The MLA Style Guide

MLA unlike many other style guides, such as APA and the CMoS, relies less on rigid formatting rules and instead focuses on a handful of flexible guiding principles. MLA is mostly used for documenting literary and other creative sources. This includes digital sources, which can include movies, YouTube videos, and television series.

The MLA can be seen as a versatile form of documentation in academic writing, which is quite relevant in what has often been described as our “chronically online” generation. Many of the other style guides don’t pay as much attention to documenting digital sources.

In this article, I go over the general principles that should be understood and followed when documenting sources using the MLA style guide. Read on to learn more. 

What is the MLA?

MLA stands for Modern Language Association. The latest edition of the MLA is MLA 9. It can be described as both a textbook and a reference guide. It was founded in 1883. It’s not just a reference guide and textbook. It also makes it possible for its members to meet to share academic discoveries and experiences as teachers with their colleagues and to talk about the latest trends in the world of academia.

According to the MLA website, “For more than a century, members have worked to strengthen the study and teaching of language and literature.”  The main focus of MLA is on literature and the humanities.

In addition to this, they place a particular focus on digital sources, which other style guides don’t focus heavily on.  This means:

• Movies

• YouTube Videos

• Television series

• Social media posts

• Film reviews

• Blogs

This means MLA allows you as a student or academic to incorporate a wide range of digital sources that could appeal to a wider audience who are prone to watching digital media as opposed to traditional sources. 

The unique MLA method of documentation

Instead of relying on extensive and detailed rules for documentation, the MLA relies on a method based on a handful of guiding principles.  The focus is on the process of documentation as opposed to the sources. 

This makes documentation with the MLA more flexible and more widely applicable. To document sources with the MLA, you’re supposed to consider “core elements.” These can be described as the units of information that should be included in the Works Cited entry, which is the MLA equivalent of the “References” section. 

These elements should be listed in the following order:

1. Author.

2. Title of source.

3. Title of container,

4. Other contributors,

5. Version,

6. Number,

7. Publisher,

8. Publication date,

9. Location.

Each element is separated by the appropriate punctuation mark as shown in the preceding list. For example, Author, Title of source, and Location are followed by a period. However, most other elements are followed by a comma. 

The latest edition of MLA — MLA 9 — takes a minimalist approach compared to previous editions. For example, previous editions required a place of publication and different punctuation according to sources.

The table below shows how each element would be structured in typical MLA documentation or formatting:

Element	Description	Example
Author.	This is placed at the beginning followed by a period.	Bhabha, Homi K. The Location of Culture. Routledge, 1994.
2. Title of source	This may be in italics or quotation marks. Books are in italics.  Web pages, periodicals, songs, and poems are in quotation marks	Bagchi, Alaknanda. "Conflicting Nationalisms: The Voice of the Subaltern in Mahasweta Devi's Bashai Tudu." Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature, vol. 15, no. 1, 1996, pp. 41-50.
3. Title of container	This is the larger whole to which the source belongs. For example, a volume of short stories by miscellaneous authors.	Kincaid, Jamaica. "Girl." The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Short Stories, edited by Tobias Wolff, Vintage, 1994, pp. 306-07.
4. Other contributors,	This refers to contributors besides the author. For example, a translator.	Foucault, Michel. Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason. Translated by Richard Howard, Vintage-Random House, 1988.
5. Version,	This usually refers to an edition.	Crowley, Sharon, and Debra Hawhee. Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Students. 3rd ed., Pearson, 2004.
6. Number,	This refers to sources that are a part of a numbered sequence. For example, a book with more than one volume or a periodical.	Hsu, Jane Lu, Rainbow Tsai-Ling Hung, and Melchior Antoine. "Investigating the linkages between BMI, body image, and SATAQ among young Asian females." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 18, no. 14, 2021,  p. 7460.
7. Publisher,	The publisher is responsible for producing or distributing the source to the public.	Women's Health: Problems of the Digestive System. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 2006.
8. Publication date,	This refers to the date a source was published.	Foucault, Michel. Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason. Translated by Richard Howard, Vintage-Random House, 1988.
9. Location.	This refers to where your source is located. It could be a poem in an anthology of poems or an article in a journal. Page numbers are usually included. URLs may be included for online sources.	Adiche, Chimamanda Ngozi. “On Monday of Last Week.” The Thing around Your Neck, Alfred A. Knopf, 2009, pp. 74-94.

MLA and digital sources

MLA is also well-known for its guidelines regarding digital sources. Style guides such as the APA and CMoS already provide extensive and detailed guidelines for documenting online sources such as news stories and articles. However, the MLA seems to be the only style guide providing detailed guidelines on both online video and text sources for your research paper. 

Guidelines for video sources are included in the instructions for Title of container. A container may also be a television series constituting several episodes. For example: 

“94 Meetings.” Parks and Recreation, created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur, performance by Amy Poehler, season 2, episode 21, Deedle-Dee Productions and Universal Media Studios, 2010.

The container could be a website with individual articles, postings, and other elements: 

Wise, DeWanda. “Why TV Shows Make Me Feel Less Alone.” NAMI, 31 May 2019, www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/May-2019/How-TV-Shows-Make-Me-Feel-Less-Alone. Accessed 3 June 2019.

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Final thoughts

MLA is a style guide that is diverse and flexible in terms of documenting online and non-conventional sources in your research paper. It is especially appropriate for fields of study that require analyzing videos, movies, and other online sources. 

Moreover, MLA provides extensive guidelines on how to quote and document literary sources. If you are in the humanities or literary field, knowledge of how to use MLA in writing about these topics should be essential. 

Like most other style guides, it makes little sense to memorize the rules of the MLA. Instead, you should focus on learning the basic principles. The fact that MLA 9 focuses on basic guidelines instead of extensive rules to follow will make this easier for you.

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Works cited

Purdue Owl Writing Lab. MLA Formatting and Style Guide. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_formatting_and_style_guide.html

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Cite this EminentEdit article

Antoine, M. (2024, August 22). The MLA Style Guide. https://www.eminentediting.com/post/the-mla-style-guide