MLA format has a reputation for being picky — and honestly, it earns that reputation. Even something as seemingly simple as writing a date can trip students up. Should the month come first? Do you abbreviate it? Does the year go at the end or the beginning?
If you've ever stared at your paper wondering how to put the date in MLA format correctly, you're not alone. This guide breaks it all down clearly, with real examples for every situation you'll encounter — from your paper's header to in-text citations to your Works Cited page.
Why Does MLA Date Format Even Matter?
MLA (Modern Language Association) style is the go-to format for humanities courses — literature, language, history, and cultural studies. One of its core goals is consistency: every paper should look and read the same way so that readers know exactly where to find information.
Dates appear in several places in an MLA paper, and the format isn't always the same in each one. Getting them right signals to your instructor (and anyone else reading your work) that you've taken care with the details. It's a small thing that makes a big impression.
The Golden Rule: Day, Month, Year
The most important thing to remember about the MLA date format is this: MLA uses day-month-year order, not the American month-day-year order you might use in everyday writing.
Here's what that looks like:
- Correct (MLA): 15 March 2024
- Incorrect: March 15, 2024
- Incorrect: 03/15/2024
Notice a few things: the month is spelled out in full (not abbreviated), there's no comma between the month and the year, and no ordinal suffix (no "15th" — just "15"). Clean, simple, consistent.
How to Write the Date in MLA Format: Header vs. Works Cited
The date shows up in two main places in a standard MLA paper: your paper's header (the personal information block at the top of page one) and your Works Cited page. The rules are slightly different for each.
The Date in Your MLA Paper Header
When you format the top of your first page in MLA style, you include a four-line block in the upper-left corner:
- Your full name
- Your instructor's name
- The course name and number
- The date you're submitting the paper
For the date on your MLA header, use the day-month-year format with no comma:
Jane Smith
Professor Rodriguez
English 101
22 April 2025
That's it. No punctuation after the year, no abbreviations, no slashes. If you're submitting digitally and your class uses a specific submission date, use that date — don't backdate it to when you started writing.
Dates on the Works Cited Page
This is where date formatting gets a little more nuanced, because the type of source determines how you format the date. The date in a Works Cited entry tells your reader when the source was published, posted, or accessed — and MLA 9th edition has specific rules for each.
Here are the key scenarios:
- Books: Include only the year of publication. Example: 2019.
- Journal articles: Include the year, and sometimes the volume/issue details (the month is optional unless it helps specify the edition).
- Websites and online articles: Include the full date the page was published or last updated, in day-month-year format. Example: 14 Feb. 2023.
- Access dates: If a web page has no publication date, add an access date at the end of the entry. Example: Accessed 3 Jan. 2025.
- Newspaper and magazine articles: Include the day, month, and year. Example: 7 October 2022.
One important exception: On the Works Cited page, months with more than four letters are abbreviated. Here's the MLA abbreviation list:
- January → Jan.
- February → Feb.
- March → Mar.
- April → Apr.
- May → May (not abbreviated)
- June → June (not abbreviated)
- July → July (not abbreviated)
- August → Aug.
- September → Sept.
- October → Oct.
- November → Nov.
- December → Dec.
So a full Works Cited date for a website article published on February 14, 2023 would appear as: 14 Feb. 2023.
How Do You Write the Date in MLA Format for In-Text Citations?
Here's a relief: dates don't typically appear in MLA in-text citations. Unlike APA style, which includes the year right after the author's name in parentheses, MLA in-text citations only include the author's last name and the page number (if applicable).
For example:
(Morrison 47)
The date information lives on the Works Cited page, not inside your paper's body text. So if you've been stressing about how to weave dates into your citations mid-paragraph, you can stop — MLA doesn't require it.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Even students who know the rules sometimes slip up under pressure. Watch out for these frequent errors:
- Using American date order: Writing "April 22, 2025" instead of "22 April 2025" is the most common mistake. The comma is also incorrect in MLA style.
- Abbreviating months in the header: Month abbreviations belong on the Works Cited page only. In your paper header, spell out the full month name.
- Using numeric dates: Avoid writing dates as "4/22/25" or "04-22-2025" anywhere in an MLA paper.
- Forgetting access dates for undated web sources: If a website doesn't list a publication date, MLA requires you to add the date you accessed the page.
- Adding ordinal suffixes: Write "15 March," not "15th March."
A Quick-Reference Guide to Date Formatting in MLA
Here's a handy summary of the date in MLA format rules for each context:
- Paper header: 22 April 2025 (full month, no comma, day-month-year)
- Website Works Cited entry: 14 Feb. 2023 (abbreviated month, day-month-year)
- Book Works Cited entry: 2019 (year only)
- Access date: Accessed 3 Jan. 2025.
- In-text citation: No date needed
Tools That Make MLA Formatting Easier
Memorizing every MLA rule — dates, punctuation, indentation, italics — is a lot to ask of any student. A few smart tools can take the pressure off.
If you're building your Works Cited page and want to make sure every entry (including dates) is formatted correctly, the Citation Generator at WriteGenius can generate properly formatted MLA citations for books, websites, journal articles, and more in seconds. It handles the date formatting automatically, so you don't have to second-guess whether to abbreviate "September" or not.
If you've drafted your paper and want a final check on grammar and consistency before submitting, the Grammar Checker can catch errors that spell-check misses — including some punctuation issues that commonly pop up around dates and citations.
And if you're working from source material in another language or need to summarize a dense academic text before citing it, the Summarizer can help you quickly extract the key ideas so you can spend more time writing and less time decoding.
Final Thoughts
The date in MLA format follows one core principle — day, month, year — with a few context-specific tweaks depending on where the date appears. In your header, spell out the full month. On your Works Cited page, abbreviate longer months. In your in-text citations, don't include dates at all.
Once you've seen enough examples, it becomes second nature. Until then, bookmark this guide, keep the abbreviation list handy, and don't hesitate to use tools that automate the tedious parts. The goal of MLA formatting is clarity and consistency — and now you have everything you need to nail it.