In this article, a rheological method that can predict the molecular weight distribution (MWD) of polymer was introduced. Using this method, the MWDs of four cellulose samples were compared from rheological data of the cellulose / N-methyl morpholine N-oxide (NMMO) / H2O solutions. The MWDs of cellulose also were determined by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) calibrated with narrow distribution polystyrene standards, using 0.5% lithium chloride (LiCI) in N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMAc) as the eluent. Comparison of the results from rheology and GPC showed that the MW and MWD of cellulose could be roughly inferred from their rheological data. Although the differential MWD obtained from the rheological method was bell shaped and can not reflect the fine characteristics of cellulose as GPC, it may be feasible to compare the MWDs of cellulose by using the rheological method. (C) 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.