BibTeX to MLA Citation Converter

Convert BibTeX entries to MLA 9th edition references in seconds. Paste any @article or @book entry and copy a clean MLA citation. Free, no sign-up.

Paste a BibTeX entry to get a MLA citation

What is BibTeX?

BibTeX is the reference format used by LaTeX and by reference managers such as Zotero, JabRef, and Mendeley. Each entry starts with an @ sign and a type – @article, @book, @inproceedings – followed by a citation key and a set of field–value pairs for authors, title, journal, year, and pages. BibTeX stores the raw data of a reference rather than a formatted citation, which makes it ideal input for conversion: every field is already labeled, so nothing has to be guessed from punctuation. Paste one or more entries into CiteTools and the parser reads the fields directly. If the entry carries a doi field, CiteTools can also verify the record against CrossRef. The output is a finished citation you can paste into a paper written in Word or Google Docs.

How the BibTeX to MLA conversion works

Copy a BibTeX entry from your .bib file or reference manager and paste it into the input field.
CiteTools parses the entry’s fields and decodes LaTeX markup such as protective braces and accent commands.
Copy the formatted citation, or export the result as plain text, HTML, or RTF.

Example input:

@article{watson1953,
  author  = {Watson, James D. and Crick, Francis H. C.},
  title   = {Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids},
  journal = {Nature},
  volume  = {171},
  pages   = {737--738},
  year    = {1953},
  doi     = {10.1038/171737a0}
}

About MLA Style

Modern Language Association - primarily used in humanities, literature, and arts.

MLA 9th edition is the standard in literature and the humanities. It uses full author names rather than initials, Title Case with quotation marks around article titles, and a container model that lists the journal, volume, issue, year, and pages in sequence. CiteTools renders the full works-cited entry, including the doi.org form MLA prefers for articles that have a DOI.

Frequently asked questions

Which BibTeX entry types are supported?

The common types all work: @article, @book, @incollection, @inproceedings, @phdthesis, @techreport, and @misc. CiteTools maps each type onto the matching reference form in your chosen style.

Do I need the full entry?

The parser needs the fields your target style prints. Author, title, and year produce a usable citation; adding journal, volume, and pages makes it complete. If the entry has a doi field, CiteTools can fill gaps from CrossRef.

Will braces and LaTeX escapes be cleaned up in MLA?

Yes. Protective braces around capital letters and LaTeX accent commands are decoded before formatting, so the MLA output contains normal readable text instead of markup.