PERRLA/Guides/MLA 9/Editorial in a journal

How to Cite an Editorial in a Journal in MLA 9

An MLA 9 Works Cited entry for a journal editorial follows the journal article format: the author's last name and first name, the title in quotation marks, the journal name in italics, then vol., no., the date, the page or pages, and the DOI. You can add the word Editorial at the very end to tell your reader it's an opinion piece. The in-text citation is the author's last name, plus a page when the editorial runs longer than one page; an unsigned editorial uses a short title in quotation marks instead: ("Time" 7).

The format

Last Name, First Name. "Title of the Editorial." Journal Name, vol. #, no. #, Month Year, p. #, https://doi.org/xxxx. Editorial.

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

In PERRLA, choose Journal, then Journal article, then the kind Editorial. Fill in the author, the Article Title, the Journal Name, the date, the Volume Number, the Issue Number, the pages, and the DOI. PERRLA writes the entry in MLA order, with the title in quotation marks and title case, and adds Editorial at the end for you. If the editorial has no byline, leave the author out: PERRLA starts the entry with the title and uses a short form of it in your in-text citations.

Starting from PERRLA's reference search with the DOI? It brings the editorial in as a regular journal article, so switch the kind to Editorial before you save. Then check the details against the article page: a one-page editorial can come in as 5–5 (make it 5), and a publisher's internal code can land in the issue field (replace it with the issue number from the article page).

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 whoever signed the editorial: last name, a comma, and the first name as the journal prints it, with any middle initial. End with a period. Editors in chief write many journal editorials, and guest editorials work the same way.

Kirton, Carl A.

Two authors: invert only the first name, then write and and the second name in normal order. Three or more: give the first author, a comma, and et al.

Godlee, Fiona, et al.

No byline at all? Many Nature editorials are unsigned. Skip the author and start the entry with the title. Don't write Editorial, Anonymous, or the journal's name in the author spot. When a group signs the piece, like an editorial board, use the group's name as the author.

2. Title

Put the editorial's title in quotation marks and capitalize it in title case, even when the journal prints it in sentence case. Keep acronyms in capitals. The period goes inside the closing quotation mark.

"The Rise of AI."

Journals often print a section heading like Editorial or Viewpoint above the title. That heading isn't part of the title, so it stays out of the quotation marks.

3. Journal name

The journal is the container, so its name goes in italics, in title case, followed by a comma. Write it the way the journal does, short names included.

American Journal of Nursing,

BMJ,

4. Volume and issue

Write vol. and the volume number, then no. and the issue number, each followed by a comma.

vol. 125, no. 12,

5. Date

Give the issue's date as fully as the journal gives it. A monthly journal dates each issue by month, so give the month and the year. Abbreviate months longer than four letters (Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec.).

Dec. 2025,

Weekly journals like BMJ and Nature date each issue by the day, so the date runs day, month, year: 4 Apr. 2024, Use the date of the issue the editorial appeared in, not the earlier date it went online. The BMJ editorial below went online on 6 January 2011 and ran in the 8 January 2011 issue, so its date is 8 Jan. 2011,

6. Pages

Many editorials run a single page. Write p. and the page for one page, or pp. and the range for more than one.

p. 5,

pp. 7–8,

Some online journals, like BMJ, number articles instead of pages. Give the word article and the number in the pages' place.

article c7452,

7. DOI

End the core of the entry with the DOI as a full https://doi.org/ link, followed by a period. No DOI? Use the editorial's stable URL instead, or end after the pages if you read it in print.

https://doi.org/10.1097/AJN.0000000000000213.

8. Editorial (optional)

MLA lets you add a word at the very end of the entry that says what kind of piece it is. For an editorial, write Editorial and a period after the DOI. No brackets and no italics.

https://doi.org/10.1097/AJN.0000000000000213. Editorial.

The label is optional in MLA. It earns its place on an unsigned editorial, where nothing else in the entry tells your reader the piece is opinion rather than research. PERRLA adds it to every entry you mark as an editorial.

Examples

An editorial by a journal's editor

Carl A. Kirton's one-page editorial in the December 2025 American Journal of Nursing. The entry ends with Editorial, and since the whole editorial is on page 5, the in-text citation needs only the name.

  • In-text citation(Kirton)
  • Narrative citationAs Kirton argues, …

An editorial by three editors in a weekly journal

The 2011 BMJ editorial by its editor in chief and two other editors that called the Wakefield MMR paper fraudulent. MLA names only the first author, then et al. BMJ is weekly, so the date is the issue's full date, and the article number, c7452, goes where the pages would.

  • In-text citation(Godlee et al.)
  • Narrative citationGodlee et al. argue that …

An unsigned editorial

A 2024 Nature editorial on chronic kidney disease, published with no byline. The entry starts with the title, the Editorial label at the end tells your reader whose voice it is, and the in-text citation uses a short form of the title.

