Welcome to The Source, your guide to theMLA Style Center’s latest resources on writing, research, and documentation! Tell us what you want to know!
Enter the MLA Student Essay Contest
Show your MLA style! Enter our student essay contest for a chance to be published by the MLA. To learn more about the selection criteria and to submit your essay by the 18 January deadline, visit the MLA Style Center.
Inanimate Nouns and Possession
While some usage guides advise you to avoid adding 's to inanimate nouns, others encourage it. An MLA editor explains their reasoning.
Don’t Scare Yourself Silly
Scare quotes—quotation marks that convey irony, doubt, or derision—are often overused. How much is enough? An MLA editor breaks it down.
Perfecting Parallel Structures
Parallel sentence structure can help you avoid ambiguity. Learn how to spot faulty parallelism from an MLA editor, then test yourself with our quiz!
Reading Contains Multitudes
Students read in a variety of ways, not all of them linear. Teachers should understand these practices rather than lament them, two experts explain.
How to Cite Papers Presented at Virtual Conferences
Have you attended an online conference recently? Do you need to cite a paper that was presented virtually? The MLA editors can help.
What to Do When You Hit the Paywall
We are surrounded by information, but not all of it is free. If you need access to a source that requires a paid subscription, the MLA editors suggest these tips.
Quoting Poetry? Don’t Miss This Sound Advice
When should you integrate lines of quoted poetry into your text? If you do so, how should you indicate elided words? The MLA editors have the answers.
Join the MLA and request your free copy of the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook. The definitive guide to MLA style now includes hundreds of sample works-cited-list entries listed by publication format.
