If I want to include a DOI for a book chapter in my works-cited-list entry, where should I insert it?

If you are citing a chapter of a book from a novel or monograph, create an entry for the book as a whole and list the… Read More

If the title of an essay I am citing is also the name of a work that normally appears in italics, how should I style the name of the essay?

If the title of an essay consists solely of the title of a work normally styled in italics, the title of the work should be… Read More

Should I use hyphens in compounds with adverbs ending in ly?

No. Since a compound formed by an adverb ending in ly cannot be misread, no hyphen is used: She had a politically transformative experience. Read More

Should I include military ranks of authors I cite?

Like other professional titles, military ranks are omitted before authors’ names in entries and when the authors are mentioned in prose, but you may indicate… Read More

Should shortened generic forms of proper nouns be capitalized?

In general, lowercase generic forms of proper nouns: the United States Army, the army President Kennedy, the president the Brooklyn Bridge, the bridge… Read More

Does the MLA offer guidance for outlines?

The MLA has never offered guidance on formatting outlines. The seventh edition of the handbook notes that there are many types of outlines and that… Read More

Is it OK to join three or more independent clauses in a single sentence with conjunctions?

Yes. Read More

How should I treat foreign terms in MLA style?

How do I cite a paraphrase and a quotation that occur in the same sentence?

If you need to cite a paraphrase and a quotation that occur in the same sentence, you may provide the page numbers at the end… Read More

When creating a sortable list of alphabetized titles, where should the initial article be placed?

In an index or sortable list of titles, MLA style follows the The Chicago Manual of Style, which recommends placing initial articles at the end of the… Read More