PERRLA/Guides/MLA 9/Newspaper article

How to Cite a Newspaper Article in MLA 9

An MLA 9 Works Cited entry for a newspaper article gives the reporter's last name and first name, the headline in quotation marks and title case, the newspaper's name in italics, the date written day, month, year (21 Feb. 2026), and then the URL for an online article or p. and the page for a print one. The in-text citation is usually the reporter's last name alone, since most news articles have no page numbers or fill a single page: (Goldstein).

The format

Last Name, First Name. "Headline of the Article." Newspaper Name, Day Mon. Year, www.url.com (or p. A#).

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 URL into PERRLA's reference search. For major papers, like The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Guardian, PERRLA recognizes the newspaper, fills in the reporter, the full date, the headline, and the paper's name, and puts the finished entry on your Works Cited page in alphabetical order, hanging indent and all. Give the byline and headline a quick look against the article before you save: news sites change headlines after publishing, and paywalls can hide the byline from any search.

Adding one by hand? Choose Newspaper, pick Newspaper article, and choose A single published article. Fill in the reporters, the Article Title, the Newspaper Name, the Publication Date, and either the URL or the print Page Numbers. If the story is credited only to a news service, like The Associated Press, leave the author out, and PERRLA starts the entry with the headline. PERRLA puts the headline in title case and quotation marks, writes the date day-month-year with the month abbreviated, and adds p. or pp. before print pages.

Look up
Paste a URL, get the reference

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/21/nyregion/nyc-nurses-strike-ends.html

Goldstein, Joseph. "New York Nurses’ Strike Ends After 6 Weeks as Last Holdouts Approve Deal." The New York Times, 21 Feb. 2026, www.nytimes.com/2026/02/21/nyregion/nyc-nurses-strike-ends.html.

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 reporter's last name, a comma, and their first name as the byline prints it. End with a period.

Goldstein, Joseph.

Two reporters: invert only the first name, then write and and the second reporter's name in normal order. Three or more: give the first reporter, a comma, and et al. Wire bylines are often printed in all capital letters; write the names the normal way.

Barrow, Bill, and Collin Binkley.

Credited only to a news service, like The Associated Press or Reuters? MLA doesn't treat the agency as the author, because agency stories come from many reporters and are often edited by each paper. Skip the author and start the entry with the headline. Do the same when there's no byline at all.

2. Headline

Put the headline in quotation marks and capitalize it in title case, even though most papers print headlines in sentence case. The period goes inside the closing quotation mark.

"New York Nurses’ Strike Ends After 6 Weeks as Last Holdouts Approve Deal."

Copy the headline from the article itself, not from the browser tab or a social media preview. Print headlines are often different from online ones, so match the version you read.

3. Newspaper name

The newspaper is the container, so its name goes in italics, in title case, followed by a comma. Keep "The" when the paper uses it in its name.

The New York Times,

Most newspapers don't number volumes and issues, so most entries go straight from the name to the date.

4. Date

Newspapers get the full date, written day, month, year, with no commas inside it. Abbreviate every month except May, June, and July (Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec.).

21 Feb. 2026,

Use the date on the version you read. The print edition often comes out a day or two after the online story, so the two versions of one story can carry different dates.

5. Page (print)

For a print article, write p. and the page, section letter included, then a period.

p. A17.

If the article starts on one page and finishes on a later one, give the first page and a plus sign: pp. A1+.

6. URL (online)

For an article you read online, end with its URL and a period. The https:// can come off the front.

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/21/nyregion/nyc-nurses-strike-ends.html.

Paywalled sites still get the URL. Do trim the extras news sites tack on when you share or open a link, like ?smid=, ?utm_source=, or a gift-article code, so the URL points to the article and nothing else.

Examples

An online newspaper article

A New York Times story on the end of the 2026 New York City nurses' strike, read on nytimes.com. Online stories have no page numbers, so the in-text citation is the reporter's name alone.

  • In-text citation(Goldstein)
  • Narrative citationAs Goldstein reports, …

The same story in the print edition

The print version of that story ran two days later, on page A17, under a shorter headline. If you read the paper copy, cite this version: its own date, its own headline, and the page, with no URL. The story fills one page, and the Works Cited entry already gives it, so the in-text citation needs no page number.

  • In-text citation(Goldstein)
  • Narrative citationAs Goldstein reports, …

A wire story with two reporters

An Associated Press story on a federal women's health research order, read on The Seattle Times website. The byline names two reporters, so both go in the entry, and the newspaper where you read it is the container. The headline was updated after the story first went up (the URL still carries the old wording), so use the headline on the page.

