How-to: Research Help: Citing Sources

The Modern Language Association, the authority on research and writing, takes a fresh look at documenting sources in the eighth edition of the MLA Handbook. Works are published today in a dizzying range of formats. A book, for example, may be read in print, online, or as an e-book--or perhaps listened to in an audio version. On the Web, modes of publication are regularly invented, combined, and modified. Previous editions of the MLA Handbook provided separate instructions for each format, and additional instructions were required for new formats. In this groundbreaking new edition of its best-selling handbook, the MLA recommends instead one universal set of guidelines, which writers can apply to any type of source. Shorter and redesigned for easy use, the eighth edition of the MLA Handbook guides writers through the principles behind evaluating sources for their research. It then shows them how to cite sources in their writing and create useful entries for the works-cited list. More than just a new edition, this is a new MLA style.

A Writer's Reference, the most widely adopted handbook in the United States, continues to be groundbreaking in its simplicity, offering the right content in an accessible format. New coauthor Nancy Sommers's own research, campus travel, and classroom experience keep the handbook in tune with the needs of academic writers. In a trusted quick-reference format, the seventh edition delivers advice on all the right topics: working with sources, revising with comments, preparing a portfolio, and more. A Writer's Reference offers unprecedented flexibility with several versions to choose from — a handbook that's truly at your service. Read the preface.