Our school’s band is called the Marching Knights—is it a singular or plural noun?

Many collective nouns can be either singular or plural, depending on how they are used. As Claire Kehrwald Cook writes, “[I]f the collective noun denotes… Read More

Do I use a comma before Jr. and Sr.? What about names followed by roman numerals?

In the main text of your written work, use a suffix that is an essential part of the name—like Jr. or a roman numeral—when you… Read More

Can I use et al. in place of translators’ names in a works-cited-list entry?

Yes. As page 22 of the MLA Handbook notes, the use of et al. for three or more authors extends to other types of creators… Read More

When a work by three or more authors is mentioned in the text of a research paper (rather than in a parenthetical citation), should the names of all the authors be included or only the first one, followed by et al.?

Reserve the use of the abbreviation et al. for the list of works cited and parenthetical citations. In the text, spell out the authors’ names… Read More

The Italicization of Names like Facebook

by Eric Wirth

At the MLA, we treat the Web as a publication medium like others . . . Read More