MLA style

(noun)

A common citation and formatting style, used in composition, literature, and media studies.

Examples of MLA style in the following topics:

  • When to Use MLA Style

  • When to Use MLA Style

    • MLA style, the house style of the Modern Language Association of America (MLA), has two official publications.
    • The first MLA style guide is the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, called the MLA Handbook for short.
    • The second is the MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, called the MLA Style Manual for short.
    • MLA style includes many basic grammatical rules.
    • For example, MLA style does use the Oxford comma, which some other citation styles (e.g., AP style) do not.
  • MLA: Tables and Figures

    • However, it's important to make sure you incorporate this extra information in a way that is easy to understand and in line with the conventions set forth in MLA style.
    • MLA style specifies three ways of presenting images: tables, figures, and examples.
    • In MLA style, you should present a table immediately after the paragraph in which you mentioned it.
    • Include the citation information, with the same formatting, as in a note in MLA style (i.e., formatted the same as a citation in your Works Cited section, except using commas instead of periods).
    • A figure, by the MLA's definition, is anything that is not a table or an example.
  • MLA: Block Quotations

    • In MLA style, format quotations of more than lines of prose or more than three lines of verse as block quotations.
    • As should the rest of your paper, a block quotation in MLA style should be double-spaced.
  • MLA: First Page

    • MLA style has specific formatting rules for the first page of your paper.
  • Overall Structure and Formatting of an MLA Paper

    • Every paper written in MLA style follows the same basic formatting rules.
    • In MLA style, you should italicize (rather than underline) the titles of books, plays, or other standalone works.
    • Unlike some other citation styles (e.g., APA), MLA style does not have specific rules for how to format such headings.
    • However, it's a requirement in MLA style, so double-check all your lists and series to make sure you include it!
    • MLA style in particular includes an explicit rule to use only single spaces after periods:
  • MLA: Abstract

  • MLA: Headings

  • MLA: Tables

  • MLA: Figures

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