  • In-text citation("Time" 7)
  • Narrative citationThe Nature editorial "Time to Sound the Alarm about the Hidden Epidemic of Kidney Disease" warns that … (7).

In-text citations

Cite a signed editorial like any journal article: the author's last name and the page, with no comma between them. The Editorial label stays in the Works Cited entry and never goes in the text.

  • One author, one page: the entry already gives the page, so the name alone is enough: (Kirton)
  • Three or more authors: the first author and et al.: (Godlee et al.). This editorial has no page numbers, so there's nothing to add.
  • No author: a short form of the title in quotation marks, made of the first noun and any words before it (minus A, An, or The), then the page: ("Time" 7)
  • Name in your sentence: give the page alone in parentheses at the end of the sentence: Kirton argues that … For an unsigned editorial, name the title in your sentence: The Nature editorial "Time to Sound the Alarm about the Hidden Epidemic of Kidney Disease" warns that … (7).

You can also say it's an editorial in your sentence: In a BMJ editorial, Godlee et al. call the Wakefield paper fraudulent.

Common mistakes

  • Editorial. "Time to Sound the Alarm about the Hidden Epidemic of Kidney Disease.""Time to Sound the Alarm about the Hidden Epidemic of Kidney Disease."Editorial isn't an author, and neither is Anonymous or the journal. When nobody signed it, the entry starts with the title.
  • Kirton, C. A. (2025). The rise of AI [Editorial].Kirton, Carl A. "The Rise of AI."That's APA. MLA spells out the first name, puts the title in quotation marks and title case, and moves the label to the end of the entry, with no brackets.
  • Kirton, Carl A. "The Rise of AI." Editorial. American Journal of Nursing,Kirton, Carl A. "The Rise of AI." American Journal of Nursing, … https://doi.org/10.1097/AJN.0000000000000213. Editorial.The Editorial label is the last thing in the entry, after the DOI.
  • (Kirton, p. 5)(Kirton)MLA puts no comma and no p. in an in-text citation. And a one-page editorial needs no page at all, because the Works Cited entry already gives it.
  • BMJ, vol. 342, no. 7788, 6 Jan. 2011, article c7452,BMJ, vol. 342, no. 7788, 8 Jan. 2011, article c7452,Once an editorial is in an issue, give the issue's date, not the day it went online.
  • ("Time to Sound the Alarm about the Hidden Epidemic of Kidney Disease" 7)("Time" 7)A long title gets shortened in the citation, to the first noun and any words before it. Your reader matches it to the entry that starts with those words.

Quick checklist

  • The person or group who signed it, first name spelled out, or the title first if no one did
  • Title in quotation marks and title case
  • Journal name in italics, then vol., no., and the issue's date
  • p. or pp. and the pages, or article and the article number
  • DOI as a https://doi.org/ link, then a period
  • Editorial at the end, if you want to flag it (PERRLA adds it)

Questions students ask

Do I have to write Editorial in an MLA citation?

No. In MLA 9 the label is optional. Add Editorial at the very end of the entry when it helps your reader, especially for an unsigned editorial. PERRLA adds it for every entry you mark as an editorial, and you can mention it in your sentence too: In a BMJ editorial, Godlee et al. argue that …

How do I cite an editorial with no author in MLA?

Start the Works Cited entry with the title in quotation marks, then the journal and the rest as usual. In the text, use a short form of the title in quotation marks, plus the page: ("Time" 7).

How do I cite a guest editorial?

The same way. The guest writer is the author, and you don't need to write guest anywhere in the entry.

What date do I use for an editorial in a weekly journal?

The date of the issue it appeared in, written day, month, year: 8 Jan. 2011. Weekly journals often post editorials online a few days before the issue comes out, so the date on the article page can be a little earlier than the issue's date.

What about a newspaper editorial?

A newspaper editorial follows the newspaper format, with the full date and the URL or page. See our guide to op-eds and newspaper editorials.

How is MLA different from APA for a journal editorial?

APA puts [Editorial] in brackets right after the title and requires it. MLA makes the label optional and puts it at the very end, with no brackets. MLA also spells out first names, uses title case and quotation marks for the title, and cites the page instead of the year in the text: (Godlee et al.) instead of (Godlee et al., 2011).

Rules checked against the MLA Handbook (9th ed.), chapters 5 and 6 (the core and supplemental elements, and in-text citations), and the MLA Style Center's answers on citing an editorial, sources with no author, early-access articles (the issue's date), and one-page sources. Example sources are the ones verified for the APA 7 page, rechecked on October 27, 2026: Kirton against PubMed (41261465) and Crossref (Dec. 2025, 125(12), 5); the BMJ editorial against PubMed (21209060), an archived copy of the article page (Fiona Godlee, Jane Smith, and Harvey Marcovitch; published 6 January 2011), and an archived copy of the issue 7788 contents (8 January 2011); and the Nature editorial against PubMed (38570718) and Crossref (issue dated 4 April 2024).

PERRLA builds the editorial's Works Cited entry in MLA order and adds the Editorial label for you.

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