PERRLA/Guides/MLA 9/Patient education handout or fact sheet

How to Cite a Patient Education Handout or Fact Sheet in MLA 9

An MLA 9 Works Cited entry for a patient education handout or fact sheet gives the author, the title in italics and title case, the publisher, the date, and the URL without https://. When the organization that wrote the handout also published it, as most hospitals and health groups do, skip the author and start with the title, so the organization appears once, as the publisher. You can end with a short description, like Fact sheet or Brochure. The in-text citation is the first thing in the entry: the title in italics, (What Is Heart Failure?), or the author's name.

The format

Author (if not the publisher). Title of the Handout. Publisher, Date, www.url.com. Fact sheet.

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 handout's PDF into PERRLA's reference search. PERRLA reads the PDF and usually builds it as Gray Literature, with the organization, the year, the title, and the link. When the link or the title marks the PDF as a fact sheet, PERRLA fills in Fact sheet, and the MLA entry ends with it.

Then check two things against the handout. First, the publisher: if the organization that wrote the handout also published it, make sure its name is in the publisher box as well as the author box. PERRLA sees the match and starts the entry with the title, the way MLA wants. Second, the date: use the date printed on the handout, as fully as it gives it.

Adding one by hand? Choose Pamphlets & Brochures, then Brochure or Pamphlet. Add the organization as a Group Author (Organization), or each person as an Author. Type the title, and fill in the publisher, the Publication Date, and the URL. PERRLA puts the title in italics and title case, drops the author when it matches the publisher, and adds Brochure or Pamphlet at the end.

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, or the title first

Most handouts are written by an organization. MLA has a rule for that: when the organization that wrote a work also published it, skip the author and begin with the title. The organization still appears once, in the publisher spot. That covers most hospital and nonprofit handouts.

What Is Heart Failure?

When the handout credits an office inside a larger agency, the office is the author and the agency is the publisher. The CDC's fall prevention brochures credit the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, so the entry starts with the center.

National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

If the handout names its writers under a heading like Written by, list them instead: the first one inverted (last name, first name), then et al. when there are three or more. Names under Reviewed by, Edited by, or Contact are not authors.

2. Title

Put the title in italics and title case: capitalize the first word, the last word, and every main word. End with a period, unless the title ends with its own question mark.

What You Can Do to Prevent Falls.

The cover of that brochure says What YOU Can Do to Prevent Falls. The capital YOU is design, so it becomes You. A label printed above the title, like FACT SHEET or Patient & Caregiver Education, isn't part of the title. A description can go at the end of the entry instead.

3. Publisher

Name the organization that published the handout, in plain type, followed by a comma. Leave out the city and legal endings like Inc.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,

When the entry starts with the title, this is where the organization's name goes: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center,

4. Date

Give the date as fully as the handout gives it, day first, followed by a comma. Abbreviate months longer than four letters (Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec.).

24 Nov. 2023,

Look on the back panel, in the copyright line, or in a Revised or Last updated line. Many handouts print only a year, and the year is enough. A © line that covers a whole website, like 1996–2026, isn't the handout's date. No date anywhere? Leave the date out, and add the date you accessed the handout at the end of the entry.

5. URL

End with the link to the handout's PDF, or to the page where readers can get it, without the https:// at the front. Put a period after it.

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

If you have only a printed copy that isn't online, end the entry after the date.

6. Description (optional)

MLA lets you name what kind of work it is at the very end of the entry, in plain type, capitalized, with a period. It's optional, but it helps when a reader might expect a book or an article.

Brochure.

Use the word the publisher uses: Brochure, Pamphlet, or Fact sheet. No square brackets, and no italics.

Examples

A fact sheet from a health organization

One of the American Heart Association's Answers by Heart fact sheets, a two-page patient handout used in cardiac patient teaching. The AHA wrote and published it, so the entry starts with the title and the AHA appears once, as the publisher. The year comes from the 2025 copyright line on the back.

  • In-text citation(What Is Heart Failure?)
  • Narrative citationThe American Heart Association's fact sheet What Is Heart Failure? explains that …

A government brochure with a parent agency

A fall prevention brochure from the CDC's STEADI program, handed to older adults in clinics and on discharge. The brochure credits the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, so the center is the author and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is the publisher. The year, 2017, is printed on the brochure.

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

A hospital's patient handout

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center's handout on using an incentive spirometer after surgery, a common teaching topic on surgical units. The hospital wrote and published it, so the entry starts with the title. The handout says it was last updated on November 24, 2023, and MLA uses the full date. The citation points to page 2 of the seven-page PDF.

  • In-text citation(How to Use 2)
  • Narrative citationMemorial Sloan Kettering's handout How to Use Your Incentive Spirometer tells patients to … (2).

