Understanding the “Container” Concept

• Written by Lucas Street

• Published on 03/26/2026

Ever since the 8th edition of the MLA Handbook was released in 2016 and continuing with the 2021 9th edition update, MLA style has relied on something they call the “container” concept. Whereas in past editions of MLA, there were different ways to cite a source depending on what type of source it was, the “container” concept streamlines these variations into a simple, straightforward method. 

Rather than painstakingly identify what type of source you’re citing and look up specific citation examples for that particular genre, use the container concept to create a works cited entry for a source no matter the medium. For example, an episode of a TV show, a short work on a website, and a chapter in an edited book can all be cited using the same container template.

What is a Container?

Here’s how the MLA Style Center puts it: “When the source being documented forms part of a larger whole, the larger whole can be thought of as a container that holds the source. For example, a short story may be contained in an anthology. The short story is the source, and the anthology is the container” (Modern Language Association of America).

So, in other words, a “container” is whatever a specific, discrete work is collected into:

• The container for a song is an album or playlist;
• The container for a poem is a poetry collection;
• The container for an article is the periodical it was published in.

Since online sources, especially, may be found in multiple places and various formats on the web, citing the specific container of the source you looked at helps a reader find the exact version you used when writing your piece. This has the added benefit of ensuring that the page numbers in your in-text citations match whatever version of the source a reader is reviewing.

No matter the medium, MLA makes it easy to identify a container vs. a short work: the short work is always enclosed in quotation marks, and the container is always italicized and follows the title of the short work. 

Works Cited Examples with Containers

“Citation.” Wikipedia, 13 Mar. 2026, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citation.

McClain, Colleen, et al. “How Teens Use and View AI.” Pew Research Center, 24 Feb. 2026, www.pewresearch.org/internet/2026/02/24/how-teens-use-and-view-ai.

“Michael Pollan’s Best Advice for Eating Healthier Food.” YouTube, uploaded by 60 Minutes, 15 Feb. 2026, www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuCIY3nkIdg.

Wicker, Marcus. “How Did You Learn to Speak English?” Poetry Magazine, Dec. 2022, www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/159042/how-did-you-learn-to-speak-english.

In the above examples, the containers are Wikipedia, Pew Research Center, Youtube, and Poetry Magazine, since those are the websites the articles, video, and poem, respectively, appeared in.

Sometimes a work will have two containers, one nested inside the other. This is the case whenever you cite an article found in a database: the first container is the periodical in which it was originally published, and the second is the database where you found it:

Lindberg, Nathan. “We Should Promote GenAI Writing Tools for Linguistic Equity.” The Writing Center Journal, vol. 43, no. 1, 2025, pp. 159–66. JSTOR.

In this example, the first container (Writing Center Journal) is the original collection the article was published in, while the second container (JSTOR) is where the Writing Center Journal issue was found. You can use this concept to continue nesting sources inside additional containers as necessary.

Works Cited Examples Without Containers

Not all sources have containers. One common source that doesn’t is a single-authored book. See, for example, these two works cited entries, both for full books:

Coates, Ta-Nehisi. Between the World and Me. Spiegel & Grau, 2015.

Ishiguro, Kazuo. Never Let Me Go. Vintage, 2005.

To identify whether a source has a container, ask yourself: did this text originally appear in a larger collection? Or does it stand alone? Once you’ve identified the container (if one exists), include it in your works cited entry directly after the title of the text itself. Don’t forget to italicize the container title! Remember that a source can have two or more containers. If so, just list both, with the largest container appearing last.

Work Cited

Modern Language Association of America. “Works Cited: A Quick Guide.” MLA Style Center, 2026, style.mla.org/works-cited/works-cited-a-quick-guide.