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''MLA Handbook'' (9th ed., 2021), formerly ''MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers'' (1977–2009), establishes a system for documenting sources in scholarly writing. It is published by the
Modern Language Association The Modern Language Association of America, often referred to as the Modern Language Association (MLA), is widely considered the principal professional association in the United States for scholars of language and literature. The MLA aims to "st ...
, which is based in the United States. According to the organization, their MLA style "has been widely adopted for classroom instruction and used worldwide by scholars, journal publishers, and academic and commercial presses". ''MLA Handbook'' began as an abridged student version of ''
MLA Style Manual ''MLA Handbook'' (9th ed., 2021), formerly ''MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers'' (1977–2009), establishes a system for documenting sources in scholarly writing. It is published by the Modern Language Association, which is based in th ...
''. Both are academic
style guide A style guide or manual of style is a set of standards for the writing, formatting, and design of documents. It is often called a style sheet, although that term also has multiple other meanings. The standards can be applied either for gene ...
s that have been widely used in the United States, Canada, and other countries, providing guidelines for writing and documentation of research in the
humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at t ...
, such as
English studies English studies (usually called simply English) is an academic discipline taught in primary, secondary, and post-secondary education in English-speaking countries; it is not to be confused with English taught as a foreign language, which ...
(including the English language,
writing Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically inscribed, mechanically transferred, or digitally represented symbols. Writing systems do not themselves constitute h ...
, and
literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to ...
written in English); the study of other
modern language A modern language is any human language that is currently in use. The term is used in language education to distinguish between languages which are used for day-to-day communication (such as French and German) and dead classical languages such a ...
s and
literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to ...
s, including
comparative literature Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across linguistic, national, geographic, and disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role similar to that of the study ...
;
literary criticism Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. ...
;
media studies Media studies is a discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history, and effects of various media; in particular, the mass media. Media Studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but mostl ...
;
cultural studies Cultural studies is an interdisciplinary field that examines the political dynamics of contemporary culture (including popular culture) and its historical foundations. Cultural studies researchers generally investigate how cultural practices re ...
; and related disciplines. Released in April 2016, the eighth edition of ''MLA Handbook'' (like its previous editions) is addressed primarily to secondary-school and undergraduate college and university teachers and students. MLA announced in April 2016 that ''MLA Handbook'' would henceforth be "the authoritative source for MLA style", and that the 2008 third edition of ''MLA Style Manual'' would be the final edition of the larger work. The announcement also stated that the organization "is in the process of developing additional publications to address the professional needs of scholars."


History

''MLA Handbook'' grew out of the initial ''MLA Style Sheet'' of 1951 (revised in 1970), a 28-page "more or less official" standard. The first five editions, published between 1977 and 1999 were titled ''MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations''. The 2003 sixth edition changed the title to ''MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers''. The seventh edition's main changes from the sixth edition were "no longer recogniz nga default medium and instead call ngfor listing the medium of publication hether Print or Web or CDin every entry in the list of works cited", recommending against listing
URLs A Uniform Resource Locator (URL), colloquially termed as a web address, is a reference to a web resource that specifies its location on a computer network and a mechanism for retrieving it. A URL is a specific type of Uniform Resource Identi ...
, and preferring italics over underline. Additionally, the seventh edition included a website with the full text of the book. Later online additions allowed for citation of
e-book An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. A ...
s and tweets. The eighth edition's main changes from the seventh edition are "shift ngour focus from a prescriptive list of formats to an overarching purpose of source documentation". Released in spring 2016, it changes the structure of the works cited list, most directly by adding abbreviations for volumes and issues (vol. and no.), pages (p. or pp.), not abbreviating words like "editor" or "translator", using URLs in most instances (though preferring DOI, as in APA), and not favoring the medium of publication. The ninth edition, in 2021, provides more examples, advises more inclusive language, and advises that URLs are optional, with DOI and
permalinks A permalink or permanent link is a URL that is intended to remain unchanged for many years into the future, yielding a hyperlink that is less susceptible to link rot. Permalinks are often rendered simply, that is, as clean URLs, to be easier to ...
being preferred. The ninth edition also provides rules for annotated bibliographies.


Editions

The table below identifies the year of publication of each edition of ''MLA Handbook''.


MLA Style Manual

''MLA Style Manual'', previously titled ''MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing'' in its second (1998) and third edition (2008), was an academic
style guide A style guide or manual of style is a set of standards for the writing, formatting, and design of documents. It is often called a style sheet, although that term also has multiple other meanings. The standards can be applied either for gene ...
by the United States-based
Modern Language Association of America The Modern Language Association of America, often referred to as the Modern Language Association (MLA), is widely considered the principal professional association in the United States for scholars of language and literature. The MLA aims to "st ...
(MLA) first published in 1985. MLA announced in April 2016 that the publication would be discontinued: the third edition would be the last and was to be "taken out of print". The announcement also said that what began as an abridged version for students, ''MLA Handbook'', was to be after that point "the authoritative source for MLA style", and that the organization was "in the process of developing additional publications to address the professional needs of scholars".


Usage

MLA documentation style is used in scholarship throughout the
humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at t ...
, especially in
English studies English studies (usually called simply English) is an academic discipline taught in primary, secondary, and post-secondary education in English-speaking countries; it is not to be confused with English taught as a foreign language, which ...
,
modern language A modern language is any human language that is currently in use. The term is used in language education to distinguish between languages which are used for day-to-day communication (such as French and German) and dead classical languages such a ...
s and literatures,
comparative literature Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across linguistic, national, geographic, and disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role similar to that of the study ...
,
literary criticism Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. ...
,
media studies Media studies is a discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history, and effects of various media; in particular, the mass media. Media Studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but mostl ...
,
cultural studies Cultural studies is an interdisciplinary field that examines the political dynamics of contemporary culture (including popular culture) and its historical foundations. Cultural studies researchers generally investigate how cultural practices re ...
, and related disciplines. ''MLA Style Manual'' was one of two books on MLA documentation style published by the MLA. While ''MLA Handbook'' is aimed at secondary and post-secondary students and their teachers, the intended audience of ''MLA Style Manual'' primarily consisted of graduate students, academic scholars, professors, professional writers, and editors.


History

Both ''MLA Handbook'' and ''MLA Style Manual'' were preceded by a slim booklet titled ''MLA Style Sheet'', first published in 1951 and revised in 1970. The ''Style Sheet'' was allowed to go out of print after the commercial success of the ''Handbook'', creating the need for the ''Manual'' as a companion to the ''Handbook''. ''MLA Style Manual'' was scheduled to go out of print in 2016. In April 2017, the organization said it would be "developing additional publications to address the professional needs of scholars".


See also

*
Comparison of reference management software The following tables compare notable reference management software. The comparison includes older applications that may no longer be supported, as well as actively-maintained software. General In the "notes" section, there is a difference betw ...
*
Parenthetical referencing Parenthetical referencing, is a citation system in which in-text citations are made using parentheses. They are usually accompanied by a full, alphabetized list of citations in an end section, usually titled "references", "reference list", " ...
*
APA style APA style (also known as APA format) is a writing style and format for academic documents such as scholarly journal articles and books. It is commonly used for citing sources within the field of behavioral and social sciences, including sociol ...


References


Bibliography

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External links

*
The MLA Style Center
' – dedicated website
MLA Style Guide, Eighth Edition, IRSC Libraries

MLA Formatting and Style Guide, Purdue OWL

MLA Style Manual
Second Edition, 1998
Guide to academic style guides
from College of St. Rose. {{DEFAULTSORT:MLA Handbook 2009 non-fiction books Academic style guides Style guides for American English