PERRLA/Guides/MLA 9/Government report

How to Cite a Government Report in MLA 9

An MLA 9 Works Cited entry for a government report starts with the agency that wrote it. Then come the report title in italics and title case, the report number, the parent agencies as the publisher, the date, and the URL without https://. When the same agency wrote and published the report, skip the author and start with the title. The in-text citation is the agency's name and the page, with no comma: (National Cancer Institute 12).

The format

Agency Name. Title of the Report. Report number, Parent Agency, Month Year, www.agency.gov/....

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 link to the report or its PDF on a .gov site into PERRLA's reference search. PERRLA reads it and builds it as a government report under Gray Literature, with the agency or the authors, the title, the year, and the link. Then check three things for MLA. Add the month to Publication Year if the report gives one. Make sure the report number is in Identifying Information, exactly as the report prints it. PERRLA keeps the series name's capitals and writes No. as no. And put the parent agencies in the publisher Name box. If the agency that wrote the report also published it, type that same agency in the publisher Name box, and PERRLA starts the entry with the title, the MLA way.

Adding one by hand? Choose Gray Literature (Reports, Briefs, Codes), then A standalone work: report, brief, codes, etc. Add a Group Author (Organization) with the agency's full name. Type the report number in Identifying Information and the parent agencies in one publisher Name box, largest first, separated by a comma. PERRLA handles the title case, the italics, the date format, and the URL.

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: the agency

Start with the agency responsible for the report, spelled out the way the report gives it, followed by a period. That's usually the office or institute named on the cover, not the whole department above it.

National Cancer Institute.

If the report names individual authors, they're the authors instead: the first one inverted, then et al. when there are three or more. NCHS Data Briefs work this way: Emmerich, Samuel D., et al. Use the agency's full name, the way the report spells it out, not an abbreviation like NCI or GAO.

2. Title, in italics

A report stands on its own, so its title goes in italics and title case: capitalize the first word, the last word, and every main word, even when the agency's cover uses sentence case. End with a period.

Chemotherapy and You: Support for People with Cancer.

When the agency wrote and published the report, the title moves to the front of the entry. The GAO example below starts this way.

3. Report number

If the report has a number, it comes right after the title, in plain type, followed by a comma. Copy it from the cover, the title page, the back cover, or the report's landing page, label and all. Keep the capitals in a series or publication name, like NCHS Data Brief or NIH Publication, and write the word No. as lowercase no.

NIH Publication no. 24-7157,

A number with no label stays exactly as the agency prints it, like GAO-23-105515. No number anywhere? Leave this part out.

4. Publisher: the parent agencies

The publisher is the parent agency or agencies above the author, listed from the largest to the smallest and separated by a comma. Leave out the city. MLA also lets you shorten a long chain to the government and the main department, like U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Naming the agencies in between is optional.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health,

When the author and the publisher are the same agency, MLA names it once, as the publisher, and the entry starts with the title. The GAO example below works this way. When individual people are the authors, the agency they work for is the publisher.

5. Date

Give the date as fully as the report gives it, followed by a comma. Most report covers show a month and year. Abbreviate months longer than four letters (Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec.).

Jan. 2024,

The NCI booklet's back cover says January 2024, so the entry says Jan. 2024. If the report shows only a year, give the year.

6. URL or DOI

End with the report's DOI, if it has one, as a full https://doi.org/ link. Otherwise, end with the URL of the report's page or PDF, without the https:// at the front. Put a period after either one.

https://doi.org/10.15620/cdc/159281.

NCHS, AHRQ, and many CDC reports print a DOI in the suggested citation, sometimes as dx.doi.org. Use the https://doi.org/ form. A report you have only in print ends after the date.

Examples

A report by an agency, with a report number and parent agencies

The National Cancer Institute's Chemotherapy and You booklet, a staple of oncology nursing patient teaching. The NCI is the author, its parent agencies are the publisher, and the NIH publication number and the January 2024 date come from the back cover.

  • In-text citation(National Cancer Institute 12)
  • Narrative citationAs the National Cancer Institute explains, … (12).

A report where the agency is both author and publisher

A U.S. Government Accountability Office report on obstetric care in rural hospitals. The GAO wrote and published it, so MLA skips the author, starts with the title, and names the GAO once, as the publisher. The cover says October 2022, and the letter inside and the report's web page both date it 19 October 2022, so the date is the full one.

  • In-text citation(Maternal Health)
  • Narrative citationThe GAO report Maternal Health found that ….

A report with individual authors, a report number, and a DOI

An NCHS Data Brief on adult obesity, published in September 2024. Four researchers are named under the title, so the first one leads the entry with et al. The National Center for Health Statistics is the publisher, and the DOI from the suggested citation replaces the URL.

  • In-text citation(Emmerich et al.)
  • Narrative citationEmmerich et al. report that ….

