In Summer 2008, the Modern Language Association released its third edition of the MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, which publicly unveiled modifications to MLA Style for the upcoming year.
These changes went into effect in April 2009 with the release of MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (7th edition). General paper formatting (margins, headings, etc.) and in-text citations will remain the same, but all Works Cited style entries will be different from the 6th edition guidelines.
Here are some of the more noteworthy changes to look forward to:
- No More Underlining! Underlining is no more. MLA now recommends italicizing titles of independently published works (books, periodicals, films, etc).
- No More URLs! While website entries will still include authors, article names, and website names, when available, MLA no longer requires URLs. Writers are, however, encouraged to provide a URL if the citation information does not lead readers to easily find the source.
- Continuous Pagination? Who Cares? You no longer have to worry about whether scholarly publications employ continuous pagination or not. For all such entries, both volume and issue numbers are required, regardless of pagination.
- Publication Medium. Every entry receives a medium of publication marker. Most entries will be listed as Print or Web, but other possibilities include Performance, DVD, or TV. Most of these markers will appear at the end of entries; however, markers for Web sources are followed by the date of access.
- New Abbreviations. Many web source entries now require a publisher name, a date of publication, and/or page numbers. When no publisher name appears on the website, write N.p. for no publisher given. When sites omit a date of publication, write n.d. for no date. For online journals that appear only online (no print version) or on databases that do not provide pagination, write n. pag. for no pagination.
MLA handbook for writers of research papers
MLA style manual and guide to scholarly publishing