What's New in the MLA 8th Edition?

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Evolving Formats of Document Citation

 The Modern Language Association (MLA) recently released the 8th edition of their style guide, which revises their previous standards to consider the changing needs of our digital age. In short, the prevalence of Internet sources is changing the way all sources are cited in MLA. In MLA 8, the citation process is streamlined, shifting the focus of Works Cited entries from the publication medium in which they’re produced to citing simple elements common to most sources.

Key Changes in MLA's 8th Edition

  • A single, standard citation format applicable to every source type. Previously, MLA citation format was based on the type of source being cited. Newspaper citations were formatted differently than book chapters and both were formatted differently if accessed via the web rather than in print. MLA 8 recognizes that the fluid nature of information availability and access fueled by the web makes individual citation formats unfeasible, so now there is one universal format for all source types.
  • Citations now include "containers." Just like it sounds, "containers" are what "hold" the source information. For example, if you read a short story in an anthology, the anthology is the container. Likewise, if you watch a television show on Hulu, Hulu is the container. In each instance, you should include the title of the source (the short story or television show) and its container (the anthology title or Hulu) in the citation.
  • The abbreviations, "vol." and "no." have been added to magazine and journal article citations to more clearly differentiate between volume and issue numbers.
  • MLA 8, like some of MLA’s previous editions, recommends the inclusion of URLs (web addresses) in citations. If your source provides a “permalink” or stable URL, or if it is associated with a digital object identifier (DOI), these should used in place of the general URL in your citation.
  • What has not changed? The overall principles of citing and plagiarism remain unchanged as do the use and format of in-text citations. Furthermore, the general rules for formatting an MLA style research paper remain unchanged.