How do I style the names of functional elements of a website when I refer to them in my prose?

In its online and print publications, when the MLA refers in prose to the label or functional element of a website or other electronic device… Read More

Can I just include a URL for a website in my prose instead of creating a work-cited-list entry?

You should always create works-cited-list entries for works that you quote from, paraphrase, or substantively discuss. Thus you may need to create an entry for… Read More

Are names of groups like African American and Native American ever hyphened in MLA style?

In MLA style, if each part of the name of an ethnic or national group is an independent term, no hyphen is used, regardless of… Read More

How do I style names of headers or titled sections that I refer to in my prose?

When you refer to the names of headers or titled sections in a work, you may style them with or without quotation marks as long… Read More

When should you correct spelling in a title?

The spelling of a title should almost never be corrected, especially by students, even when the title seems to include an error. Sometimes the “error”… Read More

When should I capitalize the first letter of the first word of a quotation?

Whether to capitalize or lowercase the first letter of the first word of a quotation depends on how the quotation is integrated into your prose… Read More

If I am writing a paper in a foreign language and my works-cited list contains works in more than one language, should labels such as “edited by” be given in the foreign language or in English? Also, should the works-cited-list entry be punctuated according to the rules of the foreign language?

The language that you use to describe elements in your works-cited list should be the language that your paper is written in, which should also… Read More

Should I use “sic” to indicate that a quotation has text in all capital letters in the original?

No. “Sic” is only used to indicate an error in the original, not unusual styling. Read More

How should I style ellipses in MLA style?

The MLA Handbook explains that you should “[i]dentify an omission within a sentence by using three periods with a space before each and a space… Read More

How do I format and document epigraphs in MLA style?

Epigraphs establish tone, highlight allusions, provide commentary, and mark transitions between parts of a work. Primarily ornamental, they are not discussed subsequently in the text. … Read More