Why does the MLA capitalize certain words in titles?
MLA style’s rules for capitalization are intended to help authors remain consistent while also respecting the ways in which titles have traditionally been styled in… Read More
Posts related to titles of works
If I have two works with identical titles and no authors in my works-cited list, how do I distinguish between them in my parenthetical citations?
Writers sometimes need to cite anonymous sources with identical titles, such as articles in reference works. Since in MLA style works without authors are cited… Read More
How do I cite an essay from a multivolume work when each volume has a different title?
Multivolume works can seem complex and difficult to cite because they present the writer with an abundance of bibliographic information—some essential, some optional—that can be… Read More
How do I cite a quotation that I use in the title of my paper?
If you include a quotation in the title of your paper, you should discuss the quotation in the body of your essay. Do not place… Read More
Is a compound subject a noun phrase for the purposes of abbreviating a title, or should I just use the first noun?
As section 3.2.1 of the MLA Handbook explains, when you need to shorten a title for a parenthetical citation, “give the first noun and any preceding… Read More
How do I abbreviate a title for a parenthetical reference if it begins with numbers?
Remember that the goals of parenthetical citation are clarity and concision. Thus, if a title begins with a number–for example: 1066: A New History of… Read More
How do I cite a Twitter thread or conversation in my text and in my works-cited list?
A thread is a series of separately written but related tweets that are given a single URL. If you’re discussing the thread as a whole… Read More
How do I style the title of a trilogy or informally titled series?
When a trilogy is published in one volume with a title of its own, the course of action is clear: italicize the title of the… Read More
Not Entitled
In our editing, we often note that writers misuse titles in three key ways . . . Read More
How do I cite an unpublished translation?
Cite an unpublished translation by following the MLA format template. List the author of the work, the title of the translation in quotation marks (since… Read More