Should department names be capitalized in MLA style?

In general, the MLA follows The Chicago Manual of Style for the capitalization of academic department names (“Academic Subjects”) and administrative bodies (“Administrative Bodies”). We capitalize… Read More

How should commas be used with dates in my prose?

In the day-month-year style, do not use commas: School started on 4 September 2018. In the month-day-year style, use a comma to set off the… Read More

When should commas be used with introductory phrases that include dates?

A comma may generally be omitted from an introductory phrase of two or three words, but consider using a comma when you wish to emphasize… Read More

How Publishing Work as a Student Shaped My College Writing Experience

by Talya Phelps

Publishing work during college can help students learn to enjoy writing academic research papers Read More

If a phrase is repeated throughout a work, what page number should I use when discussing the phrase?

When citing a phrase that appears more than once in a work, give the page number of the first instance in the parenthetical reference: B. Read More

Should the comma after an italicized element appear in italics?

Publishers differ in their practice. In its publications, the MLA’s preference is not to italicize commas that appear after italicized elements. However, we are open… Read More

How should I format examples for a linguistics paper?

For guidance on styling linguistics papers, consult the “Unified Style Sheet,” published by the Linguistics Society of America. For phonetic symbols, consult the website of… Read More

Should health care be spelled as two words?

The MLA primarily follows Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary for spelling, so we spell health care as two words when it is used as a noun, and we hyphen it… Read More

In reference to centuries, when should I use a hyphen with early and late?

MLA style generally hyphenates elements of a compound adjective and does not use a hyphen for a noun phrase. a poet of the early nineteenth… Read More

How should I form the plural of an abbreviation if the spelled-out form contains a plural term?

The plural of an abbreviation is formed by adding an s, even if the spelled-out form contains a plural term: prisoners of war (POWs) runs batted… Read More