PERRLA/Guides/MLA 9/Preprint

How to Cite a Preprint in MLA 9

An MLA 9 Works Cited entry for a preprint gives the author's last name and first name, the preprint's title in quotation marks and title case, the name of the preprint server (like medRxiv, PsyArXiv, or arXiv) in italics, the date the version you read was posted, and the DOI as a link. You can end with the word Preprint so your reader knows it hasn't been peer reviewed. The in-text citation is the author's last name: (Hegedüs et al.). If the preprint has since come out in a journal and you read that version, cite the journal article instead.

The format

Last Name, First Name, et al. "Title of the Preprint." Name of Preprint Server, Day Mon. Year, https://doi.org/xxxx. Preprint.

PERRLA MLA Experts · 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

Choose Informally Published Works as the reference type. Add every author, type the title as the preprint shows it in Title of the Work, and type the posting date of the version you read in Date Completed, like 10/30/2025. Put the server's name, like medRxiv or arXiv, in Archive, Repository, or Database Name, type Preprint in Description or Format, and paste the DOI. PERRLA puts the title in title case, writes the date day-month-year, names only the first author and et al. when there are three or more, and adds Preprint. at the end.

PERRLA's reference search also finds preprints from their DOI, but it files them as a report under Gray Literature (Reports, Briefs, Codes). For a preprint in MLA, the Informally Published Works form is the closer fit, since it keeps the full posting date and the Preprint label. Whichever you use, check that the source line names the server and not a subject area like Epidemiology.

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 first author's last name, a comma, and their first name as the preprint's page prints it, with any middle initial. Leave off titles and degrees like Dr. or PhD. End with a period.

Hegedüs, Anna, et al.

Two authors: invert only the first name, then write and and the second author's name in normal order. Three or more: give the first author, a comma, and et al. That rule holds however long the byline runs, so a trial with 26 named authors and a collaborative group still shows only the first name and et al.

2. Title

Put the title in quotation marks and capitalize it in title case, even when the server shows it in sentence case. A preprint is posted on a server that holds thousands of works, so MLA treats it like an article: the title goes in quotation marks and the server takes the italics. The period goes inside the closing quotation mark.

"Tasks and Activities of Community Mental Health Nurses: Integrative Review and Thematic Analysis."

Use a colon between the title and the subtitle, even if the server uses a dash. Keep names and acronyms the way the authors write them: CheXNet, COVID-19, X-Rays.

3. Preprint server

The server or repository where the preprint is posted is the container, so its name goes in italics, spelled the way the server spells it, followed by a comma.

PsyArXiv,

Common ones are medRxiv and bioRxiv for health and life sciences, PsyArXiv for psychology, arXiv for computer science and physics, and SSRN for the social sciences. MLA doesn't list a publisher for a repository like this, so skip the organization that runs it (Center for Open Science, Cornell University) and the subject area the preprint is filed under (Epidemiology, Nursing).

4. Date

Give the date the version you read was posted, written day, month, year, with the month abbreviated (except May, June, and July). Servers show the full date, so use all of it.

30 Oct. 2025,

Preprints get revised. If you read version 3, use the date version 3 went up: CheXNet's first version went up on 14 Nov. 2017, and version 3 on 25 Dec. 2017.

5. DOI

End with the DOI as a full https://doi.org/ link, followed by a period. Most servers give every preprint a DOI: medRxiv and bioRxiv DOIs start with 10.1101, PsyArXiv DOIs start with 10.31234, and arXiv DOIs start with 10.48550/arXiv.

https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/2ae4y_v1.

No DOI? Use the URL of the preprint's main page, without https://, not the link to its PDF.

6. Preprint label

MLA lets you add a word at the end of the entry that says what kind of work it is. For a preprint, write Preprint and a period. It tells your reader the work hasn't been through peer review yet, which matters in a health paper. If your sentence already says it's a preprint, the label is optional.

Preprint.

Examples

A PsyArXiv preprint with three authors

An integrative review of what community mental health nurses do, posted to PsyArXiv on 30 October 2025. The server lists the third author as Dr. Stefan Scheydt; the entry drops the Dr. With three authors, MLA names the first author and et al.

  • In-text citation(Hegedüs et al.)
  • Narrative citationHegedüs et al. found that …

A medRxiv preprint with a long byline, later published

The RECOVERY trial's preliminary report on dexamethasone for patients hospitalized with COVID-19, posted to medRxiv on 22 June 2020. Its byline has 26 named authors and then the RECOVERY Collaborative Group, and MLA still names only the first author and et al. medRxiv now shows that it was published in the New England Journal of Medicine (2021, vol. 384, no. 8, pp. 693–704). If you read the journal version, cite that as a journal article instead: its title and author line are different.

  • In-text citation(Horby et al.)
  • Narrative citationIn a preprint posted before peer review, Horby et al. reported that …

An arXiv preprint with several versions

CheXNet, a deep learning model for spotting pneumonia on chest X-rays, posted to arXiv on 14 November 2017 and revised twice. The current version, version 3, went up on 25 December 2017, so that's the date for a reader of today's version. Its arXiv record lists no journal version, so the preprint is the version to cite.