In-text citations

An MLA 9 in-text citation uses the first thing in the Works Cited entry, plus a page number when the report has page numbers. There's no comma between the name and the page.

  • Agency as author: (National Cancer Institute 12)
  • A long agency name: shorten it in parentheses to its first noun phrase, so the National Center for Health Statistics becomes (National Center). Give the full name in your sentence.
  • Title first, because the agency also published it: the title's first words, in italics: (Maternal Health)
  • Three or more authors: the first author and et al.: (Emmerich et al.)
  • Name in your sentence: give the page alone at the end of the sentence: As the National Cancer Institute explains, … (12).

You can write NCI or GAO in your own sentences once you've spelled the name out, but the Works Cited entry always uses the full name.

Common mistakes

  • National Cancer Institute. (2024). Chemotherapy and you: Support for people with cancer (NIH Publication No. 24-7157).National Cancer Institute. Chemotherapy and You: Support for People with Cancer. NIH Publication no. 24-7157, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, Jan. 2024,That's APA. MLA uses title case, takes the report number out of parentheses, and puts the date after the publisher.
  • U.S. Government Accountability Office. Maternal Health: Availability of Hospital-Based Obstetric Care in Rural Areas. GAO-23-105515, U.S. Government Accountability Office, 19 Oct. 2022,Maternal Health: Availability of Hospital-Based Obstetric Care in Rural Areas. GAO-23-105515, U.S. Government Accountability Office, 19 Oct. 2022,When the same agency wrote and published the report, MLA skips the author and names the agency once, as the publisher.
  • United States, Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute.National Cancer Institute.MLA 9 treats an agency like any other organization: give its name the way the report does. The parent agencies go in the publisher spot.
  • 2024,Jan. 2024,MLA gives the date as fully as the report does. When the cover shows a month, include it, abbreviated.
  • https://www.cancer.gov/publications/patient-education/chemotherapy-and-you.pdfwww.cancer.gov/publications/patient-education/chemotherapy-and-you.pdf.MLA drops the https:// from a URL and ends the entry with a period. A DOI keeps its full https://doi.org/ form.
  • Emmerich SD, Fryar CD, Stierman B, Ogden CL. Obesity and severe obesity prevalence in adults... NCHS Data Brief, no 508. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2024.Emmerich, Samuel D., et al. Obesity and Severe Obesity Prevalence in Adults...Agencies print a suggested citation in their own style, not MLA. Use it to find the details, then build the entry in MLA order, with full first names and no city.

Quick checklist

  • The agency as the report gives it, or the individual authors
  • No author when the agency also published it: start with the title
  • Title in italics and title case
  • Report number after the title, if there is one
  • Parent agencies as the publisher, largest first
  • Month and year when the report gives them
  • DOI as a https://doi.org/ link, or the URL without https://

Questions students ask

Is the author the agency or the department?

The agency responsible for the report: the National Cancer Institute, not the National Institutes of Health or HHS. The bigger agencies above it go in the publisher spot, so the entry is complete and your in-text citation stays short.

Do I start with United States in MLA 9?

No. MLA 9 treats a government agency like any other organization, so you give the agency's name the way the report gives it. Starting with the government's name, as in United States, Department of Health and Human Services, is the older habit.

Why does the GAO entry start with the title?

Because the GAO is both the author and the publisher. MLA names an organization only once in that case, as the publisher, and starts the entry with the title. Your in-text citation then uses the title too: (Maternal Health).

Where do I find the report number?

Check the cover, the title page, the back cover, and the report's page on the agency's website. The NCI booklet prints it on the back cover, and GAO prints it right under the title on the report's landing page. Copy it with the agency's own label, capitals included. Only No. changes, to lowercase no., and PERRLA makes that change for you.

Do I include the city, like Washington, DC?

No. MLA 9 leaves out the publisher's city for a report like this, even when the agency's suggested citation includes it.

How is MLA different from APA for a government report?

MLA uses title case, puts the report number and the publisher after the title, and puts the date near the end, with the month when there is one. It skips the author when the agency also published the report, where APA drops the publisher instead. In the text, MLA uses the page (National Cancer Institute 12) where APA uses the year.

Rules checked against the MLA Handbook (9th ed.), chapter 5 (organization and government authors, titles, the number and publisher elements, dates, and URLs and DOIs) and chapter 6 (in-text citations), and the MLA Style Center's post on a division of an organization as author (an organization that is both author and publisher is named once, as publisher). Example sources verified on each report itself: the NCI booklet's cover and back cover (NIH Publication No. 24-7157, January 2024), the GAO report and its product page (19 Oct. 2022), and NCHS Data Brief No. 508 on cdc.gov (four authors, September 2024, DOI).

PERRLA builds a government report from its link, puts the report number and parent agencies in MLA's order, and starts with the title when the agency also published it.

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