Style Center's posts "How do I cite a travel brochure or guidebook?" (Brochure as the final element), "How do I cite a source that has no author?" (an organization that is author and publisher is named once, as publisher), on a division of an organization as author, on ampersands in titles and the serial comma, on abbreviating corporate authors, and on shortening titles to their first noun phrase. Example sources are the ones verified for the APA 7 page, re-read on October 29, 2026: the WHO brochure PDF and its Revised August 2009 line, the Office for Civil Rights pamphlet's publication history on ed.gov (from its October 2026 Wayback capture, since ed.gov refuses automated requests), and the CDC STEADI brochure's front panel (2017, its credits) and its listing on the CDC's STEADI patient resources page.

PERRLA builds a brochure or pamphlet entry from its PDF link, with the title first when the organization published it.

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