Should periods be used with degrees (e.g., B.A.)?
Practice varies. As indicated in section 1.6 of the eighth edition of the MLA Handbook, MLA style does not use periods between letters for abbreviations composed… Read More
Posts related to writing tips
Is it OK to italicize a word for emphasis in my paper?
The MLA style discourages the use of italics in academic prose to emphasize or point, because they are unnecessary—most often, the unadorned words do the… Read More
How do I handle prefixes such as pre- and post- in MLA style?
MLA style, which follows Merriam-Webster, does not use hyphens after most prefixes. We would write, for example, antiestablishment, coauthor, nonlinear, and prealgebra. A hyphen is needed, however, before a capital letter… Read More
Should I capitalize the names of movements such as modernism?
A modern editorial style keeps capitalization to a minimum. In MLA style, a movement or school of thought is only capitalized when it could be confused… Read More
Are there instances when you might not place a parenthetical citation at the end of a sentence?
MLA style aims to make in-text citations as unobtrusive as possible, so we normally recommend placing them at the end of a sentence, but sometimes… Read More
Celebrate the New Year in (MLA) Style
Should you write, “Happy New Year,” “Happy new year,” or “Happy New Year’s”? . . . Read More
However: Where to Place It?
Where to place however when it means “but” or “in spite of that” Read More
Styling Titles of Online Works
To determine how to style an online work, consider the work's length, genre, and context . . . Read More
Can I use brackets to change the tense of a verb so that a quotation will fit syntactically into my sentence?
When a verb in a quotation does not fit syntactically into your sentence, you may use brackets to change the tense: If Charles Dickens were… Read More
Clearing Up the Confusion between You and I
Many writers substitute the phrase between you and I for between you and me . . . Read More