  • In-text citation(Barrow and Binkley)
  • Narrative citationBarrow and Binkley report that …

A story credited only to a news service

An Associated Press story on the 2026 Ebola outbreak in Congo, also read on The Seattle Times website. No reporter is named, only "The Associated Press." MLA doesn't count a news agency as an author, so the entry starts with the headline, and the in-text citation uses a shortened headline.

  • In-text citation("Congo’s Fast-Moving Ebola")
  • Narrative citationThe Seattle Times story "Congo’s Fast-Moving Ebola Outbreak Spreads to Eighth Province" reports that …

In-text citations

An MLA 9 in-text citation for a newspaper article is the reporter's last name, plus a page number only when it helps your reader find the passage.

  • Online article: it has no page numbers, so give the name alone: (Goldstein). Don't count paragraphs to make up a number.
  • Print article on one page: the Works Cited entry already gives the page, so the name alone is enough: (Goldstein).
  • Print article across several pages: add the page the passage is on, section letter included, with no comma and no p. between the name and the page.
  • Two authors: both last names joined by and: (Barrow and Binkley)
  • Three or more authors: the first reporter and et al.
  • No author, or a news service only: a shortened version of the headline in quotation marks and title case, starting with the headline's first word: ("Congo’s Fast-Moving Ebola")
  • Name in your sentence: when nothing is left to put in parentheses, leave them off: Goldstein reports that the last holdouts approved the deal.

Common mistakes

  • (Goldstein, 2026)(Goldstein)That's APA. MLA in-text citations don't take the year, and an online article has no page to add.
  • The Associated Press. "Congo’s Fast-Moving Ebola Outbreak Spreads to Eighth Province.""Congo’s Fast-Moving Ebola Outbreak Spreads to Eighth Province."MLA doesn't list a news agency as the author. When a story is credited only to AP or Reuters, start the entry with the headline.
  • The New York Times, February 21, 2026,The New York Times, 21 Feb. 2026,MLA writes dates day, month, year, with the month abbreviated (except May, June, and July) and no commas inside the date.
  • Goldstein, Joseph. New York nurses’ strike ends after 6 weeks as last holdouts approve deal.Goldstein, Joseph. "New York Nurses’ Strike Ends After 6 Weeks as Last Holdouts Approve Deal."The headline goes in quotation marks and title case, even when the paper prints it in sentence case.
  • The New York Times, 23 Feb. 2026, A17.The New York Times, 23 Feb. 2026, p. A17.In the Works Cited entry, MLA labels the page with p. (or pp. for more than one). The label stays out of the in-text citation.

Quick checklist

  • Reporter's name inverted, full first name as printed
  • News service only? Start with the headline instead
  • Headline in quotation marks and title case, from the version you read
  • Newspaper name in italics, with "The" if the paper uses it
  • Date as day, abbreviated month, year
  • p. and the page for print, or the URL for online, ending with a period

Questions students ask

Do I include the URL if the newspaper has a paywall?

Yes. A paywalled article still has a URL that takes readers to it, so it goes at the end of the entry. Just trim anything after a question mark that only tracks who shared the link, like a gift-article code.

How do I cite a newspaper article with no author in MLA?

Start the entry with the headline in quotation marks, then the newspaper, the date, and the URL or page. In the text, use a shortened headline in quotation marks. The same goes for stories credited only to a news service like The Associated Press.

Do I cite the print or the online version of a newspaper article?

Cite the one you read. The two versions often have different headlines and different dates, and only the print version has page numbers. An online entry ends with the URL; a print entry ends with the page.

How do I cite a newspaper article from ProQuest or another library database in MLA?

MLA treats the database as a second container. After the newspaper's details, add the database name in italics and the article's permalink: ProQuest, followed by the stable link the database gives you. Use the date, headline, and page the database copy shows.

Do I need an access date for an online newspaper article?

Usually not. MLA makes the access date optional, and a dated news article doesn't need one. Add one if the article has no date or your instructor asks for it.

Why is there no page number in my in-text citation?

Online articles don't have page numbers, and MLA asks you not to count paragraphs to invent one. A print article that fills one page doesn't need the page in the text either, because the Works Cited entry already shows it. Give the reporter's name alone.

Rules checked against the MLA Handbook (9th ed.), chapters 5 and 6 (the core elements, containers, and in-text citations), and the MLA Style Center's answers on articles credited to news agencies, the initial article in periodical titles, one-page sources, unpaginated works, and newspaper sections. Example sources are the ones verified for the APA 7 page: the New York Times byline, online headline, and date on the article page, the print headline, date, and page (A17) from the print-edition details nytimes.com publishes with the article, and both Seattle Times stories opened to confirm each byline, headline, and date.

PERRLA builds the newspaper entry from the article's link, with the headline in quotation marks and the date in MLA order.

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