MLA style manual
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The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (6th ed.) |
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The MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing (2nd ed.) |
The
Modern Language Association's (MLA) style manual is an academic
style guide. It prescribes a writing style that is often used in
English studies,
comparative literature, foreign-language,
literary criticism, and some other fields in the
humanities.
["What Is MLA Style?" Modern Language Association, 9 Sept. 2003, 15 July 2006 .]MLA style uses a
Works Cited Page to list works at the end of the paper. Brief
parenthetical citations, which include an author and page (if applicable), are used within the text. These direct readers to work of the author on the list of works cited, and the page of the work where the information is located (e.g.
(Smith 107) refers the reader to page 107 of the work by author Smith).
There are two versions of the style manual.
The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, sixth edition (ISBN 0873529863), is meant for high school and undergraduate students.
The MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, second edition (ISBN 0873526996) is meant for graduate students, scholars, and professional writers. Both versions are written by Joseph Gibaldi, the MLA's Director of Book Acquisitions and Development,
["The MLA Staff," Modern Language Association, 15 May 2006, 15 July 2006 .] and are sanctioned by the Modern Language Association.
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 standard, easy-to-read font.
Times New Roman is suggested (and is often required).
*Do not align text of the composition on the right or center, but on the left. Lines should not be justified. The titles should be centered.
*Make sure to double space.
*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 a piece of paper.
*Keep a backup file on the computer, or print an extra copy.
Many features of MLA style (notably the use of underlining instead of italic type to represent book titles) seem to be designed to make it easier to compose documents on a typewriter (numerous references to typewriters in the current edition of the style manual bear this out). It is debatable whether such methods are needed now that word processors are universal in academia.
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).
*
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 .
:"Plagiarism." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 22 Jul. 2004, 10:55 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation. 10 Aug. 2004 .
*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.* Using Modern Language Association (MLA) Format - Detailed and extensive
* http://library.uww.edu/guides/mlacite.htm (University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, University Library)
* MLA-formatted Works Cited lists can be generated using free Web-based tools:
** http://www.easybib.com
** http://www.citationmachine.net
** http://www.noodletools.com/
** http://www.studentabc.com/citation_machine
