How do I cite a tombstone or grave site that I looked at in person or online?

If you looked at a tombstone in person, you do not need to provide a citation. Use your prose or an endnote to describe what… Read More

How do I cite an online lecture from a course I’m taking remotely?

If your instructor wants you to cite quotations from video or audio recordings of lectures posted online, cite them as you would any online lecture. Read More

Must an author be introduced for the first time in prose rather than in parentheses?

No. You do not need to mention an author’s name in your prose before citing the author in a parenthetical citation. Surnames alone are used… Read More

If a foreign language quotation and its translation run longer than four lines in my paper when combined, should I style each quotation as a block quotation?

No. If the original quotation is four lines or fewer, both the original and the translation should be run in to the text. Read More

How do I cite one issue of a comic book from a volume containing multiple issues?

How you cite one issue depends on the nature of the source. For example, comic books can be paginated or unpaginated, and the same team… Read More

How do I shorten a last name in English composed of more than one element?

Last names in English composed of more than one element are usually shortened to the final element, so a name like Harriet Beecher Stowe would… Read More

Which comes first in a works-cited list? An entry for an encyclopedia article titled “Christie, Agatha” or an entry for a work listed under the name Christie, Agatha?

It depends on what, if anything, follows the author’s name in the title of the encyclopedia entry. If the title of the encyclopedia entry is… Read More

How do I style numbers referring to charts of record sales?

Follow the MLA’s general rule for styling numbers (MLA Handbook, sec. 1.4.1). In discussions where few numbers appear, spell out those that can be written… Read More

How do I cite a short story posted to a website whose author is different from that of the story?

Cite the short story the same way you would cite a poem posted to a blog by someone who is not the poem’s author but… Read More

Which entity should you list as the publisher of a website if both a subsidiary and a parent company are listed as publisher?

Determine the publisher of a website the same way you determine the publisher of a book. The MLA Handbook notes that for books, when both… Read More