MLA 8th ed. Guidelines

Editor's Notes

• #2: Welcome to “MLA Formatting and Style Guide“. This Power Point Presentation is designed to introduce your students to the basics of MLA Formatting and Style. You might want to supplement the presentation with more detailed information available on the OWL’s “MLA Formatting and Style Guide“ at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/ Designer: Ethan Sproat Based on slide designs from the OWL “APA Formatting and Style Guide “powerpoint by Jennifer Liethen Kunka and Elena Lawrick. Contributors: Tony Russell, Alllen Brizee, Jennifer Liethen Kunka, Joe Barbato, Dave Neyhart, Erin E. Karper, Karl Stolley, Kristen Seas, Tony Russell, and Elizabeth Angeli. Revising Author: Arielle McKee, 2014
• #3: The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 8th ed. supersedes both the 7th edition handbook and the MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, 3rd ed. The style of documentation outlined in the 8th edition serves the needs of students who are writing research papers, as well as scholars who publish professionally. This presentation will mostly focus on MLA formatting and style concerns that affect writing research papers. MLA style is often used in the following disciplines: humanities, languages, literature, linguistics, philosophy, communication, religion, and others. MLA format provides writers with a uniform format for document layout and documenting sources. Proper MLA style shows that writers are conscientious of the standards of writing in their respective disciplines. Properly documenting sources also ensures that an author is not plagiarizing.
• #4: This slide presents three basic areas regulated by MLA students need to be aware of—document format, in-text citations, and works cited. The following slides provide detailed explanations regarding each area.
• #5: Principle 1: In previous versions of the MLA Handbook, an entry in the works-cited list was based on the source’s publication format (book, periodical, Web article, etc.). The issue with that system is that a work in a new type of medium could not be properly cited until MLA created a format for it. In the current system, sources are documented based on facts that are common to all types of publications, such as author, title, and year. Now, in order to cite a source, a writer now must examine it and document it based on a set of universal principles (more about that to come). Principle 2: Two scholars may use the same source differently. Therefore, a writer who is working on a specialized topic in a particular field will include documentation information that a writer who is using the source more generally will not. Principle 3: As a writer, you document sources so that your readers may locate them and learn more about your particular argument or essay. Proper citation demonstrates your credibility by showing that you’ve thoroughly researched your topic. Your citations must be comprehensive and consistent so that readers may find the sources consulted and come to their own opinions on your topic. 
• #6: Many instructors who require their students to use MLA formatting and citation style have small exceptions to different MLA rules. Every bit of instruction and direction given in this presentation comes with this recommendation: ALWAYS follow the specific instructions given by your instructor.
• #7: The entire document should be double-spaced, including the heading, block quotations, footnotes/endnotes, and list of works cited. There should be no extra space between paragraphs. Leave only one space after periods or other punctuation marks (unless otherwise instructed by your instructor). Set the margins of your document to 1 inch on all sides Indent the first line of paragraphs one half-inch from the left margin. MLA recommends that you use the Tab key as opposed to pushing the Space Bar five times.
• #8: Create a header that numbers all pages consecutively in the upper right-hand corner, one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin. (Note: Your instructor may ask that you omit the number on your first page. Always follow your instructor's guidelines.) ･Use italics throughout your essay for the titles of longer works ･If you have any endnotes, include them on a separate page before your works-cited list. Title the section Notes (centered, unformatted).
• #9: ･Do not make a title page for your paper unless specifically requested ･In the upper left-hand corner of the first page, list your name, your instructor's name, the course, and the date. Again, be sure to use double-spaced text. ･Double space again and center the title. Do not underline, italicize, or place your title in quotation marks; write the title in Title Case (standard capitalization), not in all capital letters. ･Use quotation marks and/or italics when referring to other works in your title, just as you would in your text: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas as Morality Play; Human Weariness in “After Apple Picking“ ･Double space between the title and the first line of the text. ･Create a header in the upper right-hand corner that includes your last name, followed by a space with a page number; number all pages consecutively with Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.), one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin. (Note: Your instructor or other readers may ask that you omit last name/page number header on your first page. Always follow instructor guidelines.)
• #10: ･Do not make a title page for your paper unless specifically requested ･In the upper left-hand corner of the first page, list your name, your instructor's name, the course, and the date. Again, be sure to use double-spaced text. ･Double space again and center the title. Do not underline, italicize, or place your title in quotation marks; write the title in Title Case (standard capitalization), not in all capital letters. ･Use quotation marks and/or italics when referring to other works in your title, just as you would in your text: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas as Morality Play; Human Weariness in “After Apple Picking“ ･Double space between the title and the first line of the text. ･Create a header in the upper right-hand corner that includes your last name, followed by a space with a page number; number all pages consecutively with Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.), one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin. (Note: Your instructor or other readers may ask that you omit last name/page number header on your first page. Always follow instructor guidelines.)
