The Source

Updates from the MLA Style Center

Welcome to The Source, your guide to the MLA Style Center’s latest resources on writing, research, and documentation! Tell us what you want to know!

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Five Common Grammar Questions

Which terms require an apostrophe? Do you need a comma before because? An MLA editor answers these and three other common questions about grammar. Learn from an expert, then test your knowledge with our quizzes!

Typewriter and open notebooks on top of a desk next to an old-fashioned telephone

MLA Student Essay Contest

Enter your research paper in the MLA’s student essay contest by 18 January for a chance to be published by the MLA. Visit the MLA Style Center to learn more.

Yellow and pink post-it notes stuck on a wall in neat columns

Duly Noted

Footnotes and endnotes are integral parts of scholarly writing. An MLA editor can help you learn to format your notes properly using Microsoft Word.

Painting: Battle of San Domingo by January Suchodolski, 1845 (Wikimedia Commons). The painting depicts a battle from the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804).

On Teaching Ourika

Instructors who teach Claire de Duras’s Ourika—published in the MLA’s Texts and Translations series—explain the 1823 novel’s continued relevance.

Photo portrait of Oscar Wilde (Wikimedia Commons)

Lies, Damn Lies, and Quotations

Even some of the most oft-cited quotations are of dubious authenticity. How can you separate the true from the false? An MLA editor explains.

When to Cite an Online Publication’s DOI

If you’re citing a paginated journal article that appears online, should you cite the page range, the URL, or the DOI? The MLA editors can help.

How to Cite a Dictionary Entry in a Non-Latin Alphabet

The MLA editors demonstrate how to cite dictionary entries from other alphabets.

A Name in Full?

Upon its first appearance in prose, a person’s name should be given in full, but what if it has already appeared in a note? The MLA editors offer guidance.

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