Is it permissible to include in a works-cited-list entry a permalink I created for a source?

Note: This post relates to content in the eighth edition of the MLA Handbook. For up-to-date guidance, see the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook.

Yes. The MLA Handbook notes that writers should aim to “provide their audiences with useful information about their sources” (3). If you have created a permalink for a web page using a trusted tool, such as Perma.cc, providing the link will be useful since it will allow your reader to access the page even if the original URL changes. You should, however, also provide the URL, since that is where you located the source. List both the URL and the permalink in the “Location” slot, separated by a comma:

Gibson, Angela. “URLs: Some Practical Advice.” The MLA Style Center, Modern Language Association of America, 2018, style.mla.org/urls-some-practical-advice/, perma.cc/Q4MS-27XG.

Alternatively, if you wish to make clear that the permalink was created by you, you may list the URL alone in the “Location” slot, and then in a note at first mention of the source in your paper, provide the permalink and explain that you created it.

Work Cited

MLA Handbook. 8th ed., Modern Language Association of America, 2016.