• #11: Section Headings Writers sometimes use Section Headings to improve a document’s readability. These sections may include individual chapters or other named parts of a book or essay. Essays MLA recommends that when you divide an essay into sections that you number those sections with an Arabic number and a period followed by a space and the section name. Books MLA does not have a prescribed system of headings for books. If you are only using one level of headings, meaning that all of the sections are distinct and parallel and have no additional sections that fit within them, MLA recommends that these sections resemble one another grammatically. For instance, if your headings are typically short phrases, make all of the headings short phrases (and not, for example, full sentences). Otherwise, the formatting is up to you. It should, however, be consistent throughout the document. If you employ multiple levels of headings (some of your sections have sections within sections), you may want to provide a key of your chosen level headings and their formatting to your instructor or editor.
• #12: Basic In-Text Citation Rules The source information in a parenthetical citation should direct readers to the source’s entry in the works-cited list. The in-text citation should be placed, if possible, where there is a natural pause in your text. If the citation refers to a direct quotation, it should be placed directly following the closing quotation mark. Any source information that you provide in-text must correspond to the source information on the works-cited page. More specifically, whatever signal word or phrase you provide to your readers in the text, must be the first thing that appears on the left-hand margin of the corresponding entry in the works-cited list (so the author’s last name or the title, usually, with no punctuation in between)
• #13: In-Text Citations: Author-Page Style MLA format follows the author-page method of in-text citation. This means that the author's last name and the page number(s) from which the quotation or paraphrase is taken must appear in the text, and a complete reference should appear in your works-cited page. The author's name may appear either in the sentence itself or in parentheses following the quotation or paraphrase, but the page number(s) should always appear in the parentheses, not in the text of your sentence. The both citations in the in-text examples on this slide, (263) and (Wordsworth 263), tell readers that the information in the sentence can be located on page 263 of a work by the author, William Wordsworth. If readers want more information about this source, they can turn to the works-cited list, where, under Wordsworth, they would find the information in the corresponding entry also shown on this slide.
• #14: In-text Citations for Print Sources with Known Author For print sources like books, magazines, scholarly journal articles, and newspapers, provide a signal word or phrase (usually the author’s last name) and a page number. If you provide the signal word/phrase in the sentence, you do not need to include it in the parenthetical citation. These examples must correspond to an entry that begins with Burke, which will be the first thing that appears on the left-hand margin of an entry in the works-cited list (as noted in the corresponding entry on this slide). See comments from previous slide.
• #15: In-text Citations for Print Sources with No Known Author When a source has no known author, use a shortened title of the work instead of an author name. Place the title in quotation marks if it's a short work (e.g. articles) or italicize it if it's a longer work (e.g. plays, books, television shows, entire websites) and provide a page number. In this example, since the reader does not know the author of the article, an abbreviated title of the article appears in the parenthetical citation which corresponds to the full name of the article which appears first at the left-hand margin of its respective entry in the works-cited list. Thus, the writer includes the title in quotation marks as the signal phrase in the parenthetical citation in order to lead the reader directly to the source on the works-cited page. See comments from previous slide.
• #16: And this is how the works-cited listing should look. While this entry is technically correct, it would help your readers more readily access the source if you include the URL here (it would go before the access date).
• #17: In parenthetical citations of a literary work available in multiple editions, such as a commonly studied novel, it is often helpful to provide division numbers in addition to page numbers so that your readers can find your references in any edition of the work. Make sure that your in-text citations refer unambiguously to the entry in your works-cited list. If you are citing from the works of two different authors with the same last name, include the author’s first initial in your reference).
• #18: Citing a Work by Multiple Authors If the entry in the works-cited list begins with the names of two authors, include both last names in the in-text citation, connected by and. If the source has three or more authors, the entry in the works-cited list should begin with the first author’s name followed by et al. The in-text citation should follow suit.
• #19: Citing Multiple Works by the Same Author If you cite more than one work by a particular author, include a shortened title for the particular work from which you are quoting to distinguish it from the others. This is illustrated in the first example on this slide. Additionally, if the author's name is not mentioned in the sentence, format your citation with the author's name followed by a comma, followed by a shortened title of the work, followed, when appropriate, by page numbers. This is illustrated in the second example on this slide.