  • In-text citation(Rajpurkar et al.)
  • Narrative citationRajpurkar et al. describe a model that …

In-text citations

An MLA 9 in-text citation for a preprint is the author's last name, plus a page number only when the preprint's PDF prints one.

  • One author: the last name: (Lastname)
  • Two authors: both last names joined by and: (Lastname and Lastname)
  • Three or more authors: the first author and et al.: (Hegedüs et al.). A group at the end of a long byline doesn't change this: (Horby et al.).
  • A quote: add the page the passage is on, with no comma and no p.: (Lastname et al. 7). Many preprint PDFs have no page numbers. Then give the name alone, and don't count pages to make one up.
  • Name in your sentence: when nothing is left to put in parentheses, leave them off: Rajpurkar et al. describe a model that reads chest X-rays.

Since most preprints haven't been peer reviewed, say so in your sentence when the finding matters: In a preprint posted before peer review, Horby et al. reported lower 28-day mortality with dexamethasone.

Common mistakes

  • Hegedüs, Anna, et al. Tasks and Activities of Community Mental Health Nurses: Integrative Review and Thematic Analysis. PsyArXiv, 30 Oct. 2025.Hegedüs, Anna, et al. "Tasks and Activities of Community Mental Health Nurses: Integrative Review and Thematic Analysis." PsyArXiv, 30 Oct. 2025.Italics on the title and a plain server name treat the preprint as a stand-alone work, the way APA does. In MLA, the preprint is a work inside the server, so its title goes in quotation marks and the server's name goes in italics.
  • Hegedüs, A., Hasler, M., & Scheydt, S. (2025).Hegedüs, Anna, et al.MLA spells out the first author's first name, uses et al. for three or more authors, and moves the date after the server's name.
  • medRxiv, 2020,medRxiv, 22 June 2020,MLA gives a date as fully as the source does, and preprint servers show the day each version was posted.
  • Infectious Diseases (except HIV/AIDS), 22 June 2020,medRxiv, 22 June 2020,The container is the server, not the subject area it files the preprint under. Some DOI records put the subject area where tools look for the source, so check it.
  • arxiv.org/pdf/1711.05225v3.https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.1711.05225.Use the DOI when there is one. It keeps working even if the server moves its pages, and arXiv gives every paper one.
  • Citing the medRxiv preprint after reading the article in the New England Journal of Medicine.Cite the journal article you read.Cite the version you used. The published version went through peer review and may have changed, so its numbers and wording may not match the preprint.

Quick checklist

  • First author inverted, full first name, with titles like Dr. left off
  • Three or more authors: the first author and et al.
  • Title in quotation marks and title case, with a colon before the subtitle
  • The server's name, like medRxiv, PsyArXiv, or arXiv, in italics
  • The posting date of the version you read, day, month, year
  • The DOI as a https://doi.org/ link, then Preprint.
  • Checked whether a journal version exists, and cited it if that's what you read

Questions students ask

Should I cite the preprint or the published article in MLA?

Cite the version you read. If you only read the preprint, cite the preprint, and say in your sentence that it hadn't been peer reviewed. If a journal version exists and you can get it, read and cite that one: it's the final, reviewed version.

How do I check whether a preprint was published?

Look at the preprint's own page first. medRxiv and bioRxiv show a "Now published in" line with the journal and its DOI, PsyArXiv can list a peer-reviewed publication DOI, and arXiv can show a journal reference. If you see nothing there, search the title in PubMed or Google Scholar, since the journal title is often a little different.

Do I have to write Preprint at the end?

It's optional, but it helps. MLA lets you add a word at the end of an entry that names the kind of work, and Preprint tells your reader the findings haven't been peer reviewed. If your sentence already calls it a preprint, you can leave the label off. Follow your instructor if they ask for it.

Is the preprint title in italics or quotation marks in MLA?

Quotation marks. A preprint sits on a server alongside many other works, so MLA treats the server as the container. The server's name gets the italics, the way a journal's name does for an article.

What if a preprint has more than one version?

Cite the version you read, with the date that version was posted. On PsyArXiv each version has its own DOI; on medRxiv, bioRxiv, and arXiv one DOI covers every version, so the date shows which one you read.

Can I use preprints in a nursing paper?

Check your assignment. Many nursing and health courses ask for peer-reviewed sources, and most preprints haven't been peer reviewed. When you do use one, say so in your sentence, so your reader knows the findings are preliminary.

Rules checked against the MLA Handbook (9th ed.), chapters 5 and 6 (the core elements, containers, optional elements, and in-text citations), and the MLA Style Center's answers on citing a working paper (preprint versions: title in quotation marks, the repository in italics as the container, and the type of work as an optional element at the end), on a work in a digital repository (the repository is a container), and on repositories as publishers (they have none). Example sources are the ones verified for the APA 7 page; for MLA, the posting dates were checked on October 29, 2026, against the OSF and Crossref records for the PsyArXiv preprint (30 Oct. 2025), the medRxiv API and Crossref for the RECOVERY preprint (22 June 2020, title with a colon before Preliminary Report), and arXiv's submission history for CheXNet (version 3, 25 Dec. 2017).

PERRLA builds the preprint entry from your details, with the date written the MLA way and Preprint added at the end.

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