The magnetic and electrical transport properties of Ce doped LaMnO3 bulk samples have already been reported for various Ce concentrations. However there are few reports on the magnetotransport properties of these compounds. In this paper, we report the magnetic and magnetotransport properties of nanocrystalline La0.8Ce0.2MnO3 and La0.7Ce0.3MnO3 samples with different particle size. The nanocrystalline samples with different particle size were prepared through citrate-complex method by calcining the precursor at different temperatures. The transmission electron microscopy analysis of both the compounds reveal that the particle size increases with calcination temperature. Temperature dependence of magnetization of all the samples shows ferro- to paramagnetic transition. The zero field cooled and field cooled magnetization curves show irreversibility just below the magnetic transition temperature. The temperature dependence of resistivity of all the samples exhibits a metal to insulator transition without an impurity peak around 250 K, which is generally observed in multiphase samples. The results indicate that magnetoresistance (MR) increases with decreasing particle size. The observed MR will be discussed by spin dependent tunneling and enhancement of double exchange mechanism upon application of magnetic field. The physical properties suggest that the samples are single phase in nature. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.