How do I cite a director’s unpublished notes about a play?

Cite unpublished director’s notes by following the MLA format template. List the director’s name in the “Author” slot and provide a description in place of a… Read More

I am writing a paper in English. I have used the French edition of a book originally published in Dutch. Do I need to include both the French and Dutch editions in my works-cited list?

List only the version you are using—in this case, the French edition. You do not need to indicate in your entry the language in which… Read More

Is the page after the title page of an essay numbered 1 or 2?

The first page of an essay should be numbered 1. Therefore, if you are preparing an essay that includes a title page, do not number… Read More

If a book title within an essay title is not italicized in the source, should I italicize it in my works-cited-list entry?

Yes. A title within a title should be styled according to the guidelines in section 1.2.4 of the MLA Handbook, regardless of how a title within… Read More

If I cite a work that has no page numbers and I give the author’s name at the beginning of my sentence, how does the reader know where the author’s idea ends, since there is no parenthetical citation?

As the MLA Handbook notes, when you borrow an idea from a source, “it is important to signal at the end . . . that you are… Read More

How do I quote bulleted or numbered points from a source?

If you need to quote from a bulleted or numbered list, you can reproduce the list in your essay, as in the example below: Parvini… Read More

Do I always need to indicate in my works-cited-list entry that a work I am citing was streamed through an app?

No. If the app is the work, as in the following examples, you do not need to indicate in your works-cited-list entry that you are citing… Read More

I have had an essay accepted for publication. In my works-cited list, if there are two or more works by the same author, after the first entry should I use three hyphens or a 3-em dash in place of the author’s name?

Publishers usually have preparation guidelines, so you should ask your publisher what is preferred. The MLA accepts manuscripts with either hyphens or 3-em dashes. If… Read More

How do I indicate that I prepared the table included in my paper?

Unless otherwise indicated, the reader should assume that you are the author of the tables in your paper. Provide the source of a table’s data… Read More

Should I italicize titles not written in the Latin alphabet?

No. Note that there are many languages in the world that do not have an italic font—Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Armenian, for example. Arabic sometimes uses a… Read More