• #20: Sometimes you may have to use an indirect source. An indirect source is a source cited in another source. For such indirect quotations, use “qtd. in“ to indicate the source you actually consulted. This is illustrated in the first example on this slide. Note that, in most cases, a responsible researcher will attempt to find the original source, rather than citing an indirect source. Multiple Citations If you borrow more than once from the same source within a single paragraph and no other source intervenes, you may give a single parenthetical reference after the last borrowing.
• #21: When a source has no page numbers or any other kind of part number, no number should be given in a parenthetical citation. Do not count unnumbered paragraphs, pauses, or other parts. This is an example of how to cite a direct quotation from an oral address.
• #22: Short Quotations If a prose quotation runs no more than four lines and requires no special emphasis, put it in quotation marks and incorporate it into the text.. Provide the author and specific page citation in the text, and include a complete entry in the works-cited page. Punctuation marks such as periods, commas, and semicolons should appear after the parenthetical citation. Question marks and exclamation points should appear within the quotation marks if they are a part of the quoted passage but after the parenthetical citation if they are a part of your text.
• #23: In quotations that are four or more lines of text, start the quotation on a new line, with the entire quote indented half an inch from the left margin; maintain double-spacing. Do not indent the first line an extra amount or add quotation marks not present in the original. Use a colon to introduce the quotation (unless your introductory wording does not require punctuation). Your parenthetical citation should come after the closing punctuation mark. Note: If a new paragraph begins in the middle of the quotation, indent its first line.
• #24: Adding or Omitting Words In Quotations If you add a word or words in a quotation, you should put brackets around the words to indicate that they are not part of the original text. This is illustrated in the first example on this slide. If you omit a word or words from a quotation, you should indicate the deleted word or words by using ellipsis marks, which are three periods ( . . . ) preceded and followed by a space. Please note that brackets are not needed around ellipses unless adding brackets would clarify your use of ellipses. This is illustrated in the second example on this slide.
• #25: While earlier editions of the MLA Handbook showed writers how to create a works-cited entry based on the source’s publication format (book, periodical, film, etc.), the updated 8th edition demonstrates that documentation should be created by consulting the list of core elements. Rather than asking: “how do I cite a book, DVD, or webpage,” the writer now creates an entry by looking at the list of core elements– which are facts common to most works– and assembling them in a specific order. These changes have been made to reflect the differences in how we consult works. In the updated model, the writer should ask: “who is the author?” and “what is the title?”, regardless of the nature of the source. The following slides will explain each of the core elements, and how they might differ from one medium to another.
• #26: While these examples are in different mediums (the first one is a periodical, the second is a printed book), they are both formatted according to the list of key elements. Note: there are other types of author situations, such as multiple authors, translators, editors, corporate authors, performers, and pseudonyms (such as online user names). Refer to the 8th edition handbook or the MLA online Style Center https://style.mla.org/ for more information.
• #27: The title of the source should follow the author’s name. Depending upon the type of source, it should be listed in italics or quotation marks.
• #28: Containers are the larger wholes in which the source is located. For example, if you want to cite a poem that is listed in a collection of poems, the individual poem is the source, while the larger collection is the container. The title of the container is usually italicized and followed by a comma, since the information that follows next describes the container. In the first example, “Toward Metareading” is the title of an essay, and The Future of the Book is the title of the edited collection in which the essay appears. The container may also be a website, which contains articles, postings, and other works. The container may also be a television series, which is made up of episodes.
• #29: In addition to the author, there may be other contributors to the source who should be credited, such as editors, illustrators, performers, translators, etc. If their contributions are relevant to your research, or necessary to identify the source, include their names in your documentation.   Note: In the eighth edition, terms like editor, illustrator, translator, etc., are no longer abbreviated.
• #30: Books are commonly issued in versions called editions. A revised edition of a book may be labeled revised edition, or be numbered (second edition, etc.). A a film may be released in different versions, such as expanded or director’s cut.
• #31: If your source uses another numbering system, include the number in your entry, preceded by a term that identifies the kind of division the number refers to.
• #32: First example: an essay in a book, or an article in journal should include page numbers. Second example: The location of an online work should include a URL. Third example: A physical object that you experienced firsthand should identify the place of location.
• #33: URLs: use at your instructor’s discretion. DOIs: a series of digits and letters that leads to the location of an online source. Articles in journals are often assigned DOIs to ensure that the source is locatable, even if the URL changes. If your source is listed with a DOI, use that instead of a URL. Date of access: When you cite an online source, always include the date on which you accessed the material, since an online work may change or move at any time.
• #34: Rationale: Purdue students are invited to meet with a tutor to assist with writing challenges on an individual basis. Viewers outside of Purdue may receive assistance through the OWL (Online Writing Lab) and answers to quick questions through the OWL email service.