PERRLA/Guides/MLA 9/Webpage with no date

How to Cite a Webpage With No Date in MLA 9

When a webpage shows no date, MLA 9 simply leaves the date out. There's no n.d. The entry gives the author (if the page has one), the page title in quotation marks, the website name in italics, and the URL, then ends with the day you read it: Accessed 27 Oct. 2026. When the organization that wrote the page also runs the site, start with the title, and cite it in the text by that title: ("What Is Nursing?").

The format

Author. "Title of the Page." Website Name, URL. Accessed Day Month Year.

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 page's URL into PERRLA's reference search. PERRLA reads the page and fills in the author, the page title, the website name, and the URL. When the author and the website have the same name, PERRLA starts the entry with the title, the way MLA 9 wants it.

Then check the date against the page. Leave Publication Date empty if the page has no date at all. If the page shows a "Last reviewed" or "Last updated" date, or a copyright year in its footer, type that in instead. Then fill in Retrieval Date (the Today button does it in one click), and PERRLA adds "Accessed" and the date to the end of the entry.

Adding one by hand? Choose Webpage, add the author or a Group Author (Organization), and fill in the Page Title, Website Name, and URL. PERRLA handles the capitalization and the punctuation.

Look up
Paste a URL, get the reference

https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/workforce/what-is-nursing/

"What Is Nursing?" American Nurses Association, www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/workforce/what-is-nursing/. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

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 nothing)

If a person wrote the page, start with their last name, a comma, and their first name, then a period. Most undated pages come from an organization, though, and when that organization also runs the website, MLA leaves the author out so the name doesn't print twice. The entry starts with the title instead.

"What Is Nursing?"

If the organization that wrote the page is different from the one that runs the site, the organization goes first, like any author.

2. Page title

A page is part of a larger website, so its title goes in quotation marks, in title case. Put the period inside the closing quotation mark. If the title ends in a question mark, that replaces the period.

"Healthy Work Environments."

3. Website name

The website is the container, so its name goes in italics, followed by a comma. When the site's name is basically the same as the organization that publishes it, the site name is all you need.

American Association of Critical-Care Nurses,

4. Date: only if the page has one

Look before you leave it out. MLA uses the most useful date the page shows, so a "Last updated" or "Last reviewed" date counts. If there's nothing for the page itself, use the copyright year in the site's footer. If the footer gives a range of years, use the last one.

2026,

No date anywhere, not even a copyright year? Skip the date. Don't write n.d. or invent one, and don't use the day you visited the page here.

5. URL

Give the page's own URL, not the website's home page. MLA drops the https:// from the front. The URL ends with a period.

www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/workforce/what-is-nursing/.

6. Access date

End with "Accessed" and the day you read the page, written day, month, year, with the month abbreviated if it's longer than four letters. MLA calls the access date optional, but it's most useful on a page with no date, because it tells your reader which version you saw.

Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

Examples

An organization's page with no date at all

The American Nurses Association's page on what nursing is. Nothing on the page dates it, and the footer's copyright notice has no year, so the date is left out and the access date carries the timing. ANA wrote the page and runs the site, so the entry starts with the title.

  • In-text citation("What Is Nursing?")
  • Narrative citationAs the American Nurses Association explains in "What Is Nursing?" …

The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses page on healthy work environments. The page itself has no date, but the footer reads © 1996 – 2026, so MLA uses the last year in the range, 2026.

  • In-text citation("Healthy Work Environments")
  • Narrative citationIn "Healthy Work Environments," the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses argues that …

A tool page that names who developed the tool

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement's page on SBAR, a standard framework for talking about a patient's condition with the care team. The page says SBAR was developed at Kaiser Permanente, but IHI wrote and published this page, and it shows no date and no copyright year. The entry starts with the title and ends with the access date.

  • In-text citation("SBAR Tool")
  • Narrative citationThe Institute for Healthcare Improvement's "SBAR Tool" page describes …

In-text citations

An MLA in-text citation starts with whatever starts the Works Cited entry. For a page that starts with its title, that's the title in quotation marks, shortened if it's long. A missing date changes nothing in the text, because MLA citations don't use dates.

