The MLA Handbook is a manual created by the Modern Language Association to provide guidance for formatting papers and creating citations using "MLA Style." Having a consistent system helps writers to clearly communicate their ideas and readers to follow them. It is important to properly cite your sources because it demonstrates your own research, gives credit to your sources, and shows your reader where they can find your sources (MLA 4). MLA Style is used in a variety of humanities subjects, including English and other languages, history, religious studies, comparative literature, and others. However, even within these subjects, your instructor may prefer that you use a different writing style, so make sure to check your assignment details or with your instructor.
The eighth edition of the MLA Handbook was published in 2016 and "offers a new approach to thinking about MLA Style, one centered...on the elements common to most sources and on the means of flexibly combining those elements to create appropriate documentation for any source" (MLA xii). This library guide provides directions for formatting these elements into citations and examples. For more information, see the MLA Handbook, check out the resources below, or ask a librarian.
MLA Handbook. Eighth Ed., Modern Language Association of America, 2016.
