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MLA Style Manual

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The MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing (2nd ed.)
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The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (6th ed.)

The MLA Style Manual, published by the Modern Language Association, is a style guide widely used in academia for writing and documentation of research in the humanities, especiallly in English studies, the study of other modern languages and literatures, including comparative literature, literary criticism, media studies, cultural studies, and related disciplines.[1]

MLA style uses a Works Cited Page listing works cited in one's text and notes (either footnotes and/or endnotes), which is placed after the main body of a term paper, article, or book. Brief parenthetical citations, including the name or names of author(s) and/or short titles (as needed) and numbers of pages (as applicable), are used within the text. These are keyed to and direct readers to a work or works by author(s) or editor(s) and sometimes titles, as they are presented on the list of works cited (in alphabetical order), and the page(s) of the item where the information is located (e.g. (Smith 107) refers the reader to page 107 of the cited work by an author whose surname is Smith). If there are more than one author of the same name and/or more than one title of works by that author or authors being cited, then a first name or initial and/or titles or short titles are also used within the text's parenthetical references. There are also other possible headings for lists such as "Selected Bibliography" or "Works Consulted" suggested following MLA style.

There are two official publications of the MLA presenting MLA style, which have been published in revised editions. The MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, second edition (ISBN 0-87352-699-6), is addressed primarily to academic scholars, professors, graduate students, and other advanced-level writers of scholarly books and articles in humanities disciplines such as English and other modern languages and literatures. Many journals and presses in these disciplines require that manscripts be submitted following MLA style. The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, sixth edition (ISBN 0-87352-986-3), is addressed primarily to secondary-school and undergraduate college and university students; its conventions pertain to students' writing of reports and research papers as required by teachers in those disciplines. The author of both official MLA publications is Joseph Gibaldi, the Director of Book Acquisitions and Development for the MLA.[2] In the most-recent editions of the Manual and the Handbook, MLA Style has been updated and adapted to stay in step with computer-generated word processing, electronic publishing, and related digital-publishing practices.

Format

The MLA suggests that when creating a document on a computer, the writer try to maintain a series of guidelines that make it easier for people to read a composition without causing the style to distract from the content.

  • Choose a asfsd
  • Turn off your word processor's automatic hyphenation feature.
  • Turn off your word processor's automatic hyperlink feature (URLs on your works cited page should neither be underlined nor hyperlinked).
  • Print using high quality paper (i.e., not with dot matrix printer paper).
  • Print on only one side of each piece of paper.
  • Keep a backup file on the computer, or print an extra copy.
  • Although underlining is rendered in print through italicization, MLA style recommends that writers of research papers and scholars italicization is permissible or preferred.[3]

Citation

The works cited page should be headed "Works Cited," centered in normal font. Entries should be double-spaced, alphabetized, and use a hanging indent (beginnings of entries are not indented, but wrapped text is). Dates should be written with the day of the month first, the three letter abbreviation of the month and the year (example: 4 Jul. 1776). The title can either be underlined or italicized. It does not matter which style is chosen, but it should be consistent throughout the page.

  • A book: Author last name, first name. Book title. Place of publication: Publisher, Year of publication.
Conway, John Horton. On Numbers and Games. 2nd ed. Natick: Peters, 2001.
  • An encyclopedia or dictionary: Author of entry. "Title of entry." Title of reference book. Edition number. Year of publication.
Mohanty, Jitendra M. "Indian Philosophy." The New Encyclopedia Britannica: Macropaedia. 15th ed. 1987.
(If the work is not particularly well-known, the writer is advised to add the publication details required in a normal book entry.)
  • A periodical (magazine or journal): Author last name, first name. "Article title." Title of periodical Date of periodical (or, if a journal, volume number, followed by year in parentheses): Pages.
Brophy, Mike. "Driving Force." Hockey News 21 Mar. 2006: 16-19.
Kane, Robert. "Turing Machines and Mental Reports." Australasian Journal of Philosophy 44 (1966): 344-52.
  • A website: Author of webpage. "Article Title." Title of webpage. Date of publication. Institution associated with (if not cited earlier). Date of retrieval <url>.
"Plagiarism." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 22 Jul. 2004, 10:55 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation. 10 Aug. 2004 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plagiarism>.
  • A CD-ROM: Author's last name, first name. "Article title of printed source or printed analogue." Periodical title of printed source or printed analogue Date: inclusive page. Title of database. CD-ROM. Name of vendor or computer service. Electonic Publication data or data for access.

Notes

  1. ^ "What Is MLA Style?", online posting, Modern Language Association 9 Sept. 2003, accessed 15 July 2006 <http://www.mla.org/style>.
  2. ^ "The MLA Staff," online posting, Modern Language Association 15 May 2006, accessed 15 July 2006 <http://www.mla.org/the_mla_staffnew>.
  3. ^ See, e.g., Section the 6th ed. of The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers:

    3.3. ITALICS (UNDERLINING)

    Italic is research papers and manuscripts submitted for publication, words that would be italicized in print are best underlined.
    Casablanca
    Most word-processing programs and computer printers permit the reproduction of italic type. In material that will be graded, edited, or typeset, however, the type style of every letter and punctuation mark must be easily recognizable. Italic type is sometimes not distinctive enough for this purpose, and you can avoid ambiguity by using underlining when you intend italics. If you wish to use italics rather than underlining, check your instructor's preferences. When preparing a manuscript for electronic publication, consult your editor or instructor on how to represent italicization.
    In electronic environments that do not permit underlining, it is common to place one underline before and after each word or group of blockquote>

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