  • Title first: ("What Is Nursing?") or, for a long title, the first noun phrase: ("SBAR Tool")
  • Author first: the author's last name, or the organization's name when an organization wrote the page but doesn't run the site.
  • Title in your sentence: no parentheses needed: The American Nurses Association's page "What Is Nursing?" describes nursing as both a science and an art.
  • No page numbers: webpages usually have none, so the citation is the title or name alone. Give a paragraph number only if the page numbers its paragraphs: ("Title," par. 4). Don't count paragraphs yourself.

Common mistakes

  • "What Is Nursing?" American Nurses Association, n.d.,"What Is Nursing?" American Nurses Association,MLA 9 doesn't use n.d. A page with no date just leaves the date out.
  • "Healthy Work Environments." American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, 1996–2026,"Healthy Work Environments." American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, 2026,When the only date is a copyright range in the footer, MLA uses the last year in the range.
  • "What Is Nursing?" American Nurses Association, 27 Oct. 2026,"What Is Nursing?" American Nurses Association, www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/workforce/what-is-nursing/. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.The day you read the page isn't its publication date. It goes at the end, after the URL, as the access date.
  • American Nurses Association. "What Is Nursing?" American Nurses Association,"What Is Nursing?" American Nurses Association,When the organization wrote the page and runs the site, MLA names it once, in the website spot, and starts with the title.
  • What Is Nursing? American Nurses Association,"What Is Nursing?" American Nurses Association,A page is part of a website, so its title takes quotation marks. The website is the container, so its name is the one in italics.

Quick checklist

  • Author, or start with the title if the organization runs the site
  • Page title in quotation marks and title case
  • Website name in italics
  • A last-updated, last-reviewed, or copyright date if the page has one
  • No date at all: leave it out, never n.d.
  • URL without https://, then Accessed and the day you read it

Questions students ask

Do I write n.d. for a webpage with no date in MLA?

No. MLA 9 doesn't use placeholders like n.d. Leave the date out of the entry, and add the date you read the page at the end: Accessed 27 Oct. 2026. Use n.d. only if your teacher asks for it.

Can I use the copyright year at the bottom of the page?

Yes. In MLA, a copyright year in the footer stands in for a publication date when the page gives no date of its own. If the footer shows a range, like 1996–2026, use the last year. (APA works the other way and ignores copyright years.)

The page says "Last reviewed" with a date. Is that the date?

Yes. MLA asks for the date that's most useful to your reader, and a last-reviewed or last-updated date shows how current the information is. Use it in the date spot, written day, month, year: Apr. 2023 or 17 Feb. 2023.

Is the access date required in MLA 9?

MLA calls it optional, but says it's especially useful for a page with no date and for a page that might change or disappear. On an undated page, it's the only clue to which version you saw, so include it.

What if a webpage has no author and no date?

Start with the page title in quotation marks, then the website in italics, the URL, and the access date. In your text, cite the title: ("What Is Nursing?"). Never write Anonymous. Check first, though: most pages without a byline were written by the organization that runs the site.

How do I cite a webpage with no date in the text?

The same way as any webpage: MLA in-text citations don't include dates. Use the first thing in the Works Cited entry, the author or the title, with no page number: ("Healthy Work Environments").

Rules checked against the MLA Handbook (9th ed.), chapter 5 (the core elements, and section 5.122 on missing facts) and chapter 6 (in-text citations), and the MLA Style Center's posts on web sources with no publication date, access dates, copyright dates, last-updated and last-reviewed dates, placeholders like n.d., and authors who are also the publisher. Each example page was opened on October 27, 2026, to confirm its title, URL, and that it shows no date for its content; the AACN footer reads © 1996 – 2026.

PERRLA builds the MLA entry from the page's URL, leaves out a date that isn't there, and adds the access date in one click.

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