In-text citations

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

  • Title first: the title in italics. A short title, like a question, stays whole: (What Is Heart Failure?)
  • Shortening a longer title: keep its opening noun phrase, without a starting A, An, or The. If the title opens with a phrase instead, like How to Use Your Incentive Spirometer, cut it after that first phrase.
  • With a page: add the page after the title, with no comma and no p.: (How to Use 2)
  • An office or center as author: its name, shortened in parentheses to its first noun and the words before it: (National Center). Give the full name in your sentence.
  • Named writers: the first writer's last name, plus et al. for three or more.
  • Title or author in your sentence: give only the page in parentheses at the end, or no parentheses at all when there's no page: The American Heart Association's fact sheet What Is Heart Failure? explains that …

A one-page fact sheet or a folded brochure usually has no page numbers. Don't count panels to make one up.

Common mistakes

  • American Heart Association. What Is Heart Failure? American Heart Association, 2025,What Is Heart Failure? American Heart Association, 2025,When the organization that wrote the handout also published it, MLA names it once, as the publisher, and starts the entry with the title.
  • American Heart Association. (2025). What is heart failure? [Fact sheet].What Is Heart Failure? American Heart Association, 2025, www.heart.org/-/media/Files/Health-Topics/Answers-by-Heart/What-Is-Heart-Failure.pdf. Fact sheet.That's APA. MLA uses title case, puts the date after the publisher, and moves the description to the end, with no square brackets.
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. What You Can Do to Prevent Falls. 2017.National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. What You Can Do to Prevent Falls. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017,When a handout credits an office inside a larger agency, the office is the author and the parent agency is the publisher.
  • (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 2023, p. 2)(How to Use 2)MLA citations have no year and no p., and they start with the first word of the Works Cited entry, which here is the title.
  • Patient & Caregiver Education: How to Use Your Incentive Spirometer.How to Use Your Incentive Spirometer.A label printed above the title is a category, not part of the title.
  • Reviewer, Ann. How to Use Your Incentive Spirometer.How to Use Your Incentive Spirometer.A nurse or doctor listed under Reviewed by, Edited by, or Contact isn't the author. When no one is listed as the writer, the organization is the author, and here it's also the publisher.

Quick checklist

  • Organization wrote and published it? Start with the title
  • An office inside an agency: the office first, the agency as publisher
  • Title in italics and title case, without the label printed above it
  • Publisher, then the date as fully as the handout gives it
  • URL without https://, ending with a period
  • Optional: Brochure, Pamphlet, or Fact sheet at the end

Questions students ask

Is a fact sheet cited differently from a brochure in MLA?

No. Both follow the same template: author or title, publisher, date, and URL. The only difference is the optional description at the end: Fact sheet for a fact sheet, Brochure for a brochure. Use the word the publisher uses.

Why does my entry start with the title instead of the organization?

Because the organization wrote the handout and published it too. MLA names it once, as the publisher, and starts with the title. Your in-text citation then uses the title, in italics: (What Is Heart Failure?).

What if the handout came from my clinical site and isn't online?

If it's a published handout that readers could get, like a printed brochure the hospital gives the public, cite it the same way and end the entry after the date. If it's an internal document no reader could find, ask your instructor how they want it handled. MLA has no special category for it.

What if the handout has no date?

Leave the date out, and end the entry with Accessed and the date you viewed it, like Accessed 21 Oct. 2026. Check the back panel, the fine print, and the copyright line first.

How do I cite a handout in Spanish or another language?

Cite the version you used, with the title in that language, capitalized the way that language does it. Spanish capitalizes only the first word and proper nouns: Lo que usted puede hacer para prevenir caídas. You can add an English translation of the title in square brackets after it, so readers know what it means.

Can I use a patient handout as a source in a nursing paper?

Yes, especially for papers about patient teaching, where the handout is what you gave the patient. For clinical claims, like how a drug works or what a guideline recommends, back the handout up with a journal article or the guideline itself, because handouts aren't peer reviewed.

Rules checked against the MLA Handbook (9th ed.), chapter 5 (organization authors, titles, the publisher, date, and location elements, and optional elements) and chapter 6 (in-text citations), and the MLA Style Center posts "How do I cite a travel brochure or guidebook?" (the Brochure description at the end), "How do I cite a source that has no author?" (an organization that is author and publisher is named once, as publisher), "If the author of a work is given as a division of an organization..." (the division as author, the organization as publisher), and "Is a compound subject a noun phrase for the purposes of abbreviating a title?" Example sources are the ones verified for the APA 7 page: the AHA fact sheet's copyright line, the CDC STEADI brochure's credits and year (PDF re-read Oct 27), and the Memorial Sloan Kettering handout's last-updated line (page re-checked Oct 27: November 24, 2023).

PERRLA builds a fact sheet or brochure entry from its PDF link, and starts it with the title when the organization is both author and publisher.

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